The Faculty, the Council, and the Committees

I. Shared Governance in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering, and the College

A.

The School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Hajim), and the College strive to achieve shared governance as outlined by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in their Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities (https://www.aaup.org/report/statement-government-colleges-and-universities). Shared governance ensures that the expertise, knowledge, and perspective of each university stakeholder is leveraged. For example, matters related to faculty tenure and promotion, educational curriculum, and methods of teaching are primarily the responsibility of the faculty. In contrast, matters related to budgeting and resource allocation, strategic planning, policy implementation, and outward-facing public communication are primarily the responsibility of the administration. Transparency, trust, and open communication among stakeholders are essential in effective shared governance.

II. The Faculty Council of the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the College

A.

The Faculty Council of the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Hajim), and the College is an elected group empowered to act in the name of the faculty, on any matter in which the faculty has primary responsibility except in the awarding of degrees and distinctions. The faculty has primary responsibility for such fundamental areas as curriculum, subject matter and methods of instruction, research, faculty status, and the co-curricular aspects of student life. The responsibility for faculty status includes setting the standards for appointments, reappointments, decisions not to reappoint, promotions, the granting of tenure, and dismissal. The Council also ensures that the faculty has a role in decision making outside of its immediate areas of primary responsibility, including long-term planning, budgeting, and the selection, evaluation and retention of administrators. The Council serves as a channel of communication between and among the various academic departments and programs: between SAS, Hajim, and College faculty and Deans; and between SAS, Hajim, and College faculty and the President and the Provost of the University. In addition, the Council, through its Steering Committee, appoints all those standing committees of the faculty (see VII below) to which the faculty has delegated some part of its authority.

B. Membership

  1. To be eligible to serve on the Council, faculty must meet the following conditions:
    1. Must be a full-time faculty member of any rank, or a part-time faculty member with the rank of associate professor, professor, or equivalent.
    2. Must hold a primary appointment in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or the College.
    3. Must not hold a position of Dean, Associate Dean, or equivalent in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or the College.
    4. Must not hold the position of President or Provost.
    5. Must be in the 4th year of appointment or hired with at least 3 years of previous service credit.
    6. Must not be within 3 years of completing two consecutive 3-year terms.
  2. The Council consists of:
    1. One faculty member from each academic department within the School of Arts and Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
    2. Up to one faculty member from each program within the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the College when the program meets the following conditions:
      1. Must have a Director who reports directly to the Dean of SAS, the Dean of Hajim, or the Dean of the College.
      2. Must have an educational function, with at least one formal and approved academic degree program.
      3. Must have at least two faculty with primary appointments within that program.
    3. Up to three at-large members (one in Hajim and two in SAS or the College)
    4. Up to two non-voting student members (at most one undergraduate and at most one graduate student)
    5. Up to one non-voting member each from NROTC and every school in the university (apart from SAS, Hajim, and the College)

C.

Faculty members serve three-year terms, with right of re-election but no more than two consecutive three-year terms. Student members each serve a one-year term.

D. Officers

The Chair(s) of the Steering Committee of the Council is/are the Chair(s) of Faculty Council

E. Electorate

The departmental representatives will each be elected by vote of all voting members of the department or program represented. The undergraduate student member of the Council shall be elected by the principal undergraduate student legislative assembly. The graduate student member shall be chosen by the Committee on Graduate Studies.

F. Electoral System

  1. Each department or program with a representative whose term is expiring will choose their new representative by April 1st.
  2. During February – March each year, up to one at-large member will be chosen by secret ballot of the faculty. Faculty with primary appointments in the SAS, Hajim, or the College who are eligible to vote in Senate elections (as defined in the Senate charter: https://www.rochester.edu/faculty/senate/uploads/Senate_Charter.pdf) are eligible to vote in at-large member elections. Candidates will be either self-nominated or nominated with the candidate’s consent. An at-large member needs to receive the most votes of all candidates and more “Yes” than “No” votes to be elected. (Failure to vote will be registered as a vote of “Abstain”.) Otherwise, the seat remains unfilled. A maximum of one at large member will be elected each year, for no more than three at-large members. No more than one at-large member may have a primary appointment in the same disciplinary area (Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Engineering).
  3. The term of a regularly elected member of the Council shall begin immediately after the adjournment of the last regular Council meeting of the academic year of their election, and end at the corresponding moment three years later.
  4. A vacancy which occurs among departmental representatives shall be filled immediately from within that department, for the unexpired portion of the term.
  5. Each year, representatives from approximately one-third of departments or programs within each disciplinary area will begin new three-year terms.

