Whether you’re helping to administer a Graduate Group or a Designated Emphasis (DE), you’ll periodically partner with Graduate Studies on the appointment process for your Chair. This process typically begins in the Winter Quarter during the academic year in which your Chair’s term ends, with an ideal target of appointing the next Chair by the end of Spring Quarter. However, you may initiate the process at any time if your Chair steps down early or takes a leave lasting more than one quarter.
In this guide, you'll learn about the nomination process, what your Nomination Committee needs to do, and how Graduate Studies supports each step. For clarity, we use the word “you” throughout this guide. For both Groups and DEs, a Nomination Committee leads the process, and “you” refers to the Committee member(s) responsible for each action.
About the Process
The appointment and review of a Graduate Group Chair is governed by UCD APM 245 while the appointment and review of a Designated Emphasis Chair is governed by GS2015-03.
Working with Graduate Studies, you will send out a call for nominations to your faculty, students, and staff. You will ask each nominee who is willing to serve to provide a CV and a one-page statement describing their experience and vision for the Group/DE. Your faculty, students, and staff will have the opportunity to review each nominee’s CV and statement and provide a comment on their nomination.
After gathering comments, you will submit a letter to Graduate Studies summarizing the process and describing each nominee’s suitability for the role. You may also include a recommendation identifying your preferred candidate along with the rationale for that choice. Additional details about these steps–as well as templates for each stage–are provided in Steps 1-6 below.
Graduate Studies will review each nominee and conduct a brief compliance check with Academic Affairs to confirm that nominees meet the appointment criteria and are current with all required training. The Associate Dean for Graduate Programs (AD-GP) and Chair of Graduate Council typically interview all candidates and work with the Vice Provost and Dean (VP&D) to prepare a formal appointment recommendation.
For Graduate Groups, this recommendation and the nominee’s materials are provided to either the Office of the Provost or the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Human Health Services (VC-HHS), depending on your Group’s Lead Dean. The Provost or VC-HHS reviews the recommendation and makes the formal appointment.
For Designated Emphases, the VP&D of Graduate Studies confirms the appointment based on the nominee’s materials and the recommendation of the AD-GP and Chair of Graduate Council.
Once appointed, Graduate Studies will update all relevant information systems to ensure the new Chair is accurately reflected on your program page, has access to GradHub, is added to the gradchairs@ucdavis.edu mailing list and is included in other internal resources. New Chairs will be invited to the New Chair Orientation held before Fall Quarter, which covers essential information, resources and best practices to support their responsibilities.
- Step 1: Actively Foster Interest and Encourage Participation in the Process
Actively foster interest and encourage participation in the process by connecting with your Graduate Group/DE faculty and Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) to see who might be interested in the role, and consider who could help you with leading this process.
If the current Chair would like to pursue another term, they can self-nominate or be nominated while the Nomination Committee also seeks other nominations.
As you begin to assess interest, familiarize yourself with the nomination process by reviewing Steps 2-6. If you have questions after reviewing this guide, reach out to the Graduate Program Analyst, Ruby Bal (rbal@ucdavis.edu), or attend Office Hours throughout winter and spring quarters via Zoom if you’d like to chat about the process.- Step 2: Identify the Nomination Committee and Submit the Committee Roster to Graduate Studies
Review your Group/DE’s bylaws and work with your Graduate Group/DE to identify the Nomination Committee. These are the individuals Graduate Studies will contact about the nomination process.
• If your Group/DE's Executive Committee is elected, they may serve as the Nomination Committee.
• If your Group/DE's Executive Committee is appointed, the Executive Committee must appoint a separate Nomination Committee. This committee should include at least three faculty members from the Group/DE, and no more than one member may also serve on the Executive Committee.Once your Nomination Committee is established, send the names and email addresses of the members to the Graduate Program Analyst, Ruby Bal (rbal@ucdavis.edu).
If the Nomination Committee is unable to undertake the process, the current Chair should notify the Associate Dean, Duncan Temple Lang (dtemplelang@ucdavis.edu) and Graduate Program Analyst, Ruby Bal (rbal@ucdavis.edu). Graduate Studies will work with the Nomination Committee to assess the situation and determine the best course of action, taking into account any barriers or challenges the Group/DE is experiencing in finding a new Chair.
Additional Considerations
• If a student serves on the Executive Committee, they must be excused from participating in the nomination process.
