Appendix B: By-Laws of the Faculty of Centre College

Membership

The membership of the Faculty of Centre College is defined by the Board of Trustees. It consists of all full-time employees of the College having Faculty rank who will regularly attend meetings of the Faculty and have a vote. The Faculty may designate other members of the College community as ex officio members without voting privileges. The Director of the Library is an ex officio member.

Organization

The officers of the Faculty shall be an elected President of the Faculty; the chairs of the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment, the Committee on Faculty Development, the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards, the Off-Campus Programs Committee, and of such other committees as the Faculty may choose to add; and one elected representative from each of the three academic divisions. These officers shall constitute the Steering Committee of the Faculty and be selected in the following manner:

1. The President of the Faculty

a. The President of the Faculty shall be a tenured member of the Faculty engaged in full-time teaching or research elected by the Faculty for a three-year term. The President may succeed himself or herself.

b. The election shall be conducted by the President of the Faculty and the Registrar, and will be the first Faculty election in the spring in years when this election is necessary. The election, when necessary, will occur at the February meeting of the Faculty. If the incumbent president is a candidate for reelection, the Steering Committee will designate one of its members to preside over the election.

c. Nominations shall be in writing to the President of the Faculty or to the Registrar, the consent of the nominee having been previously secured by the nominator. To be eligible for election, a Faculty member must be self-nominated or be nominated by another member of the Faculty.

d. If no candidate receives a simple majority of the votes, a run-off election between the candidates with the two highest numbers of votes shall be held. The process shall continue until a candidate receives a simple majority of the votes.

e. The President of the Faculty shall not hold any other Faculty elected position.

f. A newly elected president of the Faculty shall give up any Faculty committee membership(s) to which she or he has been elected. A new election for any position so vacated will be held in the normal fashion.

g. During their tenure of office, the President of the Faculty is granted at least a three credit-hour reduction in their normal teaching load per academic year.

2. The Steering Committee

a. Any tenured or tenure-track full-time employee of the College having Faculty rank, except continuing or incoming Division Chairs, may serve as an elected divisional representative on the Steering Committee. However, the President of the Faculty, continuing or newly elected members of the Tenure and Reappointment Committee, the Faculty Development Committee, the Off-Campus Programs Committee, or the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards and Faculty on sabbatical or serving as a Faculty director abroad in the upcoming academic year may not be listed on the ballot. Additionally, the incoming appointed chairs of the General Education and Assessment Committees will not be listed on the ballot. Any elected representative may succeed himself or herself.

b. The term of office for elected representatives shall be three years. One divisional representative shall be elected each year.

c. The election of each divisional representative shall be conducted by the appropriate Division Chair at a meeting of the Division to be held in April of each year. A simple majority of the members of each division shall constitute a quorum for a divisional elections. Faculty members without divisional membership may select a division for voting purposes.

d. If a divisional representative is temporarily unable to serve at any time during the three-year term, the most recent former member of the Steering Committee elected from that Division who is eligible to serve will serve until the elected representative is able to serve again or until the term expires.e. The length of service by committee chairs on the Steering Committee shall be determined by the procedures of the committees in selecting chairs.

Responsibilities and Authority of Officers of the Faculty

Meetings and Quorum

The Faculty shall meet as required to vote on recommendations for the granting of degrees. Meetings for other purposes may be called by the Steering Committee or by a petition signed by one-fourth of the Faculty and submitted to the President of the Faculty. A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum.

Rules of Order

Proposals for Faculty action involving decisions of major substance, whether originating with a committee or an individual member, shall be distributed with the agenda of the meeting at least three days in advance. No substantive motion shall be debated or put to a vote until the motion shall have been submitted to the Secretary in writing (determination of substantive issues to be made by the President of 

the Faculty).

In general, proceedings shall be in accord with the traditional parliamentary procedure (Robert's Rules of Order), except that any Faculty member, by requesting such an action, may have the decision on a matter of policy postponed from one meeting to the next, there to be acted upon.

Committees

The following Faculty committees shall report to the Steering Committee those matters to be brought before the Faculty. Membership and duties are as follows:

1. The Committee on Tenure and Reappointment will advise the Dean of the College and the President of the College on all matters of qualification for tenure and promotion to the rank of assistant or associate professor. Members of the committee shall exercise all duties imposed on the committee by the policies provided for by the Faculty in the document entitled Policies of Centre College Relative to AcademicFreedom and the Evaluation of Faculty. The committee shall be formed in the following manner:

a. The committee shall consist of six members of the Faculty, two from each division, who have tenure and who are engaged in full-time teaching or research, one of whom shall retire each July in rotation and be replaced by another qualified member of the Faculty as specified below. Continuing members of the Review Board and continuing or incoming Division Chairs shall be ineligible for election to the Tenure and Reappointment Committee and the Special Subcommittee on Promotion. The President of the Faculty and continuing members of the Faculty Development Committee, the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards, and the Off-Campus Programs Committee shall not be listed on the ballot for election to the Tenure and Reappointment Committee or the Special Subcommittee on Promotion. Additionally, the incoming appointed chairs of the General Education and Assessment Committees will not be listed on the ballot.

