COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES BYLAWS

ARTICLE I MEMBERSHIP AND VOTING RIGHTS

A.        The College is made up of faculty, staff, graduate assistants, and student workers. All members of the College fulfill critical roles necessary to carrying out the mission of the College and the University.

B.        The faculty of the College consists of all full-time academic staff who have the rank or title of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, or lecturer and who have at least fifty percent of their appointment in the College. This shall include faculty with such administrative titles as Program Director or Coordinator, School Director, and Department Chair or Head. This shall not include administrative titles of Associate Dean or above. 

C.        Only members of the College faculty shall be entitled to vote in College meetings.      

Voting privileges shall be extended to eligible faculty members on leave whenever feasible.

Adjunct faculty, emeritus faculty, graduate assistants, student representatives, and support staff may attend and participate in College discussions as non-voting members and are invited to attend all official College functions and open meetings. In specific cases, they may serve on and provide recommendations to College committees.

D.        Department bylaws shall specify whether non-tenure track faculty are voting members of the department and the nature and extent of their voting rights with the exception that non-tenure track faculty shall not vote on personnel issues.

ARTICLE II OFFICERS

A.        The Dean

The Dean shall perform the functions enumerated under the Statutes Article III, Section 3d. The Dean shall also make recommendations on sabbatical leaves, merit pay, salary equity, and market salary adjustments (outside offers).

B.        Parliamentarian

1.         The Dean may appoint a parliamentarian annually to advise the Dean and faculty on parliamentary procedures.

2.         The rules contained in the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the conduct of business by the faculty in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not in conflict with these bylaws, the UIS Faculty Personnel Policies, or with the Statutes.

ARTICLE III  MEETINGS

A.        There shall be at least one regular College meeting each semester, with the dates to be announced by the Dean at least two weeks in advance. The Dean, or designee, normally an Associate dean, shall be the presiding officer. The Dean shall furnish members of the faculty written notice and agenda of each meeting at least one week prior to the meeting.

B.        Special meetings may be called by the Dean, by the Executive Committee, or upon receipt of a written petition of 1/10^th or more members of the college faculty. Special meetings will be called within ten business days of the receipt of the request. Only business stipulated in the call to the meeting may be transacted at a special meeting.

C.        A quorum for any faculty meeting will be a majority of the members of the faculty.

D.        Agendas for each regular meeting of the faculty will include approval of the minutes of preceding regular and special meetings, a report from the Dean, reports from the Standing Committees at least once a year, together with a provision for old and new business. Additional items may be included on the agenda as specified by these bylaws. Members of the faculty who wish to include items on the agenda of a regular meeting shall submit these items to the Dean at least fifteen business days before the scheduled meeting.

E.         The Dean shall distribute all notices, calls, and agendas to the faculty for college meetings and shall prepare and distribute minutes of all meetings of the faculty. The Dean or Associate Dean shall conduct college-wide elections and report election results to the faculty.

ARTICLE IV STANDING COMMITTEES            

The College shall have three standing committees: the Executive Committee, the Curriculum Committee, and the Personnel and Peer Review of Teaching Committee. The Chair of each standing committee will make a report of the Committee’s activities to the College faculty at least once a year at the spring college-wide meeting.

The College Executive Committee may authorize the creation of ad hoc committees or task forces as is necessary to conduct the business of the College. 

A.        Executive Committee (CEC)

1.         The CEC will consist of four faculty who shall serve three-year staggered terms upon election at-large by the faculty of the college. No more than one representative from a department may serve on the committee at any one time.

The Dean is an ex-officio member and chair of the CEC. There will be no other ex-officio members on the committee. The Dean may vote only to break tie votes. In the Dean’s absence, the Dean’s designee shall preside. When the CEC meets to prepare or give advice to the Chancellor, the President, or the Provost on the appointment or re-appointment of the Dean or to review the Dean’s performance, the Dean shall not be present.

