COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS BYLAWS

Approved: February 27, 2002

Amended: November 13, 2007

The bylaws contain procedures required by the AAUP-WSU Agreement. The bylaws also describe the standing committees of the College of Science and Mathematics (CoSM), and specify the mechanisms by which the Bargaining Unit Faculty (BUF) makes recommendations.

I. Faculty Recommendations

The Bargaining Unit Faculty (BUF) of the College gives advice and makes recommendations to the Dean, other administrators, and College and university-level committees by several mechanisms.

By the action of College committees delegated to make such recommendations on behalf of the faculty, such as the Promotion and Tenure Committee.
By the majority vote of those BUF attending a regularly scheduled College Faculty Meeting at which the item is a scheduled agenda item. The Steering Committee will forward the recommendation(s) to the appropriate person or people and/or committee(s).
By a majority vote of BUF voting in a secret written ballot mailed to all BUF. This mechanism will be used when the Steering Committee or a majority of BUF voting at a regularly scheduled College faculty Meeting decide it should be used. It is the responsibility of the Steering Committee to implement this procedure.
By the action of the Search Committee formed to make recommendations about the selection of the Dean of the CoSM.

Non-BUF (chairs, instructors, and lecturers) may petition the BUF to make a recommendation to the Dean (or other university administrator) on their behalf at a General Faculty Meeting. This article is not intended to exclude faculty members from petitioning members of the University administration individually or as a group by whatever other mechanisms University policy may provide.

II. General Faculty Meetings

General Meeting of the Faculty of the CoSM shall occur at least once each term during the academic year and additionally as the Dean or the Steering Committee may direct. Except as provided otherwise by the WSU AAUP Agreement, voting members of this meeting shall be all BUF, all department chairs, and all other fully affiliated faculty (i.e. instructors and lecturers). The Dean and the Associate and Assistant Deans may participate in the meeting but do not vote. The Steering Committee is responsible for organizing the agenda for the meeting, and for conducting the Meeting. The Chair of the Steering Committee chairs the General Faculty Meeting.

III. Procedures by which Faculty Give Advice and Make Recommendations in the Selection of the Dean

The following sections state the procedures by which BUF give advice regarding the naming of the Dean or an Acting Dean.

Selection of the Dean: The procedures by which the BUF in the CoSM give advice regarding the appointment of the Dean are as follows:
1. A Dean Search Committee will be created. At least one third of the membership of the Search Committee will be CoSM BUF, in equal numbers from constituencies A and B as defined in article V, selected by the College Steering Committee. The Search Committee shall include at least four BUF, not restricted to only the CoSM. A majority of the Search Committee shall have faculty status, not restricted to only BUF. Subject to these restrictions, the Search Committee and its chair will be appointed by the Provost.
2. When a candidate is to be interviewed publicly:
  1. The candidate’s application in full (vita, letter of application, letters of recommendation if any, etc.) shall be available for examination by BUF in the CoSM. Further, the Search Committee shall distribute an abridged version of the application to all BUF in the CoSM.
  2. There shall be one or more public forums of sufficient duration to provide BUF in the CoSM an opportunity to meet and question the candidate.
  3. The Search Committee shall distribute a secret advisory ballot to BUF Members in the CoSM. The ballot may include any items chosen by the Search Committee. However, the ballot shall include:
  (1) for each candidate, the question “Is [name of candidate] acceptable to you for appointment to the position of the Dean of the CoSM?” with answers “Yes” or “No”
  
