College
Bylaws and College Faculty Councils (CFCs)
Approved by the Faculty Senate April on 16, 2007,
with
editorial changes approved by the Senate Executive
Committee operating on behalf of the Faculty Senate during the summer 2007 in
consultation with the Provost and the University President.
I.
College Bylaws
A. Each college shall, by
B. An up-to-date version of the bylaws shall be posted on
the college website and linked to the college homepage in a conspicuous way, by
the end of the Spring Semester 2008.
C. The bylaws shall provide for a College Faculty Council
to be operational by
II.
The College Faculty Council
A.
The Role and Purpose of the CFC
1. The CFC is advisory to the Dean, who holds
decision-making authority at the college level.
2. The purpose of the CFC is to promote collegiality and
effective shared governance of the college by increasing the transparency and
two-way communication between the faculty and the Dean with regard to the
development of policy and to increase communication about the implementation of
policy. The following areas are examples of issues upon which the CFC may to advise
the Dean. Additional areas may be
determined in each college on a yearly basis through discussion between the
Dean and the CFC.
·
Strategic
planning
·
Annual budgeting
·
Hiring
· Space and resource allocation
·
Reassign-time
·
Salaries and raises
·
Appointment and
reports of ad hoc committees
B.
Implementation and Membership of the CFC
1. Each college shall establish an Implementation
Committee to coordinate and oversee the establishment of its CFC. That same
committee shall also initiate the establishment of written bylaws in cases
where such bylaws do not already exist. Membership of the Implementation Committee
shall be the members of the college’s delegation to the Faculty Senate plus the
chairs of the college’s Curriculum Committee and its Tenure and Promotion
Committee.
2. The Implementation Committee should work with the
Faculty Senate Executive Committee to address problems arising in its work that
may require external assistance.
3. A CFC shall consist of at least four members.
4. Each department in each college shall have at least
one representative on its CFC elected by the permanent, full-time faculty of
that department. The college bylaws may
specify additional members (for example: at large members or additional members
for large departments).
5. CFC members must be tenured members of the department
they represent, if the department has tenured members who are willing to serve.
If not they should be tenure-track members.
6. Representatives shall serve three-year terms (after
the first cohort, which will be elected to staggered terms). A department may recall any representative by
a 2/3 vote.
7. The method by which the department will select its
representative(s) to the CFC shall be determined by vote of permanent full-time
faculty of the department (i.e.,
instructors, lecturers, tenure-track, and tenured faculty).
8. Deans shall be ex
officio, non-voting members of their CFC.
Deans will respect their council’s desire, on occasion, to meet without
the Dean, or members of the Dean’s staff.
9. Department chairs are not eligible to vote for or to
serve as representatives to the CFC.
C.
Alternatives to the CFC
The body performing the
functions here outlined for the CFC may be constituted differently if the
faculty so desire, but any such alternative body must:
1. Be composed of a majority of the faculty who are
elected by the permanent full-time faculty of the departments they represent.
2. Be chaired by a tenured, elected faculty member who is
selected by vote of the elected members of the body.
3. Clearly acknowledge in its bylaws the prerogative of
the elected members, when those members wish, to meet without the Dean, Deans’
staff, or appointed members.
4. Be clearly identified in the college’s bylaws as
performing the functions of the CFC.
5. Be initially approved and then reaffirmed annually by
a majority vote of the permanent full-time faculty members of the college by
secret ballot as their preferred alternative to a CFC as outlined elsewhere in
this document.
D.
CFC Leadership
The chair of the CFC must
be an elected department representative who has served on the council the
previous year (this year-of-service requirement does not apply to the first
cohort).
E.
Operation
1. Consistent with its purpose of providing greater
transparency and two-way communication between the faculty and the Dean, the
CFC shall have the right to reasonable access to college information,
consistent with privacy rights, in the areas identified in item II.A above.
2. Once the CFC is established in a particular college,
the CFC should work with the Provost and/or the Ombuds to address problems
arising in its work that may require external assistance, and should notify the
Faculty Senate Executive Committee for information purposes.
3. All CFCs shall open their meetings to the public
except as required by law or written KSU policy, publish agenda and meeting
times in advance, and publish minutes or a meeting summary that, at a minimum,
records attendance and all actions, decisions, or recommendations of the CFC
within one week of the end of the relevant meeting.
F.
Frequency of Meeting and Summer CFCs
1. The CFC should meet as often as deemed appropriate by
the council membership with a minimum of two meetings per semester. Each meeting shall be called by the chair of
CFC. The Dean or any other member of the
CFC can request a meeting by contacting the chair of the CFC.
2. Each CFC shall take necessary measures to assure
continuing functioning of the CFC during the summer months. These may include, but are not limited to,
establishing a reduced quorum requirement, allowing members to name proxies
from among the tenured faculty of their department, and the election of an
acting CFC chair. Determining the best
mix of such necessary measures shall be the decision of the CFC itself, based
on immediate circumstances and without outside intervention. Such a “Summer CFC” shall be recognized by the
administration as the legitimate representative of faculty interests in the
shared governance of the college during the summer months, and consulted
accordingly.