Bylaws of the Faculty
(Revised: March 19, 2003)
- General Powers
- Membership
- Dean of the College
- Departments
- College Faculty Meetings
- College Senate
- Senate Steering Committe
- College Standing Committees
- Allocation Of College Seats on the LSU A&M faculty Senate
- Rules and Bylaws
Article I. General Powers
1. The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences exercises jurisdiction over all matters relating to the educational affairs of the College, subject to the regulations of the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University.
2. The College Faculty shall
- Provide for the establishment of curricula and courses;
- Determine academic policies of admissions to the College;
- Determine the requirements for degrees and recommend candidates for diplomas, degrees, and certificates;
- Recommend academic policies relating to the administration of university services (e.g., university library, computer center, etc.) as they pertain to the College;
- Adopt regulations governing its own procedures;
- Determine the duties which it will delegate to the College Senate;
- Review the actions of the College Senate;
- Participate in the selection, evaluation, and recommendation for retention of administrators of the College;
- Make recommendations for conduct of formal exercises and public functions held under the auspices of the College.
3. The College Faculty has the responsibility to
- Consider and make recommendations concerning matters of general interest to the College;
- Consider and make recommendations to the Dean concerning policies governing appointments, promotions, tenure, dismissals, and salaries.
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Article II. Membership
The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences shall consist of all members of the academic staff having the rank of Instructor or higher (or equivalent rank) who are appointed full-time and who perform all or part of their current work in the College. As a class, part-time members of the academic staff may be enfranchised to the degree deemed appropriate by the Faculty of the College.
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Article III. Dean of the College
The Dean of the College, as the chief representative and executive officer of the College, shall have general administrative authority over College affairs. The Dean shall exercise leadership in the formulation of policies, in the introduction of educational ideas and proposals, and in the stimulation of College discussions leading to improvement of the educational programs of the College. The Dean=s responsibilities shall include both strengthening the college and its programs, and interpreting those programs to the University and to the Community.
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Article IV. Departments
1. The departmental faculty shall consist of all members of the academic staff of a department having the rank of Instructor or higher (or equivalent rank) who are appointed full-time for at least a one-year period and all or a part of whose work for the current year is in that particular department.* As a class, part-time members of the academic staff having the rank of Instructor or higher (or equivalent rank) may be enfranchised to the degree deemed appropriate by the faculty of the department.
2. The departmental faculty shall have jurisdiction over matters concerning its educational policies of other departments, the rules and regulations of the College, the campus, or the University system.
3. Departments shall meet at least once a semester. The chair of the department shall distribute the agenda in advance of the meetings. Minutes of departmental meetings shall be taken, circulated to all departmental faculty, and maintained in a file.
4. The chair is a member of and the representative of his/her departmental faculty to the administration.
5. Chairs normally shall be appointed for renewable terms of three years each. The Dean will consult with the entire faculty of the department before making the appointment or reappointment. Automatic renewals of term should not be assumed.
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Article V. College Faculty Meetings
1. The College Faculty shall meet at times fixed by the College Senate, at least once per semester during the academic year and, for the purpose of approving the graduation list, once during the summer session. Special meetings of the Faculty may be called by the Dean, by the Senate, or by petition of thirty-five full-time members of the College Faculty presented to the President of the College Faculty Senate. The Dean of the College (or the Dean's designate) shall chair the College Faculty meetings.
2. One-tenth of the full-time membership of the College Faculty or the minimum specified by the Board of Supervisors, whichever is greater, shall constitute a quorum. The Faculty shall abide by its own rules of procedure, but in cases where it has adopted no explicit rules or where applicability or interpretation of rules is in doubt, Roberts' Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern.
3. The agenda of the faculty meeting shall be established by the Dean after consultation with the Senate Steering committee and shall be circulated at least a week before the meeting. Any member of the college Faculty may move that the Faculty consider a question not listed on the agenda. If the motion is seconded, it shall be included on the agenda of the next regular or special meeting of the College Faculty.
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Article VI. College Senate
1. The Senate has the responsibility to initiate discussion of and to make recommendations and submit motions regarding any matter of general college interest to the Dean and to the College Faculty. Further, the Senate may exercise any power delegated to the College Faculty, subject to the review by the Faculty, as provided in Article I, 2.
2. The College Senate shall consist of faculty members from the several departments elected by the departmental faculty members according to the following formula for representation:
- Each department shall have one senator for every twenty full-time members or major fraction thereof in that department.
- No department shall have fewer than one senator. There shall also be six senators elected at large by the faculty, two each year, in elections conducted by the Senate. No more than two At-Large Senators may be elected from all departments with four or more departmentally elected Senators.
