FACULTY SENATE CONSTITUTION
Pellissippi
State Community College
Adopted : April 20,
2005
Revised: July 18,
2007; July 16, 2008; October 22, 2008
Revised: October
21, 2009
The role of the faculty, through its
Faculty Senate and its committees, is central to the governance, development,
and improvement of Pellissippi State Community College. Therefore, the Senate
participates fully and actively in determining all College policies related to
academic matters and faculty welfare. To achieve these goals, the Faculty
Senate supports the mission of the College by adhering to the articles outlined
in this Constitution.
The purpose of Faculty Senate is to represent faculty as
their primary governing body; to serve as liaison between the represented
departments and teaching sites in disseminating information and soliciting
responses; to provide responsive leadership; to participate on all appropriate
administrative Councils; to initiate, formulate, discuss, and recommend
policies and procedures related to the welfare of the College and the
development of the academic unit; and to analyze, report, and advise the
President of the College (and through him/her the Tennessee Board of Regents)
on College policies and procedures in areas of primary concern.
ARTICLE II – SENATE DUTIES AND POWERS
The Faculty Senate assumes the
duties and powers delegated to it by the faculty of the College and considers
matters referred to it by the faculty, administration, or students. The duties
and powers of the Faculty Senate include the right to participate fully and
actively by reviewing and making recommendations concerning all policies
pertaining to academic affairs and faculty welfare; to review, formulate,
initiate, recommend and refute policy; to meet with the President of the
College; to receive timely response to Faculty Senate initiatives; to
participate in governance of the College; to formulate and/or review all
mission and values statements; to recommend and/or review goals and objectives;
to review all related budgetary documents; to participate in all tenure and
promotion procedures consistent with College policy and procedure; and to
participate in institutional effectiveness initiatives as outlined by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS); and to be represented in
all faculty grievance and disciplinary hearings consistent with College policy
and procedure.
ARTICLE III - BUDGETARY SUPPORT
The College provides budgetary
support for travel and operational costs. The President of the Faculty,
hereinafter referred to as the President, serves as the budgetary official.
Section 1: Faculty Senate Membership
and Terms
A. Eligibility: Any
member of the full-time faculty will be eligible for election to membership in
the Senate. The College faculty consists of all full-time faculty members
holding academic appointments with the rank of instructor, assistant professor,
associate professor, or professor, whose primary duties are teaching, library
service, or departmental administration.
B.
Representation: Each academic department of the College
is entitled to elect three representatives to the Faculty Senate. Library Services and Transitional Studies are
entitled to elect one representative each to the Faculty Senate. (If Transitional Studies becomes comparable
to the other academic departments in the number of assigned faculty, it will
automatically be elevated to three representatives.) At least two of the three representatives
from each academic department during any given academic year must hold academic
tenure.
C. Term of
Office: The term of office for an elected
member of the Senate will be two (2) years. Terms will begin in July 1 and
continue through June 30, two years hence.
1.
Upon the establishment of a Faculty Senate: Initial elections of the
academic departmental representatives will include one representative who will
serve a one-year term and two representatives who will serve two-year terms.
Terms will be determined by drawing lots. Library Services will elect one
representative for a two-year term. Thereafter, one or two department
representatives will be elected each year at the annual election.
2. If a
vacancy occurs, the department elects a representative to fill the unexpired
term. This election is held at the earliest possible time and may be conducted
through e-mail. The current department representatives conduct the election.
Section 2: Responsibilities of Elected Senate
Representatives and Recall
A. Responsibilities.
1. It is the
responsibility of each Senator to attend all meetings of the Senate. Attendance
at Senate meetings is mandatory. A Senator may only be excused for reasons of
illness, professional leave, and/or at the discretion of the Faculty President. Unexcused absences totaling three or
more during an academic year are reason for recall.
2. Senators serve as liaisons between
their departments/areas and the Senate in disseminating information and
soliciting responses. Departmental Senators who hold a Senate Office are
released from this duty.
3. Senators approve officer
recommendations made by the Faculty President.
4. Senators may request
departmental/area meetings if necessary for the dissemination of information
and the discussion of issues.
B. Recall. A Senator may be recalled by his/her department or area
with twenty-five (25%) percent of the faculty members of that department/area
signing a petition for a recall vote, which is then filed with the Secretary of
the Senate. The Senator is officially recalled if two-thirds of the faculty in
that department vote to do so. An election then proceeds according to election
guidelines.
