College of Liberal Arts Bylaws

Approved:  May 14, 2001

Amended:  February 25, 2005

ARTICLE I. Liberal Arts Faculty

The Liberal Arts Faculty shall comprise all fully-affiliated faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts.

A regular meeting of the Liberal Arts Faculty shall be called during the first, second, and third quarters of each academic year. Emergency meetings shall be called by the dean upon submission of a petition signed by at least 20 percent of the Liberal Arts Faculty or when the Dean considers necessary.

The officers of the Liberal Arts Faculty shall be the Dean or a designated representative.

1. The Dean or designated representative shall preside at meetings of the Liberal Arts Faculty. Such meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Revised, insofar as they are consistent with these bylaws.
2. The agenda for each meeting shall be prepared by the Senate and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The agenda for each meeting shall be circulated to each member of the Liberal Arts Faculty at least five working days prior to the meeting. After all items on the regular agenda have been resolved, additional items may be brought from the floor for discussion. Meetings may be held with any number of the members of the Liberal Arts Faculty; however, a quorum for transacting business shall be one-third of the Liberal Arts Faculty.

1. Liberal Arts Faculty have the power to:
   1. recommend policies regarding the academic programs, including college requirements and curricula for all degrees offered by the College;
   2. investigate, discuss, and make recommendations to any appropriate body within the University regarding any matter of interest to the College;
   3. appoint such committees as may be deemed appropriate.
2. The Liberal Arts Faculty reserves the right of referendum over all actions of the CoLA Senate.

ARTICLE II. The Senate of the College of Liberal Arts

Section 1. Authority

The power and duties of the Liberal Arts Faculty as described in Article I, Section 5, Item 1, are hereby delegated to the Senate.

Section 2. Membership

The Senate shall be comprised of the Dean or designated representative; one member of each department in the College, excluding the department chair and elected from and by the full-time members of each department to serve a term of two years, from September 15 to June 15 each term. The names of the department representatives shall be forwarded to the Dean in time for announcement at the last Liberal Arts Faculty meeting of the academic year.

Section 3. Senate Meetings

The Senate shall meet twice during each quarter of the regular academic year at a time and in a place determined by the Dean, unless, by a majority vote, the Senate shall otherwise determine. Special meetings shall be called by the Dean upon submission of a petition by at least five members of the Senate. Special meetings may be called by the Dean.

Section 4. Conduct of Meetings

The Dean or designated representative shall preside at meetings of the Senate. A quorum shall consist of one-half of the elected membership. Minutes of Senate meetings shall be taken by the secretary and circulated with the agenda to the Liberal Arts Faculty prior to the next scheduled meeting of the Senate. All meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Revised.

Section 5. Powers and Duties

1. Twenty percent of the Senate may request that any action approved by the Senate be placed on the agenda of the next Liberal Arts Faculty meeting for faculty approval.
2. The Senate periodically shall make recommendations to the Provost about the process and procedure for reviewing the Dean.

ARTICLE III Committees of the College of Liberal Arts

Section 1. Categories

The following standing committees are hereby established: Elections, Curriculum, Faculty Affairs, Faculty Development, Graduate, Petitions, and Promotion and Tenure.

Section 2. Membership

1. Composition. Each standing committee shall be comprised of five fully-affiliated faculty members. These members shall be drawn from the several departments of the College in the following manner: one from each college constituency under the constituency realignment adopted February 8, 1980 and modified May 19, 2000:
   
   
   Constituency A: Music, Theatre Arts
   Constituency B: English
   Constituency C: Art/Art History, Classics, Philosophy, Religion, Modern Languages
   Constituency D: History, Political Science, Urban Affairs and Geography
   Constituency E: Sociology/Anthropology, Communication, Social Work
   
   The Dean of the College or designated representative shall serve as a nonvoting sixth member of the Curriculum, Faculty Development, Graduate, and Promotion and Tenure Committees.
2. Types of Memberships. Members of the Curriculum, Faculty Affairs, Faculty Development, and Promotion and Tenure Committees shall be elected at a time and under procedures determined by the Elections Committee. Members of all other committees shall be appointed by the Elections Committee.

   Each year one member of each standing committee shall be elected to a two-year term in the case of an elected committee or appointed to a two-year term in the case of an appointed committee. At the beginning of the second year, the two-year member shall be responsible for calling the first meeting of the committee at the earliest possible date in the fall quarter.

   Except for Faculty Affairs and Promotion and Tenure, each committee may also have as a member one liberal arts major from the student body. Each committee shall select a chair from among its members.

3. Procedure. Elections and appointments to the Senate and to the standing committees shall be according to the following procedure, each step of which shall be completed before the next is begun.
   1. Senators shall be selected and made known to the Senate through the Office of the Dean, to the Elections Committee and to the Faculty.
   2. Nominees for each elected committee shall be selected at the department level.  An eligible faculty member may nominate him/herself or he/she may be nominated for any number of elected committees, subject to personal approval of each nomination. The departmental list of nominees shall be forwarded to the Elections Committee through the Office of the Dean.
   3. The Elections Committee shall conduct the elections, insure that each successful candidate is notified, and report the election results to the Senate and to the Faculty of the College through the Office of the Dean.
   4. The memberships of the appointed committees shall be selected with the following stipulations. Each member of an appointed committee shall have personally indicated an interest in serving on the committee, or service shall have been directly and personally solicited by a member of the Elections Committee. Appointments to the appointed committees are made by the Elections Committee.

