Provost

Appendix B: By-Laws

Article I: Membership

When an individual's membership in the Faculty Senate or Council is in doubt, the facts of the individual's status shall be gathered by the secretary and presented to the President at a regular meeting. The President shall decide the issue.

Article II: Meetings

Meetings of the Faculty Council and Faculty Senate shall be open to any Faculty Council member and shall be open to any visitor except in cases where the privacy of an individual is likely to be at issue. In these cases, the Senate may restrict a Senate meeting to senators only with a majority vote. Faculty Council may also be restricted in these cases by a majority vote of the Council members present. Non-members may be asked to address the Council or Senate or to speak at meetings. The President may request non-voting members and non-members to address the appropriate groups or to speak at the appropriate meetings.

Article III: Duties of Officers and Senators

The duties of the officers shall be as follows:

President

The president shall

1. Preside over all meetings of the Council and Senate,
2. Be ex-officio non-voting member of all Council committees,
3. Chair the Executive Committee,
4. Transmit decisions, recommendations, and resolutions passed by the Senate or Council to appropriate administrative personnel,
5. Receive requests and responses from administrative personnel,
6. Propose and supervise the budget and expenditures of the Council and Senate,
7. Serve as a representative to the Texas Council of Faculty Senates and the UH System University Faculties Executive Council, and
8. Deliver the "President's State of the Council" address to the Faculty Council at the regularly scheduled fall and spring meetings.

Vice President

The vice president shall

1. Assume the duties of the president in his/her absence,
2. Assist the president and the secretary with their duties,
3. Act as parliamentarian in Council and Senate meetings,
4. Serve as a representative to the Texas Council of Faculty Senates and the UH System University Faculties Executive Council, and
5. Serve as Chair of the Policy Review Committee.

Secretary

The secretary shall

1. Record, publish and maintain a file of minutes of each meeting of the Council, Senate, and Executive Committee,
2. Keep a roll of members and guests present at each meeting,
3. Carry on correspondence for the Council and Senate,
4. Shall curate and archive all Senate and Council documents, and
5. Act as treasurer when necessary.

Immediate Past President

The immediate past president shall

1. Advise and consult with other Executive Committee members, and
2. Assist Executive Committee members with other duties as assigned by the President.

Senators

The senators shall

1. Represent their college faculty,
2. Attend faculty council and senate meetings,
3. Give reports back to the colleges and departments on happenings that come up in senate and council meetings, and
4. Serve on university committees as appointed by the faculty senate executive committee.

Article IV: Standing Committees

All committees are to report the name of the committee chair to the President of the Faculty Council by September 30.

All committees are to provide to the secretary of the Faculty Council a schedule of meeting times and a summary of each meeting within three days following the meeting, to the extent that privacy is not violated.

All faculty members serving on a standing committee, temporary committee, or task force are expected to carry out their responsibilities in a conscientious and ethical manner, fully participate, and make a meaningful contribution to that body.

Importantly, faculty members are to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues.  If a committee has a documented history of conflict or personal animus with another faculty member whose interests will be affected by the committee’s recommendation, the committee members shall recuse themself from all discussions and decision-making pertaining to the other individual.

The standing committees of the Council are as follows:

The Senate/Council Executive Committee

Composition

The Executive Committee shall consist of the president, vice president, secretary, and immediate past president of the Faculty Senate/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 Senate/Council.

Election

The election of the Executive Committee members, excluding the president, shall be held during the spring semester of the academic year prior to the year of their service. This election will be carried out by secret and/or electronic ballot. The vice president of the preceding year and the other newly elected members of the Executive Committee assume their offices two weeks prior to the beginning of classes in the academic year of service.

Duties

In addition to duties specified under Article III of the Faculty Council constitution, this committee shall

1. Call all meetings of the Council and Senate by written announcement and circulate an agenda to each Council member no fewer than three working days prior to any regular meeting and no fewer than two working days prior to any additional meeting,
2. Place on the agenda any issue presented in writing by a Council member,
3. Appoint members of all ad-hoc committees of the Council,
4. Consult with any members about matters of possible interest to the Council or Senate, and
5. Conduct all elections of the council and its committees including the election of representatives to the Senate.

