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Contractual grievances are governed by the procedures laid down in the Collective Bargaining Agreements under the title of Grievance and Appeals Procedure.  Appeals of an academic decision (e.g., tenure or promotion) follow the normal administrative route through the Chairperson, Dean, and Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs.

Faculty members who feel they are being unfairly treated should consult with the Chairperson.  The Chairperson may ask for the advice and recommendations of individual faculty members or of faculty groups in seeking resolution of complaints and problems.

In the event a conflict exists with the Chair, the faculty member should attempt to resolve this matter with the Chair.  If no resolution is achieved, the faculty member has the right to consult with the FAC to intervene on his or her behalf.  If no resolution is achieved at this level, the Chair of the FAC is empowered to bring this matter to the Dean.

Every effort should be made to resolve the matter at the departmental level through an informal procedure.

If no resolution is achieved, the appropriate procedure in either the TT or NTT CBA must be followed

1. Attendance at Graduation Exercises

At least one faculty member will represent the Department at graduation exercises at the end of each semester according to the Karamu Ya Wahitimu/Celebración de los Graduados rotation schedule.  All faculty members are encouraged to attend graduation ceremonies.  The faculty representative is responsible for making arrangements for appropriate academic regalia.

2.  Pan-African Faculty and Staff Association [PAFSA]

PAFSA is composed of members of the University faculty and staff.  New personnel appointed to the Department of Pan-African Studies are eligible and are encouraged to become members. 

3. Bulletin Boards

Anyone may post material on designated bulletin boards.  However, for purposes of neatness and organization, all materials to be posted should be brought first to the CPAC office.  All notices should be posted in the appropriate places designated for such postings by the Department.  ABSOLUTELY NO MATERIALS ARE ALLOWED TO BE POSTED ON WALLS, DOORS, OR WINDOWS!

4. Department Meetings

Faculty, staff, graduate assistants, student employees and selected officers of the Black United Students (if their class schedules allow) are required to attend Department General Faculty and Staff meetings.  The Department Chair shall convene faculty and general staff meetings.  Every effort should be made to notify faculty in a timely fashion.  A schedule of all general and FAC meetings should be distributed at the end of each summer or at the start of each semester.  A list of all regularly scheduled meetings of the General Staff, FAC and Communication Skills and Arts shall be distributed.  As deemed appropriate, acceptable and desirable by the FAC, some meetings and other communications may be carried out electronically.

FAC shall recommend the chairpersons of all Departmental committees to serve for the academic year.  Each committee chair shall meet and conduct Departmental and university business and submit an annual report to the PAS Chair prior to the end of the academic year.

The Department Chairperson reserves the right to call special meetings.

Faculty and staff are advised to submit agenda items for regular meetings at least two days in advance.

5. Dramatic and Other Artistic Performances

Any dramatic and/or artistic performances scheduled for the theatre must be done with the prior consultation and approval of the Theatre Director and/or Director of CPAC, respectively.

6. Duplication of Copyrighted Materials

The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.  Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction.  One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.”  If a user requests, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

7. Equipment, Furniture Arrangement

All Department and CPAC equipment, furniture, etc. should be returned to the proper storage area after use.  All rooms should be restored to the original order after use.  In all cases, the sponsoring individual or group is responsible for loss, disorder or damage.

8. Scheduling

All academic scheduling assumes priority.  Programming of events must be scheduled through completion of scheduling forms and approved by the CPAC office at least ten (10)working days in advance.  (See also 14 below.)

9.  Expenditures

All expenditures to support programs or events sponsored by the Department must first be approved by the individual in charge of the account from which the funds are to come and the Department Chairperson.  Any expenditure made without such prior approval may not be reimbursed.  Approved expenditures shall be reimbursed only upon presentation of valid receipts.

10.  Faculty/Staff Development Workshops

Occasional workshops may be offered to the faculty.  They are designed to present information relevant to instructional, professional, counseling and advising, community service and employment needs to faculty, staff and student employees.  The workshops are held in addition to faculty and staff meetings and as often as the FAC and/or Chairperson announces. 

11. Fundraising

All funds raised by Department personnel during the discharge of their professional duties shall be immediately turned over to the Administrative Assistant, who is responsible for the deposit of said funds in the appropriate Departmental account in the Kent State University Foundation.  Funds exceeding $200 must be placed in the Department's safe.