b. The selection each year of a new member of the committee shall be by Faculty election, usually conducted at its February meeting.

c. In conducting the election, the registrar shall compile a list of all the Faculty members eligible to serve on the committee. Each Faculty member shall be asked to nominate two persons from that list as candidates for election.

d. The President of the Faculty shall present to the Faculty the names of the two persons most often nominated. Each Faculty member shall then be asked to vote for one. The person receiving the greater number of votes shall be elected to membership on the committee for a six-year term.

e. The committee shall elect one of its members chair for a term of one year. The chair shall be eligible for a second consecutive term.

f. Members of the Tenure and Reappointment Committee shall not hold any other

Faculty-elected position. A new election for any position vacated will be held in the normal fashion.

g. The choice of a successor to fill any vacancy which occurs because of retirement, resignation, or death shall be made from two nominees selected in accordance with the general procedure outlined in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) above.

h. One full year must have expired before anyone may be re-elected to serve on this committee.

2. The Special Subcommittee on Promotions will advise the Dean of the College and the President of the College on all matters of qualification for promotion to the rank of professor. The subcommittee shall be formed in the following manner:

a. The subcommittee shall consist of members of the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment with the rank of professor. If no professor from a particular division is currently serving on the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment, then the Faculty of the College shall elect from that division a professor who is engaged in full-time teaching or research to serve as a voting member of the Special Subcommittee.  This person will serve as long as no professor from that division is a member of the committee on Tenure and Reappointment, or for six years, whichever term is shorter.

b. The election shall be conducted by the Registrar in the spring immediately after the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment elections.

c. In conducting the election, the registrar shall compile a list of all persons eligible to serve. Each Faculty member shall be asked to nominate two persons from that list as candidates for election.

d. The registrar shall then circulate a ballot with the names of the two persons most often nominated. Each Faculty member shall then be asked to vote for one person. The person receiving the larger number of votes shall serve on the Special Subcommittee.

e. The subcommittee shall elect one of its members chair for the term of one year.

3. The purpose of the Review Board is to hear complaints from Faculty members who seek redress for administrative decisions relating to tenure, termination, or dismissal, or to hear complaints from Faculty members about conditions of employment involving administrative actions or the actions of another member of the Faculty (see Review Board (p. 29)).

a. The Board shall consist of six full-time tenured members of the Faculty. The elected members shall serve three-year terms, shall be eligible for re-election, and shall elect a Chair of the Review Board.

b. Faculty members who are serving on the Tenure and Reappointment Committee or the Special Subcommittee on Promotion, or who are serving as Division Chair or as an administrative officer of any kind, shall be ineligible to serve on the Review Board. Continuing members of the Review Board shall be ineligible for election to the Tenure and Reappointment Committee, shall not serve on the Special Subcommittee on Promotion and shall not serve as Division Chair or as an administrative officer of any kind.

c. The Faculty shall conduct the elections in the spring immediately after the Committee on Tenure and Reappointment elections, usually at its March meeting. Prior to this meeting, the Registrar shall compile a list of those eligible to serve on the Board. Each Faculty member shall be asked to nominate four people from that list as candidates for election. The President of the Faculty shall then present to the Faculty for a vote the names of the four people most often nominated. The two people receiving the most votes will be elected.

d. The newly elected members of the Review Board shall begin their terms on June 1. However, a sitting panel shall continue its work until it has completed its duties.

4. The Committee on Faculty Development is concerned with any issue that relates to the professional growth of the Faculty. It seeks to promote scholarship and research by members of the Faculty, to encourage the development of Faculty members as teachers, and to foster the development of the Faculty's sense of itself as a professional academic body. In meeting this responsibility, the committee administers and supervises the following programs: (1) summer study grants (see Summer Study Grants (p. 34)), (2) collaborative student- Faculty research grants, and (3) grants for students attending professional meetings. The committee also reviews sabbatical leave proposals and makes recommendations to the Dean. In addition, the committee sponsors Friday Faculty Hours for the informal sharing of research and other interests and concerns of the Faculty throughout the year.

