THE SHAW UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE
BY-LAWS/CONSTITUTION
In order to provide for an effective
participation of the faculty in the total dynamics of the University, the
general faculty established as its executive body the Faculty Senate.[1]
PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES
The Faculty
Senate is committed to promoting and ensuring the best interests of the faculty
in the total dynamics of the Shaw
University community. Its
primary function is to interpret and recommend policy on all University affairs
of direct concern to the faculty of the University. In this capacity, it will
involve itself in the following matters:
- faculty recruitment and selection
procedures;
- faculty organization;
- professional growth of the faculty;
- faculty financial security and tenure;
- faculty teaching loads;
- faculty promotions, salaries, and
other forms of recognition;
- academic freedom;
- establishing criteria and procedures for faculty evaluation; and
- effecting good relationship with the faculty, administration, and
public as appropriate.
MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION
In order to be
eligible to serve as a representative on the Faculty Senate, a faculty member
must serve the University primarily in a
teaching capacity or its equivalent. Only those full time faculty members
(below the rank of Department Chair) who have served for at least one year in
employment at the University are eligible for election to the Senate.
The membership of the Faculty Senate shall
consist of an odd number of faculty members elected by the general faculty. The
number of representatives for each school or college (hereafter referred to as
“college”) will depend on the number of faculty in that college in a
one-to-five ratio, and shall be the whole number nearest to that computed and
at least one. The Office of Academic
Affairs will provide the list and number of eligible faculty.
The President,
Executive Vice President, and Vice President for Academic Affairs are
non-voting ex-officio members.
Each college shall be responsible for
electing its allotted number of faculty representatives under the guidance of
the Faculty Senate. College-wide as well
as University-wide voting of college representatives and at-large members
respectively shall be by secret ballot between April 1 and April 15.
Each school or college shall elect into
office some members for a one-year term and others for two-year terms to begin
with. Thereafter, each representative
shall be elected for a two-year term. In the event that an elected
representative does not serve the full term, the Senate shall arrange for the
vacancy to be filled through a special election by the general faculty called
for by the Faculty Senate President.
One membership will be allotted to a
fulltime faculty whose primary assignment is off campus - to be appointed by
the Faculty Senate. This will be a
non-elected membership on a one-year rotation basis.
The April meeting shall be designated the
Annual Meeting.
The general faculty
shall elect the officers of the Faculty Senate - President, Vice President (who
shall serve as President pro tem in the absence of the President), and
Secretary. These elected members shall
constitute the Executive Committee.
The President of the Faculty Senate, as an elected representative
of the general faculty, and by virtue of his or her office, shall be a member
of the Board of Trustees of the University.
MEETINGS
The Faculty Senate
shall meet a minimum of once a month during the academic year at a scheduled
time and place. Notification of regularly scheduled meetings shall be made as a
reminder, at least one day in advance. The Secretary of the Senate shall handle
notification of unscheduled meetings promptly.
A representative who is absent without notification to a member of the
Executive Committee for three consecutive meetings shall relinquish his or her
seat on the Senate. The Secretary of the Faculty Senate shall give written
notice to any member of the Senate who misses two consecutive meetings that his
or her membership is in jeopardy.
AUTHORITY
AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Faculty Senate shall have the authority to recommend
policy for all matters of direct concern to the general faculty.
The Senate shall provide direction in defining faculty
policies and procedures that should be followed with regard to any issue of the
general faculty assembly for the purpose of reaching a decision.
The Senate shall recommend, approve, or disapprove academic
policy on behalf of the general faculty.
However, in the event that a particular issue requires further
deliberation, the Senate may defer action, by majority vote, and call a general
faculty assembly for the purpose of reaching a decision.
In pursuit of its philosophy and objectives, the Senate
shall assume, but shall not be limited to, the following responsibilities
- fostering a healthy relationship with the
administration;
- reviewing the organization of the general faculty
periodically;
- reviewing procedures for recruitment and selection of
new faculty;
- reviewing salary scales in relation to the Association
of American University Professors (AAUP) guidelines and making recommendations
to the President of the University regarding modifications;
- reviewing and
evaluating fringe benefit programs and making recommendations for improvement;
- reviewing all
matters which may arise concerning academic freedom with reference to the AAUP
guidelines;
- reviewing and
evaluating promotion policies and salary recognitions, as well as other forms
of recognition for outstanding teaching or other contributions to the
University community;
- reviewing and
making recommendations regarding teaching loads, release time for research, or
special assignments;
- reviewing and
revising criteria for faculty evaluation;
- recommending
and interpreting academic policies and standards;
- reviewing and
making recommendations on all matters contained in the Faculty Handbook;
- providing an
opportunity for aggrieved faculty members to have a hearing before their peers
in cases of disciplinary action, removal for cause, inter alia, as the
next step in the appeals process;
- serving as a sounding board for specific academic or
non-academic problems or grievances of individual faculty members;
- serving as a fair
representative of the faculty to the rest of the University community and to
the community at large;
- maintaining channels of communication with the
faculty, administration, and students;
- making sure that an atmosphere of respect for
the faculty body is maintained, while providing support for academic pursuits
and excellence;
- promoting faculty
loyalty and respect for the institution;
- promoting good
environmental working conditions for the faculty – adequate office space and
classrooms conducive to teaching and learning;
- recommending a
policy on the faculty’s “Intellectual Property” rights, and tenure/multi-year appointment regulations.
