Faculty Handbook
APPENDIX A
FACULTY SENATE CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
(May 7, 1999)
Faculty Senate Constitution and By-Laws
Article I
PURPOSE
Section 1. The Faculty Senate of the University of Montevallo is the elected representative body of the faculty at the University of Montevallo.
Section 2. The Faculty Senate of the University of Montevallo is an advisory body to the President and the Board of Trustees. It is concerned with the general welfare of the University. The Faculty Senate serves as a recognized channel of communications between the Faculty and the Administration.
Section 3. The Senate provides a means for the Faculty to deal with Faculty issues which have University-wide application and with more localized faculty issues when deemed appropriate by Faculty Senate. The Senate also serves as a committee on committees.
Article II
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: The Faculty consists of all full-time and part-time University of Montevallo personnel on academic appointment, tenured or untenured, who hold the rank of instructor or higher or comparable status. When the Faculty are called as a whole to meet, they constitute the Faculty Assembly.
Section 2: Membership on the Faculty Senate is limited to at least half time Faculty, tenured or untenured. Composition of the Faculty Senate should generally reflect the proportion of faculty within each college and the library. The composition of the Faculty Senate must be approved by the Faculty Assembly.
Section 3: The length of service of Senate members is determined by the individual colleges. Retiring members of the Senate are not eligible to serve on the Senate again until the expiration of the equivalent time served on the Senate.
Section 4:
(A)
The elections of representatives to Faculty Senate normally
should take place during the April meeting of each College's
Faculty Assembly and during an April meeting of the Library
faculty. If a College does not have a scheduled meeting
in April, the election should be held in the last meeting
before April.
(B) Those who are elected to the Faculty Senate shall assume their duties on the day following the Spring graduation.
(C) Nominations to Faculty Senate should be made in advance to the College Dean or Library Director or to the College's or Library’s Faculty Senate representatives, who will circulate the list of nominees to the faculty. Nominations to the Faculty Senate may also be taken from the floor of the College's Faculty Assembly or meeting or the Library faculty. Any Faculty member of a College Faculty Assembly or of the Library faculty may nominate any other eligible Faculty member of that College or of the Library.
(D) The election of members of the Faculty Senate shall be by simple majority vote on a secret ballot. Written absentee votes are permitted on the first ballot, and on subsequent ballots so long as the original candidate voted for is still in the running.
Article III
OFFICERS
Section 1: The officers of the Faculty Senate shall be the Senate President, the Secretary, and an alternate Secretary.
Section 2: Election of officers
The Senate President, the Secretary, and an alternate Secretary shall be elected by a majority vote, provided a quorum is present, at a special meeting called in the Spring Semester by newly-elected members together with those members remaining on the Senate for the next year. Nominations for these officers will be made from the floor.
Section 3: Duties of Officers
(A) The Senate President is responsible for:
1. setting the agenda of each meeting of the Faculty Senate;
2. declaring that a quorum is present at Senate meetings;
3. presiding over all meetings of the Faculty Senate and the Senate called meetings of the whole Faculty Assembly;
4. meeting with the President on a weekly basis or as required. This meeting may include another Senate member;
5. representing the Faculty Senate at all Board of Trustees meetings, or designating an alternate representative;
6. calling at least one meeting of the whole Faculty Assembly per year, preferably in the fall semester, for the purpose of setting Faculty Senate goals for the academic year;
7. setting the time and place of Faculty Senate meetings;
8. declaring a Senate meeting to be in Executive Session under certain conditions;
9. speaking for Senate after due consultation with Senate;
10.inviting special guests to Senate meetings as it seems appropriate.
(B) The Secretary is responsible for taking the minutes of each Senate meeting and distributing the approved minutes to the Faculty and other designated persons. If the Secretary is unable to attend a given meeting, the alternate Secretary is responsible. The Secretary shall also act as Senate President if for some reason the Senate President is unable to fulfill his/her duties.
Section 4. The retiring Senate President of the Faculty Senate shall serve as an ex officio, non-voting member of the incoming Senate except in those circumstances in which the retiring Senate President will, by virtue of an uncompleted term of service on the Senate, already be a member of the incoming Senate.
Section 5: The teaching load of the Senate President of the Faculty Senate should be reduced by the equivalent of a three hour course per semester. The Senate President may choose to waive this right.
Article IV
FUNCTIONING OF THE FACULTY SENATE
Section 1. Scheduling of Meetings
Faculty Senate meetings are to be held regularly, no less than once a month during the academic year. The Senate President has the power to cancel a meeting, provided no Senate member objects.
Section 2: A majority of the total number of Senate members shall constitute a quorum.
Section 3: The Faculty Senate will conduct all business according to Robert's Rules of Order, Revised.
Section 4: The Senate President is responsible for setting the agenda, provided that one item on the agenda be designated "New Business" to allow Senate members to bring forward matters of concern from their constituencies.