  (2) an opportunity to rank the candidates
  
  (3) an opportunity to comment upon each candidate
  
  (4) clear instructions for the return of the ballot: where it may be returned, plus due date and time.
3. Along with its recommendations, the Search Committee will transmit to the Provost the names of candidates acceptable to a majority of the BUF of the COSM who responded to the advisory ballot and other information as appropriate. The Search Committee will provide to the Provost a summary of the advisory ballot results. The Provost will consider this information before appointing a Dean.
4. The Provost (or the President) will attend a meeting of BUF of the CoSM, which meeting shall be arranged by the CoSM Steering Committee, to announce and explain the appointment.
Appointment of an Acting Dean: If an Acting Dean is to be appointed to serve for more than one year, then the procedures by which the BUF in the CoSM give advice regarding the appointment of an Acting Dean are as follows:
1. The Provost will provide the CoSM Steering Committee with the names of one or more candidates.
2. The Steering Committee may call a meeting of the CoSM BUF to provide the opportunity for the BUF to discuss the candidates. The Steering Committee may also provide the opportunity for the BUF to meet with each candidate.
3. The Steering Committee shall provide the opportunity for all BUF in the CoSM to vote on the acceptability of each candidate, either in a secret vote conducted in a meeting of the CoSM BUF called for this purpose, or by distributing a secret advisory ballot to all BUF in the CoSM. If a ballot is used, then the ballot may include any items chosen by the Steering Committee. However, the ballot shall include:
  1. for each candidate, the question “Is [name of candidate] acceptable to you for appointment to the position of the Dean of the CoSM?” with answers “Yes” or “No”
  2. an opportunity to rank the candidates
  3. an opportunity to comment upon each candidate
  4. clear instructions for the return of the ballot : where it may be returned, plus due date and time.
4. The Steering Committee will transmit to the Provost the names of candidates acceptable to a majority of the BUF of the COSM who responded to the advisory ballot and other information as appropriate. The Provost will consider this information before appointing an Acting Dean.
5. The Provost (or the President) will announce the appointment to the CoSM faculty. The Steering Committee may arrange a meeting of the BUF of the CoSM for the Provost (or President) to announce and explain the appointment.

IV. Procedures for Faculty Involvement in Administrative Reviews

When the Dean is reviewed, the College Steering Committee, in conjunction with the faculty members of the Review Committee, will solicit advice and recommendations from the BUF regarding their role in the process. The College Steering Committee may use the mechanisms outlined in Article I. Following a review of the Dean, the Steering Committee shall solicit comments on the effectiveness and thoroughness of the review process and pass a summary of these comments on to the Provost.

V. College Committees

There are seven standing committees in the College: the Steering Committee, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, the Petitions Committee, the Graduate Studies Committee, the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Academic Mediation Committee, and the Academic Computing and Technology Committee. The period during which committee memberships are established will be such as to have elections completed by two weeks before the end of spring term of each year and appointments completed by the end of spring term. Elections are to be conducted by secret ballot. The new committees will take office in the Fall Term. For all committees with terms of office of more than one year, the terms will be staggered. If a vacancy develops on an elected committee, an election will be held to elect a replacement faculty member for the remainder of the term. Throughout this Article, “ex-officio member” shall mean “non-voting ex-officio member.” Throughout this article, the capitalized word “Committee” will refer to the committee being discussed in that subheading.

The duties, objectives, responsibilities and authority of standing College Committees are listed below. In addition, the faculty of the CoSM may recommend that ad hoc committees undertake specific tasks. The creation of new standing committees shall require a thorough study by the Steering Committee and a proposal to the faculty of the CoSM. Final establishment of such a standing committee shall be accomplished by the procedures set forth below for amending these bylaws.

A copy of all committee reports and procedures will be provided to the College Office.

For representation on elected College committees other than the P & T Committee, the College will be divided into two mutually exclusive constituencies by department as follows:

Constituency A	Constituency B
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Chemistry
Biological Sciences	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology	Mathematics & Statistics
Psychology	Physics

Faculty members are assigned to constituencies by their home (tenure) departments. In cases of joint appointments or assignments to other departments, the Steering Committee will adjudicate constituency assignments for participation in College elections. Fully-affiliated faculty including chairs may vote for representatives of all constituencies. The Dean and the Associate and Assistant Deans may not vote.

The Standing Committees of the College
1. Steering Committee
  1. Purpose: The purpose of the Committee is to help coordinate faculty governance activities in the College and oversee the operation of other faculty committees. The specific responsibilities of the Committee are as follows:
  (1) Announce and conduct College faculty meetings; prepare an agenda including items from committees, faculty, and the Dean.(2) Ensure that College committee chairs and members are selected; supervise the activities of College committees; and report to the faculty and the Dean the efforts of all standing and ad hoc committees unless otherwise provided for.
  