It shall be the responsibility of the Senate to make at
least one report a year of its deliberations, evaluations, recommendations and
policies. Such a report shall be in
writing and distributed to all members of the faculty.
FACULTY
PARTICIPATION
Any faculty member wishing to call the attention of the
Senate to any matters to which it should address itself may prepare a statement
in writing and submit it to the Senate or may appear before the Senate in
person. The
Senate President based on his/her determination of the significance of the
issue may place the item on the next agenda, or call a special meeting of the
Senate.
The Senate may invite any member of the administration,
administrative staff, or the faculty to provide information on relevant issues.
AMENDMENTS
The general faculty must approve any addition,
modification, or change in the philosophy, objectives and responsibilities of
the Faculty Senate. Such changes must be
provided in writing to each individual faculty member before the convening of
the general faculty meeting for the purpose of voting on them.
1. RULES OF ORDER
1.1 All meetings of the Faculty
Senate shall be conducted according to parliamentary procedure provided in the
latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order, with exceptions specified in
this document.
2. AGENDA
2.1 The agenda
and place for each meeting shall be determined in advance by the Executive
Committee and shall be made available to the Faculty Senate members and the
general faculty body no fewer than three (3) days before a regularly scheduled
meeting.
2.1.1 Any member of
the Senate may request that an item be put on the agenda by submitting it in
writing to the Secretary of the Senate five (5) days before the date of the
next regularly scheduled meeting.
2.1.2 The agenda for specially scheduled meetings shall be made
available to the Senate members and, at their request, other faculty, at least
one working day before the meeting and shall include information on who
requested the meeting, except in cases of emergency; the presiding officer may
announce the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.
2.1.3
The agenda for all meetings shall be followed unless set aside by
a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the quorum.
2.1.4
A
simple majority (51%) of the membership shall constitute a quorum in order to
conduct a meeting.
2.1.5 Any new matter, except
resolutions of respect, commendation, or regret, shall not be acted upon at the
same session in which it was introduced, unless by the consent of a two-thirds (2/3)
majority of the quorum.
2.1.6 A copy of every committee report
for Senate action shall be submitted to each Senate member at least three days
before the date of its presentation; the report shall contain a summary of the
matters considered, a list of recommendations in the form of motions for Senate
action, and a reference to previous Senate actions wherever relevant.
3. MEETINGS
3.1 The Faculty Senate
shall meet regularly at 11:00 a.m. on the first Tuesday of every month during
the academic year.
3.2 All meetings
of the Faculty Senate are open to non-members, who may be allowed the floor
consistent with Sections 3.2.1 to 3.2.5 given below. The number of observers may be regulated by
the Faculty Senate to ensure order.
3.2.1. Faculty members that are not Senate members may be
granted the privilege of the floor by the presiding officer.
3.2.2 The Senate
may move into an executive or closed session upon a two-thirds (2/3) majority
vote of a quorum.
3.2.3
Meetings of all committees, standing and ad hoc, shall be
open to non-members, except when in executive session; any committee may move
into an executive or closed session by a
majority vote of those present.
3.2.4
The number of observers at each meeting may be regulated by a
simple majority vote (51%) of the quorum so long as the determination is
consistent with the needs of order and space.
3.2.5 The presiding officer of the Senate
shall exercise the right to maintain order by ejecting disruptive observers
upon a majority vote.
3.3 Any
regularly scheduled meeting of the Senate may be cancelled by the unanimous
approval of the Agenda Committee, i.e., the Executive Committee, provided that:
(i) no business has been submitted for consideration, (ii) no matters were
carried over from the previous meeting (whether regularly or specially
scheduled), and (iii) appropriate notice is given to the Senate members and the
faculty.