a. The committee will consist of nine members, three from each division. Each academic division will, at its April meeting, elect a representative to serve a three-year term. Division chairs shall take care to ensure that at least one of the divisional representatives shall be a tenured member of the Faculty. A simple majority of the members of each division shall constitute a quorum for divisional elections. One third of the committee will be elected each year. Any tenured or tenure-track full-time employee of the College having Faculty rank, except continuing or incoming Division Chairs, may serve as a representative on the Committee on Faculty Development, however the President of the Faculty, continuing members of the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards, continuing or newly elected members of the Tenure and Reappointment Committee, the Off-Campus Programs Committee, and Faculty on sabbatical or serving as a Faculty director abroad in the upcoming academic year will not be listed on the ballot. Additionally, the incoming appointed chairs of the General Education and Assessment Committees will not be listed on the ballot. Members may be re-elected.

b. The incoming Committee on Faculty Development shall elect its chair for the following academic year immediately after its membership is determined in the spring.

c. The members of the Committee on Faculty Development shall not hold any other Faculty elected position. A new election for any position vacated will be held in the normal fashion.

5. The Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards proposes policies to the Faculty of the College regarding the curriculum and academic standards, including major, minor, and degree requirements. Based on program recommendations, the committee considers and rules upon proposals for new courses. The committee will rule on petitions concerning exceptions to requirements, and will determine scholarship retention, readmission, academic probation and suspensions. The Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards is formed as follows:

a. The committee shall consist of the Dean of the College; the Associate Dean of the College; the chairs of each academic division; and two Faculty members from each academic division, to be elected by the Faculty of each respective division. Any tenured or tenure-track full-time employee of the College having Faculty Rank may serve as a representative on the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards, however the President of the Faculty, continuing or newly elected members of the Tenure and Reappointment Committee, the continuing or newly elected members of the Committee on Faculty Development, the Off-Campus Programs Committee and Faculty on sabbatical or serving as a Faculty director abroad in the upcoming academic year will not be listed on the ballot. Additionally, the incoming appointed chairs of the General Education and Assessment Committees will not be listed on the ballot. The registrar shall be an ex officio, non-voting member of the committee.

b. The Division Chairs shall conduct the election for their respective divisions at the April meeting of the Division.

c. Members of the committee shall serve two-year terms.

d. The incoming Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards shall elect a Faculty chair for the following academic year in the spring immediately after its membership is determined in the spring.

e. The committee shall elect one of its members chair for a term of one year. The chair shall be eligible for a second consecutive term. The chair shall be elected from among the tenured members of the Faculty serving on the Committee. Should no tenured member of the Faculty be elected to the Committee, the Registrar shall conduct a special election to select a chair from among those tenured Faculty members who have served on the committee in the previous five years.

f. The committee may form subcommittees as needed, the membership and tenure of such subcommittees to be determined by the chair of the committee. In its deliberations the committee shall, as appropriate, consult with professional staff and students.

6. The Off-Campus Programs Committee (OCPC) will report to the Faculty, through the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards (CCAS) and shall advise the Dean of the College on international programs at Centre College. The OCPC shall be the committee of the Faculty charged with making recommendations to the Dean of the College on issues and policy relating to long term, short term and summer international and domestic study-away programs. The OCPC shall discuss any issues that relate to international students and the international experiences of Centre College students. Topics brought to the committee may include, but are not limited to, issues and/or policy related to the curriculum, administration, facilities, programs of study, consortial and contractual agreements, evaluation, assessment and staffing of international and domestic study-away programs.

a. The primary functions of the OCPC are to:

• make recommendations to the Dean of the College on policy and practice relating to international and domestic study-away programs,
• make recommendations to the CCAS on issues relating to curriculum and academic programming, where appropriate,
• review the applications from students for placement in long term international and domestic study-away programs and advise the Director of Global Citizenship on the selection of students for those placements (the student members of the OCPC will participate in this process as appropriate),
• solicit, evaluate and support proposals from Faculty members for short term, and summer international and domestic study-away programs, assist the Dean of the College in the selection of Faculty directors for the long term international programs,
• evaluate both long and short term programs (the Director of Global Citizenship shall provide a summary of program evaluations for the OCPC. The OCPC will not be involved in any evaluation materials that relate directly to Faculty evaluations.),
• implement the objectives outlined in the College Strategic Plan, and
• assist the Director of Global Citizenship with any other issues as they may arise.

b. The OCPC shall report on all academic and curricular issues as they relate to international and domestic study-away programs to the Faculty through the CCAS. The CCAS shall act on any academic or curricular issues brought forward by the OCPC and bring those actions to the Faculty for final approval.

c. The Dean of the College shall charge the Director of Global Citizenship with the administration of long term, short term and summer international and domestic study-away programs.

d. The OCPC shall be made up of two Faculty members from each division. The Director of Global Citizenship, the Assistant Director of Global Citizenship, and The Centre College Internship Coordinator shall serve as ex-officio members of the committee.

