Senate Committee Charges
Academic Affairs Committee Charge
The Senate Academic Affairs committee will consider items related to the academic mission and activities of the University. The committee will consider items brought to it by the Provost and her or his staff and by the Faculty Senate. It will report on these items in writing to both the Provost and the Faculty Senate. It will also provide regular reports on its proceedings to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, and to the entire Faculty Senate upon request. The Committee will consist of faculty members who do not hold the administrative rank of associate dean or higher. Membership should include two representatives from the eligible faculties of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, two from the faculties of the School of Arts and Sciences, and one member from the eligible faculties of each of the remaining schools (Eastman, Hajim, Simon, School of Nursing, and Warner).
Senate Executive Committee updated on October 8, 2024.
Faculty Benefits Committee Charge
The role of the Faculty Benefits Committee is to work closely with the administration to monitor the state of the benefits package available to faculty and to communicate with faculty about these benefits. The committee’s work will address the three main parts of the faculty benefits package — health care, tuition and retirement — and will seek to ensure that these are comprehensive and competitive. Because the health care benefit may be changed annually, the committee should meet with the administration to review prospective changes for the following year. The committee should also review tuition and retirement benefits on an annual basis. The committee will seek to have the relevant representatives from the benefits office and the administration present at their meetings. The committee will report the outcome of these meetings to the Faculty Senate and its Executive Committee.
Drafted and approved by the Senate Executive Committee, on November 22, 2016.
Faculty Budget Committee Charge
The Faculty Budget Committee serves in an advisory role to the Provost, and through the Provost to central administration, in matters pertaining to the University’s budget. The Committee also facilitates two-way communication between the faculty and the administration on budgetary issues, subject to elevated need for confidentiality regarding these sensitive matters.
The Committee may deliberate or inquire about any aspect of the budget. It is expected that the Committee will meet with the Provost (and other members of the administration designated by the Provost) at least two times per semester. The Committee will issue a report at least annually to the Senate Executive Committee and to the Senate. The Committee’s chair will serve as a liaison member of, and provide faculty input to, the Strategic and Financial Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees.
The Committee will consist of seven faculty members who do not hold the administrative rank of associate dean or higher. One member will be selected from the eligible faculties of each of the schools. Nominations for faculty members of the committee will be solicited from the Faculty Senate electorate. The Senate Executive Committee will, in consultation with the Provost, select a final list of nominees from among the nominations received.
Each elected member will serve a three-year term. An additional member from the Senate Executive Committee, the Senate liaison, will be appointed annually by consensus of the Provost and the Senate Executive Committee to serve ex officio. The Committee shall elect its own chair annually.
Updated October 29, 2024 by the Senate Executive Committee.
Ethical Investment Advisory Committee Charge
Charge: The University’s mission includes education, research, creative expression, community engagement, and provision of healthcare. These activities are conducted according to a set of core values, which include freedom of expression, equality of persons, respect for cultural diversity, dissemination of knowledge in the public interest, fair labor standards, human rights, democratic governance and environmental sustainability. Our investment policy seeks to assure the consistency of our institutional support strategies with our core values.1
Responsibilities: The EIAC exists in an advisory role, and should consider a wide range of ethical considerations pertaining to University investments.
Membership: The six elected members of the EIAC will include three full-time faculty members selected by the Faculty Senate and three non-faculty members of the University community: an undergraduate student, a member of non-academic staff, and a graduate student or post-doctoral fellow. Each of the non-faculty members will be elected by their representative bodies. In addition, the Committee may include additional non-voting members to aid in its work. A staff member of the Investment Office will provide administrative support, and will serve as an ex-officio member of the EIAC. Members of the EIAC will elect a Committee Chair with responsibility for calling meetings of the Committee, setting meeting agendas, and communicating with the Faculty Senate, the Investment Committee and the Investment Office.
Terms: Membership terms will be for three years. Starting in 2021, faculty member elections will be staggered so that one faculty member’s term expires in January of each year. Members may be elected for two consecutive terms, but must subsequently spend one year off of the committee before running for reelection.
Confidentiality: The EIAC recognizes that the University has executed certain investment advisory agreements which prohibit the University from publicly disclosing investment holdings. In cases where the EIAC seeks information on such holdings, the Committee Chair will sign the Investment Office’s confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement in order to view the holdings.
Meetings: The EIAC will meet at least twice per year, with meetings timed to precede Investment Committee meetings. The Committee Chair may present recommendations to the Investment Committee at such meetings.
Reporting: Prior to issuing recommendations to the Investment Committee, the Chair will report such recommendations to the Faculty Senate. The EIAC will also report annually to the University community on its activities. The EIAC annual report will also be included in the Investment Committee’s annual report to the Board of Trustees at its May meeting.