The procedure shall be completed prior to elections and appointments to University committees and councils.

Section 3. Powers and Duties

The Senate and each standing committee, except the Promotion and Tenure Committee, shall bear the following relationship to one another in the definition of powers and discharge of duties; acting in consultation with each committee, the Senate shall determine the committee's responsibilities. Each committee is directly responsible and accountable to the Senate. The chair of each committee shall report to the Senate on a regular basis as determined by the Senate, and shall submit committee actions to the Senate for review and action as deemed appropriate by the Senate.

Curriculum Committee

The Curriculum Committee is composed of an annually elected representative from each of the five constituencies of Liberal Arts. The functions of this committee include, but are not limited to, reviewing Course Modification and Course Inventory Requests for undergraduate courses, changes in admission or graduation requirements, and new undergraduate major and minor programs from CoLA departments. Recommended actions are forwarded to the chair of the University Undergraduate Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee (UUCAPC) and to the Dean as applicable. The committee chair makes a quarterly report on committee actions to the CoLA Senate. The Associate Dean of CoLA serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member.

Faculty Development Committee

The Faculty Development Committee is composed of tenured faculty, annually elected from each of the five constituencies of Liberal Arts. The functions of the committee include, but are not limited to, reviewing COLA faculty development grant requests and Professional Development Leave proposals from CoLA faculty. Grant requests are considered and awarded based on criteria that include contributions to teaching, scholarship, and outreach. Grant funding for the academic year is provided on a first-come basis and distributed until the fund is exhausted. Professional Development Leave proposals are discussed and recommended in priority order to the college Dean, who then submits a final recommendation to the Office of the Provost. The committee chair makes a quarterly report on committee actions to the CoLA Senate. The Associate Dean of CoLA serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member.

Faculty Affairs Committee

The Faculty Affairs Committee is composed of an annually elected representative from each of the five constituencies of Liberal Arts. The Faculty Affairs Committee shall prepare and recommend to the Liberal Arts Senate: (a) standards for the Professional Development Leave program; and (b) action on matters dealing with faculty welfare.

Promotion and Tenure Committee (P&T)

The College Promotion and Tenure Committee, composed of the Dean as chair (and non-voting member) and an elected member from each college constituency, will meet to review all college cases for promotion and/or tenure.

Any member of the college promotion and tenure committee should be tenured and hold at least the rank of associate professor. The college representative to the University P&T Committee is an ex-officio, non-voting member of this committee.

During the course of the P&T Committee deliberations, the representative of the respective constituency opens the committee discussion on a particular case. Once the discussion is complete, the five voting members vote on each case. At the conclusion of the initial discussion and vote on each case, any voting member can bring any one of the cases forward for additional discussion and for two possible additional votes. After all votes are taken, the five voting members decide who will draft letters for the committee's review on each of the cases; usually this is the constituency representative. The Dean facilitates the meeting, and the University Committee representative tabulates the voting. Recommendations are forwarded to the University Promotion and Tenure Committee.

Graduate Studies Committee

The Graduate Studies Committee is composed of annually appointed representatives from each of the five constituencies of Liberal Arts. The functions of this committee include, but are not limited to reviewing Graduate Academic and Admission Petitions, Graduate Course Inventory and Course Modification requests, and applications from faculty for full Graduate Faculty status. Committee recommendations on petitions and other actions are forwarded to the dean of the School of Graduate Studies and/or COLA dean as appropriate. The committee chair makes a quarterly report on committee actions to the CoLA Senate. The Associate Dean of CoLA serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member.

The representative and alternate from the College to the University Graduate Council shall be chosen by and from the membership of the college's Graduate Studies Committee.

Elections Committee

The Elections Committee is composed of annually appointed representatives from each of the five constituencies of Liberal Arts. The committee is responsible for preparing the ballots of candidates for elected and appointed committees, and for organizing and conducting the elections. After the elections, the committee notifies the successful candidates and reports the elections results to the Senate and to the college faculty. Because elections are normally held at the beginning of spring quarter, the committee chair makes a report on the election results at the spring senate meeting.

Petitions Committee

The Petitions Committee is composed of tenured and tenure-track faculty, annually appointed from each of the five constituencies of Liberal Arts. The functions of this committee are to review Undergraduate Petitions and formal complaints requiring Academic Mediation. Undergraduate Petitions are exceptions that permit removal of hours and points for courses, late dropping of classes or complete withdrawals, waiving of regulations, and course substitutions. Committee recommendations on petitions are forwarded to the University Undergraduate Petitions Council. Student requests for Academic Mediation involve contested grades and grading procedures. Committee recommendations are forwarded to the Dean for final recommendation to the instructor.. The committee chair makes a quarterly report on committee actions to the CoLA Senate. The Assistant Dean for Student Affairs of CoLA serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member.

ARTICLE IV. Selection and Review of the Dean

If a vacancy occurs in the Dean's position, all applications for the position will be made available for faculty review. Candidates' visits to campus will be scheduled in order for Faculty to have an opportunity to interview the candidates and provide input to the review process.

The Senate will periodically review and recommend procedures for reviewing chairs and deans.

ARTICLE V. Amendments

Amendments may be initiated by the Senate, by majority vote of the Liberal Arts Faculty at a properly called meeting, or by submission to the Senate of a petition signed by at least 20 percent of the Liberal Arts Faculty. No amendment shall be recommended unless distributed in writing to all members of the Liberal Arts Faculty at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.