Core Curriculum Committee

Composition

The committee shall consist of two Faculty Council members from each academic college, one being a senator and one being at-large.  One newly elected senator from each college will be appointed by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to serve a 2-year term when a senator seat is vacant.  One at-large member from each college will be elected to serve a 2-year term when an at-large seat is vacant. Members shall, in accepting nomination, verify that they have regular undergraduate teaching assignments. (Ideally, members should teach regularly in the core curriculum.) In addition to the elected members, the chair of the committee shall be appointed for a two-year term by the President of the Faculty Senate in May of even-numbered years.  Chair appointments shall alternate between the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and College of Natural and Applied Science. The chair shall preside over the meetings and set the agenda. The chair of the committee shall be a Faculty Council member in good standing, be regularly assigned as instructor of a core course, and shall have had experience on the Core Curriculum Committee.

Election

The college at-large representatives will be elected to a two-year term by the faculty of the respective college during the spring semester of the year prior to service when a seat will be vacated.

Duties

This committee shall

1. Decide when the committee will meet each month for the year and communicate it to the Senate secretary for posting,
2. Post all documents to be reviewed at a monthly meeting to the appropriate channel at least one week before the meeting and invite affected parties to the committee meeting,
3. Review college policies and procedures for core course design,
4. Advise colleges and individual faculty teaching core curriculum courses on alignment of course-level learning objectives with state-mandated standard learning,
5. Advise colleges and individual faculty teaching core curriculum courses on assessment of student learning outcomes in compliance with external mandates,
6. Facilitate dissemination and discussion of best practices in general education pedagogy,
7. Address concerns of faculty teaching core curriculum courses and make appropriate recommendations to the Faculty Senate,
8. Review any proposal for adding, deleting, or changing courses in the University of Houston-Victoria core curriculum and either forward an approved proposal to the Undergraduate Affairs Committee for further action or return the proposal to the originating college for revision, and
9. Produce an assessment report of the core curriculum according to standards set by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and university policy.

Additional responsibilities and powers of the chair of the Core Curriculum Committee

1. The chair shall have the power to call resource members to the committee meetings to assist in assessment and other curricular needs. Resource members are non-voting members of the committee who are permitted to make reports and give advice to the committee.
2. The chair shall have the power to call for meetings of all instructors currently teaching in the core (or representatives thereof based on the discretion of the chair) in order to fulfill the aforementioned duties.
3. The chair shall make the contributions of resource members known to their supervisors, in writing when appropriate, in order to recognize their service.

Undergraduate Affairs Committee

Composition

This committee shall consist of two Faculty Council members from each academic college to be elected to staggered two-year terms. Members of this committee must be tenured, hold tenure-track appointments, or be on teaching-track or clinical track. The committee shall elect its own chair from the returning members at its first meeting each academic year.

Election

The college at-large representatives will be elected to a two-year term by the faculty of the respective college during the spring semester of the year prior to service when a seat will be vacated.

Duties

This committee shall

1. Decide when the committee will meet each month for the year and communicate it to the Senate secretary for posting,
2. Post all documents to be reviewed at a monthly meeting to the appropriate channel at least one week before the meeting and invite affected parties to the committee meeting,
3. Recommend to the Faculty Senate for or against all proposed curricular changes, including new courses, changes in existing courses, new degree programs, changes in existing degree programs, and deletion of courses or degree programs,
4. Work with the administration on long-range curricular needs and the design of programs to meet those needs,
5. Monitor and recommend to the Faculty Senate actions concerning requirements for student admission and retention,
6. Monitor and recommend to the Faculty Senate actions concerning academic honesty policies in consultation with the Graduate Studies Committee,
7. Conduct academic program review and make program recommendations to the Faculty Senate and the provost,
8. Conduct academic program review jointly with the Graduate Studies Committee and make program recommendations to the Faculty Senate and the provost (Chairs of the two committees will appoint two members each, representative of the four colleges, to serve on a joint program-review subcommittee), and
9. Meet monthly during the fall and spring semesters. If possible, the meeting should be one week prior to the regularly scheduled Faculty Senate/ Council meeting.

Graduate Studies Committee

Composition

This committee shall consist of two Council members from each academic college to be elected to staggered two-year terms. Members of this committee must be on the graduate faculty and must be tenured, hold tenure-track appointments, or be on teaching-track or clinical track.  The committee shall elect its own chair from the returning members at its first meeting each academic year.

Election

The college at-large representatives will be elected to a two-year term by the faculty of the respective college during the spring semester of the year prior to service when a seat will be vacated.

