Office of the Provost

Academic Affairs Manual

Senior administrative officers

Definition: Senior administrative officers of Western Michigan University consist of the vice presidents, provost, deans, chairs and directors, as appropriate, and such other officials of equivalent responsibility as may be designated by the president.

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Senior administrative officials are subject to the direction and control of the president and serve at the pleasure of the president. They are employees at will and as such have no property interest in the continuation of such employment. Senior administrative officials may be terminated without cause and without prior notice, and no reasons are required or must be stated for termination of employment. All such appointments and separations are subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees.

Tenure status as a member of the faculty, held concurrently by any senior administrative officer, is separate and distinct from the administrative office, and such tenure status is governed by the provisions of the Agreement between Western Michigan University and the WMU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. These tenure provisions have no bearing upon and do not govern the administrative appointments provided for in this policy.

Administrative appointments approved by the Board of Trustees at its June 23, 2000 meeting will be covered by the terms of the senior administrative officers policy, unless otherwise designated by the president. Letters of offer extended to individuals for senior administrative officer positions shall inform the individuals that they are senior administrative officers, and a copy of the policy pertaining to senior administrative officers will be conveyed to them as part of their letter of offer.

(Policy and procedures approved by the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees June 23, 2000; amended by the President November 5, 2002.)

Appointment Procedures

Hiring procedures for senior administrative officers will follow the regular faculty hiring procedures.

Please refer to:

Letter of Offer

Annual leave payoff for senior administrative officers of executive officials

To provide consistency of practice and congruence with university budget processes, the following policy governs annual leave payoff for all senior administrative officers or executive officials. All remaining annual leave hours accrued during an appointment as a senior administrative officer or executive official should be handled in the following order:

Used prior to effective end date of the administrative appointment;
Used prior to any negotiated paid administrative leave taking effect;
Paid off (if any remaining balance) in next pay period after the final paycheck upon resignation, termination or retirement from the university.

This arrangement should be set forth in writing and submitted to the appropriate supervising senior administrative officer prior to the end of the appointment.

Return to faculty

When a senior administrative officer who holds tenured faculty rank wishes to return to faculty, he/she should write a letter to the next level supervisor specifying date of administrative resignation and date of return to faculty. Payroll dates should be verified. Recommendation will be sent to the next level supervisor who will then notify the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

The provost will respond to the faculty member and forward for approval by the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees.
The provost will send a letter confirming the decision of the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees