Standing Rules of College of Science Faculty
Final Version: Adopted 5/1/06
Revision: Adopted 9/27/07
These standing rules may be suspended, amended, or abolished by a simple majority of those voting under normal voting procedures.
1. Standing Committees
All standing committees are to make at least one yearly report to the Faculty on business transacted during the respective academic year. Whenever an election is held for which terms are staggered, the determination of the length of terms (if not otherwise made clear) shall be according to the vote count: those receiving the largest number of votes shall receive the longest terms. Committee Chairs shall report to the Chair of the Nominations Committee or to the Secretary of the Faculty any changes in the composition of their Committees requiring action by the Nominations Committee.
(a) Promotion and Tenure Committee
Whenever the Committee receives a nomination for promotion or tenure from someone other than the candidate’s Department Chair it shall immediately notify the Department Chair of the nomination. The Dean is requested to notify Department Chairs and the P&T Committee early in the semester of the deadlines for submitting dossiers and his/her policies concerning failure to meet these deadlines. The Dean should also specify on the COS web site what information the Chairs should include in their recommendations.
The P&T Committee will remind Department Chairs of these policies, as well as the provisions in these standing rules that apply to Tenure and Promotion. All candidates for Promotion and Tenure shall be assigned one or more members of the Committee to serve as “liaison” with the Candidate. The liaison(s) shall have discussions with the Candidate in order to clarify any issues, and shall be the primary person(s) to present the case to the full Committee. Any member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee who participated in the first-level review of a candidate does not participate in the evaluation of that candidate in the Committee.
However, this shall not be construed as preventing anyone from appearing as a witness before the Committee. In fact, the Committee Chair shall afford each department chair the opportunity to appear before the Committee in order to answer questions that may clarify the candidate’s case. In the event that the Department Chair’s recommendation on the candidate was opposite to that of the Department Tenure and Promotion Committee, the Chair of that Committee shall also be given the opportunity to appear.
Candidates for promotion and tenure are expected to achieve high competence in the areas of teaching and scholarship, and must further demonstrate genuine excellence in either teaching or scholarship. Candidates are also expected to have an adequate contribution in the area of service. During the first three years after approval of the Bylaws, the specific metric for evaluating these achievements will vary from department to department, and will be worked out between department chairs and the Dean, taking into account both the history of each department and its plans for the future.
The Committee will carefully consider the differing expectations concerning teaching and research between departments and programs, for example based on current student enrollments, split faculty appointments, as well as the status of research funding and coauthorship in various disciplines. The Committee will consist of members of the tenured Faculty of the College. It will consist of appointed members from each department plus two at-large members which must be from different departments.
Although both Associate and Full Professors are eligible to serve, preference should be given by Departments in making their selections to those faculty who are Full Professors with outstanding credentials in teaching, and especially in research. Neither faculty having a primary affiliation with departments formerly associated with the School of Computational Sciences (SCS) nor the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) shall have more than two-thirds of the seats on the committee, during the first three years after approval of the Bylaws. Members of this committee may not succeed themselves.
(b) Curriculum Committee
Departments which propose courses or programs that would have an impact on other departments must consult with those departments before submitting their proposal to the committee. The committee shall issue a report to the Faculty on a monthly basis listing all actions it has taken since the previous report. All decisions made by the Curriculum Committee will be reviewed by the Executive Council unless the vote of the Committee is unanimous. Committee decisions with which a specific Department disagrees will be referred to the Executive Council for adjudication. Members of this committee may succeed themselves.
(c) Grievance Committee
A faculty member who wishes to have the grievance committee examine an issue will ask the Committee Chair to convene the committee. Generally a faculty member should request this as soon as possible after informal efforts to remedy the alleged violation have failed. When the Grievance Committee is considering the case brought by a given faculty member, any member of that person’s department on the Committee shall be disqualified from voting and discussion concerning that person. However, this shall not be construed as preventing anyone from appearing as a witness before the Committee. The Committee submits to the Dean a timely report on each grievance it hears. The Committee will also make reports to the Faculty, which are of a summary nature, and that list the cases it considered. Grievances against the Dean or any Associate Deans of the College are not heard by this committee, but should go to the University Grievance Committee. In addition to hearing specific cases, the committee may initiate, as it deems necessary, discussions with appropriate administrators about any matters that fall within the committees’ purview. In the course of such discussions, however, they may not commit the Faculty to changes in grievance policy unless specifically authorized to do so. Members of this committee may not succeed themselves.
2. First Elections, Fall 2006
For the first election of members to standing committees (other than the Nominations Committee) after approval of the Bylaws, members will be elected for staggered terms of one, two, and three years (chosen by lot), so that vacancies in the future become available on an annual basis. Beginning in 2007 elections for College Officers and committees will be conducted during the Spring semester. In addition, since the first election to Committees will need to be conducted early in the Fall 2006 semester, the first Nominations Committee will be chosen immediately upon approval of the Bylaws. If it is not possible to hold a special meeting of the Faculty prior to the Fall 2006 semester, then the first Nominations Committee will be selected by the co-Deans in consultation with all the department chairs.
3. Executive Council
The Council is empowered by the Faculty to consider all issues which are of interest to it. Any published decision of the Council is subject to appeal to, and override by, the Faculty according to the following procedure: Objection to the decision at issue must be raised at a meeting of the Faculty in the form of a motion to overrule the stated decision. The motion to overrule must be included in the announcement of the meeting. In order to pass, the motion to overrule, and any amendments, must receive a majority of votes of the Faculty present at the meeting. Mail ballots are inadmissible during attempts to overrule decisions of the Council.
4. Conduct of Faculty Meetings and Elections
No individual will be permitted to speak twice to the same motion made at a Faculty meeting until all others who wish to speak have had the opportunity. The mover of the motion will not be exempt from this restriction. However, this rule shall not preclude an individual from answering a specific question directed at him. Disposition of any item introduced without prior notice and information may be carried over to the next regular meeting of the Faculty if at least 25% of the voting members present support a motion to carry it over. A motion carried over under this provision shall appear on the agenda of the next regular meeting as an item of old business and shall be supported by background information. For a mail ballot, a motion shall fail to pass if less than 15% of the eligible voting members cast votes.