Duties

This committee shall

1. Decide when the committee will meet each month for the year and communicate it to the Senate secretary for posting,
2. Post all documents to be reviewed at a monthly meeting to the appropriate channel at least one week before the meeting and invite affected parties to the committee meeting,
3. Develop and maintain criteria that distinguish graduate level study,
4. Recommend to the Faculty Senate for or against all proposed curricular changes, including new courses, changes in existing courses, new degree programs, changes in existing degree programs, and deletion of courses or degree programs,
5. Work with the administration on long-range curricular needs and the design of programs to meet those needs,
6. Monitor and recommend to the Faculty Senate actions concerning requirements for graduate admission and retention,
7. Monitor and recommend to the Faculty Senate actions concerning academic honesty policies in consultation with the Undergraduate Affairs Committee,
8. Review academic college recommendations for the awarding of graduate faculty status and submit its views to the provost,
9. Conduct academic program review jointly with the Undergraduate Affairs Committee and make program recommendations to the Faculty Senate and the provost (Chairs of the two committees will appoint two members each, representative of the four colleges, to serve on a joint program-review subcommittee), and
10. Meet monthly during the fall and spring semesters. If possible, the meeting should be one week prior to the regularly scheduled Faculty Senate/ Council meeting.

Promotion and Tenure Committee

Composition

This committee shall consist of two tenured Council members from each academic college, each of whom must be full-time with the rank of associate professor or higher in a non-administrative position. Where possible, the representatives from a college should include one associate professor and one professor. Members do not serve as college representatives but are to bring to their deliberations an institutional perspective combined with the standards of the academic professoriate in the broadest sense. Members voting on promotion recommendations must have a rank equal to or be higher than the rank requested by the candidate. The term of service shall be two years. One member from each college shall be replaced each year. The committee shall elect its own chair (with voting privileges) from among those in their second year of service. Faculty members currently serving on the university P&T committee will have voting privileges on the university committee but will not have voting privileges on their college wide P&T committee.

The following are ineligible for membership on the committee:

1. Members of the administration, including deans and any chair who has faculty evaluation duties,
2. Current members of the Faculty Grievance Committee, and
3. Candidates for promotion.

Election

Nominations for membership on the committee and elections shall be conducted by the faculty of the respective college by web, or electronic mail during the spring semester of the academic year prior to the year of service on the committee and following the election of the executive committee.

Duties

This committee shall

1. Receive and evaluate
   1. faculty applications for promotion and tenure;
   2. third year review packets, and;
   3. post tenure review packets
2. Make recommendations to the Provost;
3. Follow the procedures for promoting and awarding tenure as stipulated in the appropriate sections of the Faculty Manual.

Grievance Committee

Composition

This committee shall consist of two tenured Council members from each academic college, each of whom must be full-time with the rank of associate professor or higher in a non-administrative position. No current member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee be eligible for membership. The term of service shall be two years. One member from each college shall be replaced each year. The committee shall elect its own chair (with voting privileges) from among those in their second year of service.  Members will not participate in grievances from their own college.

Election

Nominations for election to the committee and elections shall be conducted by the faculty of the respective college by web, or electronic mail during the spring semester of the academic year prior to the year of service on the committee, and following the election of the P&T committee.

Duties

This committee shall hear grievances concerning any academic matter, including promotion and tenure, in accordance with System and University of Houston-Victoria faculty grievance policies and procedures. Regarding promotion and tenure grievances, this committee may rule only on due process, according to System policy.

Limitation on Grievances

Once a grievance has been considered and a decision has been rendered by the committee on a particular issue, faculty members may not file the grievance again unless they can present substantive new evidence. When refiling a grievance, the faculty member must include a copy of the committee’s previous report on the issue.

Budget Oversight Committee

Composition

This committee shall consist of the faculty senate executive committee members and one member from each of the academic colleges to serve for two-year staggered terms.  No member shall serve on this committee for more than two consecutive years.

Election

The members shall be elected by their respective colleges during the spring semester.

Duties

This committee shall

1. Review planned spending by UHV from all revenue sources. The president will forward the preliminary annual budget to the committee chair prior to adoption. The committee shall review the budget, item by item, for its relationship to academic programs, and make recommendations to the Faculty Senate/Council for
   1. approval of items that support academic programs including equipment, plant, and space allocations, and
   2. change of items that do not contribute adequately to the support of academic programs,
2. Review all proposed additions or deletions of positions relating to academic programs at faculty, administrative, staff, or clerical levels. The committee shall assess the need and feasibility of such changes in institutional staffing and shall make a recommendation to the Senate,
3. Make semi-annual reports to the Senate on the current status of budget planning and implementation,
4. Work with the appropriate administrative officers of the institution to enable those officers to better understand the priorities of the faculty in budgeting and financing within the institution and to provide the Faculty Senate with a source of information about budgeting procedures, and
5. Receive or solicit information from other Faculty Council committees (especially the Academic Affairs Committee) in order to prepare balanced recommendations to the Senate.