G. The Steering Committee of the Faculty Council

  1. The Steering Committee will consist of seven members of the Council. No more than two Steering Committee members may have a primary appointment in the same disciplinary area (Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Engineering). Committee members serve two-year terms, and members may stand for re-election without limit. Members will be elected on a rolling schedule. At all times, the majority of the Steering Committee must be tenured faculty; the remaining positions may be filled by any member of the Faculty Council.
  2. Faculty in their first year of overall service on the Faculty Council are ineligible to serve on the Steering Committee, but faculty in the first year of a reappointment term are eligible for the Steering Committee. Faculty unable to serve two years on the Steering Committee due to reasons such as academic leave or their Faculty Council term ending, and their replacements, are not eligible for election to the committee. They may continue to serve as Faculty Council members.
  3. Preceding the April Faculty Council meeting, eligible Faculty Council members will be contacted and asked if they are willing to serve a two-year term on the Steering Committee.
  4. Preceding the May Faculty Council meeting, Council members (previous and newly elected) will receive a list (via e-mail) of those eligible and willing to serve a two-year term on the Steering Committee. The list will be included as part of the agenda/materials for the May meeting and will be accompanied by a description of the Steering Committee election process and a link to each eligible faculty member’s department web page.
  5. At the May Faculty Council meeting, those who are eligible and willing to serve on the Steering Committee will be identified.
  6. Following the May Faculty Council meeting, an electronic poll will be generated to elect new Steering Committee Members from the list of those who are eligible and willing to serve.
  7. Following election of the Steering Committee, a meeting will be held before the end of the academic year for new Steering Committee members. This meeting will be for the purpose of electing the Steering Committee Chair/Chair of the Council and to discuss any anticipated topics of discussion for the upcoming academic year. The term of regularly elected members of the Steering Committee, and of its Chair, shall begin immediately after the adjournment of the last Faculty Council meeting of the academic year.
  8. The Chair will serve for one year and the position is renewable providing that the Steering Committee agrees for a renewal and the chair is still eligible to sit on Faculty Council and Steering Committee.
  9. If a vacancy in the Steering Committee arises during the academic year, the position will be filled by the person from the same disciplinary area whose position in the preferential balloting was just below that of those previously elected. If the position of Chair of the Steering Committee falls vacant, the remaining members shall choose a new Chair from among themselves before filling the vacant seat.
  10. The Deans of SAS, Hajim, and the College will be ex officio members of the Faculty Council and the Faculty Council Steering Committee.
  11. The College Curriculum Committee (CCC) should choose one of its members to serve as an ex officio member of the Faculty Council and Faculty Council Steering Committee.
  12. Faculty with the rank of Associate Professor, Full Professor, or equivalent will be eligible to serve as chair.
  13. The Steering Committee shall meet as often as its Chair decides. Meetings shall be closed except when the committee opts to invite guests.
  14. The functions of the Steering Committee are to prepare an agenda for the meetings of the Council, to appoint all those faculty committees to which the faculty has delegated part of its authority, such as the Administrative Committee, and to appoint and hear the reports of such other committees or study commissions as it, or the Council, or the faculty thinks appropriate. This authority in no way infringes on the right of the deans of SAS, Hajim, and the College to appoint other committees, standing or ad hoc, for the purpose of advice or assistance. However, faculty authority for action may be delegated only to those committees appointed by the Steering Committee for such purpose.
  15. The agenda for the meetings of the Council shall reflect the priorities and concerns of faculty as established through the following mechanisms: a) The Steering Committee will issue a general call for agenda items at the beginning of each semester, including a link to a survey allowing for anonymous submissions; b) Council members will regularly solicit agenda items from their departments and programs; and c) the Chair(s) of the Faculty Council will solicit new agenda items for the next meeting under New Business at every Faculty Council meeting.