  (3) Appoint a recording secretary who shall be responsible for maintaining an accurate up-to-date record of the official activities of the Steering Committee and Faculty Meetings. The recording secretary will provide a copy of these records to the Dean.(4) Arrange for elections to any elected committees and any elected representatives of the College and appoint two persons not on the Steering Committee to count ballots.
  
  (5) Solicit nominees for representatives to appointed College Committees
  
  (6) Recommend to the faculty at general meetings any changes in the responsibilities of College Committees or areas of responsibility of the faculty.
  
  (7) Recommend that each standing College committee provide to the Steering Committee and the Dean an updated copy of its procedures, reports, and guidelines.
  
  (8) Serve as one of the means by which BUF provide advice and recommendations in accordance with Articles I, III, IV, VI, and VII.(9) Serve in an advisory capacity to the Dean.
  1. Composition: The Steering Committee shall be composed of four tenured BUF: two each from constituencies A and B. No department shall have more than one representative on the Committee. The Dean or designee will usually meet monthly with the Committee throughout the academic year. The chair of the Committee shall be selected by the Committee from its members by the end of spring term. The terms of office for the elected members shall be two years.
  2. Election: The Steering Committee will canvass the fully affiliated faculty of Science and Mathematics to solicit nominations for the Steering Committee until a slate of candidates is available which numbers at least two times the number of open positions to be filled. Normally, one new member from each constituency will be elected each year. A special election shall be conducted should a vacancy arise.
  3. Activities. Normally, the Committee shall meet monthly, or more often at their discretion, in order to achieve the goals expressed above.
2. Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
3. Undergraduate Petitions Committee
  1. Purpose: The Committee is responsible for making recommendations on petitions related to CoSM and/or University policies and requirements. The CoSM Petitions Committee considers all petitions submitted by undergraduate students who have a major in the College; however, the Committee usually does not act on petitions involving departmental degree requirements. Petitions that concern interdepartmental matters will usually be handled by the departments involved.
    
    The Dean will be provided an opportunity to review and make comments on the recommendations of the College Petitions Committee. Normally, the chair of the College Committee represents the College on the University Petitions Council, where all petitions are reviewed.
  2. Composition. The College of Science and Mathematics Petitions Committee shall consist of one member from each Department appointed by the chair of that Department for a term of two years. The terms shall be staggered so that Departments in Constituency A (Article Vb) appoint members in even numbered years, and Departments in Constituency B (Article Vb) appoint members in odd numbered years. The Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and a student nominated by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs are ex-officio members of the Committee. The Committee shall elect its chair early in Fall Term of each academic year.
4. Graduate Studies Committee
  1. Purpose: The Graduate Studies Committee will:
  (1) Be responsible for the review and preparation of College reports or proposals concerning policy on graduate education. Such reports will then be presented at a College faculty meeting for recommendation to the Dean.
  
  (2) Review College policies on graduate education from time to time and make appropriate recommendations.
  
  (3)Provide liaison between the College and the University Graduate Council, including recommendations of faculty members to the Graduate Council and its committees.
  
  (4) Review curriculum changes, graduate course changes, additions, or deletions proposed by departments, proposals for new programs, and changes to programs and degrees; and send positively recommended requests on to the University Graduate Council. If, after careful deliberation, the College Committee recommends against a departmental request, the department, the Committee, or the Dean may bring the request to the College faculty for their consideration and recommendation.
  
  (5) Review all graduate petitions and make recommendations to the University Graduate Council.
  