Faculty Awards Committee

Composition

This committee shall consist of the past recipient of each of the awards (Service, Research, and Teaching), one of whom shall chair the committee, as well as faculty member from each academic college.

Election

The members of this committee shall be elected by their respective academic colleges in the spring.

Duties

The duties of the committee are to select the winner of the Teaching Excellence Award, Distinguished Faculty Service Award, and the Research and Scholarly Activity Excellence Award. The committee shall consult the Faculty Manual as a guide to their activities. The Awards Committee shall receive nominations, evaluate the qualifications of the nominees, and announce the recipient of the award to the Faculty Senate, the Provost, and the University President.

Timelines

A call for nominations for the Teaching Excellence Award will be made before the end of the Fall semester and at the beginning of the Spring semester via an LMS announcement and UHV email. A call for nominations/applications for the Distinguished Faculty Service Award, and the Research and Scholarly Activity Excellence Award will be made via e-mail to the faculty listserv in the spring semester.

Award Dates and Activity

by December 1 (Teaching Excellence Award)
Announcement posted in LMS and to Student Listserv informing students of the nomination process (with a close date of February 15)

by February 1 (Teaching Excellence Award)
Announcement re-posted in LMS and to Student Listserv informing students of the nomination process (with a close date of February 15)

By February 1 (Distinguished Faculty Service Award)
Announcement posted to Faculty listserv regarding awards, nomination process, submission process, and deadlines (with a close date of February 15)

by February 1 (Research and Scholarly Activity Excellence Award) Announcement posted to Faculty listserv regarding awards, nomination process, submission process, and deadlines (with a close date of February 15)

February 16 - April 1
Committee screens all the eligible submissions; requests additional document from nominees as necessary. Committee reviews finalists’ materials, selects a winner.

Committee notifies Provost office of the winners by April 1. The Committee chair sends announcement to UHV listserv. Provost office notifies Marketing department of the winners for inclusion in the program for Spring Commencement.

Voting

Each member of the Award Committee has one vote. The chair may vote and decisions are made by simple majority vote. Voting may be open or secret, as determined by a simple majority prior to the vote. Further voting procedures may be determined by the committee.

Notification

Immediately upon conclusion of voting and prior to notification of finalists, the chair will forward the name of the winner to the UHV Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The chair then notifies the winner and the other finalists and makes a university-wide announcement about the recipients.

Records

The Provost’s Office retains the nomination materials for six months under security. After this time, the materials will be destroyed.

Specific Award Considerations

Teaching Excellence Award

Eligibility criteria

To qualify for the Teaching Excellence Award faculty members must satisfy all of the following criteria:

• Be a full-time member of the teaching faculty on a non-administrative appointment (Visiting and Adjunct Professors are not eligible)
• Have a minimum of three consecutive years (i.e., six long semesters) of full-time teaching experience at UHV by the beginning of the spring semester in which the award is given
• Have not received the Teaching Excellence Award in the previous five (5) years
• Be available for teaching observation during the spring semester if the committee members wish to observe their classes or instructional materials

Nomination procedure

Only students may nominate a faculty member for the teaching award. Each student may nominate only one of their professors for this honor. The nomination process begins by December 1 and ends on February 15, and shall be conducted exclusively online.

1. By December 1, a nomination form is created in Microsoft Forms which includes:
   • Fields to enter their personal information
   • Fields to enter their reason(s) for selecting their nominee
   • Dates that nomination form will be open
2. A draft announcement is finalized by the award committee (based on the previous year’s award announcement)
3. The announcement is sent to students via email (using the Student-L listserv) by the administrative assistant in the Provost’s office
4. The announcement is also posted to the LMS (Blackboard) announcement module by the LMS administrator
5. Reminder emails to students are sent monthly during the nomination period (using the Student-L listserv)
6. At the close of the nomination period, the survey is closed and survey results are sent to committee chair

Evaluation criteria and procedures

The results of student voting (i.e., the number of votes/nominations received by a particular faculty member) should be considered nominations and may not necessarily be the sole criterion for selecting the winner of the Teaching Excellence Award. In making the selection, it is important for the Faculty Awards Committee to consider that those teaching primarily in graduate programs may interact with fewer students (per class) than those teaching primarily undergraduates, thereby resulting in fewer potential nominators/voters.

Therefore, at the close of the nomination period, the Faculty Awards Committee will compile a list of finalists from among the top five (or six, in the event of a tie) nominees, based on votes/nominations received through the survey, from which the winner will be selected, taking into strong consideration student comments that were submitted with the nominations.