Section 5: All Faculty Senate members shall have one vote each, including the Senate President. Motions will be passed by a simple majority vote of those present, provided a quorum is present.
Section 6: All Faculty Senate meetings are normally open to all Faculty members. However, the Senate may close its meetings during Executive Session. Executive Session should be invoked only in very special circumstances.
Article V
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FACULTY SENATE
Section 1: The Faculty Senate is responsible for interpreting this constitution.
Section 2: The Faculty Senate is responsible for the preparation of ballots and the management of the election of members of the Faculty Senate and officers of the Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate may call for special plebiscites to determine the will of the Faculty Assembly at appropriate times.
Section 3: The Faculty Senate is responsible for establishing and abolishing its committees, for confirming appointments to these committees, for taking action on and disposing of committee reports, and for reporting to the committees, the Faculty, the President, and The Board of Trustees. It will also decide on policy matters pertinent to the operation of its committees.
Section 4: The Faculty Senate is responsible for keeping records of its activities.
Section 5: The Faculty Senate shall issue to the Faculty its bylaws, which will include a list of its committees, the charge of each committee, and the composition of each committee.
Article VI
AMENDMENTS TO THIS CONSTITUTION
Section 1: Any Faculty member may propose amendments to this constitution.
Section 2: Amendments must be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total membership of Faculty Senate. The Amendments must be ratified and approved by a majority of the Faculty Assembly voting. Vote may be conducted by secret ballot if requested.
Faculty Senate By-Laws
Article I
MEMBERSHIP AND MEETINGS
Section 1: The Faculty Assembly of each College and the faculty of the Library elect their representatives to the Senate; representation is apportioned in the following manner:
College of Arts and Sciences - Seven (7)
College of Education - Three (3)
College of Business - Two (2)
College of Fine Arts - Three (3)
Library - One (1)
As college or Library faculty membership changes substantially, representation may be adjusted as appropriate. No one college can have a clear majority. In addition, it is recommended that colleges stagger terms of their elected representatives. Faculty Senate will reexamine representation every three years and reapportion membership if necessary to maintain proportional representation.
Section 2: The Faculty Senate normally meets on a regular basis during the academic year.
Section 3: All Faculty Senate meetings shall normally be open to all Faculty members, except in the case of Executive Session. A faculty member may request to address Senate.
Section 4: Special meetings and alterations of the prescribed schedule of meetings may be called by the Senate President when deemed necessary. Members should be given a three-day notice, if possible.
Section 5: Absences from Meetings.
When a Faculty Senate member misses more than three consecutive meetings, or cannot complete his/her elected term, that member may be asked by his/her college to resign his/her membership and the College which he or she represents will hold a special election to elect his/her replacement for the remainder of his or her term of office.
Article II
PROPOSALS TO BE ACTED UPON BY FACULTY SENATE
Section 1: Proposals to the Faculty Senate may come from any faculty member, any committee or any administrator.
Section 2: Proposals to Faculty Senate shall be routinely referred to the Faculty Senate President for inclusion on the next agenda.
Section 3: If possible, the agenda for each Faculty Senate meeting should be circulated to the Faculty Senate before that meeting.
Article III
FACULTY SENATE COMMITTEES
Section 1: The Faculty Senate acts as a Committee on Committees recommending to the President appointments to standing University committees listed in the Faculty Handbook.
Section 2: Faculty Senate should review the functioning of each committee every three years.
Section 3: Reports are to be submitted annually to the Faculty Senate from University committees. These reports are in addition to reports submitted to the appropriate administrative office.
Section 4: Faculty Senate will, within the first month of the academic year, appoint a subcommittee to study the University budget. The charge of this committee is as follows: to study the University's current operating budget as it compares to the budgets from at least the two preceding fiscal years, in order to understand how University funds are allocated and to convey that intelligence to Faculty Senate for possible recommendation.
This subcommittee will be comprised of five members, one from each college, and one at-large. At least one member of the subcommittee will be a current member of Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate Budget Subcommittee reports to Faculty Senate.
Section 5: Faculty Senate shall have an Academic Policies Committee to serve as a communication link between the Curriculum and Educational Policies Committees of the four colleges. The major purpose of this committee is to provide a mechanism for dialogue concerning proposed changes in academic policies within each college. It serves as a way to assess the impact of proposed changes in academic policies and programs by the various colleges in the context of the University as a whole. This will insure that the University wide impact of such changes are adequately discussed. This committee is advisory and makes recommendations to Faculty Senate for consideration.
Article IV
AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS
Section 1: These By-Laws may be amended by a majority vote of the Faculty Senate at a meeting of the Faculty Senate at which a quorum is present. An amendment to Article I, Section 1 must be ratified and approved by a majority of the Faculty Assembly voting.
Section 2: No amendment to these By-Laws may be construed as altering the basic constitution of the Faculty Senate.