A. Membership and Organization
1. Membership of Faculty Assembly shall be proportionally distributed among the colleges/schools/library.
a. Membership of the colleges/schools/library shall be distributed proportionally as follows:
The College of Architecture and Planning shall elect no more than 3 members.
The College of Arts and Media shall elect no more than 3 members.
The College of Business and Administration shall elect no more than 4 members.
The School of Education shall elect no more than 3 members.
The College of Engineering and Applied Science shall elect no more than 3 members.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences shall elect no more than 10 members.
The Auraria Library shall elect no more than 2 members.
The Graduate School of Public Affairs shall elect no more than 2 members.
b. The chairs of standing committees and their subcommittees shall be members of Faculty Assembly as shall the officers of Faculty Assembly.
c. The UCD Association of Lecturers and Instructors shall have 2 voting members of Faculty Assembly.
d. The Retired Faculty Association shall have 1 former member of the UCD Faculty as a voting member of Faculty Assembly.
e. The Chancellor and Vice Chancellors of UCD shall be ex-officio, non-voting members of Faculty Assembly.
f. Two UCD students, selected by the UCD Student Government, shall be ex-officio, non-voting members of Faculty Assembly.
g. All members of Faculty Assembly shall keep informed about the concerns of their constituents, make these known as appropriate to Faculty Assembly or its committees, and keep their constituents informed about Faculty Assembly deliberations.
2. Officers
Faculty Assembly’s three officers shall serve two-year terms; no college/school/library shall have more than two officers.
a. The Faculty Assembly Chair shall:
(1) preside over all meetings of the UCD Faculty, the Faculty Assembly, and the Executive Committee
(2) report Faculty Assembly actions to the UCD Faculty at regular and special meetings of the UCD Faculty
(3) prepare the agenda for Faculty Assembly meetings in consultation with other members of Faculty Assembly
(4) call at least 4 meetings per semester
b. The Faculty Assembly Vice Chair shall:
(1) perform the duties of the chair when the chair is unable to do so;
(2) serve as parliamentarian of Faculty Assembly.
c. The Faculty Assembly Secretary shall:
(1) chair Faculty Assembly’s Elections Committee
(2) preside over the election of officers
(3) keep an accurate list of current voting members
(4) keep a record of attendance at Faculty Assembly meetings
(5) assume the duties of the recording secretary in the event that the recording secretary is unable to do so
d. A recording secretary (not necessarily a member of Faculty Assembly) shall be selected at the discretion of the Faculty Assembly Chair. The recording secretary shall:
(1) keep, distribute, and preserve accurate minutes of meetings of the UCD Faculty and Faculty Assembly
(2) distribute agenda, proposed motions, resolutions, and actions of Faculty Assembly
(3) keep an up-to-date record of the status of all resolutions and actions taken by the UCD Faculty, the Faculty Assembly, or the Executive Committee
(4) maintain the official files of the UCD Faculty, the Faculty Assembly, and the Executive Committee
e. Persons holding a Faculty Assembly office shall hold only one Faculty Assembly office.
3. Recall of Officers and Committee Chairs
a. A recall of an officer or committee chair requires approval by two-thirds of the voting members of Faculty Assembly or of the committee in question.
b. Following a recall, a new election to replace the officer or committee chair shall be held as soon as possible by Faculty Assembly or the committee in question.
4. The Executive Committee
The Executive Committee shall ensure that all units of the campus are appropriately represented in the activities of Faculty Assembly and in the systemwide governance structure so that UCD Faculty play a significant role in faculty governance at all levels.
a.
(1) The Faculty Assembly Chair shall serve as the chair of the Executive Committee.
(2) The Faculty Assembly Vice Chair shall serve as the vice chair of the Executive Committee.
(3) The Faculty Assembly Secretary shall serve as the secretary of the Executive Committee.
b.
B. Meetings, Quorum, Notices, Reports, and Attendance
1. Meetings
a. Regular meetings of Faculty Assembly shall be held eight times a year September through December and February through May. Meetings in January and between May 15 and August 15 shall be held only if specially recommended by the Executive Committee or if called by a majority vote of Faculty Assembly.
b. An organizational meeting of Faculty Assembly shall be held annually prior to spring commencement. This meeting shall consist of current voting members and newly elected members. Faculty Assembly shall elect officers at this time for the next Assembly year, in accordance with procedures in section III.C below. Faculty Assembly shall also establish its schedule of meeting times for the next Assembly year.
c. Meetings of Faculty Assembly are open to members of the UCD Faculty. Such members may express their views to Faculty Assembly at the discretion of the chair or by a majority vote of Faculty Assembly.