If, there is not a clear consensus (based on the student survey) of the faculty member who should be selected for the award, the Awards committee may engage in further evaluation of the nominees and request additional information from finalists. In this event, the Awards committee will look for evidence of a record of consistent superlative teaching and a strong commitment to impacting student learning and to ultimately fostering the academic success of students. Blind review is recommended.

Finalist Selection Criteria

• Significant command of subject matter including the incorporation of recent developments in knowledge into teaching
• Enthusiasm and passion in undertaking teaching
• Ability to organize course material and present it cogently and imaginatively
• Creativity and innovation in the course design and teaching methods
• Provision of appropriate assessment with worthwhile and timely feedback to students on their learning
• Ability to arouse curiosity, to inspire interest in the subject and to engage students in the learning process by making learning an enjoyable and rewarding experience
• Ability to impart critical thinking skills to students, to challenge students intellectually, and to guide them toward independent, original and creative thinking and problem solving
• Assessment of learning outcomes
• Help and supportive assistance (in and out of the classroom) to students to promote and enhance their academic performance and achievement
• Professional advice and counseling for future career and employment opportunities

Following selection of the finalists, the committee notifies candidates and requests supporting information and materials (i.e., a teaching portfolio). The submission must refer to teaching over the previous three long semesters (at least) and may also refer to teaching achievements over a longer period, up to the previous three academic years (but focused on teaching achievements at UHV). The portfolio must be submitted electronically to the committee chair by March 15.

The portfolio may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Current curriculum vitae
• Philosophy of teaching statement
• Implementation and outcomes of the teaching philosophy, for example, how the teaching philosophy is implemented in teaching and related activities; how student feedback has been incorporated; descriptions of evaluation methods; student successes, student work that received national/international recognition, student comments on evaluations, student thank-you notes; course syllabi and other relevant course materials; etc.
• Assessment of learning outcomes
• Responsibilities and accomplishments in teaching, for example, list of courses taught at UHV over the entire time of employment; contributions to curriculum such as development of completely new courses, initiatives, innovations, leadership; grants, directly related to the enhancement of teaching and student learning at UHV; student supervision/working with students; teaching awards or nominations; etc.
• Student evaluation of teaching with class size indicated for the previous three long semesters and any additional semesters if necessary to provide a representative sample. Comparative data within the department/college may strengthen the portfolio
• Scholarship in teaching and learning, for example, attendance at workshops, seminars, and other professional development activities directly related to the improvement of teaching at UHV; research into teaching and learning; contributions to the literature on teaching and learning; scholarly publications and presentations directly related to the teaching responsibilities at UHV; mentoring colleagues, invitations to teach elsewhere, participation in teaching committees
• References- names of two or three colleagues from UHV who are familiar with the nominee’s teaching methods and from whom the selection committee may request evaluations; class rosters so current students may be contacted

The committee chair makes the information received from finalists available to committee members. Each member is responsible for carefully evaluating the material and for visiting face- to-face classes or observing the nominees’ online courses. Each member then prepares a ranking of finalists with a rationale. Thorough discussion of the qualifications of finalists is expected to occur.

Distinguished Faculty Service Award

The Distinguished Faculty Service Award is given to a faculty member, who while in the employment of the University of Houston-Victoria, has given outstanding service to the university, the community and the region or their profession. Accomplishments being reviewed should be those which occurred while the nominee was employed by the University of Houston-Victoria. The nominee shall be employed by the University of Houston-Victoria with full time status for a minimum of three years. Once a faculty member has received the award, he or she will not be eligible for the same award for a period of three years.

The university's mission statement shall be a basis for defining many of the activities which can be considered service. Service is a contribution of professional talents and expertise to support both the public and internal services including but not limited to:

• Serving on university committees and councils
• Participating in the recruitment and professional placement of students
• Serving as an officer or committee member in professional organizations and providing the benefits of their expertise and service to community and regional organizations
• Making public professional contributions such as appearances or performances
• Consulting with governmental agencies, business industries, educational systems, and community service or arts organizations in either the local community or the region

Annually, the Awards committee welcomes the assistance of the university, community, region and other interested in nominating a faculty member who has provided distinguished service. The invitation to nominate will be published by February 1. Self-nominations are also appropriate. Nominations and submissions/applications will be accepted between February 1 and February 15. The award committee screens all the eligible nominations and selects several finalists based on the criteria below by March 1. The portfolio must be submitted electronically to the committee chair by March 15. Blind review is recommended.

