COSET by-laws

FACULTY GOVERNANCE BY-LAWS

Approved by Faculty on 1/13/2012

I. Purpose

The purpose of this governance document is to provide a system of government for the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (COSET, the College) of Texas Southern University (TSU). Its goal is to define the responsibility for governance of COSET.

II. Basic Governance Statement

The College faculty has the responsibility for formulating, adopting, and supervising the academic policies and procedures of the College. These include selection, retention, promotion, and tenure of faculty; admission standards; curriculum planning and development; examination and grading policies; scholastic standards; and all other matters normally considered academic. The Dean is the chief academic and administrative officer of the College and is responsible for the execution of policy.

III. Dean

The Dean of the College must be a person eligible to be a tenured full professor of the faculty. His educational qualifications must be in one of the programs offered by the College.

IV. Faculty

The faculty of the College of Science and Technology shall consist of the Dean, Associate Deans, and Directors who hold academic rank, Assistant Deans, Department Chairs, Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Visiting Professors, and Instructors who hold full-time appointments in the College. Any tenured faculty member on sabbatical during an academic year may participate in the governance of the College, but not by proxy.

V. Faculty Meetings

College faculty meetings shall be called by and at a time and a place designated by the Dean of the College. Faculty meetings shall be held at least twice per academic year, and at other times when deemed appropriate. The Dean shall prepare and distribute, an agenda listing topics for discussion, including items submitted by committees, at least three days prior to a faculty meeting. No item may be voted upon unless it is on the agenda or unless approved for voting by two-thirds (2/3) of the College faculty present. Whenever possible, the College faculty shall not vote on any topic which is within the jurisdiction of any of its committees without first obtaining an analysis or recommendation from the committee. Whenever needed, the Dean shall refer matters discussed at faculty meetings to the appropriate standing committee, or appoint an Ad-Hoc committee.

No proxy voting is permitted. At the request of any five members of the College faculty, a secret ballot shall be held on any vote. Voting shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order. Faculty personnel matters shall be voted on by secret ballot.

The Dean shall preside at all meetings of the College faculty. The Dean shall appoint a secretary for all faculty meetings. The secretary shall be responsible for the preparation of minutes and the distribution of a copy of the minutes to each College faculty member at a reasonable time in advance of the next faculty meeting. The proceedings shall be conducted by Robert’s Rules of Order.

VI.Committees

Definitions
1. The term “committee” as used in this document refers to standing committees and Ad-Hoc committees.
2. The term “committee member” refers to full-time faculty members.
Composition of Committees
1. The committees of the College shall be composed of faculty members and may include student representatives.
2. The Dean shall appoint members of the full-time faculty to serve on Standing and Ad-Hoc committees. The Dean shall also appoint chairpersons for these committees. At an open faculty meeting, the Dean shall submit a list of the membership of standing committees and the chairpersons of such committees to the College faculty for its approval. Selection of faculty members to serve on standing committees shall be based, whenever, possible, on the interests of the faculty member.
3. Each member of the faculty shall be appointed to at least one and no more than three standing committees, except in extraordinary circumstances. All committees shall be comprised of tenured and non-tenured faculty, except the Rank, Tenure, and Promotion Committee. The College Rank, Tenure and Promotion Committee shall consist of elected representatives from each department. The Dean shall appoint the Chair of the Rank, Tenure and Promotion Committee.
4. Students may be selected by the Dean’s Student Advisory Board to serve on standing committees. All committees, except the Rank, Tenure and Promotion Committee, may have up to two student representatives. Departmental members of the departmental rank, tenure, and promotion committees shall not serve on the College Rank Tenure, and promotion Committee at the same time.
5. No member of the faculty shall be the chairperson of more than one standing committee at the same time. Committee chairpersons shall be rotated every two years. No faculty member shall serve more than four consecutive years on any committee.
6. Each member of a committee shall have one vote.
Annual Committee Reports
Each standing committee shall operate according to the College Committee Guidelines and shall prepare and approve (by vote of the committee) a year-end activity report to be submitted to the faculty and the Dean on or before the end of the academic year. This report shall become a permanent part to the faculty and College permanent record.

VII. Amendments of Governance Rules

This document may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the College faculty present and voting at an open faculty meeting, provided at least two weeks notice is given to the faculty that such an amendment will be considered at the faculty meeting.

VIII. Procedures for faculty Meetings

Except for those procedures outlined herein, the deliberations and procedures for all meetings of the faculty shall conform to Robert Rules of Order. The Dean shall retain the final prerogative in regard to resolving all “points of order” and parliamentary
rulings.