Duration: The EIAC will be a regular standing committee of the Faculty Senate, with no fixed expiration date.
1This statement forms part of the University’s Corporate Social Responsibility in Investing (CSR) policy, which is available on the Ethical Investment Advisory Committee website: https://www.rochester.edu/endowment/eiac.
Charge of the University Committee on Tenure and Privileges
The University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall review all regulations concerning faculty tenure and privileges and advise the President of the University on such regulations. It shall establish, with the consent of the Board of Trustees, standing procedures governing the manner of revocation of a faculty member's tenure or privileges for cause. It shall inform the Senate of all regulations and practices respecting tenure and privileges, in all parts of the University, as they become established or changed.
The University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall consist of full-time members of the faculty who hold appointments of unlimited tenure. There shall be two Members elected from the School of Medicine and Dentistry, two Members elected from the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, and one Member elected from each of the other schools of the University (i.e., the Eastman School of Music, the School of Nursing, the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, and the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development). There shall also be one Member-at-Large. Administrative officers with rank at or above assistant dean are ineligible to serve on the University Committee on Tenure and Privileges whatever their faculty status at the time of the election.
Members, except for the one Member-at-Large, shall be elected from a constituency consisting of those members of the school or college in question who are also members of the electorate of the Senate. Elections for these Members shall be, when needed, held concurrently with elections for the Senate. Nominations, elections, and the filling of vacancies shall follow the same procedures used for nominations, elections, and the filling of vacancies on the Senate. If fewer than two nominees are received for a vacancy, the Committee on Elections shall itself nominate one or two more eligible candidates to bring the number of nominees to two. The Member-at-Large shall be elected by the Executive Committee, by simple majority vote of those present and voting at its first regularly scheduled meeting of the academic year in which the vacancy occurs.
The University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall elect a Chair and a Secretary from its membership, each for a two-year term, except that the initial term of the Secretary shall be for one year.
Members of the University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall serve three-year terms, except that initially three members shall serve for two years, three members for three years, and three members for four years, assignment of these terms to be determined by lot. Terms shall begin and end the day of the Arts, Sciences and Engineering undergraduate commencement ceremony in May.
Ad Hoc Committee on Inclusive Faculty Policies
The Inclusive Faculty Policies Committee is an ad hoc committee of the faculty Senate. Its charge from the Senate Executive Committee is to advise the Senate, its Executive Committee, and the UCTP on faculty policies that affect faculty wo are not in tenure eligible positions. To address issues related to non-tenure eligible faculty, the committee may recommend revisions of policies in the Faculty Handbook or elsewhere and changes to the Senate charter. This committee should report its findings to the Senate and to the Senior Administration.
Ad Hoc Committee on Free and Civil Discourse
The ad hoc committee will create recommendations concerning:
- Guidelines for free and civil discourse on campus, in both curricular and extracurricular settings (note: to be developed in conversation with Adrienne Morgan’s office and PEN America in connection with work they began drafting principles for freedom of expression).
- The development of a cohesive, University-wide and transdisciplinary structure to coordinate faculty efforts in fostering a campus climate in accordance with those guidelines, and in navigating conflict among members of the University community—particularly between students and the administration.
- More systematic and consistent roles for faculty in developing policies related to academic freedom and freedom of expression, including increased opportunity for dialogue between faculty and trustees on such matters.
- More clear and transparent communication strategies between DPS, administration, faculty, staff and students in supporting freedom of expression and adherence to the code of conduct.
- The identification of ways in which faculty can be supported in all of the above efforts.
The ad-hoc committee may develop objectives as they pursue the above questions.
Ad Hoc Committee on Shared Governance
In commemoration of 25 years of the current model of shared governance at the University of Rochester, an ad hoc committee will be formed. The aim of this ad hoc committee on shared governance is to consider the state of the current model of shared governance at the University and make recommendations to strengthen faculty participation in university governance in the future. The committee’s work will start by benchmarking definitions and models of shared governance at peer institutions and by gathering data on perceptions of shared governance at URochester. The committee will consider the role of Senate Committees in faculty representation on pressing issues and make recommendations for rapid faculty response. The committee will consider the office administration of the Faculty Senate and make recommendations to increase Senate visibility and impact. The committee will investigate the formal Senate relationships with the Board of Trustees and administrative leadership and make recommendations for improved communications and policy making including topics such as budgetary decisions, student life, academic freedom, and performance. The committee will consider recommendations to strengthen faculty engagement in decision-making, for instance, describing notification, advisement, or decision-making practices. Recommendations relative to the “Policy in Policies” and the Charter, to strengthen shared governance, may also be considered. Membership includes at least one representative from every unit.