Evaluation criteria and procedures

The primary criterion should be one of impact. There should be substantial evidence that a nominee's service activities have had a significant positive effect on the University of Houston- Victoria and on the community.

The scope of a UHV faculty member’s service activities is a second criterion. There should be substantial evidence that the nominee’s professional life has been characterized by a commitment to service activities as opposed to a one-time major involvement in such activity. In addition to evidence of a pattern of service over time, there should also be evidence of recent and or current service contributions. Examples of recommended criteria would include:

• Community service, related to the individual’s area of expertise (local, regional, state, national, or international)
• Professional organizations and societies (local, regional, state, national, or international)
• Program, Department, College, University, and System committees
• Service and leadership that contributes to the growth and stature of UHV
• Service and leadership that extends the impact and presence of UHV into the larger community
• Service and leadership through innovative and effective programs
• Substantial evidence that the nominee’s service and leadership activities have had a significant positive impact on the community at-large and/or the university
• Substantial evidence that the nominee’s professional life has been characterized by a commitment to service activities
• Service and contributions to Faculty Governance at all levels, internal and external

The nominee shall have a consistent excellent performance in professional service as evidenced by the level of professional service activity, commitment to the quality of the service provided and breadth and depth of the service record.

The nominees shall have evidence of outstanding leadership in a major service activity and of sustained leadership in multiple professional service activities.

Accomplishments may be directed at improving the internal functioning of the university, the university's image in the eyes of the community and region it seeks to serve, or serving the nominee’s professional community.

Accomplishments need not be restricted to those for which no remuneration was accepted by the nominee. Both paid and unpaid service should be reviewed. However, the most desirable nominee would be a person whose primary motivation for involvement in service activities does not appear to be a pecuniary one. Service should entail at least some semblance of “giving of one’s self.”

Nomination Process

Documentation submitted in structuring the case for a nominee should:

Provide sufficient evidence that the nominee did, in fact, engage in the consistent excellent performance in professional service as evidenced by the level of professional service activity, commitment to the quality of service provided and breadth and depth of the service record.

Provide sufficient supporting material to establish the significance/ worth (impact) and scope of the nominee’s accomplishments during the last three (3) calendar years in the form of a vita. The nominee shall provide evidence of sustained leadership in multiple professional service activities, or in exceptional cases evidence of outstanding leadership in a major service activity.

Be prepared specifically for consideration by this award committee. Portfolios prepared for other purposed will not be persuasive unless revised to specifically address the criteria for this award. For example, the Service Award Portfolio may include:

• A checklist cover sheet (name and college) or table of contents (if the length of the portfolio warrants)
• A brief narrative, describing the impact of the service activities on the community and on the nominee’s own professional development
• A recent curriculum vitae
• A description of achievements and contributions, noting, in particular
  • dates
  • duration of activity
  • role of participation/involvement
• statement of whether the work was conducted pro bono or non-pro bono
• Letters of support from entities
• Any other items selected by the nominee as a demonstration of service excellence

Research and Scholarly Activity Excellence Award

To honor the commitment of the university to research and scholarly activities, the university selects one professor each year who—among many outstanding researchers and scholars—has earned special respect from his or her peers. This professor receives the Research and Scholarly Activity Excellence Award.

Annually, the Awards committee welcomes the assistance of the university, community, region and other interested in nominating a faculty member who has engaged in recent (within the previous three academic years) exemplary research and scholarly activity. The invitation to nominate will be published by February 1. Self-nominations are also appropriate.

Nominations and submissions/applications will be accepted between February 1 and February 15.

The award committee screens all the eligible nominations and selects several finalists based on the criteria below by March 1.  The portfolio must be submitted electronically to the committee chair by March 15. Blind review is recommended.

Evaluation criteria and procedures

The types of activities to be considered by the committee include, but are not limited to, the following (not given in rank order):

Publications (Published or fully accepted for publication)

• Books, monographs, and chapters
• Articles in peer-reviewed journals
• Books, monographs, and journal articles
• Proceedings of peer-reviewed conferences

Presentations

• Formal presentations at professional meetings and workshops
• Participation in regional, national, and international meetings as an invited speaker, session chair, or moderator
• Receipt of best presentation or research award

Ongoing Projects and Research

• Funded research grants at the regional, state, or national levels
• Reviews of grant proposals at the regional, state or national level
• Current research projects
• The award of intellectual property protections, including copyrights, trademarks, and patents

Programs and Participation

• Organization of regional, national, or international research meetings, conferences, seminars, workshops, consortia, or colloquia
• Consulting in the discipline of the faculty member
• Editorship or membership on editorial boards

Nomination process

Documentation submitted in structuring the case for a nominee should:

Provide sufficient evidence that the nominee is engaged in consistent, excellent performance in research and scholarly activity as evidenced by the level of research activity, commitment to the research endeavor, and participation in the dissemination of knowledge over several years.