H. Meetings of the Council

  1. The Council shall meet once a month during the academic year, according to a schedule published by the Chair(s), except in those months when a scheduled general meeting of the faculty takes place.
  2. Meetings may be canceled, or special meetings may be called, by the Chair(s), provided adequate notice is given.
  3. The order of business for ordinary meetings shall be (a) Minutes of the preceding meeting, (b) Report of the Steering Committee, (c) Reports of other standing committees, (d) Old Business, including new motions presented by standing committees of SAS, Hajim, and the College and printed in the Agenda, (e) New Business, including all other motions and reports of other committees, as well as new agenda items, proposed by Council Members, to be discussed at the next meeting, (g) Good of the House, (h) Adjournment. Substantive motions presented under New Business are automatically tabled upon the end of debate for that meeting and may be taken from the table by a motion under Old Business at the following meeting. A fifty percent quorum is required for action. Otherwise, meetings are governed by Robert's Rules of Order.
  4. Minutes of the meetings shall be recorded by the Director of Faculty of Affairs in the School of Arts and Science, the Director of Faculty Affairs in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or one of their delegates. Minutes will be made available to the electorate and to responsible officers of student government and graduate student organizations upon request. In addition, Council members shall provide regular reports on the meetings to their departments and programs.
  5. Meetings of the Council are open to all faculty who are eligible to vote in Senate elections (as defined in the Senate charter: https://www.rochester.edu/faculty/senate/uploads/Senate_Charter.pdf) and have primary appointments in SAS, Hajim or the College. Guests not mentioned above may be invited by the Chair of the Faculty Council. Meetings (or portions of meetings) are open only to Faculty Council members when the Steering Committee determines that a closed session is necessary. An option to attend the meetings virtually will be made available to all faculty members. While all persons entitled to attend meetings may speak, only members of the Council may present motions and vote, the exception being the joint Faculty/Faculty Council meetings held in September and February (see section III below).
  6. Newly-elected Council members (elected prior to April 1st) will be invited to attend the May Faculty Council meeting before their terms begin as non-voting guests.
  7. Actions of the Council shall be public information and reported publicly by the Chair.
  8. In the instance of a tie vote, the motion will fail.

III. General Faculty Meetings

A. Time of General Faculty Meetings

  1. There are two scheduled general meetings of the faculty of SAS, Hajim, and the College each year, both of which are joint meetings with the Faculty Council held in September and February. The primary goal of these scheduled meetings is to provide a venue for exchange of information between the faculty and Deans, with updates typically provided by the Chair of the Faculty Council, the Chair of the Administrative Committee, and either the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or one of their delegates.
  2. If, in the judgment of the Chair(s) of the Faculty Council, it is desirable to postpone any scheduled general meeting of the faculty, that meeting may be postponed for a period not to exceed two weeks. When possible, the Chair(s) shall give the faculty reasonable notice of such postponements.
  3. Special faculty meetings may be called by the President, the Provost, the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of the Hajim School of Engineering, or the Chair(s) of the Faculty Council. Special meetings may also be called upon petition to the Chair(s) of the Faculty Council. Such petitions require the signatures of 20 members of the faculty, and the consequent special meeting shall normally take place after a minimum of three days' notice to the faculty.

B. Procedural Rules

  1. General faculty meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order unless otherwise specified.
  2. Quorum. If either 50% of the faculty or 200 members of the faculty are not present, a meeting may be held, but the authority of a faculty meeting is limited to discussion, debate, and non-substantive resolutions. Given the presence of 50% of the faculty or 200 members of the faculty, the meeting, whether regularly scheduled or special, may act on any matter within the jurisdiction of the faculty, including the amendment, approval, or reversal of any action of the Faculty Council.
  3. Agenda. A statement of items of business to be presented at a faculty meeting in sufficient detail to be understood.
    1. No item of new business may be presented for action at a faculty meeting without having been included in the notice as part of the agenda that is distributed to all faculty in advance of the meeting. Any faculty committee or individual with legislation to propose shall present an appropriate motion and other material to the Chair(s) of the Faculty Council, in writing, at least ten days prior to a scheduled meeting, or along with the petition by which a special meeting is called. This regulation shall be interpreted as not excluding presentation of urgent business arising after the agenda has been prepared, and as not requiring the inclusion of matters whose publication in the agenda would be detrimental to the best interests of the University.
    2. Every motion presented whose effect would be to change the regulations shall be submitted in writing and shall indicate the existing regulations that would be changed or repealed by the action proposed.
  4. Tie Votes. In the instance of a tie vote the motion will fail.
  5. With regard to the confidentiality of faculty meetings, a distinction must be made between the discussion and actions taken.
    1. The business of faculty meetings require members to respect the confidentiality of the discussion.
    2. Actions taken by faculty will normally be reported, where appropriate, by the presiding officer. Any action is to be treated as confidential only when the faculty has voted to keep it confidential, or when the presiding officer has ruled that it should be treated as confidential. Such rulings from the chair may be overridden by a simple majority of the faculty.

