Motion 8
To Revise the
Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) and to create the
Nominations Committee for the Faculty Executive Committee (NCFEC)
December 3, 2002

 

SUMMARY

Part 1 of this motion modifies the charge of the Faculty Executive Committee to assume the functions of the current Nominations Committee and the Rosenberger Medal of Honor Committee, which would then be eliminated. The current grievance functions of the FEC are delegated to the proposed Committee on Grievance. Part 2 creates a new committee, the Nominations Committee for the Faculty Executive Committee (NCFEC) to nominate members to the Faculty Executive Committee. Part 3 authorizes the immediate adoption of these changes.

 

RATIONALE:

 

The amendments to the Faculty Executive Committee, proposed by the Task Force on Faculty Governance and recommended by the Faculty Executive Committee, retain the role of the FEC as the steering committee for Faculty business and as the agent to act for the Faculty in emergencies.  They clarify the role of the FEC as a conduit for Faculty opinions between the Administration, Corporation, and students and assign to the FEC responsibility for nominations. This includes proposing faculty members to the Provost for the Academic Priorities and University Resources Committees, nominating faculty members to other committees, and advising senior administrators on the appointment of faculty members to their administrative advisory boards or the nomination in the event that they are determined by election. The amendments require that FEC report annually on the composition of committees and boards and grant to FEC the right to approve the detailed charges of individual administrative advisory boards for insertion into the Faculty Rules and Regulations. Finally, they give FEC responsibility to recommend individuals for award  of the Susan Colver Rosenberger Special Honor Medal.

 

The Nominations Committee for the Faculty Executive Committee (NCFEC) is a new standing committee of the faculty, proposed by the Task Force on Faculty Governance and recommended by the Faculty Executive Committee. The responsibility for making nominations to Faculty committees is transferred by another motion to the FEC. Since the FEC must not be in a position to nominate its own members, this task is assigned to this committee. Under the pre-existing Faculty Rules and Regulations the FEC nominated members of the Nominations Committee. This Motion is presented to insert the charge for the NCFEC in the proper place in the Faculty Rules & Regulations.

MOTION

 

Part 1

Motion to amend the Faculty Rules, effective immediately, for the purpose of eliminating the Nominations Committee described in Part I, Section 2, III, B of the Faculty Rules and Regulations and replacing the charge of the Faculty Executive Committee currently found in Part I, Section 2, III, A of the Faculty Rules and Regulations with the following:

K.          Faculty Executive Committee (FEC)

1.             Charge 

The FEC shall serve as a central steering committee for Faculty business.

a.        To investigate matters of concern to the Faculty not in the purview of other faculty committees, and report and make recommendations concerning them to the Faculty.

b.       To refer such issues and other matters pertaining to Faculty business to the Faculty, to the appropriate Faculty Committee, or to an Ad hoc Faculty committee that it may create to investigate and make recommendations regarding the issue.

c.        To receive and discuss the annual reports of committees which it shall forward as part of the agenda of a faculty meeting to all members of the Faculty.

d.       To call Special Faculty Meetings and Faculty Forums.

e.        To set the Agenda for Faculty Meetings after consultation with the President, the Secretary of the Faculty and other interested parties.

f.         To act for the Faculty in emergencies, provided that it keeps the Faculty informed of such actions and brings them to the Faculty for approval as soon as possible.

g.       To serve as a conduit between the Faculty and the Administration, Corporation, and students concerning faculty issues. Every faculty member shall have access to the Faculty Executive Committee for purposes of voicing his or her concerns regarding general matters relating to faculty business.

h.       To consult with the Provost in the selection of candidates for election by the Faculty to the University Resources Committee and the Academic Priorities Committee.

i.         To nominate faculty members to other committees.

                                                         i.      FEC shall not nominate its members to standing committees or boards.

                                                        ii.      When the Faculty creates a new standing committee without a designated chair, FEC shall ap­point one member of the new committee to convene it.

j.         To report annually to the Faculty on the composition by protected groups of faculty members serving on Faculty committees and administrative advisory boards.

k.        To receive from senior administrators charges to administrative advisory boards for possible Faculty approval and inclusion in Faculty Rules and Regulations.

l.          To advise senior administrators chairing administrative advisory boards on the appointment by the administrator of faculty members to the board or, in conjunction with the senior administrator, to nominate faculty members to be elected to the board by the Faculty either at a Faculty meeting or by mail ballot.

m.      To periodically review Faculty governing structures to ascertain their ef­ficiency and efficacy in carrying out Faculty objectives and to report its findings and recommendations to the Faculty.  Reviews of Faculty governance shall be done at least once every ten years.