12. Office Assignments

Office assignments are made exclusively by the Chairperson in consultation with the CPAC Director, who serves as the Building Curator.  Offices may be reassigned upon request according to programmatic needs and departmental growth.  Such changes must be accompanied by discussion by the FAC, with the active participation of the Chair and the CPAC Director.  Offices can be reassigned upon request when vacancies occur.

13. Office and Building Keys/Cards

Full-time faculty and staff will each be issued a sub-master card key to Oscar Ritchie Hall.  Part-time staff will be issued cards—sub-master or otherwise—in keeping with their work assignment.   Keys to enter Oscar Ritchie Hall after closing hours shall be issued only to those persons with authorization from the building curators to be in the building after hours.  All faculty and staff members who resign must return their keys/cards to the Chairperson.

14. Open Hours: The Department of Pan-African Studies and the Center of Pan-African Culture

Office hours for the Department and the Center of Pan-African Culture are from

8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily except Saturday and Sunday. 

Anyone wishing to use the facilities during closed hours must obtain written permission from the Director of CPAC ten (10) work days in advance.  (See also 8 above.)

15. Office Hours: Faculty

Each faculty member is required to have office hours published in the Department's office.  Instructors should notify all their classes of the hours during which they are available for conferences.

16. Ordering Books and Journals for the Main Library

PAS has an annual allocation for acquiring books and journals for the KSU library. Faculty members wishing to order books, journals, etc. for the main library should first ascertain whether the item is already listed among the library's holdings and is available for circulation.  If not, a request should be made through the Department's library representative.

Book and journal orders for the PAS Resource Center are made from limited funds in the Department budget.  These purchases must be in accordance with the faculty member's specific research and teaching areas.

17. Participation in Freshman First-Year Experience Program

On a rotating basis, faculty members are selected to teach a one-credit hour first-year experience course.  All faculty and graduate assistants are expected to participate in Departmental programs designed to assist freshmen during Freshman Destination Kent Week and at specific intervals throughout the academic year.

18.  Secretarial Support for Faculty

All typing requests shall be channeled through the Department's Secretary.  Such requests should be made no fewer than three days in advance of the date needed.  The Secretary shall type and run off quizzes, exams, etc. when it is clear that the faculty or staff persons requesting typing or copying cannot be expected to do it themselves.

Given the lack of a secretarial pool and an increasing demand, the Department has established priorities for regulating requests for typing assistance:

a.   Departmental business correspondence, reports, program evaluations, etc;

b.   Faculty business correspondence;

c.   Course syllabi, Basic Data Sheets, examinations;

d.    Quizzes, fliers, and notices, etc.;

e.   Assistance in the preparation and submission of book order forms, audio-visual orders, scanning, photocopying, and printing.

20. Conference and Research Travel

Faculty and staff who are either officers in professional associations or are to read scholarly papers at professional meetings may request partial financial assistance to attend one conference per year by submitting in advance of the event the appropriate documentation and forms for approval by the Chairperson and the Dean.  Additional research travel support may be requested from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.  No research travel will be financed by the Department or the College of Arts and Sciences without the submission of a typed proposal and without the individual’s having first applied for funds from the University’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. 

Advising and counseling

All faculty are responsible for advising students who attend the University in general and who enroll in PAS courses in particular.  This advising is part of an on-going program conducted by the Department.  Each faculty person may be assigned a number of in-coming students and should see each advisee at least twice a semester.  All full-time faculty are also responsible for advising Department majors and minors.

Outcome Assessment Survey

DPAS administers its Outcomes Assessment Survey twice during the academic careers of its major and minors: once at the junior level and again at the senior level as an exit survey just prior to graduation to determine how well students are substantively equipped with the core knowledge of the discipline.

 Arts and Sciences Student Advisory Committee (SAC)

The FAC will select from among the Department’s majors and minors for the SAC two representatives and one alternate who are in good academic standing.  In some instances, students who are not majors or minors but who have demonstrated interest in the Department’s academic programs and other activities can be selected.  One of the representatives shall report to the Department and to the Executive Committee of BUS.