2.         The duties of the CEC shall include those enumerated by the Statutes, Article III, Section 2 and Section 3. As representatives of the faculty, the CEC may create policies on matters not otherwise under the jurisdiction the CCC. The Dean may seek the CEC’s advice on matters of salary equity and market salary adjustments (outside offers). 

B.        Curriculum Committee (CCC)

1.         The CCC will consist of four members of the faculty who shall serve three-year staggered terms upon election at-large by the faculty of the college. To serve on the curriculum committee, a faculty member must have served one year at UIS before their term commences. No more than one representative from a department may serve on the committee at any one time. The Dean or a designee will be a non-voting ex-officio member of the Committee. The CCC will elect from among its membership a chair at the first meeting. 

2.         The duties of the CCC include: review and approval of additions, deletions, and expansions of academic programs and program reviews, approval of course additions and deletions and program requirements, and advice on student petitions upon the Dean’s or Dean’s designee’s request. The CCC will keep and maintain minutes available to the college.

C. Personnel and Peer Review of Teaching Committee (PPRTC)

1.          The PPRTC will consist of four tenured faculty and one instructor who shall serve three-year staggered terms upon election by the faculty of the college. No more than one representative from a department may serve on the committee at any one time. The Committee will elect from among its membership a chair at the first meeting. The instructor shall not participate in personnel matters relevant to tenure-system faculty’s reappointment, tenure, and promotion.

2.          The duties of the PPRTC include recommendations to the Dean on merit pay, reappointments, non-reappointments, tenure, and promotion decisions. Any additional procedures permitted by the UIS Faculty Personnel Policies and used by the Committee to make personnel decisions must be reported to the College faculty.

3.          The Peer Review of Teaching Program is required for all new tenure-track faculty and instructors as a formative process. The formative process assists faculty in examining and evaluating their teaching for the purposes of self-improvement and development. This process is separate from the summative process, which systematically assesses teaching as a professional faculty activity in connection with personnel decisions.

4.          The duties of the PPRTC include managing the Peer Review of Teaching Program, training peer reviewers, informing participating faculty of the program requirements and deadlines, creating and implementing procedures to assess the program, and implementing modifications to the program, as needed.

D.        Election Procedures for College Standing Committees

1.         Elections shall take place via web-based voting and monitored by the Dean or dean’s designee. 

2.         No later than three weeks after spring semester begins, the Dean or dean’s designee shall ask for nominations of eligible faculty to stand for election to the College Executive and the College Curriculum Committees by secret ballot.

3.         The nominees who receive the most votes shall be elected and their names will be sent forward to the Dean. College faculty will be notified of the election results no later than the week after spring break.

ARTICLE V UNIT STRUCTURE AND LEADERSHIP

A.        The Chair/Head or School Director

1.         The Chair/Head or School Director is elected for a term of three years by the unit faculty and must be approved by the Dean and VCAA in order to serve. The Chair/Head or School Director is responsible to both the faculty and the Dean.

2.         Eligibility and Selection

a.         Internal Selection

           1.         Only unit tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible to be nominated and serve as the Chair/Head or School Director. In the case of exceptional circumstances, the unit faculty may, by majority vote, petition the College Executive Committee for an exception to this policy.   

           2.         No later than three (3) weeks after spring or fall semester begins, the Dean or dean’s designee shall ask for nominations of eligible faculty to stand for election by official secret ballot. Eligibility will be determined by unit bylaws.

           3.         The name of the person receiving a simple majority of the secret ballots cast will be sent forward to the Dean, subject to approval by the Dean and the VCAA. In the case of a tie that cannot be resolved by the voters, the Dean shall select the Chair/Head or School Director from those faculty members who received tie votes.

           4.         If no nominee receives a simple majority of the votes, a run-off vote for the top two nominees shall be held immediately under the same procedures outlined above.

           5.         If the Dean fails to approve the person selected by the faculty, the faculty will submit another nominee or may hold another vote under the same procedures outlined above. 