3.4 Special
meetings may be called by the Senate, by the Executive Committee, or by
one-fourth (1/4) of the Senate members, by submitting a written petition to the
President of the Senate.
3.5 Voting shall be by voice
vote; however, the presiding officer or any member can call for a vote by division, in which case an
actual record of the vote shall be entered into the minutes.
3.6 The presiding officer of the
Senate shall have a vote only to break a tie but need not vote on the issue.
4. OFFICERS OF THE SENATE
4.1 The officers of the Senate,
who shall also constitute the Agenda Committee, will consist of a President,
Vice President, and Secretary, each of whom shall serve a term of two years.
4.2 The
President shall assume office immediately following his or her election in
April.
4.2.1
The President shall
preside at all meetings of the Faculty Senate.
4.2.2 The President shall serve as a
non-voting ex officio member of all standing committees of the Senate.
4.2.3 The President shall serve as the
faculty representative on the University's Board of Trustees and a liaison
between the Senate and the Board of Trustees.
4.3 The Vice President
shall assume office immediately following his or her election to a two-year
term.
4.3.1 In the event that the President is unable to complete his or her
term, he or she shall be replaced immediately by the Vice President, who shall
serve in that capacity for up to one year.
The election of a new Vice President shall be held as soon as feasible.
4.3.2
In the event that the
Vice President assumes the duties of the President as stated in Section 4.3.1,
his or her two-year term served as a Senate member will automatically be
extended by one year.
4.3.3 The Vice President shall preside at meetings of the Senate when
the President is unable to discharge the duties of office.
4.3.4 The Vice President
shall also serve as an ex-officio non-voting member of the standing
committees.
4.4 The Secretary shall be
elected for a two-year term, and the two-year term as a Senate member can be
extended by one year.
4.4.1 The Secretary shall
a.
coordinate the
activities of the Senate;
b.
keep minutes of the Senate meetings,
distribute, and disseminate all agenda and minutes to the Senate, and make them
available to all faculty;
c.
maintain all documents
of the Senate and its committees in a file accessible to all faculty members;
d.
distribute annually,
lists of Senate members, committee members, and copies of the Senate’s rules,
if amended;
e.
publish Senate attendance records at the end
of each semester; and
f.
serve as an ex-officio
voting member of all standing committees.
4.4.2 The Secretary
shall remind Senate members of each regularly scheduled meeting and shall
notify them of specially scheduled meetings.
4.5 Serving a
fractional term as an officer of the Senate shall not disqualify any individual
from being reelected.
5. MINUTES
5.1 The minutes of Faculty Senate meetings shall be complete to the
extent that they contain the essence of all issues discussed and all viewpoints
presented and shall report actions both rejected and approved with a record of
the vote when a count is taken as well as abstentions asked to be placed on the
record.
5.2 A copy of the minutes shall be
distributed by the Secretary as soon as is practical after each meeting but no
later than three days before the next regularly-scheduled meeting to each
Senate member, each Department Chair (for circulation among departmental
faculty members), each Dean, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
5.3 The
Secretary of the Senate shall maintain an official file of the minutes of all
Senate, Executive Committee, Standing Committee, and Ad Hoc Committee meetings,
send copies of the Senate meetings to the President of the University, and
place a copy of the minutes in the University library.
5.4 All minutes of closed
sessions will be stored in digital storage devices and kept under lock and key
in the Senate office.
5.5 Upon the directive of
the Executive Committee of the Senate, the Secretary shall deposit the Senate
records in the University Archives.
6. COMMUNICATIONS
6.1 All actions of the Senate shall be
made known to the entire faculty as soon as possible, generally through the
distribution of the minutes as outlined above.
6.2 The Senate shall consult with the
University President on all formal resolutions adopted by that body which deal
with external and/or politically sensitive issues before making such
resolutions public. When general publicity is to be given to an action taken by
the Senate, the responsibility shall be that of the President or of the Secretary,
if so directed by the President or a two-thirds (2/3) vote of a
Senate quorum.
6.3 All official
correspondence of the Senate shall be the responsibility of the Secretary.
6.4 Each standing and ad
hoc committee shall have its recorder.
7. COMMITTEES
7.1 The duties of Standing Committees
shall include the following:
7.1.1 Meeting at least once a semester,
and more frequently if necessary;
7.1.2 Keeping and
distributing minutes of all meetings. Two copies of all minutes and of all
relevant documents shall be given to the Secretary, who shall make them
available to any interested faculty member(s), and who shall place one in the
permanent records for the year; and
7.1.3 Preparing and submitting an annual
report by the last day of the spring semester.