C. Officers in Charge of Faculty Meetings

  1. The Chair(s) of the Faculty Council shall preside over all faculty meetings. In their absence, the Steering Committee of the Faculty Council may elect a presiding officer pro tempore.
  2. The Chair(s) of the Faculty Council shall:
    1. Compile the agenda of the business to be considered in each scheduled faculty meeting and shall distribute copies of the agenda to the faculty by noon of the day preceding the meeting.
    2. State in the notice of a special meeting the purpose for which the meeting is being called.
  3. The Director of Faculty of Affairs in the School of Arts and Science, the Director of Faculty Affairs in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or one of their delegates is responsible for summarizing the discussion and recording all business to be transacted in both regular and special faculty meetings, for distributing copies of the minutes of all faculty meetings to the faculty, and also shall have charge of the Rules & Regulations.

D. Attendance and Voting Eligibility at Faculty Meetings

  1. All University of Rochester faculty who are eligible to vote in Senate elections (as defined in the Senate charter: https://www.rochester.edu/faculty/senate/uploads/Senate_Charter.pdf) are invited to attend general faculty meetings.
  2. All University of Rochester faculty who meet the following criteria are eligible to vote in general faculty meetings:
    1. Must be a full-time faculty member of any rank, or a part-time faculty member with the rank of associate professor, professor, or equivalent.
    2. Must hold a primary appointment in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or the College.
    3. Must not hold a position of dean, associate dean, or equivalent in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or the College.
    4. Must not hold the position of President or Provost.

IV. Residual Authority of the Faculty

A.

Notwithstanding the grant of authority by the faculty to its Council and the Committees thereof, faculty in SAS, Hajim, and the College retain the right to abridge, modify, amend or reverse any action taken by these agencies, either in a regular or special meeting held in accordance with Section II above, or by referendum vote according to the following rules.

Any member of the faculty may initiate a motion by printing it completely on each page of a petition and securing thereon the signatures of either 20% of the faculty or 80 members of the faculty, each signature signifying the signer's desire to hold a referendum on the matter. The petition shall then be presented to the Chair of the Council, who shall conduct a referendum of the faculty by e-mail ballot, stating the motion and asking for a vote of yes or no. If at least 50% of the faculty or 200 members of the faculty respond, a yes vote by simple majority of those voting will suffice to pass the motion.

Neither the Council nor any of its committees may then negate this faculty action during the academic year of the vote.

V. Faculty Appointments, Promotions, Leaves, and Professional Services

A.

The SAS, Hajim, and College faculty follow the policies established by the University as described in the current Faculty Handbook. Guidelines used within SAS and Hajim for the frequency and timing of faculty leaves are given in Appendix I. Appendix II describes titles and appointment criteria used within SAS, Hajim, and the College for non-tenure-eligible faculty. Guidelines used within the College for promotion and tenure cases are attached as Appendix III.

VI. Administration of Departments

A.

Each department of study functions as a committee responsible for its share of the curriculum. All business of the department within the limits set by SAS, Hajim, or College policies, including the arrangement of courses, the adjustment of schedules, and the teaching and research policies of the department, should be carried on so far as possible by cooperation within the department and between departments.

B.

The administrative head of each department shall be a Chair. Following consultation with such members of the department as may be appropriate, the Dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences or the Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences appoints the chair. The Chair shall be regarded as the administrator of the department during their term of office but need not be of full professorial rank. The Chair shall be responsible to the Dean of the relevant school and to the Provost for the general administration of the department; for the preparation and presentation of the annual budget; for a careful scrutiny of the existing budget of the department, since they are primarily responsible that the department not exceed it; for the presentation of an annual report; and for the general supervision of the students and methods of instruction in the department. The Chair shall have the special responsibility of cooperating with the Dean of the relevant school in selecting candidates for appointment to the department.

When advisable, the above duties may be divided among members of the department who are in any case responsible to the Chair for any departmental duties that may be assigned to them.

VII. Committees

A. General Provisions

  1. Unless otherwise stated below, all committees are given the power to organize themselves.
  2. All SAS, Hajim, and College committees are required to maintain minutes of each meeting.
  3. Normally no member of the faculty will hold office in more than one committee appointed by the Steering Committee of the Council.
  4. The terms of members of the committees are based on years, with a year meaning an academic year beginning on the first day of classes of the fall term.
  5. The Steering Committee of the Faculty Council has the right to create ad hoc committees to address specific matters as needed.