d. Meetings of Faculty Assembly are open to representatives of the Silver & Gold Record and other media. The names and affiliations of each reporter present shall be announced by the chair at the beginning of each meeting.
e. Meetings of Faculty Assembly are open to the president or designee of the Student Government and the chair or designee of officially recognized graduate student governance organizations to speak on matters of interest to the student organizations.
f. Meetings of Faculty Assembly are open to the chair or designee of UCD Staff Council to speak on matters of interest to staff.
g. Meetings of Faculty Assembly are open to the public.
h. Members of Faculty Assembly who travel in connection with Faculty Assembly service shall be provided mileage allowances at standard university rates.
i. Agenda
All regular meetings of Faculty Assembly shall address the following areas of business, as appropriate:
(1) call to order
(2) approval of the minutes of the preceding Faculty Assembly or UCD Faculty meeting
(3) Faculty Assembly Chair’s report
(4) report(s) from the administration
(5) call for text(s) of new motions
(6) Faculty Assembly committee reports
(7) reports of special committees and representatives from constituent organizations
(8) unfinished business
(9) new business
(10) adjournment
2. Quorum
a. The quorum during the nine months of the academic year shall be a majority of currently eligible voting members of Faculty Assembly. The quorum from May 15 to August 15 shall be one-third of the currently eligible voting members.
b. If a quorum is present at the beginning of the meeting, a quorum shall be assumed to be present throughout the meeting, unless a point of order is made concerning the quorum.
c. In the event that a committee shall have co-chairs, only one vote will be allowed from that committee.
d. Absentee voting shall not be permitted.
e. A roll call vote on any issue before Faculty Assembly shall be held if a motion for a roll call vote receives the affirmative votes of five or more members.
f. Miscellaneous
(1) The Faculty Assembly Chair may exercise discretion about the frequency and duration for which a person is recognized to speak, although each person shall be allowed at least two minutes.
(2) All approved Faculty Assembly resolutions, motions, and recommendations shall be made available to the Office of the Chancellor for appropriate distribution to the UCD administration.
3. Notices of motions
a. All substantive formal recommendations to Faculty Assembly shall be made in the form of a motion or resolution which shall be written and provided to the Faculty Assembly Secretary.
b. Any voting member of Faculty Assembly may make a motion or resolution, subject to the provisions of these Bylaws.
c. On substantive matters of new business, written notice of motion or resolution shall be delivered to the Faculty Assembly Chair and the Faculty Assembly office so that it can be distributed to Faculty Assembly at least 5-working days in advance of a Faculty Assembly meeting. Notices of motion or resolution may also be distributed to Faculty Assembly by the maker at least 5-working days in advance of a meeting which shall call for a vote on that motion.
d. Motions or resolutions on substantive matters of new business for which previous notice has not been given shall be introduced at the call of the Faculty Assembly Chair. These motions shall then be read and may be debated without action. Final action on such motions shall be deferred until the following meeting. In special circumstances, the 5-working days' rule may be suspended by a majority vote of Faculty Assembly, and a vote may be taken on the new motion/resolution.
4. Committee reports
a. Routine Faculty Assembly committee reports shall be limited to five minutes.
b. Faculty Assembly committee reports forwarded to the Chancellor or other administrative officials must first be approved by Faculty Assembly, except for those matters specifically delegated to the committee. Regardless, all such reports shall be distributed to Faculty Assembly members at least 5-working days in advance of discussion or acceptance by Faculty Assembly at its next meeting. Discussion and debate may take place and notices of motion to amend the report shall be received at the first Faculty Assembly meeting for which the report is scheduled. Final action on such reports and on any amendments to them may be taken at the next meeting of Faculty Assembly.
5. Attendance
a. Members of Faculty Assembly may become ineligible to serve if they have three unexcused absences from meetings of Faculty Assembly within one academic year. The Faculty Assembly Chair shall be responsible for determining whether a member has become ineligible; for notifying the member, the college/school/library, or committee after the second unexcused absence of impending ineligibility; and, following a third unexcused absence, if the member is determined to be ineligible, for notifying the member’s college/school/library or committee of the necessity for a replacement.
b. Committee secretaries shall keep attendance records and report regularly to committee chairs on unexcused absences.
C. Elections
1. Members of Faculty Assembly shall be selected from UCD Faculty members.
2. Selection of members of Faculty Assembly shall occur in the spring semester in advance of the annual organizational meeting by March 31 of each year. During the period from the selection of new members of Faculty Assembly until the start of the new Assembly year, the newly selected members of Faculty Assembly shall be invited to attend all Faculty Assembly meetings and to participate in debate. They shall not be voting members of Faculty Assembly until the start of the new Assembly year, except that they may vote in the election of officers at the annual organizational meeting of Faculty Assembly.