  (6) Review applications for appointment of full and adjunct full graduate program faculty and make recommendations to the University Graduate Council.
  1. Composition: The CoSM Graduate Studies Committee shall consist of one graduate faculty BUF from each Department appointed by the chair of that Department for a term of two years. The terms shall be staggered so such that Departments in Constituency A (Article Vb) appoint members in even numbered years, and Departments in Constituency B (Article Vb) appoint members in odd numbered years. The Dean (or designee) and the College representative to the University Graduate Council are ex-officio members of the Committee. The Committee shall elect its chair early in the Fall Term of each academic year.
  2. Procedures: Materials requiring recommendations by the Graduate Studies Committee are forwarded to the Chair. The Committee is typically divided into three subcommittees: petitions, curriculum, and graduate faculty status. Much of the subcommittees’ routine business may be conducted in the absence of actual meetings by circulating the various documents to the subcommittee members for their vote of approval or disapproval, or by e-mail coordinated by the Committee chair. The Chair will then make a specific recommendation based on the subcommittee vote and recommendations.
5. Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Committee
  1. Purpose: The Promotion and Tenure Committee evaluates and makes recommendations on
  (1) tenure
  
  (2) promotion in academic rank with tenure
  
  (3) promotion in academic rank
  
  (4) requests for Professional Development Leave
  
  (5) nominations to the University P & T Committee for University awards.
  1. Composition: All members of the CoSM P &T Committee must have at least three years service at Wright State with tenure at the rank of Associate Professor or higher. Each department's Promotion and Tenure Committee shall elect a departmental representative(s) for that year (who may be the chair of the department) to the College P &T Committee within three weeks of the beginning of the academic year. Any department with more than one eighth of the College BUF, as of the first day of the preceding Winter Term, will elect two representatives. If a member resigns from the College P &T Committee his/her Department P &T Committee shall elect a successor to fill out the year. No person shall serve for more than three consecutive years. As soon as possible after departmental representatives are named, and not later than October 31, the College Steering Committee will conduct an election by which the CoSM BUF elect a full professor from among the full professors on the College P&T Committee to serve as the College representative to the University Promotion and Tenure Committee. (If there are no full professors on the College Committee, then the Steering Committee will canvas the BUF and chairs of CoSM to solicit nominations for the representative to the University Committee until at least two candidates are available; the representative shall then be elected from the CoSM BUF full professors at large by the CoSM BUF at large and will serve as a non-voting member of the College P&T Committee.) The College P&T Committee will elect its chair no later than November 10. The Dean of the College is a non-voting member of the College P &T Committee.
  2. Criteria: The Criteria for Promotion and Tenure for the CoSM are the applicable Departmental Criteria for any given faculty member.
  3. Procedures: In matters of promotion and/or tenure the Committee shall:
  (1) Determine whether the materials placed before the Committee fulfill the departmental criteria for promotion to higher rank and/or tenure. If the chair and the department P & T Committee assessments differ, the Committee shall address this issue in its written recommendation.
  
  (2) Consider the qualifications of the external reviewers, the external letters of review of scholarship and/or teaching, and determine whether the external letters are consistent with the departmental criteria.
  
  The Committee members shall have provided to them all of the materials required by the AAUP-WSU Agreement, at least one week before the first meeting of the Committee at which promotion or tenure is considered.
  
  In issuing recommendations on matters of promotion and/or tenure the following procedures apply:
  
  (1) The complete promotion and tenure document may not be altered without permission of the candidate and the chair after it is submitted to the College P & T Committee. Except for additions in accordance with the Bargaining Agreement (such as the Candidate's optional rebuttal statement and an explanatory statement if the College reverses the department's decision), the document cannot be altered after the College Committee votes.
  
  (2) The CoSM P &T Committee shall not consider any material that is not part of a candidate's promotion and tenure file until after the Committee provides the material to the candidate, department chair, and chair of the department P & T Committee and gives them one week to respond verbally and/or in writing.
  
  (3) No person reviewing the candidate’s file shall have more than two votes, or (in the case of a Dean or Department Chair) one vote and a required individual letter, on a candidate’s promotion and/or tenure. That is, a faculty member may vote on two, but not all three P & T committees (Department, College, and University) in a specific case Ineligibility to vote shall not be considered the same as abstention.
  
  In matters where a unanimous recommendation to the University P&T Committee cannot be made, the CoSM P & T Committee shall vote until a majority of the Committee is in agreement on a recommendation, and by the same vote on two consecutive ballots. No member may vote on a matter of promotion to rank higher than his or her own. The College representative to the University Committee shall be bound to uphold the recommendation of the College P &T Committee on the first ballot during the University P &T Committee's deliberations on a recommendation, but thereafter may vote differently. In selection of a representative to the University P&T Committee care must be given not to trigger a procedural proscription listed above in (3).
  
