1. Selection and Term

The chief officer of the Department of Anthropology shall be the Chair of the Department, also known as the Departmental Executive Officer (DEO). The chair shall perform the duties prescribed by this Manual of Operations and Procedures and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the department. The DEO shall be appointed by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences following consultation with the members of the department faculty and with other persons the dean may regard as appropriate, and with approval of the Provost. If the DEO is absent or unable to carry out their duties, a faculty member, selected by the DEO, will be recommended to the dean as Acting DEO, with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) recommended to serve in that capacity when both the DEO and the assigned faculty member are absent.

2. Duties

The chair shall have primary administrative responsibilities for recommending faculty appointments, promotions and salary raises, procuring and regulating equipment, overseeing the work of the department’s teaching assistants, monitoring complaints from its undergraduate and graduate students, and managing its budget and office staff. The chair shall also be responsible for scheduling and conducting departmental meetings. In carrying out these responsibilities, the chair will consult when needed with appropriate faculty and staff. 

The chair shall be the representative of the Department of Anthropology to the administration of the college and university. The chair shall have the task of explaining departmental needs to the collegiate and university administration and communicating collegiate and university policies to the students and faculty in the department.

The chair is ex-officio member of the Advisory Committee to the Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) but can delegate the responsibility of OSA Liaison to a faculty member. 

The Chair shall appoint a DGS, a Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), a Curriculum Coordinator, and a Global Health Studies Coordinator. All director appointments are for one year, although they are normally renewed. These faculty, plus the departmental administrative staff, constitute the Executive Committee, who shall informally advise the chair on graduate student issues, undergraduate student issues, and on matters concerning the department’s curriculum. The Executive Committee will meet whenever any member has a need to discuss matters that require coordination among other members; meetings are scheduled for each week, though can be cancelled if there is nothing to discuss. Executive Committee meetings will not have a formal agenda. 

The duties of the DGS shall be as follows: serving as a resource for graduate students and faculty, establishing, communicating, and enforcing the rules and requirements of the graduate curriculum, coordinating the admissions of new graduate students, assigning TAs to courses, and supervising the annual review of graduate students. The DGS will chair the Graduate Committee and also represent the department to the Graduate College. In carrying out these responsibilities, the DGS will consult with the DEO and other appropriate faculty. The DGS will teach the Grad Pro-Seminar each fall, observe new TAs in the classroom, and consult with them on feedback activities with their students. 

The duties of the DUS shall be as follows: The DUS serves as a resource for undergraduate majors and minors in Anthropology, assisting the academic advisor to help students meet degree requirements, encouraging career development in anthropology-related fields, and participating in outreach and major recruitment. This position is the faculty advisor for the undergraduate Anthropology Club and the faculty coordinator for Honors in the Major, teaching the Honors Research Seminar in fall semesters. In carrying out these responsibilities, the DUS will consult with the DEO and other appropriate faculty. 

The Curriculum Coordinator coordinates on all matters concerning the undergraduate and graduate curricula in consultation with the DEO and Executive Committee to meet departmental needs. The coordinator’s primary duty is to work with faculty, staff, and the Executive Committee to plan class offerings in upcoming semesters to meet curricular needs. The coordinator reviews new courses, deletes seldom-taught courses from the curriculum, addresses cross-listed courses, and approves courses taught during summer term and through Continuing Education.

This committee shall consist of all faculty and the DGS serves as chair. The committee meets annually. Each faculty mentor evaluates, recommends, and ranks students for admission to the graduate program and for funding. The DGS in consultation with the Executive Committee shall determine final funding rankings of applicants.
 

This committee works with the faculty to arrange the colloquium program of the Department of Anthropology and shall make decisions regarding the colloquium budget. Committee members and the chair are appointed by the DEO, and the committee meets sporadically as most of its duties are completed via electronic communication. The Chair of the Colloquium Committee has primary responsibility for arranging the schedules of speakers throughout the academic year; in the absence of a committee chair, the DEO assumes these responsibilities.

This Coordinator helps to disseminate news about departmental activities, lectures, publications, grants, and awards on the Anthropology website and social media accounts (Facebook, e.g.) and assists in preparing the Department Newsletter in the spring. This role is held by the Departmental Administrator or another staff member appointed by the DEO. 

Serving on the Board of Directors of HRAF (the Human Relations Area Files) based at Yale University, the representative reviews all materials from the director and staff regarding the running of the company. The Board of Directors attends the annual meeting in April in New Haven for a day of meetings (or attends virtually). As a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, the representative also attends meetings in November at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association. This role is held by a faculty member appointed by the DEO. 

The IRB Liaison will maintain a useful line of communication between the department and HSO staff, in order to help expedite HSO processing of applications from students and faculty; this may include periodic events that bring an HSO staff member to meet with faculty and graduate students. This role is held by a faculty member appointed by the DEO. 

Regular meetings of the Department faculty will be scheduled by the Chair as needed, generally once each month, but at least four times per semester, to conduct departmental business.

Special meetings shall be called by the Chair of the Department in a timely manner upon receipt of a petition requesting a meeting, which bears the signatures of at least five faculty members of the Department of Anthropology. If a specific issue is involved, no action will be taken on that issue before the departmental meeting scheduled to discuss it.

 A Graduate Student Representative will be in attendance at each meeting, but asked to leave if there is student business, personnel issues, or promotion and tenure matters being discussed. At the beginning of each academic year, a list of post-comps students interested in serving as Graduate Student Representative will be provided to the faculty for their consideration and approval. The Graduate Representative will receive the meeting agenda and meeting minutes, with any student business redacted. The Graduate Student Representative does not vote [see II. voting eligibility above].

An email notice of meetings will be sent to all regular members of the Department of Anthropology and the Graduate Student Representative at least four (4) full days before a regular or special meeting. This notice shall request items to be placed on the agenda. An agenda will be sent via email one or two days before the meeting. Non-agenda items raised under new business that require a vote, will be voted on at the next scheduled meeting as a regular agenda item.

The Chair of the Department or the person designated by the Chair shall be the chair of a departmental meeting.

The duties of the chair of a departmental meeting include the following:

1. Opening the meeting at the required time and calling the meeting to order
2. Announcing business in the appropriate order
3. Stating and putting to a vote any proper motions that are made
4. Announcing the results of the votes
5. Enforcing the rules of order on all occasions 

A quorum during any semester shall be 60% of the number of voting faculty members of the Department of Anthropology not on leave for that semester. The quorum count shall include those who have left absentee ballots on important issues. 

The Departmental Meeting Secretary shall be the Departmental Administrator. This person shall record and prepare minutes for each departmental meeting. These minutes shall include precise wordings of motions voted on, the outcomes of the votes, and the main points of discussion. The Departmental Meeting Secretary shall arrange for the minutes to be distributed to the faculty. A file shall be kept in the departmental office for official documents such as the Manual of Operations and Procedures. A file shall also be kept in the departmental office for minutes of all previous Departmental Meetings.

The usual order of business shall include the review and approval of minutes of previous meetings.

A secret ballot shall be used to vote anytime anyone asks for a secret ballot. The secret ballot shall then take place without further discussion of the balloting process.