Time of Meetings. Meetings of the faculty shall be held at least once per semester and when called by the Dean.
Special Meetings called by faculty Members. Special meetings of the faculty shall be called when a petition, in writing, naming and signed by not less than 10 percent of the voting members of the faculty, is presented to the
Dean, who shall call the meeting.
Notice. A 48 hours notice of any faculty meeting must be given.
Quorum. The presence of one-third (1/3) +1 of all voting members of the faculty shall constitute a quorum.
Presiding Officer. The Dean of the College, or his designee, shall be the Presiding Officer of the faculty meetings.
Voting. Except as may be provided by the procedures herein, all questions which come before the faculty shall be decided by a majority vote of those members present.
1. Declaration of Votes. The Dean shall declare the result of every vote, and any member may call for, and thus require, that the yeas and nays be recorded.
2. Dean’s Right to Vote. The Dean’s right to vote shall be limited to those instances when the votes of the members present and voting results in a tie, and only at his/her option.
3. Absenteeism/Effect of Absenteeism. Only those faculty members present may vote, thus, no member may vote by proxy or in absentia.
Secretary to the faculty. The Associate Dean of the College or his/her administrative designee shall serve as the Secretary to the faculty, but shall retain the full voting rights of faculty membership. He/she shall attend all meetings of the faculty and keep regular minutes of all proceedings.
Records of the faculty meeting. Minutes of all meetings of the faculty shall be recorded by the Secretary to the faculty and made available to all faculty members. Minutes may be approved at the next faculty meeting.
Agenda procedure for faculty meetings. It shall be the responsibility of the Dean to publish and make available to all members of the faculty an agenda of items to be discussed at least 48 hours prior to the meeting of the faculty.
Agenda/Inclusion of Items. In order for any new business to be introduced at a faculty meeting, notice for inclusion of the item on the agenda must be made available to the Dean before the agenda is published.
Open Meeting/Requirements. Except where considerations of privacy dictate, all meetings of the faculty, and its committees (except those deliberating sensitive matters such as rank and tenure, faculty appointment, academic standing) shall be open to the public, but participation in discussions shall be limited to voting members of the faculty, unless specific invitation to take part in the discussion is granted. The right to vote shall always be limited to members of the faculty as defined in Section IV.

IX. Standing Committees of the College

1. CURRICULUM PLANNING AND EVALUATION

The Committee shall review new proposals and requests for changes in the academic programs of the College as approved by the departmental committees and make recommendations to the University Curriculum Council, and the faculty on the establishment or modifications of curricula. It shall review and evaluate total curriculum at regular intervals and report its conclusions to the faculty.

2. PROGRAM ASSESSMENT

The Committee shall develop and implement program assessment plans for the College.

3. RANK, TENURE AND PROMOTION

The Committee shall develop the College Tenure and Promotion guidelines. The Committee shall review all applications submitted from faculty in the College for rank, tenure and promotion, and make recommendation to the Dean. The committee shall also review post-tenure review documents and make appropriate recommendation to the Dean.

4. COLLEGE BY-LAWS COMMITTEE

The Committee shall develop and revise the College By-Laws

5. ENROLLMENT AND RETENTION

The Committee shall devise recruitment plans, and develop and implement effective strategies for retention

6. RESEARCH

The Committee shall develop and implement guidelines, policies, procedures, and strategies, which will enhance research programs and scholarly activities of the faculty in the College. The committee shall plan and lead various research and scholarly activities in the College. The Committee shall also oversee the faculty developmental programs for the College.

7. FACULTY EVALUATION AND TEACHING PERFORMANCE

The Committee shall develop college-specific faculty evaluation forms based on the University faculty evaluation forms. The Committee shall also make recommendations on procedures in the evaluation of teaching performance

8. WEBSITE AND INSTRUCTIONAL COMPUTING

The Committee shall oversee the College website and assist in any instructional computing issues of the faculty. It shall update the website as necessary, and assist faculty in putting course materials on the web.

9. NEW FACULTY MENTORING

The Committee shall develop and implement mentoring strategies for the junior tenure-track faculty.

10. RECOGNITION AND SCHOLARSHIP

The Committee shall evaluate, select and recommend names from faculty who have made significant contributions to the college in terms of teaching, research, and services, from alumni who have made substantial contributions to the college and/or demonstrated great achievements in his/her professional field, from industrial partners whose contributions have made difference in the College, from staffs who have performed exemplarily, and from students for the awards or scholarships

11. NEWSLETTER AND ANNUAL REPORT

The Committee shall develop college Newsletters on a quarterly basis.

12. OPEN HOUSE AND EVENTS

The Committee shall be responsible for the planning and implementation of the Annual Open House – Alumni and Partnership Luncheon.

13. GRIEVANCE-FACULTY AND STUDENTS

The Committee shall convene hearings to evaluate complaints referred to the Committee by faculty and students and ensure that faculty and student complaints are documented and processed in a timely manner.

14. GRIEVANCE-STAFF

The Committee shall convene hearings to evaluate complaints referred to the Committee by staff and ensure that staff complaints are documented and processed in a timely manner.

15. HOMECOMING

The Committee shall plan all activities for homecoming, including coordinating the parade, king and queen contest, tailgating party, and scheduling alumni activities

16. SUSPENSION AND RE-ADMISSION

The Committee shall review students’ appeals on academic suspension.

17. STRATEGIC / DEVELOPMENT PLANS

The Committee shall develop college strategic plan and development plan.

18. DEAN’S STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Dean’s Student Advisory Council establishes an effective communication channel between the office of the Dean and students in the College. It shall hold meetings periodically to listen to concerns, issues, and suggestions directly from student representatives.