Provide sufficient supporting material to establish the significance/worth (impact) and scope of the nominee’s accomplishments.

Be prepared specifically for consideration by this award committee. Portfolios prepared for other purposes will not be persuasive unless revised to specifically address the criteria for this award. For example, the Research and Scholarly Activity Excellence Award Portfolio may include:

• A checklist cover sheet (name and college) or table of contents (if the length of the portfolio warrants)
• A brief narrative, describing the individual’s current and emerging research agenda, including any efforts made to engage students in research, publication, or presentation
• Description of research and scholarly activity achievements and contributions, noting:
  • title of the project/publication/presentation
  • duration of activity
  • scope of the project
  • breadth of the audience (e.g., local, state, regional, national, international)
  • role of participation/involvement
  • basis for selection (peer-reviewed, editorial selection, open admission, etc.)
  • statement of whether the work was conducted pro bono or non-pro bono
  • complete citation information (including doi number, whenever possible)
• Electronic versions of representative publications
• A recent curriculum vitae
• Any other items selected by the nominee as a demonstration of research and scholarly activity

In preparing a portfolio, nominees should keep in mind that these activities, publications, and presentations will be evaluated by UHV faculty who may be unfamiliar with a particular academic discipline, and the committee may not automatically recognize the significance of a particular publication or presentation. Therefore, any information provided regarding the impact factor, prestige, or audience of a particular publication or presentation will be helpful.

Also note: For presentations made at conferences that also publish proceedings, for the sake of consistency (across submitted portfolios), please include only one or the other. In other words, a presentation at a conference that does not publish proceedings should be listed as a presentation. A presentation at a conference that does publish proceedings could be included as either a presentation or a publication, but should not be included as both. The committee recognizes that articles and other publications often follow from proceedings and presentations; publications that follow from a particular presentation or set of proceeding can (and should) be included as a separate publication, as long as the later work represents a distinct document and venue.

Development Leave and Research Committee

Composition

This committee shall consist of one tenured Faculty Council member from each academic college to be elected to staggered two-year terms. The committee shall elect its own chair from returning member.

Election

The members of this committee shall be elected by the Faculty Council members in their respective academic colleges in the spring to receive the applications from the Office of the Provost. The at-large elections will be for a tenured faculty member from each college, none of whom may be applicants,

Duties

The purview of this committee shall be Faculty Development Leave, Junior Faculty Summer Research Grants, Faculty Internal Research Grants. The committee is formed to review proposals and to make recommendations to the provost, who shall in turn make recommendations to the president.

Policy Review Committee Composition

Composition

This committee shall consist of two Council members from each academic college, one being a senator and one being at-large.  One newly elected senator from each college will be appointed by the faculty senate executive committee to serve a two-year term when a senator seat is vacant.  One at-large member from each college will be elected to serve a two-year term, when an at-large seat is vacant.  Members of this committee must be full-time faculty members, one of whom must be tenured or tenure-track, from each academic college and the vice president of the Faculty Senate. The vice president shall chair the committee.

Election

The college at-large representatives will be elected to a two-year term by the faculty of the respective college during the spring semester of the year prior to service when a seat will be vacated.

Duties

The committee chair shall confer monthly with the Senate president and the provost to determine which policies or Faculty Manual changes are being considered and will call a meeting of the committee each month to review the proposals. Those proposals that the committee considers relevant shall be brought before the next meeting of the Faculty Senate or Council. Relevancy to the faculty should be viewed in the sense that all matters affecting students, courses, and the duties, responsibilities, and professional commitment of the faculty are relevant to the faculty.

Article V: Policy Regarding Votes of Confidence/Censure/No-Confidence

Within a university truly dedicated to shared governance, in times of flux or distress, there must be a formal pathway for faculty to communicate strong administration support of, a significant concern with, or complete rejection of, the actions and/or behaviors of an executive member or members of the administration. In such times, the faculty may, by a vote of the eligible membership, express their support, concern, or disapproval. Although faculty recognize that the result of any such vote is non-binding on University administration, it nonetheless is a valuable and important component of shared governance.

At UH-Victoria, faculty may express their support, concern, or disapproval by initiating 1) a Vote of Confidence, 2) a Vote of Censure, or 3) a Vote of No-Confidence.

