The following templates are intended to help you get started, and to lighten the load of your Chair nomination process. You don't need to follow the format and/or wording precisely, but they serve as a guide to the information your communication on each topic should contain.
- Nomination Call Template
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students in the [Group/DE name],
On behalf of the nominations committee of the [Group/DE name], I am writing to seek your nominations for the position of [acting/interim if necessary] Chair for [upcoming term length]. As you may know, the duties of the Chair include providing academic leadership to the Group, administration and oversight of Group operations, and guiding the Group’s development.
You are welcome to self-nominate, or nominate one of your colleagues or mentors. Please send your nomination to me[or GPC, or a Qualtrics form – whatever works best for the Group/DE] by [date]. Those nominated will be contacted to confirm their willingness to serve, after which point you will have an opportunity to provide comments on the CVs and statements of all willing nominees.
Thank you,
[signature]- Willing Nominee Template (Graduate Group)
Dear [nominee name],
I hope you’re well. I am writing as you’ve been nominated to serve as the [acting/interim if necessary] Chair of the [Group name] for a [upcoming term length] period.
If you are willing to serve in this capacity, please send me a CV and a one-page statement describing your experience in graduate education (administrative committee service, membership in graduate groups, service as major professor, graduate teaching), and your vision for the issues that you consider important for the Chair to address. Your statement and CV will be provided to Graduate Studies. While nominations are being processed, I strongly encourage you to visit lms.ucdavis.edu and complete any eCourses listed under “Required Training” including the UC’s FERPA eCourse; this will speed up the confirmation process. Please also review the information appended to this message.
If you would prefer not to serve as Chair for the time being, you can simply let me know.
Thank you,
[signature]Appended Information
• Graduate Groups are essential and unique to UC Davis, providing very rich interdisciplinary communities, degrees, education, and research. They offer disciplines separate from undergraduate majors and engage faculty from multiple departments and colleges and schools. The number of Graduate Groups is slightly more than departmentally-based Graduate Programs, each numbering about 50.
• A compliance check is conducted for each nominee by Academic Affairs. This is quite benign, focused on ensuring mandatory training is complete and that no serious complaints about violations of academic conduct are being investigated or disciplinary actions have been taken.
• The Associate Dean of Graduate Programs will write a letter of support for a Graduate Group Chair at the next merit/promotion emphasizing the significant service involved in serving as a Chair.
• A Graduate Group Chair receives Academic Enrichment Funds (AEF) proportional to the number of students enrolled in the group and the number of years of experience/service as Chair. The amount currently ranges between $1K and $4K. This cannot be used for salary. There is no summer salary associated with the position.
• Generally, a Graduate Group chair does not receive any course reduction or any other incentive. A nominee can raise this with the Graduate Group’s Lead Dean.
• A Graduate Group Chair works with faculty members and their departments to find synergies in teaching the required and elective courses in the group’s degree requirements.- Willing Nominee Template (Designated Emphasis)
Dear [nominee name],
I hope you’re well. I am writing as you’ve been nominated to serve as the [acting/interim if necessary] Chair of the [DE name] for a [upcoming term length] period.
If you are willing to serve in this capacity, please send me a CV and a one-page statement describing your experience in graduate education (administrative committee service, membership in graduate groups, service as major professor, graduate teaching), and your vision for the issues that you consider important for the Chair to address. Your statement and CV will be provided to Graduate Studies. While nominations are being processed, I strongly encourage you to visit lms.ucdavis.edu and complete any eCourses listed under “Required Training,” including the UC’s FERPA eCourse; this will speed up the confirmation process. Please also review the information appended to this email.
If you would prefer not to serve as Chair for the time being, you can simply let me know.
Thank you,
[signature]Appended Information
• A compliance check is conducted for each nominee by Academic Affairs. This is quite benign, focused on ensuring mandatory training is complete and that no serious complaints about violations of academic conduct are being investigated or disciplinary actions have been taken.
• Generally, a Designated Emphasis Chair does not receive any course reduction or any other incentive, although this is a decision made within the host College or School.
• A Designated Emphasis Chair works with faculty members and their departments to find synergies in teaching the courses which contribute to completion of the DE.- Comment Call Template
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students in the [Group/DE name],
On behalf of the nominations committee of the [Group/DE name], and with thanks for your time in making nominations, I am writing to solicit confidential comments on the nominee[s] for Chair. Of those nominated, [quantity] were willing to serve in this capacity: [names of willing nominees]. Please find the [candidate’s / candidates’] statement[s] and CV[s] attached.
Your confidential comments will be provided to the Nominations Committee, the Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, and the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs. If you wish, comments can also be sent directly to Associate Dean Duncan Temple Lang ([email protected]), with cc to Graduate Studies Program Analyst Ruby Bal ([email protected]). All parties will hold your submitted comments in confidence.
Please send comments to me [or GPC, or a Qualtrics form – whatever works best for the Group] by [date].
Thank you,
[signature]- Final Nomination Letter Template
The form of this letter is largely up to you; this template focuses on the information it should contain, but of course any surrounding detail, formatting, etc. is entirely your call. Send the final nomination letter to Associate Dean Duncan Temple Lang and Graduate Program Analyst, Ruby Bal. If you have any questions, you’re very welcome to contact Graduate Program Analyst Ruby Bal ([email protected]).
Dear Associate Dean Temple Lang,
The nominating committee of the [Group/DE name] has completed the process outlined by Graduate Studies for the selection of an [interim/acting as appropriate] Chair.
The solicitation of nominations included all faculty, staff, and students associated with the [Group/DE]. We received [quantity; this template features an example count of four and provides an example of information that is helpful] nominations:
• Name 1 (Home Dept)
• Name 2 (Home Dept)
• Name 3 (Home Dept)
• Name 4 (Home Dept)The nomination was discussed with each candidate. Name 1 and Name 4 agreed to serve as Chair for the full term, if appointed. Name 2 and 3 withdrew from consideration. The CVs and Statements for Name 1 and Name 4 were put forward to the faculty, students, and staff for comment. [a brief summary of comments can follow; comments should be appended or attached in full. No names are required, only affiliations. E.g., “’Name 1 deals with student challenges in a caring and transparent way’ – Faculty”]
[A short evaluation of each willing candidate’s relative merits should follow. The letter need not come to a conclusion on which the Committee prefers, but you are absolutely welcome to. As an example, if one candidate has more administrative experience but the other is very strong on student advising support, it would be appropriate to make an evaluation on which area is more badly needed in a leadership role at the present time. Likewise, if one candidate does not have much experience, it’s fine to note this and say (to paraphrase) “we do not suggest proceeding with this candidate at this time.” The Associate Dean (for Group/DE Chairs) and Chair of Graduate Council (for Group Chairs) will interview all willing nominees.]
Sincerely,
[signature]Attachments
Nominee(s) CV
Nominee(s) Statement
All Comments