COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS BYLAWS
Approved: February 27, 2002
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.
A.
By the action of College committees delegated to make such recommendations
on behalf of the faculty, such as the Promotion and Tenure Committee.
B. 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).
C.
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.
D.
By the action of the Search Committee formed to make
recommendations about the selection of the Dean of the CoSM.
Non-BUF
(chairs, instructors, research faculty, etc.) may petition the BUF to make
a recommendation to the Dean (or other university administrator) on their
behalf at a General Faculty Meeting.
This provision is not intended to exclude these 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 other
fully affiliated faculty, and all department chairs.
The Dean and the Associate and Assistant Deans may participant 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.
A. 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. Also,
the Search Committee shall include at least four BUF, not restricted to
only the CoSM, and 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,
a. 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.
b.
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.
c. 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
i. 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”
ii. an opportunity to rank
the candidates
iii. an opportunity to comment upon each candidate
iv.
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.
B.
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
a. 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”
b. an
opportunity to rank the candidates
c. an opportunity to comment upon each candidate
d. 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
A.
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 June 10 of
each year and appointments completed by June 22. 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.
B. 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
Anatomy
Chemistry
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Geological Sciences
Biological Sciences
Mathematics & Statistics
Physiology & Biophysics
Physics
Psychology
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. Faculty may vote for representatives
of all constituencies.
C. The Standing Committees of the
College
1. Steering Committee
a. 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.
b.
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 within
ten days after the start of the Summer Term. The terms of office for the
elected members shall be two years.
c. 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.
d.
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
a. Purpose: The Committee is responsible for evaluating and making
recommendations regarding departmental requests for:
(1) All undergraduate course changes, additions or deletions.
(2) All undergraduate curriculum changes at the Department and
College levels.
If
after careful deliberation, the Committee does not recommend a
departmental request, the department, the Committee, or the Dean may bring
the request to the College faculty for their consideration and
recommendation.
In
addition to the responsibilities outlined, the Committee may make
appropriate recommendations to individual departments, the College
faculty, or the University Curriculum and Academic Programs Committee.
b.
Composition: The CoSM Undergraduate Curriculum 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 Anatomy,
Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics appoint members in even
numbered years, and Geology, Physiology and Biophysics, Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Psychology, and Mathematics and Statistics appoint
members in odd numbered years. The
Dean (or his/her appointee) and the College representative(s) to the
University Curriculum and Academic Programs Committee shall be ex officio
members of the Committee.
c.
Activities: The members shall
meet early each Fall Term to elect a chair from among themselves.
Duties of the chair include scheduling Committee meetings when such
are warranted, bringing pertinent business before the Committee in a
timely manner, and forwarding recommended course changes and proposals to
the Dean's Office. The chair must schedule a meeting at the request of any
Committee member. The College Committee must review any University
proposal that impacts the College and advise the College representative to
the University Curriculum and Academic Programs Committee of its
recommendation.
3. Undergraduate Petitions
Committee
a.
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.
b.
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 Anatomy, Biological Sciences,
Chemistry and Physics appoint members in even numbered years, and Geology,
Physiology and Biophysics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Psychology,
and Mathematics and Statistics 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
a.
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.
b.
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 Anatomy, Biological
Sciences, Chemistry and Physics appoint members in even numbered years,
and Geology, Physiology and Biophysics, Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, Psychology, and Mathematics and Statistics 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.
c.
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
a. 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.
b.
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
P&T 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 fully affiliated faculty 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 at large and will serve as a non-voting
member of the College P&T Committee.)
As soon as possible after the College representative to the
University Committee is elected, and not later than November 10, the
College P&T Committee will elect its chair. The Dean of the College is
a non-voting member of the College P &T Committee.
c. Criteria:
The Criteria for Promotion and Tenure for the CoSM are the applicable
Departmental Criteria for any given faculty member.
d.
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 consider:
(1) the recommendation of the department committee and the departmental
chair,
(2) the contribution of the proposed activities to the professional
development of the applicant, and
(3) the benefit to the College of the experience gained by the
applicant during the professional leave.
6. Academic Mediation Committee
a. 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.
b. 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 Anatomy,
Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics appoint members in even
numbered years, and Geology, Physiology and Biophysics, Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Psychology, and Mathematics and Statistics 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
a. 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.
b.
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
Anatomy, Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics appoint members in
even numbered years, and Geology, Physiology and Biophysics, Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology, Psychology, and Mathematics and Statistics 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
A. 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.
B. 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.
C. 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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