Provost

Appendix B: Constitution

The Faculty Council operates under its own constitution and bylaws to consider matters of interest to the faculty and to make recommendations to the provost and president. Faculty Council committee members operate as officers of the university with authority delegated by the president.

To address the needs of faculty issues more efficiently, a smaller group representing the Faculty Council (smaller group henceforth called the Faculty Senate) was created.

Preamble

The Faculty Senate is the elected body of the Faculty Council and is its representative between its meetings:

1. Providing a forum wherein any matter associated with the institution can be freely discussed by any faculty member.
2. Enabling the faculty to reach informed decisions on academic matters.
3. Advising the administration on non-academic matters.
4. Giving the faculty voice in issues of academic freedom, professional rights, and professional responsibilities in the university community.

Article I: Membership

The Faculty Council consists of all persons holding a current non-administrative appointment to a full-time faculty position (lecturer or teaching/clinical/tenure-track assistant professor, associate professor, or professor), and is on a 9-month contract.

Article II: Officers

Section l

The Faculty Senate/Council shall have a president, vice president, secretary, and past president. If a college is not represented among these individuals, there will be an at-large officer from that particular unit. Council members shall elect a vice president and secretary each year. The secretary shall serve a term of one year. The newly elected vice president shall serve for one year in that position, as president of the Faculty Senate/Council the following year, and as past president the year thereafter. The duties of these officers are established in these by-laws.

Section 2

If the office of the president becomes vacant, the vice president shall become president for the remainder of the president's term. An election will be held immediately to fill the vacant vice president position.

Article III: Executive Committee

The Executive Committee shall consist of the president, vice president, secretary, and immediate past president of the Faculty Council. When an academic college(s) has no member on the committee, one member from the unrepresented college(s) shall be elected to the committee by the Faculty Council immediately following the election of the officers of the Faculty Council. The Executive Committee shall prepare an agenda for meetings of the Council and Senate and conduct other Council and Senate business. The Senate, by a majority vote, may empower the Executive Committee, or any other committee of the Council, to act for it and the Council in any particular matter, or well-defined class of matters. A majority of the Council or Senate may rescind such power at any time by vote of the respective body.

Article IV: Faculty Senate

The Faculty Senate shall serve as the representative body of the Faculty. In addition to the aforementioned officers, the Senate shall be comprised of representatives from each of the academic colleges (four from each). Representatives from each college must include at least one tenured and one untenured member.  Members of the Faculty Council within each of the academic colleges will elect their respective senators for 2-year, staggered terms, where two senators will be elected from each college every spring.

Section 1: Voting

At Faculty Senate meetings, only duly elected senators and officers are allowed to vote. At Faculty Council meetings, all council members may vote. All matters voted on shall be determined by a majority of the quorum except where this constitution or its bylaws provides otherwise.

Section 2: Elections

All elections of the council and its committees, including the election of representatives to the senate, will be the responsibility of the Secretary and/or the Vice President.

1. All nominations and elections shall be conducted using web-based media.
2. Elections will be held during spring semester and will begin the week following Spring Break.
3. Elections will be conducted in three phases.
   1. Phase 1: Senate Executive Committee
   2. Phase 2: Senate
   3. Phase 3: Senate Committees
4. Each phase will last for two weeks.
   1. Week 1: Call for nominations and creation of candidate list
   2. Week 2: Elections

Section 3: Web-based discussions

Any elected Senator may be recalled by a two-thirds vote of all qualified voters in the Senator’s college. A successful recall shall be effective immediately upon tabulation of all ballots cast. A recall election shall be held upon receipt by the Faculty Senate Executive Board of a written petition signed by at least ten members of the tenure-track or tenured faculty members in the Senator’s college, thereby setting the basis for recall. A copy of the petition shall be provided to the Senator who is the subject of the petition. Announcement of a pending recall election shall be published in the agenda for the next Faculty Senate meeting, and the Senator whose recall is being sought shall be afforded the opportunity to address the Faculty Senate at that meeting if the Senator so desires. At the Faculty Senate Executive Committee’s discretion, other members of the faculty may be permitted a reasonable opportunity to address the body, either in favor of or in opposition to the recall petition. A recall election shall then be conducted within 14 days after the meeting.

Any Senator officer may be recalled by a two-thirds vote of all qualified voters among the faculty. A successful recall shall be effective immediately upon tabulation of all ballots cast. A recall election shall be held upon receipt by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee of a written petition signed by at least twenty members of the tenure-track or tenured faculty members, thereby setting the basis for recall. A copy of the petition shall be provided to the Senator who is the subject of the petition. Announcement of a pending recall election shall be published in the agenda for the next Faculty Senate meeting, and the Senator whose recall is being sought shall be afforded the opportunity to address the Faculty Senate at that meeting if the Senator so desires. At the Faculty Senate Executive Committee’s discretion, other members of the faculty may be permitted a reasonable opportunity to address the body, either in favor of or in opposition to the recall petition. A recall election shall then be conducted within 14 days after the meeting.

All postings to the Faculty Senate discussion board should identify the author.

Article V: Meetings

The Faculty Council shall meet at least twice in the fall semester and once in the spring semester. The Faculty Senate shall meet at least once each month during a regular academic year. The Executive Committee may cancel regular meetings of either body when no items of business are pending. The Executive Committee may call additional legitimate meetings of either body at its discretion with a three working-day Email notice. A quorum of the Faculty Council shall be defined as the members attending a legitimate meeting. A quorum of the Senate shall be defined as two-thirds of the members of the Senate. All meetings of the Faculty Council and Senate shall be conducted in accordance with this constitution and its bylaws. When a question of procedure that cannot be resolved by these documents is raised, the guide shall be Robert's Rules of Order.

Article VI: Adopting Procedures

This constitution and its bylaws - and any subsequent changes - shall be effective when approved by a simple majority of the Faculty Council members, subject to final approval of the Provost.

Article VII: By-Laws and Constitution

The Faculty Senate may adopt or amend the bylaws or constitution only as follows:

1. at a regularly scheduled Senate meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present provided that the proposed bylaw or amendment, having been read at a prior meeting, is newly amended; or;
2. at a regularly scheduled meeting by unanimous consent;
3. or at a regularly scheduled Senate meeting by a majority vote of the members, provided that the bylaw or amendment has been read at a prior meeting of the Senate in the exact form in which it is to be finally adopted; and;
4. approval by a majority of a quorum of the Faculty Council attending a legitimate meeting.