           6.         Units will be notified of the Chair/Head or School Director selection within one month after the voting completes.

b.   External Selection

In some cases, it may be desirable to go outside the existing unit faculty for a Chair/Head or School Director. If the faculty and the Dean agree on the need for an outside search, the Dean will meet with the VCAA to discuss options. If an external Chair/Head or School Director search is authorized, a search committee that follows University policies and procedures for searches for new faculty appointments will be formed. Given the time required to conduct an external search, the incumbent Chair/Head or School Director or another tenured faculty member shall normally be selected to serve as interim Chair/Head or School Director until the new Chair/Head or School Director is in place.

c.         Appointment by the Dean

In the event the unit is unable or unwilling to select a Chair/Head or School Director, the Dean, after seeking the advice of the College Executive Committee, will select a faculty member to provide direction as the Chair/Head or School Director. Should the Dean be unable to appoint a faculty member, the Dean’s office will provide administrative support to the unit.

3.         Duties of the Chair/Head or School Director

The responsibilities and powers of the Chair/Head or School Director shall include those listed by the Statutes, Article IV, Section 2 e.

Any additional powers delegated to the Chair/Head or School Director by the unit will be approved by the unit in writing and forwarded to the Dean.

4.         Annual Evaluation

Both the unit faculty and the Dean shall evaluate the performance of the Chair/Head or School Director annually. The College Executive Committee and the Dean shall develop evaluation procedures and timelines.

5.         Removal

Either the unit or the Dean may initiate discussions to recommend removal of a Head or recommend non-reappointment of a Chair/School Director. Voting will be by secret ballot forwarded to the Dean’s office. The majority result will be communicated without identifying data. In the event the unit votes to remove and the Dean wants to retain the Head or Chair/School Director, the Dean may ask the unit for a second vote. If a simple majority of the unit votes to remove, the Dean may initiate the process to remove a Head via a recommendation to the Chancellor but is not required to do so. For non-reappointment of a Chair/School Director, the Dean and the unit will make recommendations to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs who will provide those recommendations to the Chancellor to appoint a new Chair/School Director at the beginning of the next academic year according to the Statutes. The Chair/Head or School Director may not vote on the question of removal.

6.         Vacancies

If a Chair/Head or School Director position becomes vacant, or if a Chair/Head or School Director is unable due to illness or other circumstances to fulfill the duties of the position, the unit faculty and the Dean will select an Acting Chair/Head or School Director using the procedures specified in this Article until the Chair/Head or School Director is able to resume duties or until the normal selection process for the Chair/Head or School Director can take place.

ARTICLE VI  AMENDMENTS AND REVISION OF BYLAWS

The College Executive Committee, the Dean, or any member of the College may propose an amendment to these bylaws for discussion at a regular meeting or a special meeting called for that purpose within the nine-month academic year, so long as copies of the proposed amendment(s) can be distributed to each faculty member at least one week prior to the meeting.

After discussion, proposed changes to the bylaws of the College shall be distributed, together with a ballot, to those faculty members eligible to vote at least two weeks prior to the voting deadline.

In order for an amendment to the bylaws to pass, the vote must be taken during the academic year; a majority of the faculty eligible to vote must cast a ballot; and the amendment must receive a two-thirds vote in support by the eligible faculty who vote.

At least every five years the Dean shall appoint a committee to examine the bylaws and propose such revisions as seem desirable. 

ARTICLE VII INTERPRETATION OF THE BYLAWS

The College Executive Committee, by majority vote, may issue advisory opinions regarding the interpretation of these bylaws as are necessary to the orderly and expeditious conduct of College business.

ARTICLE VIII  SEVERABILITY

Should any article or clause of these bylaws be found inconsistent with or in violation of any higher rule, regulation, or law, the offending article or clause of these bylaws shall be without force or effect to the extent of the inconsistency. Such a finding shall not invalidate any other article or clause of these bylaws.

Revised April 23, 2022

Approved by faculty April 30,2022