[Mathregionals] [Math-faculty] Chair Election

[Davydov, Alexei]

Dear Todd

I could chair the selection committee

all the best,
Alexei

________________________________________
From: Math-faculty <math-faculty-bounces at listserv.ohio.edu> on behalf of Eisworth, Todd <eisworth at ohio.edu>
Sent: 20 February 2020 10:28
To: 'math-faculty at listserv.ohio.edu'; 'math-group2 at listserv.ohio.edu'; Mathregionals at listserv.ohio.edu
Cc: Plassmann, Florenz
Subject: [Math-faculty] Chair Election

Hi all,

I’m writing to remind everyone that when I signed up for my second term as chair, I determined that I would serve at most three more years.
That was three years ago, so we will need to conduct a chair election process this semester.

Historically, this has consisted of the following steps:

1 The current chair announces that his/her term is nearing completion and whether or not he/she is willing to run for a new term. This is desirable, since in case the existing chair does not run, other faculty would think seriously about running.
2 The current chair appoints a three person chair selection committee consisting of faculty who guarantee that they are not running.
3 The committee establishes a deadline for nominations. Self-nominations are acceptable.
4 The committee consults the nominees to make sure that they accept the nomination.
5 A list of nominees who indicated their willingness to run for chair is distributed to faculty.
6 A deadline is established for the candidates to submit their CVs and a summary of their vision for the department to faculty.
7 Depending on the number of finalists, one or two faculty meetings are scheduled where the candidates answer questions by faculty and further detail their plans.
8 A meeting where a secret vote takes place concludes the departmental process. A report with the result of the vote is sent to the dean by the head of the chair selection committee.
9 The dean invites faculty to convey their opinions.
10 The dean appoints the chair.

I’ve forwarded this procedure to the dean to let him know our process, and to make sure this is how he would like to see things proceed.

Regarding (1), my intent is to step down at the end of June, to spend the Fall semester helping with transition, and then to go on Faculty Fellowship Leave in Spring 2021.

This isn’t a matter of my health and eyesight, as  I’ve finally reached the point where I no longer require medications for diabetes, and my vision has stabilized so that’s all worked out well.   Instead, it’s a matter of me wanting to move on and  focus on other things for a while, both personally and professionally.     I have enjoyed leading this department, but I’ve been chair now for almost half of my career here.

These are, of course, very challenging times, and there is a lot of difficult work to be done over the next few years.

For those of you who may be interested in running, I’m happy to sit down and talk with you about the job.

For those of you who are definitely NOT interested in running, I will need to appoint a chair selection committee.  Please let me know if you’re willing to serve in this capacity.

It’s been a privilege to serve as your leader all these years, but I’m also looking forward to being able to devote my time to some other things.

Best,

Todd

PS: As usual, the role of regional campus faculty in this process is still unclear, but I’m including all in the discussion.