3. Members shall be elected to 3-year terms, which shall be staggered.
4. Replacement members, except for sabbatical leaves, shall serve the remainder of the original member’s term. Replacement shall occur according to the procedures of the unit in question.
5. Members on sabbatical shall be replaced for the period of the sabbatical. Should the conclusion of the sabbatical correspond to the conclusion of the member’s term, the member shall be replaced.
6. Committee officers shall be elected by the end of May each academic year for the following year.
7. Election of officers of Faculty Assembly shall take place at the annual organizational meeting. Votes for Faculty Assembly Chair shall be tallied first, followed by Vice Chair and Secretary. Anyone elected to an office shall withdraw from candidacy for any other office.
8. The Faculty Assembly Elections Committee Chair shall call for nominations for officers at least one month prior to the annual organizational meeting. Nominations may be made by any UCD Faculty member. Nominations shall be received up to and during the organizational meeting.
9. The Faculty Assembly Elections Chair shall prepare a written ballot 48 hours in advance of the organizational meeting.
10. Written secret ballots shall be used in all elections of officers of Faculty Assembly. Solo candidates may be elected by acclamation if the majority vote to do so.
11. In order to be elected as an officer of Faculty Assembly or committee, a nominee must receive the affirmative votes of more than half of those voting. If no nominee receives this number of votes, the name of the nominee with the lowest number of votes shall be dropped from the ballot and the balloting shall be repeated until one nominee receives a majority of the votes cast.
D. Functions
1. The Faculty Assembly shall:
a. discuss, formulate, and distribute new policies or modifications of old policies that lie within the jurisdiction of the UCD Faculty
b. prepare notices of motion for submission to the UCD Faculty for action in accordance with the procedure specified herein and in the Constitution
c. hear, receive, refer to the appropriate committee, or act on reports, recommendations, or motions from Faculty Assembly members, UCD Faculty, and Faculty Assembly committees, special committees, and joint boards or other faculty bodies
d. forward reports and resolutions to the Chancellor, other administrators, or the Board of Regents approved according to the procedures specified herein
e. consider issues affecting faculty referred by UCD administration or other parties external to faculty governance
f. distribute detailed minutes to all Faculty Assembly members as soon as possible after each meeting of Faculty Assembly
g. conduct surveys of Faculty Assembly or UCD Faculty on any major issue it deems appropriate
h. create its own special committees as needed
i. receive and distribute reports of other faculty committees as appropriate
j. administer any awards under its jurisdiction
2. The Executive Committee of Faculty Assembly shall:
a. coordinate activities of Faculty Assembly and its committees
b. ensure that Faculty Assembly is informed of the activities of Faculty Assembly committees
c. request reports it deems necessary from the committees of Faculty Assembly
d. initiate and assign items of new business to Faculty Assembly and to Faculty Assembly committees
e. receive proposals for items suggested for Faculty Assembly consideration
f. request circulation to Faculty Assembly or to the UCD Faculty of documents offered for consideration by the Faculty Assembly or UCD Faculty
g. serve as a committee on committees to ensure the integrity of all faculty committees and develop new committees as needed and disband those no longer needed
h. appoint a special-event chair to preside at any special event
i. notify relevant campus units of the need to fill vacancies on Faculty Assembly
j. appoint faculty representatives to advisory committees for the Auraria campus
k. review and recommend changes to these Bylaws to be approved by Faculty Assembly
l. select UCD Faculty for Faculty Council and Faculty Senate committees to ensure that UCD is fully represented in systemwide decision-making processes
m. oversee the fiscal affairs of Faculty Assembly
3. The members of the Executive Committee shall serve as the Faculty Assembly’s Elections Committee.
E. Jurisdiction
In the event that a UCD administrator wishes to call any problem to the attention of a Faculty Assembly committee or request a Faculty Assembly committee to undertake any inquiry, the notification or request shall be in writing with a copy to the Executive Committee of Faculty Assembly. If a request is made directly to the Executive Committee, the Executive Committee may refer the matter to the appropriate Faculty Assembly committee and/or to Faculty Assembly.
F. Joint Responsibility with the University
G. Faculty Assembly Committees
1. Faculty Assembly has 5 standing committees:
a. Academic Personnel
b. Budget Priorities
c. Diversity
d. Educational Policy and Planning
e. Learning, Educational Technology, Teaching, and Scholarship
2. The Diversity Committee has 4 subcommittees:
a. Disabilities
b. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender
c. Minority Affairs
d. Women’s Issues
3. Other subcommittees may be formed by Faculty Assembly on recommendation of the Executive Committee.
4. Members of each Faculty Assembly Committee shall consider the prerogatives, interests, needs, and concerns of the constituencies that they represent. They shall also keep their constituencies informed of the activities of the Faculty Assembly committee and shall keep current on the relevant policies and regulations relevant to the committee.