n.       It shall be authorized, in consultation with the Secretary of the Faculty, the Parliamentarian, and such administrative officers as are appropriate, to insert and amend descriptions of administrative advisory boards and administratively-appointed Committees of major in­terest to the Faculty in the listing of Committees in the Faculty Rules and Regulations. These descriptions are to include a statement of the membership and charge in each case, similar to the format of entries of Faculty-approved and elected committees. All changes, including additions and deletions, are to be presented to the Faculty by the FEC annually as a printed addendum to the Faculty Rules and Regulations, and current versions are to be incorporated when new versions of the Faculty Rules and Regulations are distributed to the Faculty.

o.       The Susan Colver Rosenberger Special Honor Medal is intended to be awarded by the Faculty to one or more individuals for notable achievement in scholarship, public welfare, or any other achievement deemed appropriate by the Faculty. Each year the Committee shall gather nominations for recipients of the award from the Faulty, and recom­mend one or more possible recipients of this award to the Faculty.

 

X.

 

2.     Membership                                

There shall be nine faculty members: three officers; Chair, Vice Chair, and Past Chair; and six others.

a.     The members shall be distributed among the four groups listed in Section 12,II, in such a way that at least one member from each group and no more than three from one group are on the Committee at one time. The position of Chair of the Faculty shall rotate among the four so that no person from one group shall be­come Chair until a member of each of the other three groups has served.

b.     There may not be more than one member from any department un­less that de­partment has more than fifty regular faculty members on its rolls.

c.     At least one member of the Committee shall have an academic rank of assistant professor and at least five members of the Committee shall have an academic rank of associate or full professor.

3.     Term of Office                            

Each year a Vice Chair shall be elected by mail ballot from the Faculty at large. The year following service as Vice Chair, that person shall become Chair, and the year after serving as Chair, that person shall become Past Chair.  Only tenured faculty may serve as Vice Chair, Chair or Past Chair of the FEC.

Faculty members holding an academic rank of assistant professor or full-time lecturer shall be elected for two-year terms.

4.     Method of Election                      

a.     The Nominations Committee for the Faculty Executive Committee (NCFEC) CommC;will solicit nominations from the voting Faculty, and may add names to the list of nominees.

b.     The NCFEC shall place the candidates into as many categories as there are vacancies, in such a fashion as to insure reasonable balance and wide representation among the groups listed in Section 12,II. Each category shall contain nominees from at least two departments.

c.     The Vice Chair of the Faculty/FEC must be elected by a majority of those voting for that position. In the event that no nominee for Vice Chair receives a majority of votes, there shall be a run-off election by ballot between the two candidates who have received the largest number of votes.

d.     Non-officers of the FEC shall be elected by a plurality of those voting for each category. In the event of a tie vote, a run-off election by mail ballot will be held to decide the winner.

5.     Resignations

a.     Officers of the Faculty Executive Committee

         i.   Chair — If the Chair is unable to continue in office, he or she shall be replaced by the Vice Chair, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of the resigned Chair and for the year that he or she would in the normal course of events be Chair.

        ii.   Vice Chair — To replace a Vice Chair who has taken the office of a resigned Chair, an election shall be held; the elected person shall hold the office of Vice Chair for the unexpired term of the Vice Chair being replaced and for the fol­lowing year. To replace a Vice Chair who resigns, an election shall be held.

       iii.   Past Chair — In the event of a vacancy in the office of Past Chair, the FEC shall select one of its third year members to be Past Chair. The Committee on Nominations shall then fill the vacancy in the FEC created by one of its mem­bers becoming Past Chair in accordance with the rule for filling vacancies in the FEC.

b.     Non-Officers

              The NCFEC shall make an interim appointment of a non-of­ficer of the FEC, subject to review by the Faculty at its next Faculty meeting. Such interim appointments shall last only until the next election. If there are more than two vacancies to be filled, a special election to fill them shall be held as soon as possible.

 

Part 2

 

Motion to amend the Faculty Rules, effective immediately,  to replace the description of the Committee on Nominations in Part I, Section 2  of the Faculty Rules and Regulations with the following description of the Nominations Committee for the Faculty Executive Committee, a standing committee of the faculty:

 

L.          Nominations Committee for the Faculty Executive Committee (NCFEC)

1.     Charge                                         

After calling for nominations from the Faculty the Committee shall prepare ballots to fill vacancies on the Faculty Executive Committee following the rules for election to that committee.

2.     Membership

The committee shall consist of the Faculty chairs of the Tenure, Promotion and Appointments Committee and the Faculty Affairs Committee and the Faculty Vice Chairs of the Academic Priorities Committee and the University Resources Committee. The chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee will be chair of this committee unless he/she is unable to serve in which case the committee shall choose its own chair.     

Part 3

 

Motion to authorize the changes to the charge of the FEC; the elimination of the Nominations Committee and the Rosenberger Medal of Honor Committee; and the creation of the Nominations Committee for the Faculty Executive Committee as specified in this motion immediately upon ratification of the motion.