A Vote of Confidence may be appropriate in those times when faculty believe that the administration has acted inappropriately in censuring, demoting, or removing a member of the administration, whether the president, vice-president, associate vice president or dean. The purpose of the Vote of Confidence is to clearly demonstrate support for the affected administrator and to provide the rationale for that support.

A Vote of Censure may be appropriate in those times when a faculty is alarmed and/or significantly distressed by the actions of a member of the administration, or of the administration as a whole. The purpose of the Vote of Censure is to alert the administration to the nature and level of discontent, to provide clear identification of the grievous action or path of decisions, and to call for review and correction of the actions or situation within a specified period of time, usually one year. The Vote of Censure, though serious, stops short of demanding the removal of the offending administrator(s), and intends to allow a time of remedy and potential reconciliation.

A Vote of No-Confidence may be appropriate when the actions or policies of the administration or one of its members are either so grievous that they require swift or immediate condemnation of the policy or the administrator, or when actions or policies already censured via the Vote of Censure have not been remedied within the time allotted. A Vote of No-Confidence must not be taken frivolously or hastily but must remain an option when grievances properly addressed go without remedy.

Process for University vs. College Administrators:

Though the process is relatively similar for votes concerning executive members of the administration and deans, the Faculty Senate shall take no role in a Vote of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence within the Colleges.

A) Procedures in Regards to Executive Members of UHV Administration

Either the body of the Faculty Senate or Faculty Council may call for a Vote of Confidence, a Vote of Censure, or a Vote of No-Confidence in executive members of the Administration at UH-Victoria (associate vice presidents, vice presidents, and President). To ensure a fair and orderly process, and to give the administrator(s) an opportunity to respond to faculty concerns, a two-step procedure will then be followed.

Step 1:

The Faculty Senate President will first present a written motion of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence – specifying the rationale for such motion – to the faculty during a regularly scheduled meeting of the Faculty Senate or Faculty Council, or to an emergency meeting called by the Senate President for the express purpose of proposing the motion. After thorough discussion, all eligible voting faculty members will be presented with two options: a) Continue Proceedings, or b) Do Not Proceed. If a majority of those voting vote to Continue Proceedings, the respondent(s) of the motion will have seven days, inclusive of weekend days, to respond, in writing, to the reasons for the Vote of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence cited in the motion. Any such response will be distributed to all faculty members who are eligible to vote. In the case of a Vote of Confidence, the respondent may waive the response period.

Step 2:

Upon a vote to Continue Proceedings, the Senate President will then schedule a Vote of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence ten days from the date of the original motion (or the next weekday if the 10th day falls on the weekend). The Secretary of the Senate will conduct a secret ballot. In the case of a Vote of Confidence or a Vote of No-Confidence, faculty will be presented with two options: a) Confidence, or b) No-Confidence. In the case of a Vote of Censure, faculty will indicate a) Censure, or b) No Censure.

The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate will validate the results and send them to the appropriate person – the President in the case of a vote concerning an Associate Vice-President or Vice-President, or the Chancellor of the UH system if the vote concerns the President.

B) Procedures in Regards to College Administrators

The faculty of the affected college alone may call for a Vote of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence concerning their dean. To ensure a fair and orderly process, and to give the college administrator an opportunity to respond to faculty concerns, a two-step procedure will be followed.

Step 1:

Concerned faculty members shall draft a written motion of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence – specifying their rationale for the motion – and present it to the college’s faculty at a special called meeting of the faculty for the express purpose of proposing the motion. Any tenured or tenure-track faculty can call for such a meeting. After thorough discussion, all eligible voting faculty members will be presented with two options: a) Continue Proceedings, or b) Do Not Proceed. Appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that that all college faculty members can participate, and that voting is strictly anonymous. If 25% of eligible faculty vote to Continue Proceedings, the Dean will then have seven days, (inclusive of weekend days) to respond, in writing, to the reasons for the Vote of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence cited in the motion. The Dean will disseminate his/her rebuttals to the motion to the faculty.

Step 2:

Upon a vote to Continue Proceedings, the faculty who drafted the motions shall schedule a Vote of Confidence, Censure, or No-Confidence ten days from the date of the original motion (or the next weekday if the 10th day falls on the weekend). A vote survey shall be promulgated and tallied by the Office of the Provost, and the results shall be made available to all faculty members in the particular college to review.

C) Restriction Regarding Votes of No-Confidence

In regards to both University and College administrators, in order to ensure that votes of No-Confidence are not taken frivolously or hastily, only one vote regarding a particular administrator(s) can proceed to Step 2, and be conducted, each semester.