5. Requests from Faculty Assembly committees for funding shall be made to the Faculty Assembly Chair in writing and in advance and sent to the Faculty Assembly office. The Chair shall make recommendations about the matter to the Executive Committee.
H. Membership and Organization of Faculty Assembly Committees
1. Members of Faculty Assembly standing committees or subcommittees are not required to be members of Faculty Assembly.
2. Each standing committee shall be composed of ten members of the UCD Faculty, three from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and one each from the other colleges/schools/library, according to the selection provisions of the bylaws in question.
3. The chairs of the Diversity Committee’s subcommittees shall be members of the Diversity Committee. In addition, the Diversity Committee shall have one representative from each college/school/library.
4. The Faculty Assembly shall, where appropriate, invite UCD administration to provide non-voting administrative liaison(s) for each Faculty Assembly committee.
5. All committees shall be permitted to have an undergraduate student and a graduate student representative. In order to be eligible to serve as a student member of a Faculty Assembly committee, a student must be a full-time undergraduate or graduate student in good standing throughout the time of service on the committee. The Executive Committee may make exceptions to this requirement for specific positions or may waive application of such requirements in particular cases, as it deems appropriate.
6. Each Faculty Assembly committee may appoint ex officio members, including undergraduate and graduate students, for terms not to exceed one year. These members shall serve in an advisory capacity without vote, and all such appointments shall be reported to and approved by the Executive Committee.
7. Each Faculty Assembly committee is authorized to create appropriate subcommittees subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. Such approval does not apply to special committees constituted to carry out specific and immediate functions.
8. Members of any Faculty Assembly committee whose service is deemed incompetent or disruptive by the Faculty Assembly committee chair or the Faculty Assembly Chair may be recalled by Faculty Assembly or the Executive Committee. A replacement shall be selected or appointed by the unit involved.
9. Each Faculty Assembly committee shall compose internal administrative rules to facilitate its proper functioning.
I. Officers of Standing Committees
1. Each Faculty Assembly standing committee shall elect a Faculty Assembly Committee Chair, a Vice Chair, (or co-chairs) and a Secretary. See Bylaw III.C. above for election procedures.
2. Faculty Assembly Standing Committee Chairs shall be voting members of Faculty Assembly.
3. Faculty Assembly Standing Committee Chairs shall:
a. call and preside over meetings of the corresponding Faculty Assembly Committee
b. report on committee activities at each of the monthly meetings of Faculty Assembly
c. designate a representative without vote to Faculty Assembly meetings to make the report for that committee in the event that the chair cannot attend
d. call an organizational meeting of the newly constituted committee prior to or just after Faculty Assembly’s annual organizational meeting to elect officers for the next Assembly year
e. notify the Executive Committee of the need to fill vacancies on the committee
f. submit an annual electronic written report suitable for publication on the work of the committee to the Faculty Assembly Secretary prior to the Faculty Assembly organizational meeting; a verbal summary of this report shall be presented at the Faculty Assembly organizational meeting
4. Faculty Assembly Standing Committee Vice Chairs shall:
a. perform the duties of the committee chair when the committee chair is unable to do so
b. serve as the parliamentarian of the committee
5. Faculty Assembly Standing Committee Secretaries shall
a. record and preserve appropriate minutes of discussions and actions taken by the committee
b. administer the election of committee officers
c. transmit committee minutes to the person succeeding in that office and to the Faculty Assembly Secretary
d. keep an accurate list of current voting members of the committee
e. keep a record of committee member attendance
J. Meetings
1. Faculty Assembly committees are expected to meet at least monthly during the academic year except in January. The committee chair may call special meetings at other times.
2. Location of the monthly meetings of committees shall be determined by the committee chair in consultation with committee members and the Faculty Assembly Office. Locations, dates, and times shall be posted regularly and at least 5-working days in advance of a meeting.
3. Members of Faculty Assembly committees who travel in connection with committee service shall be provided mileage allowances at standard university rates.