3. Members of the College Faculty who hold administrative appointments beginning with the level of department chairman shall not be eligible for election to the Senate. The term of a senator who is appointed to an office of chair or acting chair shall expire upon his or her appointment. This rule applies only to those departments that have representation as departments on the Senate of the College.
4. Senators shall have been members of the College Faculty for at least one year.
5. The term of a senator shall be three years, one-third of the senators to be elected to office each year. Senators may be re-elected to a second three-year term.
6. Senators must hold full-time appointments to the department which they represent. Senators must be elected through secret ballot by a majority of the votes cast in an election in which all full-time departmental members who are College Faculty members, as defined in Article II of these ByLaws, are eligible to vote. Such elections will be held no later than April 15 in the final semester of the incumbent senator's term. The term of office begins with the first regular meeting of the College Senate for the academic year. Should a vacancy occur, as soon as practical and not later than thirty days after the vacancy becomes known, the department shall elect a new representative. In the event that the Department fails to elect a new representative within 30 days (or any of its Senators by the time of the first regular meeting), the Steering Committee will appoint the next highest vote-getter from the at-large election to serve the remainder of the year.
7. The College Senate shall meet three times per semester during the academic year. If necessary, the Steering Committee may schedule additional meetings. Any senator absent without proxy from a meeting for a third time during a given academic year shall forfeit membership and be replaced for the remainder of the year. The College Senate President will request that departments replace departmental Senators. At-large Senators will be replaced by the next highest vote-getter in the at-large election. Results of the at-large elections will be kept on file in the Dean's office. In both cases, the replacement is for the remainder of the term.
8. A quorum in the College Senate shall consist of those senators present. The Senate shall establish and many amend its rule of procedure by a majority vote, provided that a change in rules of procedure is advertised at least one month prior to its consideration. In matters not regulated by these ByLaws or by the Senate's rules of procedure, Roberts' Rules of Order Newly Revised shall be the parliamentary authority. Any Senate action shall require a majority vote of senators present.
9. The Officers of the Senate shall consist of a president, first vice-president, a second vice-president, and a secretary. Nominations for these offices shall be made by the members of the Senate. The election of officers shall occur at the last regular meeting of the academic year, or in the event of a vacancy, at a special election. The officers will serve for one year, beginning with the first meeting of the academic year.
There are also three Senate Standing Committees:
1) The Faculty Welfare and Policy Committee, chaired by the first vice-president, is charged with reviewing policies affecting faculty morale, compensation, teaching conditions, etc.
2) The Academic Freedom and Scholarship Committee, chaired by the second vice-president, is charged with choosing the nominee for the university-wide doctoral dissertation award and nominating members of the committee to choose the College’s distinguished research award.
3) The Academic Oversight Committee, chaired by the Senate President, will serve as the Senate's liaison with the Committee on Academic Planning and Program Evaluation. The Senate President, in consultation with the Dean and the Steering Committee will determine this committee's additional charge for each academic year. Furthermore, the Academic Oversight Committee is charged with preparing a list of eligible faculty members for openings on the Committee on Promotions, Tenure, and Personnel Policies, as stated in Article VIII, 3b.
All Senators shall serve on at least one of the Standing Committees. Any member of the College may also bring business directly before these committees and attend their meetings.
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Article VII. Senate Steering Committee
The four elected officers of the Senate, the immediate Past President of the Senate, and the chair(s) of any ad-hoc committees shall constitute the Senate Steering Committee. If the Past President's term has expired, it shall be extended for one year. The President of the Senate shall conduct the meetings of the Senate Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall have the following responsibilities and authority:
- To receive communications concerning matters to be put on an agenda of the Senate;
- To establish the agenda for Senate meetings, including any matter that a Senator petitions the Senate to consider;
- To advise the Dean on budgetary matters;
- To appoint, subject to confirmation by the Senate, members of the Senate Committees, except in the case of the Committee on Promotions, Tenure, and Personnel Policies, as stated in Article VIII, 3b;
- To refer appropriate matters to a standing committee of the Senate;
- To call special meetings of the Senate;
- To discharge any other responsibility or authority assigned to the Steering Committee by the Senate.
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Article VIII. College Standing Committees
1. The membership of all College standing committees shall include both men and women and shall reflect the diversity of disciplines within the College. The normal term of office on College standing committees is three years, with staggered terms. All College faculty members are eligible for membership on College committees. The members of each standing committee shall elect their own chair. A committee member who is on sabbatical or other leave shall be replaced by a person who will serve during the regular member's absence.
2. College standing committees shall deal with the questions of policy and procedure in their respective areas. College standing committees shall be free to take up matters within their jurisdiction on their own initiative. All committees shall report committee actions to the College Senate for review, except as provided in Article VIII, 3b, of these Bylaws.