  In its written recommendations, the Committee's judgment should be completely and clearly explained so that no later review could reasonably find the judgement in error of procedure, inconsistent with departmental criteria, discriminatory, arbitrary or capricious.
  
  The College P &T Committee shall meet as often as necessary to complete its work to meet applicable deadlines.
  
  The Dean shall inform each candidate promptly of the vote of the CoSM P&T Committee and shall provide the candidate access to his or her files, including the CoSM P&T Committee's recommendation and the Dean’s letter.
  
  Concerning requests for Professional Development Leave, the Committee shall use procedures and criteria specified in the CBA.
6. Academic Mediation Committee
  1. Purpose: The purpose of the Committee is to mediate and, where possible, help resolve disputes between faculty and students over grades or other academic evaluations when these issues cannot be resolved by normal consultation with faculty, chairs, or the Dean. Within the restrictions of the AAUP-WSU Agreement, it may make recommendations to faculty, the relevant chair(s), and the Dean for resolving academic disputes.
  2. Composition: The Academic Mediation Committee shall consist of one member from each Department appointed by the chair of that Department for a term of two years. The terms shall be staggered so that Departments in Contituency A (Article Vb) appoint members in even numbered years, and Departments in Constituency B (Article Vb) appoint members in odd numbered years. The Associate or Assistant Dean for Student Affairs is an ex-officio member of the Committee. An ex-officio student member shall be nominated by the College representative of the student government and must be approved by the Steering Committee. The student member shall serve a one-year term.
7. Academic Computing and Technology Committee
1. Purpose: The Committee will contribute to the missions of the CoSM by aiding the College and its constituents in the efficient use and development of computing and technological resources. The Committee shall:
(1) Provide recommendations to the Dean concerning CoSM policy and requirements in the areas of academic computing and technology.

(2) Recommend one of its members to be the CoSM representative to the University Technology Committee (UTC). The College Committee shall vigorously advocate CoSM computing needs to the UTC, and shall promptly report UTC activities, decisions, etc. to the Dean and the CoSM faculty.

(3) Facilitate interactions among constituencies of the College in the areas of academic computing and technology.
1. Composition: The Academic Computing and Technology Committee shall consist of one member from each Department appointed by the chair of that Department for a term of two years. The terms shall be staggered such that Departments in Constituency A (Article Vb) appoint members in even numbered years, and Departments in Constituency B (Article Vb) appoint members in odd numbered years. The Dean (or his/her appointee) is an ex-officio member of the Committee. The Committee elects its chair early in the Fall Term of each year.

VI. AMENDMENTS

The process for amending these bylaws begins with a majority vote of BUF by secret ballot as outlined in Article I of these bylaws. Notice of the proposed change must be published by the Steering Committee and distributed among the BUF at least two weeks prior to the vote. The notice shall contain the text of the proposed change, and a copy of the complete relevant section. The amendment must be consistent with the AAUP-WSU Agreement. Any amendments recommended by the BUF by such a vote must also be approved by the Dean and by the Faculty Governance Committee. Any amendments that pertain to or have an impact on the School of Medicine must also be approved by the Dean of the School of Medicine.

VII. REVISIONS, PUBLICATION, AND REVIEW

At the end of each academic year, the Steering Committee shall issue to each department a revised and updated version of these bylaws incorporating modifications officially approved in accordance with the AAUP-WSU Agreement procedures for adopting/changing bylaws.
The Steering Committee will ensure that a current version of the College bylaws is available at the College web site. At the end of each academic year, the Steering Committee shall review the posting of the bylaws to verify that officially approved modifications made during that academic year have been incorporated.

At least every fifth year the Steering Committee shall appoint an ad hoc committee to review the bylaws and recommend changes, consistent with Article I of these bylaws and the AAUP-WSU Agreement including the procedures authorized for adopting and changing bylaws.

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