Graduate Assistants

Appointees must be in good standing in the Graduate College and should be enrolled in a specific program.  They must comply with course load requirements as specified by the Graduate College.  Assistants will be required to work 20 hours a week and/or to teach no more than two, if any, courses during the academic year.  Policy regarding re-appointment, dismissal and other matters of concern to graduate student appointees is determined by the Graduate College.  The Department will make every attempt to develop an orientation program for the Graduate Assistants which will establish concise and precise Departmental expectations.

Student Interns

By arrangement, graduate students may perform required internships within the Department with the consent of the graduate student’s advisor and the PAS Chairperson in consultation with the PAS faculty member supervising the internship.

By arrangement, undergraduates enrolled in the African American Affairs Practicum may perform their internships within one of the Divisions of the Department or the Center of Pan-African Culture.

College Work-Study Assistants

After determination of eligibility for College Work-Study by the Office of Financial Aid, students seeking employment in this category should first submit a completed Student Employment Application.  Such assistants can perform a variety of roles such as tutors, resource aides, researchers, etc.

Occasionally, the Department will offer students work opportunities within the Department which are not governed by College Work-Study eligibility regulations.  Students hired in this category are responsible for the same kind of tasks as mentioned above for regular College Work-Study employees and are assigned similar titles.

During the summer the Department, in conjunction with the College Work-Study Program, assists students (graduate and undergraduate) to acquire jobs: a 40-hour week in an on- or off-campus agency if they show an intent to enter or return to Kent State University for Fall Semester.  Eligibility and rate of pay for this program is determined by the Financial Aids Office and the Department of Pan-African Studies.

Student Evaluation of Faculty

Student evaluations should be administered during the 14^th or 15^th week of each semester.  These evaluations should take place in both lower- and upper-division classes.  The University has devised a questionnaire that must be used.  These evaluations should be used for Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion Reviews.

1.  Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society (Mu Mu Chapter) and Other Honor Awards

The Department’s primary method of recognizing superior student scholarship is the Alpha Kappa Mu National Society.  Alpha Kappa Mu is a general scholarship honor society open to junior and senior men and women, and graduate students in all academic areas.  Honorary membership is open to the Department’s faculty and to other faculty on the campus.  The formal induction of new members takes place during Honors Week in April.  Inductees into Alpha Kappa Mu (Mu Mu Chapter) must fulfill the following requirements:

     a.   Eligibility for active membership is based upon junior or senior class standing with a minimum of 64 semester hours (50 percent of the hours needed for graduation) and a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 or better;

     b.   Transfer students shall be in residence for at least two semesters and shall have earned 32 semester hours at Kent Sate University toward a degree.  However, the grade point average shall be computed for the entire career to date.

     c.   Graduate inductees must have earned no fewer than 15 semester hours as regularly matriculated graduate students and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 or better.  To guarantee that graduate students satisfy these academic  requirements, a copy of the student’s transcript must accompany the application for permission to induct.

In addition to Alpha Kappa Mu, the Department offers five other awards:

a. The W.E.B. DuBois University Service Award;

b. The Mary McLeod Bethune Award for Scholarship;

c. The Fela Sowande Award for Creativity;

d. The Shirley R. Crosby Community Service Award; and

e. The Hulda Smith-Graham Freshman Scholarship Award;

Recipients of the W.E.B. Du Bois or Fela Sowande Awards must have a minimum GPA of 2.50, and those for the Mary McLeod Bethune Award must have a minimum GPA of 3.00.  All recipients of theses awards must have also taken at least two PAS courses.  No particular class standing is required.  The Hulda Smith-Graham Award is presented to all first–semester freshman students taking PAS courses who have earned a minimum GPA of 3.00.

2.  Black United Students (BUS)

In keeping with the educational mandate, a charge made by the Black United Students to the Department in 1969, the Department maintains a viable working relationship with this student organization.  This relationship encompasses all aspects of the Department’s curricular divisions, programs and activities which directly impact student concerns.  To effect the orderly implementation of the relationship, the President of BUS, or his designate, is welcome to attend all general faculty and staff meetings, providing the agendas of these meetings warrant student presence.

3.  UHURU Magazine

This is a Pan-African Student magazine that has been published by Black United Students since 1969.  Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to submit articles and news items to this publication on a regular basis.  In addition, it is expected that Communication Skills and Arts students will have some of their written assignments expressly designed for publication in this student magazine.     

Department of Pan African Studies (DPAS) Organizational Chart

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