3. Standing committees of the College shall include the following:
a. The Committee on Academic Planning and Program Evaluation:
Membership: One faculty member from each degree-awarding
department of the College and one representative
from the Dean’s office in an ex-officio, non-voting capacity.
New departmental representatives will be chosen during the
spring semester preceding the first academic year of their terms.
Function:
(1) To receive, consider, and make recommendations on proposed changes in
courses, curricula, and degree requirements*;
(2) To receive and consider all proposals to establish, combine, abolish, or
split departments;
(3) To consult with any department potentially involved before recommending
any change under either of the above;
(4) To examine periodically the College’s offerings as a whole;
(5) To encourage innovation and excellence in instruction; and
(6) To consider guidelines for the admission of students to the College.
* When a change in course or curriculum is disapproved by this committee, the department initiating the request may appeal the decision to the College Senate.
b. The Committee on Promotions, Tenure, and Personnel Policies (P&T Committee)
Membership:
Six full professors such that at least one is from the humanities, at least one is from the social sciences, at least one is from the Department of Mathematics and at least one is from the Department of English. Terms are for three years, with two members rotating off each year. A member of this committee is eligible for a second term on the recommendation of the Dean and the approval of the Senate.
Selection:
(1) During the spring term of each academic year, the Academic Oversight Committee will create a list of eligible faculty for openings on the P&T Committee. Eligibility requirements include service as a tenured faculty member at LSU for at least three years and academic rank of professor. It is expected that the eligible faculty will be currently active in teaching, service and research. The discipline requirements for membership will also govern the selection, as will an effort to maintain diversity in gender and ethnicity.
(2) The Academic Oversight Committee will present this list to the College Senate. Nominations from this list may come from any member of the College Senate or the Dean. The nominator must have verified the nominee’s willingness to serve prior to making the nomination. Should the requisite number of nominees be exceeded, members of the College Senate will discuss the nominees and vote to narrow the list of nominees to four (two per opening).
(3) The Steering Committee will arrange interviews of the candidates to which all Senators will be invited. The Steering Committee will make recommendations to the College Senate.
(4) A discussion of the candidates will be held at a general meeting of the College Senate.
(5) A mail ballot will be distributed to the Senators attending the meeting immediately following the general discussion. No proxies will be permitted. The votes will be counted, and the College Senate’s Recommendation will be sent to the Dean.
(6) The Dean may accept the College Senate’s first or second choice recommendation for each position, but may not veto both recommendations for either position.
c. The Committee on Physical and Support Facilities:
Membership: One faculty member from each degree-awarding department of
the College and 1 representative from the Dean’s office in an
ex-officio, non-voting capacity.
New departmental representatives will be chosen during the
spring semester preceding the first academic year of their
terms.
Functions:
(1) To evaluate the needs of the College regarding physical and support facilities for research, teaching, and publication.
(2) To consider and propose such facilities and services for current and long-
range needs; and
(3) To communicate with appropriate agencies and administrators on behalf
of the College Faculty.
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Article IX. Allocation of College Seats on the LSU A&M Faculty Senate
Louisiana State University A&M Faculty Senate seats that are allocated to the College of Arts and Sciences shall be assigned by the following algorithm:
Step 1. Each department in Arts&Sciences shall be assigned one senator, if a sufficient number of senate seats are available. If not, the A&S faculty senate shall decide the allocation of seats.
Step 2. After each department is assigned one senator, then the remaining number of unallocated senate seats (the “surplus”) shall be divided by two. If the result of this division is not a whole number, the result shall be rounded up to the next larger whole number. This number shall be the number of “At-Large” seats for the college as a whole.
Step 3. Any remaining unallocated seats shall be assigned to individual departments of the college according to the size of the department. The first unallocated senate seat shall be assigned to the largest department of the college. To assign each remaining senate seat, the “Faculty Senate Representation Ratio” will be computed for each department and the seat assigned to the department with the largest ratio. The Faculty Senate Representation Ratio is the ratio of the number of faculty in the department, divided by the number of assigned senators to the department (i.e., faculty per senate seat). After each seat is assigned, these ratios will be recomputed for each department to determine which department receives the next seat.
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Article X. Rules and Bylaws
1. The Bylaws of the College Faculty shall be adopted by a majority vote of all the
Faculty by mail ballot. The proposed Bylaws must be circulated to the members two weeks prior to the deadline for the return of the ballots. When adopted by majority vote, the Bylaws shall go into effect immediately.
2. Amendments to the College Faculty Bylaws may be moved by any member of the
Faculty; such motions require a second. A proposed amendment must be submitted in writing to the presiding officer, who shall provide members with copies by including it verbatim on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled meeting or special meeting of the College Faculty.
3. Amendments to the College Faculty Bylaws may be adopted by two-thirds majority
of the College Faculty members voting.
Revised March 19, 2003
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