3.5 - Departmental Bylaws and Department Faculty Councils

A. Departmental Bylaws

The department/school bylaws, and revisions to the bylaws, must be approved by the Department Faculty Council, the department chair or school director, the College Faculty Council, the college dean, and the Provost or designee.

Each department/school will have written bylaws that will describe the roles, procedures, and membership of all department/school standing committees. The bylaws will provide a procedure for the approval and amendment of such bylaws by a majority vote of the department/school’s Corps of Instruction taken by ballot.

An up-to-date version of the bylaws will be posted on an Academic Affairs webpage. The department/school and/or college may also directly link to this webpage.

The bylaws will provide for a Department Faculty Council and will be constituted in a way consistent with the parameters outlined below. The bylaws will provide a procedure for the approval and amendment of such bylaws by a majority vote of the department/school’s Corps of Instruction taken by ballot. The Department Faculty Council will operate as an ad hoc body until the bylaws have been developed and approved.

B. The Department Faculty Council (DFC)

The Role and Purpose of the DFC

The DFC is advisory to the department chair or school director, who holds decision-making authority at the department/school level. The purpose of the DFC is to promote collegiality and effective shared governance of the department/school by increasing the transparency and two-way communication between the faculty and the department chair or school director with regard to the development of policy and to increase communication about the implementation of policy.

Composition of the DFC

The exact method by which the department/school elects its representatives to the DFC will be determined by vote of the department/school’s Corps of Instruction.

A majority of the DFC should be tenured or tenure-track faculty if possible. All members of the DFC must be members of the department/school’s Corps of Instruction.

A DFC will consist of at least three members, all elected by vote of the department/school’s Corps of Instruction  unless the DFC consists of a committee of the whole. A department/school may recall any DFC member by 2/3 vote unless the DFC consists of a committee of the whole.

The department chair or school director is an ex officio, non-voting member of the DFC. The department chair or school director will respect their DFC’s desire, on occasion, to meet without the department chair or school director present.

The department chair or school director is not eligible to vote for or to serve as a representative to the DFC.

The department chair or school director is not eligible to vote for or to serve as a representative to the DFC.

DFC Leadership

The DFC chair must be elected by the elected members of the DFC from among their numbers.

Operation

Consistent with DFC’s purpose of providing greater transparency and two-way communication between the faculty and the department chair or school director, the DFC will have the right to prompt access to department/school information relating to the planning and implementation of departmental or school policies.

Once the DFC is established in a particular department/school, the DFC should work with the dean and/or the Office of the Ombuds to address problems arising in its work that may require external assistance and should notify the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for information purposes.

Frequency of Meeting and Summer DFCs

The DFC should meet as often as deemed appropriate by the council membership with a minimum of two meetings per semester. Each meeting will be called by the DFC chair. The department chair/school director or any other member of the DFC can request a meeting by contacting the DFC chair.

Each DFC will take necessary measures to assure continuing functioning of the DFC during the summer months. These may include, but are not limited to, establishing a reduced quorum requirement, allowing members to name or elect proxies from among the department/school’s Corps of Instruction , and electing an acting DFC chair. Determining the best mix of such necessary measures will be the decision of the DFC itself, based on immediate circumstances and without outside intervention. Such a “Summer DFC” will be recognized by the administration as the legitimate representative of faculty interests in the shared governance of the department/school during the summer months and consulted accordingly.