Section 3:
Elections and Academic Obligations
A. Elections:
Elections for departmental Senators are held in March of each year.
Departmental elections are conducted by the current departmental Senate
representatives in a manner agreed upon by the department. Voting may be by
e-mail, voice vote, or show of hands unless the majority of those present
desire a secret ballot or a roll call. A candidate duly nominated according to
the by-laws of the Faculty Senate and accepting of the nomination and facing no
opposition is declared elected without opposition. All full-time faculty members may vote for
departmental Senate representatives. Senators-Elect meet with the outgoing
Senate at the April meeting to prepare for the following academic year.
B. Academic Obligations. The
appropriate department dean or Vice President of the Division of Learning
ensures departmental nominee(s) of reasonable scheduling to enable representatives
or officers to attend Senate meetings.
Section 4: Site Campus
Representatives:
A. Representation.
B. Elections: Site campus Senate elections are
held in March. Elections are conducted in a manner agreed upon by full-time
faculty housed on the site campus. Voting may be by e-mail, voice vote, or show
or hands unless the majority of those present desire a secret ballot or roll
call. A candidate duly nominated according to the by-laws of the Faculty Senate
and accepting of the nomination and facing no opposition is declared elected
without opposition.
Section 5: Adjunct Faculty
Representation:
A. Adjunct faculty are entitled to two
seats on the Faculty Senate. During the college’s fall adjunct in-service
meeting, information is distributed to all adjunct faculty regarding Senate
representation. Interested adjunct faculty are encouraged to contact the Senate
and/or a designated Senate representative. In order to represent the adjunct
faculty and exercise a vote in Faculty Senate business, the adjunct must be
teaching in the current major semester (fall or spring). One adjunct
representative is elected each year and serves two years or until a successor
is elected. Vacancies will be filled by election at the earliest possible
Senate meeting.
B.
The Senate elects adjunct faculty representatives at the earliest possible
Senate meeting during fall semester. The Senate contacts the nominee(s) before
the election to determine willingness to serve.
Section 1. Regular Meetings of the
Faculty Senate
A.
The Faculty Senate meets at regular times at least once each month, or at least
four times during each academic-year semester, and once during the summer. The
Communications Officer notifies Senate Representatives at least one week before
each meeting, except for called emergency meetings, noting time and location of
the next meeting.
B. Faculty Senate meetings are open to
the public, but attendees other than representatives of the Faculty Senate must
request permission from the Faculty President to speak.
Section 2. Special Meetings of the
Faculty Senate
A.
The Faculty President may call a special meeting of Faculty Senate.
B. Ten (10) or more full-time faculty
members by petition may initiate a special meeting of Faculty Senate.
C. The President of the College or the
Vice President of the Division of Learning may call a special meeting of
Faculty Senate.
Section 3. Rules for Special
Meetings
A.
The Communications Officer notifies Senate Representatives of a special meeting
at least six days before the meeting. For called emergency meetings, the
President may waive the notification requirement.
B. Items may not be added to an agenda
for a special meeting after the agendas are distributed.
ARTICLE VI – TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS
Section 1. Quorum
For the transaction of business, a
quorum consists of a simple majority of Faculty Senate representatives.
Section 2. Definition of Majority
A.
A simple majority vote is more than half the representatives present and voting
(50 percent plus one) and represents the Senate Representatives as a whole.
B. A simple majority vote is required
to transact all business and to elect all officers and representatives of the
Faculty Senate. Amending the Constitution or voting to remove an officer from
office requires a three-fourths majority vote.
Section 3. Voting
A.
Voting may be by voice vote or show of hands unless the majority of those
present desire a secret ballot or a roll call. If there is no contest, vote may
be by acclamation.
Section 4. Procedure
Robert's Rules of Order, Revised, most current edition, serves as the parliamentary
authority of Faculty Senate on all questions not covered by the Constitution
and for any standing rules the Senate may adopt.
Section 1.Eligibility
A.
Any member of the tenured full-time faculty is eligible for the office of the
President of the Faculty. However, the President and the President Elect may
not represent the same department.
B. No officers may hold more than one
office at a time.
C. Officers of Faculty Senate include
the President of the Faculty, President Elect, Immediate Past President,
Recording Secretary, Communications Officer, Business Officer, Parliamentarian,
and TBR Sub-Council Representative. They constitute the Executive Committee of
the Senate.