7.2 The Standing
Committees of the Faculty Senate shall be as follows:
7.2.1 An Agenda
Committee, which is also the Executive Committee, shall be responsible for
determining the agenda for each meeting of the Faculty Senate and for calling
special meetings of the Senate;
7.2.2 An Academic Affairs Committee,
which shall consist of three Senate members - one
of whom shall chair the committee - appointed
by the Executive Committee, and up to four non-Senate faculty members, elected
by the Faculty Senate. This committee
shall look into general academic matters, including
a. academic
standards,
b. academic
procedures, and
c. academic
organizations and shall make its recommendations in the form of motions to the
Senate for its deliberation.
7.2.3
A Rules Committee, which shall consist of three Senate members - one of whom shall chair the
committee - appointed by the Executive Committee, and four
non-Senate
faculty members, elected by the Faculty Senate. This committee shall systematically consider any matters
pertaining to the rules and by-laws of the Senate. On approval by the Senate of
an amendment to these rules, the committee shall issue a new edition of these
Senate Rules and shall exercise all care to indicate the approval date of the
amendments and the notification that the new edition supersedes all previous
editions;
7.2.4
An Environmental
Policy Committee, which shall consist of two Senate members - one of whom shall chair the
committee - appointed by the Executive Committee, and three non-Senate
faculty members, elected by the Faculty Senate. This committee shall consider such matters as those
pertaining to the physical environment and supply services of the campus;
7.2.5 A Welfare and Benefits Committee,
which shall consist of three Senate members - one
of whom shall chair the committee - appointed
by the Executive Committee, and four non-Senate faculty members, elected by
the Faculty Senate. This committee shall
consider such issues as
a. appointments,
b. promotions,
c. tenure,
d. retirement,
e. insurance,
and
f. all other matters
pertaining to the welfare of the faculty;
7.3 Membership
of standing committees shall be constituted as follows:
7.3.1 Members of all standing committees
shall be appointed (Senate members) or elected (non-Senate members) at the beginning
of each academic year with due respect to the preferences of Senate members,
and in consultation, if needed, with the previous year's chairpersons. To
ensure continuity, at least one member from the previous year's committee shall
be re-appointed to that committee.
7.3.2 The committee members whose terms on the Senate continue into the
successive year shall serve as members of an interim committee until the new
committee is formed.
7.3.3
When a vacancy on any given committee occurs, the chairperson of
the committee shall notify the President of the Senate of the vacancy within
three working days. The President of the
Senate shall then confer with the chairperson of the committee and the proposed
appointee before the vacancy is filled.
7.3.4
Non-Senate faculty
members shall be elected by the Faculty Senate, for a term of one year, and the
number shall be equal to the number of Senate members on the committee or
exceed it by one.
7.3.5
Each Standing
Committee shall be responsible for electing a secretary to take minutes during
its meetings.
7.4 Ad hoc
Committees
7.4.1
Ad hoc committees may be appointed by the President of the
Faculty Senate, by any presiding member of the Executive Committee, or by a
motion from the floor.
7.4.2 An ad hoc
committee shall be established by a motion from the floor, and the motion shall
include
a. The name of
the committee and its charge,
b. Its size
and composition (e.g., three members of the Faculty Senate and one non-Senate
faculty member),
c. Whether it
shall be appointed or elected, and
d. A
date by which the committee shall be expected to present a report of its
progress or its recommendations.
8. RULES
8.1 Proposals for
modifications of the internal rules of the Faculty Senate may originate by
a) a motion in a Faculty
Senate meeting for referral to the Rules Committee,
b) any member of the
faculty in writing to the Faculty Senate, or
c) the Rules Committee on
its own initiative.
8.2 The Rules Committee
shall consider any proposal and bring its recommendations, in the form of a
motion or motions, to the Faculty Senate for its consideration.
8.3 Prior written notice specifying the modification or addition of a
rule shall be required for consideration at the annual meeting (in April).
9. RESIGNATIONS AND/OR OTHER VACANCIES
9.1 In
the event of the resignation or inability of a member of the Faculty Senate to
serve the elected term, the President shall appoint a special committee, which
shall be comprised of non-Senate members, to conduct an election in accordance
with the regular election procedures.
[1] Discussed and Adopted by Faculty Senate on
November 7, 2005. Developed by the
Faculty Senate Task Force Committee:
Drs. Mikael Broadway, McLouis Clayton, Mercy Fapojuwo, Maxine Highsmith,
and Grace Ndip (Chair), December 2004; Edited by Drs. Harish Chander and
Frederick Jones.