4. At the annual organizational meeting of each Faculty Assembly Committee, current members and newly elected members shall:
a. elect Faculty Assembly committee officers for the next Assembly year
b. designate members to serve on each of its subcommittees, where appropriate
c. set the dates of Faculty Assembly committee meetings for the next academic year
d. provide written notification of such actions to the Faculty Assembly Secretary
K. Other Committees
1. Principles of membership, organization, and meetings shall follow provisions herein as appropriate
L. Terms of Office
1. Members of Faculty Assembly committees shall be elected for staggered three-year terms.
M. A Quorum
1. The quorum for a meeting of a Faculty Assembly committee shall consist of the majority of the voting members of the committee.
N. Functions
1. Faculty Assembly committees shall act as the official faculty advisory bodies for the Faculty Assembly or its standing committees. Committees shall continuously evaluate university policies, procedures, standards, and the work of non-Assembly committees within their purview. Committees shall make recommendations regularly to Faculty Assembly or its standing committees for appropriate changes or improvements prior to being submitted to the University administration or the Board of Regents or its designee(s). Reports shall be made regularly by the committees to Faculty Assembly. Recommendations of committees are subject to approval by Faculty Assembly. Committees may create subcommittees and attend to other matters not specifically elaborated but clearly within their purview.
2. The appropriate Faculty Assembly committee shall recommend appointments to systemwide committees to the Executive Committee by May 1 each year.
3. Faculty Assembly committees shall establish liaisons where appropriate with UCD committees within their purview and regularly invite members of the UCD administration to discuss policy and procedural issues.
4. The Academic Personnel Committee (APC) shall serve as the primary consultative body to Faculty Assembly and UCD administration on personnel policy development and on the administration of policies governing personnel practices.
a. The purview of APC shall include:
(1) academic personnel policies and policy development
(2) all matters dealing with faculty, particularly professional ethics, discipline, and potential layoff
(3) actions and policies of UCD committees that affect the responsibilities of the APC such as policy and procedures of the Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion Committee
b. In addition, APC shall:
(1) review and analyze UCD’s faculty salaries as needed
(2) report all pertinent analyses to the Diversity Committee
(3) establish and post in a public forum the policies and procedures for tenured and tenure-track faculty salary appeals
5. The Budget Priorities Committee (BPC) advises the Chancellor and reports regularly to Faculty Assembly. It monitors the revenues and expenditures of all UCD units to evaluate the integrity and implementation of UCD’s budget process. The BPC recommends to the Chancellor timely short- and long-range adjustments to the budget and budget process as needed.
In addition, BPC shall:
a. review monthly budget, expenditure, and revenue reports from the Office of Budget and Fiscal Planning for all units at UCD
b. assess the performance of college/school/library budget committees and report such assessments to the Chancellor, the college/school/library, and Faculty Assembly
c. review the operating performance of administrative units and make recommendations to the Chancellor
d. make recommendations to the Chancellor about strategic fund allocations
6. The Diversity Committee (DC) reviews policies and develops recommendations on the hiring, support, and retention of a diverse faculty at UCD. In addition, the DC reviews campus policies and practices that affect diverse groups on campus. The DC maintains the following subcommittees:
a. Disabilities, which reviews policies and practices and evaluates and recommends policies affecting the faculty and students who have disabilities
b. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender, which reviews policies and practices and evaluates and recommends policies affecting the needs of GLBT faculty and students
c. Minority Affairs, which reviews policies and practices and evaluates and recommends policies affecting minority faculty and students
d. Women’s Issues, which reviews policies and practices and evaluates and recommends policies affecting women faculty and students
7. The Educational Policy and Planning Committee (EPPC) reviews and makes recommendations on general policy, UCD’s strategic plan, and any other long-range plans or formulations that set forth the broad educational and curricular objectives and policies at UCD.
In addition, the EPPC shall:
a. review, evaluate, and make recommendations on all new and existing policies, plans, and statements governing curriculum, academic programs, faculty performance, and educational policy and make recommendations necessary for implementation of such policies, by
(1) reviewing degrees, options, and certificates
(2) reviewing the general scope, size, and/or priority of programs
(3) overseeing the educational content of curricula of programs and the Catalog
(4) reviewing admission and registration policies
(5) reviewing faculty teaching evaluation procedures, including student evaluations
(6) reviewing grading and other academic standards
(7) reviewing academic honors and awards
(8) reviewing policies related to international education
b. work with all campus curriculum committees to ensure non-overlap of programs and courses and review and resolve disputes arising from duplication of courses and programs and Graduate Council
c. serve as the faculty consultative body on the use of library/learning resources, space, services, and equipment
d. all items not covered by other committees shall be reviewed by EPPC
8. The Learning, Educational Technology, Teaching, and Scholarship Committee (LETTS) advises UCD administrators and committees on matters related to the advancement of student learning, educational technology as it promotes learning, quality teaching and instructional methods, and scholarship related to teaching, research, service, and outreach.