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Section IV: College of Business and Economics
Mission and Values
The College of Business and Economics provides high quality programs in business and economics, focusing primarily on undergraduate instruction. The College serves the needs of students from throughout the region by offering programs that provide a global perspective, a knowledge of information technology, and the ability to apply economic and business principles. The College also offers a general graduate program in business administration and provides instruction to students from other colleges within the University. As a supporting part of this educational mission, the faculty of the College engage in applied, integrative, and pedagogical scholarship and provide services to their profession, the community, and the University. The College seeks continuous improvement in the quality of its pedagogy, scholarship, and service to its constituents.
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II. Organization
The College of Business and Economics is organized into departments, each with a chairperson. These are the Department of Accounting; the Department of Management; the Department of Finance and Marketing; the Department of Decision Sciences; the Department of Economics; and the MBA Program. The College also has a number of Centers that support and carry out the mission of the College. They include: the Center for Economic and Business Research; the Center for Economic Education; the Center for International Business; the Center for Excellence in Management Education; the Small Business Development Center; and the Small Group Decision Support Lab. In addition, numerous faculty committees help the College carry out its mission.
The Dean is the chief administrative officer of the College.
III. Governance
The College shall be governed by a Dean, a College Policy Council, and the Faculty of the College. The responsibilities, powers, and duties of these entities are set forth in College documents.
IV. The Faculty
A. Principles Used for Appointment, Promotion, Granting of Tenure and Continuous Evaluation of Faculty
To achieve its mission, the college faculty must be prepared and productive educators. The necessary qualifications for appointment, retention, promotion, and the granting of tenure are those established in the WWU Faculty Handbook augmented by the College of Business and Economics Handbook. The accepted terminal degree for tenure track appointments in all departments shall be the appropriate doctorate.
In addition to being effective educators, University faculty are expected to be experts in their field of specialization and to contribute to their respective discipline's body of knowledge, and to participate in academic governance and community service. Evaluation of faculty traditionally includes assessment of the contribution in each of the following areas: (1) teaching; (2) research, creative scholarship, and publication; (3) department, college, and university governance and community service.
It is not expected that each faculty person will contribute equally in each area. It is required, however, that candidates for promotion or tenure shall achieve and maintain competence in each of the three areas, and will strive toward distinction in at least one. The same criteria are used for all evaluations.
Teaching in its various forms constitutes a central function of the College, and excellence in teaching is encouraged and rewarded. Every faculty member is expected to be an effective teacher, and no faculty member should be nominated for promotion or for tenure without documented and convincing evidence of teaching effectiveness. Excellence in teaching draws continuously upon the teacher's competence as a scholar in the discipline. Suggested sources of information for use in the evaluation process may include, but are not limited to:
(1) Student evaluations, including written comments, administered through the University Testing Center or the Department as appropriate. It is expected that such evaluations will be presented from not less than four classes per year, from each of the three years preceding any personnel action. These evaluations will reflect the spectrum of courses offered by the faculty person. It is recommended that faculty obtain evaluations in all classes.
(2) Evaluations solicited by the chair from peers.
(3a) Documentation for existing courses taught including syllabi, relevant handouts, sample examinations, and/or a written description of how the faculty member approaches the teaching of the course.
(3b) Documentation of the development of significant new courses and/or preparation of innovative effective teaching materials or instructional techniques.
(4) Peer evaluation of the direction of significant independent study and research by students, special student projects, internships, or informal student seminars.
(5) Honors or special recognition received by the faculty member as a result of teaching accomplishment.
Research, Creative Scholarship and Publication is defined as inquiry undertaken to establish facts, develop principles, answer or illuminate questions posed within an area of intellectual pursuit, through the collection, ordering, and dissemination of documented evidence and conclusions. Every faculty member is expected to demonstrate continuing competence in this area.
Research and creative scholarship are evaluated primarily in terms of publications. Books published by university presses and some books published by established commercial firms, articles in journals providing a process for review of manuscripts by selected authorities, and bulletins or reports that are similarly reviewed, naturally carry more weight than those that do not require rigorous review for acceptance and publication. In cases of multiple authorship, the degree of contribution to the study by each person should be established as clearly as possible.
Other scholarly activities may include papers published in proceedings or in-house journals, book reviews, professional presentations, conference sessions organized or chaired, being a discussant at professional meetings and in some cases offices held in professional organizations or scholarly societies.
In general, evidence of achievement in scholarship for promotion to associate professor or the granting of tenure in the College must include research published in refereed journals or a book published, after substantial peer review, by a recognized press as a necessary condition for consideration.
Promotion to full professor must include an increase in quantity and quality relative to that needed for promotion to associate professor. Such evidence would include substantial articles in refereed professional journals or research in books published by university presses or established commercial firms.
Department, College, and University Governance and Community Service. Active participation in activities relating to College and University governance and service to the University such as committee work, administrative duties, student advising, student placement, and other activities that may promote the general College and University welfare is expected of all College of Business and Economics faculty.
In addition, there are other professional activities that represent the outreach programs and activities of the College and its faculty. Emphasis is placed upon organized activities where knowledge and teaching are combined, but programs and activities of a professional nature, or service to an outside agency or community may be included. For example, teaching in seminars offered by other divisions of the University, membership on publication review boards, committee memberships or the holding of office in professional societies, and consulting or advising extra-university groups in matters of professional expertise are all appropriate.
Governance, community service activities and programs can be beneficial to all faculty members. However, it is expected that greater emphasis will be placed on this area after a person has been granted tenure.
It is not expected that teaching, scholarship, and service will be considered equally in promotion and tenure decisions. In the tenure and promotion-to-associate-professor decision, contributions to teaching and scholarship are weighted much more heavily than are service contributions. In the tenure at associate or full professor level and/or the promotion-to-full-professor decision, contributions to teaching and scholarship are still weighted heavily, but service contributions are relatively more important than in the tenure and promotion-to-associate-professor decision.
B. Procedures for Tenure and Promotion Recommendations
The procedures and forms to be used are those set forth in the College Policies and Procedures for Continuous Development and Improvement.
Should the Dean, the department chair, or a member of the Faculty Review Committee, or a person related to them, be the candidate under consideration, the Dean or the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, as appropriate, shall appoint a substitute to conduct the review and recommendations.
C. Other Matters Relating to Faculty
All other terms and conditions of employment, status, and rights not covered above (e.g., salary, leaves, retirement, termination and non-reappointment, grievance) will be those established in the University portion of the Handbook and the College Policies and Procedures for Continuous Development and Improvement.