• If a member of the Nomination Committee is nominated and is willing to serve as the Chair, the Executive Committee should appoint a replacement faculty member to the Nomination Committee.
• If the current Chair is willing to serve an additional term, they must inform the Nomination Committee and recuse themself from all aspects of the nomination process. When the call for nominations is distributed (See Step 3 below), it must include a notice that the current Chair will be considered a nominee.
• Typically, the Nominations Committee Chair leads communications with the Graduate Group/DE, though another committee member or staff affiliate may also take on this role.- Step 3: Send a Call for Nominations and Confirm the Nominees' Willingness to Serve
Send a call for nominations using this Nomination Template. This call should be sent to all faculty, students and staff members associated with your Group/DE. You may choose the method that works best for you (e.g. you may prefer email, Qualtrics, etc.), but the key point is ensuring all parties are able to nominate, with faculty members being able to self-nominate if desired. It is typical to allow one week for responses.
Confirm that nominees are willing to serve using this Willing Nominee Template for Graduate Groups or this Willing-Nominee Template for Designated Emphases. If a nominee is willing to serve, request that they provide a CV and one-page statement that describes: (1) their experience in graduate education (administrative committee service, membership in graduate groups, service as major professor, graduate teaching) and (2) the issues that they consider important for the incoming Chair to address.
All willing nominees should be asked to visit the Learning Management System to confirm they are up-to-date with required training material (e.g. Cyber Security Awareness or Ethics or the UC Ethics and Compliance Briefing for Researchers and UC's FERPA eCourse).
Additionally, willing nominees should be provided information related to their appointment, which is appended to the Willing-Nominee templates linked above.
At this stage, the names and emails of each willing nominee should be provided to the Graduate Program Analyst, Ruby Bal (rbal@ucdavis.edu).
Graduate Studies will provide the names of all your nominees to Academic Affairs for a compliance check. Academic Affairs verifies that the candidates have no outstanding training requirements or current investigations related to academic conduct violations. We do this immediately upon receiving the nominees' names to minimize delays later in the process.
Do You Have One or No Nominee(s)?
If you have one or no nominee(s), please let the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs (dtemplelang@ucdavis.edu) and the Graduate Program Analyst (rbal@ucdavis.edu) know.
It is ideal to have more than one nominee. This provides the Group/DE with more options and helps avoid delays if the sole nominee is unable to proceed. However, it's okay to proceed with a single nominee as long as the entire Group/DE was consulted on nominations.
If no nominees come forward after the full call, Graduate Studies will work with you to determine appropriate next steps. The Group/DE will need leadership under any circumstance, but the term can be adjusted to make the role more appealing. Typically, the next step would be to send a new call for nominees with an altered term (e.g. one year, 7/1/2025 - 6/30/2026).
- Step 4: Send a Call for Comments on the Nominee(s) to all Affiliated Faculty, Students and Staff
- Share the names of candidates along with their statements and CVs with all affiliated faculty, students and staff with a request for confidential comments on the candidates' suitability as Chair using the Comment Call Template.
You may collect comments through whatever method you deem most appropriate (email, Qualtrics, etc.), but it should be made clear to the recipients that (a) they may also send confidential comments directly to the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs (dtemplelang@ucdavis.edu) with a copy to Graduate Program Analyst (rbal@ucdavis.edu) and (b) all individuals involved in handling the nomination will hold comments in confidence. At this stage, too, it's typical to allow one week for responses. - Step 5: Send Graduate Studies a Final Nomination Letter
Send Graduate Studies the statement and CV for each candidate, all confidential comments received and a letter using the Final Nomination Letter Template. This letter should include:
• Names of each candidate.
• Confirmation that they are willing to serve.
• Confirmation that the solicitation of nominations and comment call included all affiliated faculty, students and staff.
• An evaluation by the Nomination Committee of the suitability of each candidate.
The letter can include the comments, or you can attach them separately. The only information Graduate Studies needs is each comment and the affiliation (staff, student or faculty) of the individual who provided it (e.g. "'Professor Davies is very supportive of students, and has been a dedicated mentor.' - Student").- Step 6: Graduate Studies Conducts Candidate Interviews and Announces the Appointment
For Graduate Groups, once you have submitted the final nomination packet, Graduate Studies will reach out to each candidate to schedule a 30-minute interview with the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and the Chair of Graduate Council. After doing so, a recommendation will be made to the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, who will then make a recommendation to the Provost or Vice Chancellor for Human Health Services (VC-HHS), depending on your Group's Lead Dean. The Provost or VC-HHS will make the formal appointment.
Once campus leadership finalizes the appointment, they will notify Graduate Studies. We will announce the successful candidate's appointment to all relevant parties after communicating with the nominees who were not selected for appointment.For Designated Emphases, once you have submitted the final nomination packet, Graduate Studies will reach out to each candidate to schedule a 30-minute interview with the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs. After doing so, a recommendation will be made to the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, who will finalize the appointment.
Once the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies finalizes the appointment, we will announce the successful candidate's appointment after communicating with nominees who were not selected for appointment.
Upcoming Chair Nominations
Not sure when your term as Chair is up, or are you a staff administrator hoping to plan ahead? Here's the year in which your Group or DE will need a new Chair. Bear in mind that Chair terms typically end on June 30th of the year given below, and the process to nominate a new Chair should begin during the preceding Winter Quarter.
- Graduate Groups
Group Name New Chair Year Agricultural And Environmental Chemistry 2028 Animal Behavior 2027 Animal Biology 2026 Applied Mathematics 2028 Atmospheric Science 2026 Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology 2026 Biomedical Engineering 2026 Biophysics 2027 Biostatistics 2028 Child Development 2028 Clinical Research 2027 Community Development 2026 Computer Science 2026 Cultural Studies 2028 Ecology 2028 Ecology (Joint Program With San Diego State University) 2028 Education (Ph.D.) 2026 Energy Systems 2027 Environmental Policy And Management 2026 Epidemiology 2026 Food Science 2027 Forensic Science 2026 Geography 2029 Health Informatics 2028 Horticulture And Agronomy 2027 Human Development 2028 Hydrologic Sciences 2028 Immunology 2026 Integrative Genetics And Genomics 2028 Integrative Pathobiology 2028 International Agricultural Development 2026 Microbiology 2028 Molecular, Cellular And Integrative Physiology 2028 Neuroscience 2026 Nursing (Master's Entry Program In Nursing) 2027 Nursing (Doctor of Nursing Practice - Family Nurse Practitioner) 2027 Nursing (Doctor of Nursing Practice - Nurse Anesthesia) 2027 Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership (M.S.) 2027 Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership (Ph.D.) 2027 Nutritional Biology 2027 Performance Studies 2029 Pharmacology And Toxicology 2028 Physician Assistant Studies 2027 Plant Biology 2027 Population Biology 2026 Preventive Veterinary Medicine 2027 Public Health (MPH) 2026 Public Health Sciences (Ph.D.) 2026 Soils And Biogeochemistry 2026 Transportation Technology And Policy 2027 Viticulture And Enology 2027 - Designated Emphases
Designated Emphasis Name New Chair Year African American And African Studies 2026 Biology Of Vector Borne Diseases 2026 Biophotonics and Bioimaging 2027 Biotechnology 2027 Classics & Classical Reception 2029 Computational Social Science 2028 Critical Theory 2027 Environmental Humanities 2028 Feminist Theory And Research 2026 Host Microbe Interactions 2026 Human Rights 2026 International And Community Nutrition 2026 Native American Studies 2026 Neuroengineering 2026 Reproductive Biology 2026 Science & Technology Studies 2026 Second Language Acquisition 2026 Studies In Performance And Practice 2027 Study Of Religion 2028 Translational Research 2026 Viticulture and Enology 2028 Writing, Rhetoric, And Composition Studies 2026
Who Appoints Graduate Group Chairs?
It's a common misconception that Graduate Studies appoints Graduate Group Chairs. These appointments are (and can only be) made by the Vice Chancellor of Human Health Sciences (VC-HHS) for Graduate Groups housed within the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Provost for all other Graduate Groups. Under certain circumstances, the two leadership offices work together to appoint Chairs.
| Graduate Group Lead Dean | Nominee's Home Dept. Lead Dean | Appointment Conferred By... |
| Schools of Medicine or Nursing | Schools of Medicine or Nursing | VC-HHS, after consultation with the Provost |
| Schools of Medicine or Nursing | Other Colleges | VC-HHS, after consultation with the Provost |
| Other Colleges | Schools of Medicine or Nursing | Provost, after consultation with VC-HHS |
| Other Colleges | Other Colleges | Provost |
Graduate Studies does, however, appoint the Chairs of Designated Emphases.