Section 2. Duties
A.
The President serves as the representative and spokesperson for the faculty;
communicates individual and collective faculty concerns to the administration;
attends Learning Council and disseminates the official minutes of same; attends
President's Council (or sends a designee); meets regularly with the President
of the College and the Vice President of the Division of Learning; serves as
chief executive officer of Faculty Senate and its Standing Committees and as
ex-officio, non-voting member of all Faculty Senate committees except the
Nominating Committee; commits the Faculty Senate to courses of action only
through the approval of Faculty Senate; serves as budgetary official; serves a
two-year term, or until a successor is elected, beginning July 1; receives a
one-course teaching load reduction per semester to carry out Senate business;
presides over Faculty Senate and Committee meetings in the absence of the
Business Officer; and appoints the Business Officer with the approval of the
Senate members.
B. The President Elect substitutes for
the President when necessary; serves one year, or until a successor is elected,
as President Elect before assuming the presidency; and advances to office of
President if it becomes vacant.
C. The Immediate Past President serves
on Faculty Senate; may assume duties of President if needed; and serves one
year as Immediate Past President after serving as President for two years.
D. The Recording
Secretary is appointed by the President with approval of Senate members. He/she records and prepares minutes of all
Faculty Senate meetings for distribution to members; maintains a permanent
record of all Faculty Senate minutes and all other correspondence or e-mail
sent or received by Faculty Senate; houses Faculty Senate official records in
the Parkway campus library; and serves as chair of the Nominating Committee.
E.
The Communications Officer is appointed by the President with approval
of Senate members. He/she establishes
and maintains a communications network with all members; disseminates
information pertaining to Faculty Senate and Committee activities, including announcements,
minutes, polls, surveys and other relevant documents; and prepares and
electronically maintains the official membership list; and serves as
administrator of the Faculty Senate website and works with Information Services
to make appropriate information available on it.
F. The Business Officer is appointed by the
President with approval of Senate members and serves as the presiding officer
of the Senate. He/she coordinates operations for Faculty; helps the President
set the agenda and all items of business for Faculty Senate; remains neutral in
all discussion and debate, but may (by following rules of parliamentary
procedure) temporarily relinquish the chair for purposes of debate; retains the
right to vote on all matters; and serves a two-year term (if office is vacated,
a new Business Officer is appointed for a full term as described in the
Constitution).
G. The Parliamentarian is appointed by the
Faculty President with approval of Senate members. He/she advises the President so as to ensure
that all business transacted by the Faculty Senate conforms to this
constitution and to the parliamentary authority accepted by Faculty Senate;
serves as advisor to the Business Officer on parliamentary matters; chairs the
Rules Committee; and serves a two-year term (if office is vacated, a new
Parliamentarian is appointed for a full term as described).
H.
The TBR Faculty Sub-Council Representative is appointed by the Senate
and serves as the Faculty Senate’s official representative to the Tennessee Board
of Regents (TBR) Faculty Sub-Council; records and prepares minutes of TBR
Faculty Sub-Council meetings for distribution to Faculty Senate members and
faculty at large; maintains a permanent record of all TBR Faculty Sub-Council
minutes; and serves a three-year term or until a successor is appointed. This
position does not have to be a departmentally elected Senator; Senators can
select any full-time faculty member. If
this person is not an elected Senator, this faculty member will be designated
as a Senator and will have all of the responsibilities and obligations of an
elected Senator. If the Sub-Council representative is unable to
attend Sub-council, the Faculty President will attend in his/her stead, or
appoint another Senator to be the designated attendee.
I. Officers of the Senate are released from the Senator
responsibility of disseminating information and receiving feedback from their
respective departments/areas during the term of their offices. Those duties
will be assumed fully by the other Senator(s) of the respective
department/area.
Section 3. Election of Officers
A.
The President appoints a Nominating Committee at the first fall semester
meeting to be chaired by the Recording Secretary.
B. The President or President Elect
establishes the times and meeting places for the upcoming semester's Senate
meetings before the nomination and election of officers and representatives to
the committee.
C.
At the first Faculty Senate meeting of spring semester, the Nominating
Committee presents a slate of Nominees for President Elect of the faculty with
at least one person nominated. Each nominee must be notified of nomination and
meeting times of the Senate and must accept the nomination before the slate is
presented. Nominations will be accepted from the floor, but any person
nominated must be present to accept the nomination.
