COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES BY-LAWS

BY-LAWS OF THE

GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY

Approved by the Faculty February 2005

Foreword

The following by-laws are a foundation for mutual understanding regarding the governance of the College of Arts & Sciences at GCSU. The by-laws are expressly subject the statutes and by-laws of Georgia College & State University, policies of the Board of Regents, and applicable federal and state laws. Any provision of these by-laws in conflict with any of the above is of no consequence and will be null and void. By-laws for the College of Arts & Sciences shall be included in the appropriate section of the university's Faculty Handbook.

ARTICLE I. THE FACULTY

A. MEMBERSHIP

The faculty of the College of shall consist of the Dean of the College and all full-time members of the corps of instruction within the College holding professorial rank, namely professors, associate professors, assistant professors, lecturers, and instructors, including those with temporary appointment. Part-time faculty may participate in meetings as ex-officio, non-voting members.

B. AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITIES

(1) The faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences has the authority and responsibility to participate in the determination of organization, policies, rules, regulations, and procedures concerning the educational programs of the College. When such matters do not affect other units of the university they shall, after approval by the Dean of the College, be transmitted to the appropriate administrative units and university committees for their information. Matters affecting other units of the university shall, after approval by the Dean of the College be sent to the appropriate faculty council or committee for action.

(2) The faculty shall establish the curriculum and participate in formulating personnel policies and budgetary priorities.

(3) In exercising its responsibilities, the faculty may delegate, as it deems expedient, such powers and functions normally reserved for the faculty to the Dean, to other council(s) or committee(s) as the faculty may from time to time establish.

(4) Quorum for all councils and committees established in the College of Arts & Sciences shall be 50 percent of their respective memberships.

(5) All councils and committees shall normally function during the regular academic year and only in unusual situations may be called into session at other times.

C. OFFICERS

(1) The Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences shall serve as the chair of the Faculty. The chair, or his or her designee, shall preside at all meetings of the faculty of the College.

(2) Am employee of the College shall be named Secretary of the faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences after appointment by the chair and confirmation by the faculty.

(3) A member of the college's faculty shall be named Parliamentarian of the faculty after appointment by the chair and confirmation by the faculty.

D. MEETINGS

(1) The faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences shall meet at least once each academic year at a time and place to be determined by the Chair. The Chair, or his or her designee, shall preside. Agenda items should be submitted to the chair seven days in advance of the scheduled meeting. Meetings of the faculty may also be called at the discretion of the Chair, a majority of the College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Advisory Council, or by ten full-time members of the faculty of the College.

(2) Quorum for meetings of the faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences shall be 30 percent of the full-time faculty.

(3) Unless otherwise modified by these by-laws, the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the conduct at meetings of the faculty.

E. RECRUITMENT

In the appointment of a faculty member to a department, the following consultative procedure shall be followed: After the interviews are conducted, the Department Faculty Search Committee will communicate its recommendation to the Chair of the department. In collaboration with the department faculty, the Chair will forward his or her recommendation to the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences for review. If the Dean approves the recommendation of the Chair, it will then be forwarded to the immediate supervisor of the Dean. If the Dean is not inclined to approve the recommendation, then he or she must meet with the department to seek consensus on a course of action within five business days of receiving the recommendation and prior to making his/her recommendation to his/her supervisor. Failure to call such a meeting indicates approval of the recommendation. If no consensus can be reached by such a meeting, the Dean may disapprove the recommendation, but the department faculty may appeal the decision of the Dean to the immediate supervisor of the Dean."

ARTICLE II-STANDING COMMITTEES

Membership of each council and committee described herein shall be such that no more than one person from a department might serve at the same time. Members may not serve more than two consecutive two-year terms. All terms of service begin on the first day of August and extend until the last day of July, although the conduct of routine business of councils and committees shall be restricted to the regular spring and fall semesters. Further, it is the intent of the membership of the College that the standing committee structure be used whenever issues germane to its structure need redress by the faculty.

A. DEAN'S ADVISORY COUNCIL:

(1) The Advisory Council shall consist of one (1) member elected from each department from among the full-time non-temporary faculty of that department. The term of service for elected members shall be two (2) years. In the event of a vacancy, the department shall elect a representative for the duration of the term. The chair of the Advisory Council shall be elected annually from and selected by council members. The dean and assistant/associate dean shall be ex officio, non-voting members.

(2) The duties of the council are:

The Advisory Council shall be responsible for maintaining communication between the Arts & Sciences faculty and the dean, and for making specific recommendations about policies and procedures to the dean on behalf of the faculty. However, no provisions of these by-laws are intended to preclude direct communication between the individual faculty member and the dean.
The council shall have at least one meeting per semester designated as a time for the expression of faculty concerns and feedback to the administration within the College.
A special concern of the council shall be the teaching conditions, (including but not limited to facilities, equipment, instructional load, guidelines for the evaluation of instruction, budgetary concerns, faculty development, and technology) throughout the College that have an influence on the teaching performance and morale of the faculty.
The council shall have the option of interviewing candidates who seek significant administrative positions within the College of Arts & Sciences. The option for interview includes all searches for deans, associate and assistant deans, and coordinators for interdisciplinary programs. Subsequent to the interview, the council may forward a recommendation to the appropriate search committee. It is the obligation of the search committee to coordinate a time for the council to interview such candidates.
The chair, a majority of the voting members of the council, or the Dean of the College shall have the authority to call meetings of the council.
The council, as well as the Dean of the College in consultation with the council, shall be authorized to establish other advisory ad hoc committees within the College of Arts & Sciences as may be deemed necessary. All advisory ad hoc committees are temporary in nature and as such a date of expiration must be defined at their creation.
The five outgoing members of the Dean's Advisory Council shall serve as the Nominating and Elections Committee.

B. CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE

The committee shall consist of: the Dean of the College, two (2) students to be selected by the Dean to serve for a one-year term, the Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Studies, and one (1) faculty member from each department in the College of Arts & Sciences. The term of service of elected members shall be for two (2) years (except that at the first election half of the members shall be elected for a one-year term). The Dean or her/his delegate shall serve as chairperson of the committee.

The Curriculum and Instruction Committee shall:

Be responsible for the integrity and coherence of all curricula and programs in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Recommend to the faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences course offerings, major and/or minor programs, degree requirements and other matters academic in nature.

The Dean shall submit to the chairs a list of committee recommendations shortly after each committee meeting. Chairs will circulate these recommendations to their faculty. After circulation of these recommendations to the faculty and before ten class days have passed any one of the following may request the Dean to have a vote on selected recommendations by the full College of Arts & Sciences faculty:

A request by at least 2 chairpersons
A request by at least 5 faculty members
A request by the Dean
A request by 3 members of the C&I Committee

If the Dean receives no such request, he/she may proceed after ten class days as though the full faculty approved the recommendations of the committee.

C. TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEE

This committee will follow the procedures outlined in the College of Arts & Sciences tenure and promotion policy, as approved by the faculty of the College.

The College of Arts & Sciences Tenure and Promotion Committee shall be composed of one representative elected from the full-time non-temporary faculty of each department by the members of the department. Anyone who is currently a candidate for tenure or promotion is not eligible to serve on this committee. The College of Arts & Sciences Tenure and Promotion Committee shall then elect one of its members as chair.

Upon receipt of an application and portfolio, the Dean will verify that its content and format comply with these policies and then refer all complete applications to the school Tenure and Promotion Committee.

The Tenure and Promotion Committee will review all applications with a view to whether the department adequately considered the candidate's qualifications and evidence, applied relevant and proper standards, and was conscientious in reaching its decision. At its discretion, the committee may call the candidate, the department chair, the chair of the departmental tenure and promotion committee, colleagues of the candidate, or other witnesses. The committee will vote on its recommendation and report it to the Dean.

D. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT HEARING COMMITTEE

An Academic Misconduct Hearing Committee shall hear appeals of academic sanctions for academic dishonesty, in accordance with the University procedures for appeals of academic penalties.

The dean will convene a Hearing Committee within 10 days of receipt of the appeal.

Said Hearing Committee shall consist of 5 members, including 3 faculty members selected from the Dean's Advisory Council, and 2 undergraduate students (or 2 graduate students when the complainant is a graduate student). The students will be selected by the dean from the Dean's Student Advisory Council. Neither the faculty members nor the students will be from the departments of either party.

The Hearing Committee shall:

Select a committee chair from the faculty members.
Notify the student and faculty member involved in the appeal of the date, time, and location of the Committee meeting. The Committee will decide whether to invite the student and/or faculty member involved in the appeal to the Committee meeting.
Review the written record of the grievance and its appeal. The Committee may also interview the student and/or the faculty member.
The chair of the committee will prepare a written document detailing the decision and proposed resolution (if applicable) agreed upon by the committee within five (5) working days of the conclusion of the Committee meeting. This decision shall be sent to the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences with copies to the student and faculty member involved in the appeal, and the faculty member's department chair.

ARTICLE III-DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

(1) In the appointment of a department chair, the following consultative procedure shall be followed: The search committee will consult with the full-time non-temporary faculty of the department concerned and shall make a recommendation to the Dean based on this consultation. If the Dean concurs, the recommendation is forwarded to the next higher administrative level. If the Dean does not concur with a search committee's recommendation, she or he must meet with the department to seek consensus on a course of action. The Dean has the authority to make an appointment without the concurrence of the department only after consulting with the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the President of the University.

(2) A department may petition the Dean of its college for removal of the department chair by a majority vote of all full-time non-temporary faculty members of the department. In this event, the Dean shall collaborate with the department to seek a resolution to the problem. This may include recommending to the next higher administrative level removal of the department chair if consensus cannot be reached with the department as to an alternative course of action.

(3) Meetings of the departmental chairpersons shall be called by either the Dean or by one-third of the department chairpersons as often as they may deem necessary or advisable.

(4) The Dean shall survey the faculty of each department in the college on a five year rotating basis regarding the performance of the department chairperson and include the results of that survey in that year's administrative evaluation of those department chairpersons. The intent of this assessment is to provide feedback to the department chair for her/his development as an administrator.

ARTICLE IV-AMENDMENTS

The faculty of the College shall have the power to alter, repeal, or amend these by-laws, or to adopt new by-laws. Copies of proposed amendments or proposed new by-laws shall be sent to all members of the faculty, and vote on such proposals shall be by written ballot. A 2/3-majority vote of the full-time faculty membership shall be required for passage of any amendment or proposed by-laws. Proposed amendments or new by-laws shall be discussed and debated at a general meeting of the faculty to be held at least one week prior to a vote. The Dean shall see that the provisions of this and all articles contained here within are properly carried out.

THE J. WHITNEY BUNTING COLLEGE OF BUSINESS BY-LAWS

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION BY-LAWS