B. Standing Committees reporting to Faculty Council

  1. Committee on Graduate Studies
    1. Responsibilities: To submit to the Council for its approval proposals of new graduate degree programs.
    2. Composition: The Committee on Graduate Studies shall consist of each graduate program’s Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and the Dean of Graduate Studies.
  2. Administrative Committee
    1. Responsibilities:
      1. To establish administrative guidelines consonant with faculty regulations for periodic review of the academic records of undergraduates. This review will result in appropriate action (probation, or academic separation) when a student's record indicates he or she is not making satisfactory progress toward meeting degree requirements. This review, further, should be so designed as to include College Rules and Regulations in consultation with representatives from other River Campus Colleges and the School of Nursing in those cases involving students who have indicated their intention to complete degree requirements in those particular academic units.
      2. To act on all requests for exceptions (qualitative, quantitative, and substantive) to requirements for baccalaureates.
      3. To raise with the Council all questions of inequity or inconsistency in faculty policy which emerge from the consideration of individual problems. This includes, but is not limited to, resolution of Complaint/Comment/Praise forms submitted to the committee by students.
    2. Composition: The Administrative Committee shall consist of the Associate Deans from SAS and Hajim and six faculty members from SAS, Hajim, and the College. Faculty members shall be distributed as equitably as possible among all disciplinary areas represented in SAS and Hajim (Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Engineering). The Administrative committee will also include two undergraduates selected by the Student Association. New appointees are approved by the Steering Committee of the Faculty Council.
  3. Curriculum Committee (CCC)
    1. Responsibilities:
      1. The Committee will prepare a comprehensive set of foundation requirements as described in its charge (see Faculty Council minutes of March 19, 1982).
      2. The Committee will: elicit and review new courses; review all newly proposed programs, including interdepartmental and intercollege programs.
      3. Assess the needs of new or existing programs; and concern itself with general graduation requirements such as the primary writing requirement as well as those aspects of departmental and interdepartmental degree programs that affect other parts of the Rules and Regulations of programs of SAS, Hajim, and the College.
      4. The Committee will report to the Council semi-annually, and at appropriate times will bring to the Council Steering Committee for action any substantive issues involving SAS, Hajim, and College requirements. The Committee may recommend to the Council at any time changes in other procedures, programs, requirements, and regulations which it believes will enhance undergraduate education at the University.
      5. The CCC will hear recommendations from Faculty Council on curricular matters if and when they arise.
    2. Composition: The Committee will consist of nine faculty members, six from different departments in the School of Arts and Sciences, two from the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and one from the Simon School, appointed by the Dean of the College in consultation with the Steering Committee. The CCC will also include the Dean of The College (or Associate Dean as the Dean's representative) as an ex-officio voting member and one member of the Faculty Council Steering Committee as an ex officio non-voting member. Faculty members shall be distributed as equitably as possible among all disciplines represented in SAS and Hajim and shall serve for three-year terms. There shall be one full-time undergraduate student member who shall have declared and been accepted into a major and who shall serve, without vote, for a one-year term. The chair shall be one of the nine faculty members, so designated by the Dean of the College in consultation with the Steering Committee.
  4. Committee on Individual and Interdisciplinary Programs (CIIP)
    1. Responsibilities:
      1. To monitor and review formalized undergraduate individual major and minor proposals and programs at regular intervals;
      2. To review new formalized interdisciplinary programs seeking concentration status when there is no departmental "home" and no department interested in creating an alternate route, and to make recommendations concerning these proposed programs to the governing body of the appropriate college(s);
      3. To make general recommendations, as needed, to the Faculty Council concerning interdepartmental and individual programs of study;
      4. To establish appropriate deadlines for Senior Scholar applications; to admit students to the Program; and to review the progress of each Senior Project late in the fall semester and, in the spring semester, determine whether or not the terms of each Project have been fulfilled.
    2. Composition: Selected faculty drawn primarily from SAS, Hajim, and the College, but including faculty from other schools involved in the concentration programs reviewed by the Committee. Members are appointed by the Deans of SAS, Hajim, and the College and members from other schools by the Provost. Members will serve three-year terms. The Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and a representative from the Dean's Office of any school with membership on the Committee will be ex-officio, non-voting members.

Last approved revisions:

April 2024: Revisions based on discussions and feedback from SC and SC guests approved by SC

May 2024: Revisions approved by FC