D. The chair of the Nominating Committee
will email a ballot to all full-time faculty.
Voting is conducted by e-mail within one week of the presentation of the
nominations. A candidate duly nominated
according to the by-laws of Faculty Senate and accepting of the nomination and
facing no opposition is declared elected without opposition. If there is more than one nominee, the
election will be open for one week (seven days). The Nominating Committee will count the votes
the next working day. The election of
President Elect is determined by a simple majority vote, 50 percent plus one of
those voting. If there are more than
two nominees in the election and none receive a simple majority vote, there
will be a run-off between the two nominees who received the most votes. This election will also be by email. An email with those two nominee’s names will
be sent to all full-time faculty within two days of the first ballot count. That election will be open for five
days. The Nominating Committee will
count the votes the next working day.
The nominee receiving a simple majority of the votes will be declared
the winner. The chair of the Nominating
Committee will send an email to the President of the Faculty and the nominees
with the election results, followed by an email to all faculty with the
results.
E. The Faculty President will present
his/her nominees for Senate Officers, excluding the President Elect and Past
President, at the last spring meeting of the Faculty Senate. Senators will vote on the nominees at the July
meeting of the Faculty Senate.
Section 4. Removal of Officers
A.
An affirmative vote of three-fourths of the Senate membership removes an
officer from service.
B. Negligence of duties as outlined in
the Constitution is a valid reason to remove an officer.
ARTICLE VIII - COMMITTEES
Section 1. Establishment of
Committees
A.
The Faculty Senate has the power to establish committees to study and report on
matters of concern to the faculty. Committees appointed by Faculty Senate
become committees of the Faculty Senate, receive their authority from the
Faculty Senate, and report their findings and make recommendations to the
Faculty Senate. Actions taken are those of the committee as a whole
representing a majority vote. Minority reports and recommendations may be
submitted to the Faculty Senate if desired by dissenting committee members. A
majority of committee members constitutes a quorum for transacting all business
of the committee.
B. The President appoints committees
if the need arises. Each committee should have three or more members. A balance
of academic department representation should be considered in making
appointments. The President may allow a committee to form on a volunteer or
partial volunteer basis, but with balanced representation as a consideration.
Section 2. Standing Committees
Faculty Senate establishes or
abolishes standing committees as necessary.
A. The Constitution includes a roster
of current standing committees.
B. Establishing or deleting a standing
committee does not require an amendment to the Constitution.
C. The President appoints members and
chairpersons of standing committees at the first fall semester meeting of
Faculty Senate.
D.
Committees established:
Executive Committee
Faculty Senate Student Scholarship
Committee
Nominating Committee
Promotion and Tenure Committee
Adjunct Faculty Concerns
Committee
Rules Committee
Evaluation Committee
Faculty Development Committee
Section 3. Ad Hoc Committees
A.
The Faculty Senate may establish temporary committees for special purposes.
B. These ad hoc committees are formed
following the same guidelines as those for standing committees.
ARTICLE IX – PROCEDURE FOR CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION
Section 1. Amendment Procedure
Amendments to the Faculty Senate
Constitution are made under the following provisions carried out in sequence.
A. Initiation of Proposed Amendments
Initiation of proposed amendments requires a majority vote
of the membership at a meeting of the Faculty Senate.
B. Procedure for Proposed Amendments
1. Amendments are submitted to the Faculty Senate at a regular
meeting.
2. Action of proposed amendments is delayed until at least the
next regular meeting of the Faculty Senate.
C. Adoption of Proposed Amendments
1. Three-fourths of the Faculty Senate
present and voting must approve the amendment.
2.
The amendment goes into effect immediately unless otherwise stipulated by the
amendment itself.
Section 2.
Changes not Requiring an Amendment
A. Changes of an editorial nature do not require
an amendment to the Faculty Senate Constitution. Editorial changes are do not change the
substance of the constitution.
B. Editorial changes must be presented to the
Senate (as an item on the agenda) at a regular Senate meeting. Action on editorial changes will be delayed
until the next regular Senate meeting after presentation.
C. Editorial changes require only a simple
majority (fifty percent plus one) of those present to approve the changes.
D. Editorial changes take effect immediately
upon approval of the Senate.