e. The Division Chairs shall conduct the election for their respective divisions at the April meeting of the Division. Members of the committee shall serve three-year terms. Vacancies of less than a year shall be filled by the Division Chair and approved by the Faculty President. Vacancies of one year or more shall be filled through a divisional election conducted by the Division Chair. The President of the Faculty, continuing members of the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards and the Faculty Development Committee, continuing or newly elected members of the Tenure and Reappointment Committee, and

Faculty on sabbatical or serving as a Faculty director abroad in the upcoming academic year will not be listed on the ballot. Members may be re-elected.

f. The incoming OCPC shall elect a Faculty chair for the following academic year in the spring immediately after the division elections. The chair shall be eligible for a second consecutive term.

g. The committee may form subcommittees as needed and the membership and tenure of such subcommittees will be determined by the chair of the committee. The subcommittees that select students for the semester programs abroad always include the in-coming directors of those programs. In its deliberations the committee shall, as appropriate, consult with professional staff and students.

h. The Chair of the OCPC, in consultation with the Director of Global Citizenship, and with the approval of the Dean of the College and the Faculty President, may invite up to two other members of the Faculty, professional staff, or student body who bring special knowledge or interest to the committee to become members of the OCPC for one year.

7. The Assessment Committee will advise the Dean of the College regarding assessment, serve in an advisory capacity to provide information on assessment to our academic programs, and facilitate the assessment process. It will strive to educate the campus community about best practices for, and the impact of, assessment. The Assessment Committee will review and discuss Institutional Effectiveness Reports to make general recommendations about student learning goals, outcomes, and assessment practices and will work with the Dean of the College to verify that outcomes are being used to enhance program effectiveness. The Committee shall discuss and make recommendations on topics of assessment for workshops, revise assessment forms as needed, and generally be a resource for the campus community.

a. The committee shall consist of at least two faculty members from each Division -- to be appointed by the Dean of the College -- and the Academic Affairs Academic Fellow. Faculty members will serve three-year terms. The three-year terms will be staggered so that approximately one-third of the faculty members will be appointed each year.

b. The committee will be chaired by a tenured faculty member. The Academic Fellow will serve as a permanent ex-officio member of the committee. The faculty chair shall not hold any other elected position.

c. The Committee will submit an annual report to the Academic Dean.

8. The Committee on General Education. The responsibility of the Committee on General Education is to assess the effectiveness of the General Education curriculum and to share the results of its assessment with the Faculty. These results will usefully inform the deliberations of the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards in its role of proposing policies to the Faculty regarding the curriculum. The appointed faculty chair shall not hold any other elected position.

9. Committee on Student Writing is made up of seven appointed members, to include: two members of the English program; one member from each of the three academic divisions; the director of the Writing Center; the director of CTL.

Responsibilities:

a. To administer the basic skills requirement in writing, including the annual review of the writing of all first- year students, as well as the follow-up evaluation for those students who did not pass their first review. These activities include:

• Inform students and faculty about the basic skills requirement.
• Solicit and collect input about first-year writing in the fall term from faculty.
• Collect and evaluate writing samples from all first-year Humanities classes.
• Send a placement letter to all first-year students (through the registrar), and field petitions and complaints.
• Collect and evaluate writing samples from students who did not pass their first review, and coordinate placement in English 170.

b. To serve faculty as a central resource for writing-related issues. Responsibilities will include:

• Maintain a website to keep faculty informed on writing policies and best practices.
• Establish and oversee writing guidelines for all students, including ESL.
• Oversee writing in general education.
• Coordinate faculty workshops and presentations on writing, on at least an annual basis.
• Coordinate the operations of the Writing Center within the College’s curriculum.
• Coordinate writing-related activities with CTL.
• Make an annual presentation at new faculty orientation, with follow-up as desired.
• Serve as a clearinghouse and source of information and advice for specific queries and faculty concerns.

College Council Representatives

"The College Council shall have primary responsibility and authority, subject to the general governing authority of the President of the College and the Board of Trustees, to establish policy and adopt regulations on matters of concern to the College community as a whole." (By-laws of the College Council)

1. Fifteen members of the Faculty, three elected from each division by the Faculty of each respective division, and six elected at-large, shall represent the Faculty on the College Council. They will be elected for a three-year term. One-third of the representatives will be elected each year. Members may be re-elected. To be eligible for election, a Faculty member must be self-nominated or be nominated by another member of the Faculty. All full-time employees of the College having Faculty rank, except continuing or incoming Division Chairs, are eligible for nomination. The President of the Faculty, continuing or newly elected members of the Committee on Faculty Development and the Committee on Curriculum and Academic standards, continuing members of the Tenure and Reappointment Committee, and the Off-Campus Programs Committee will not be listed on the ballots for College Council Faculty representative elections. Nominations should be submitted to the appropriate Division Chair for divisional elections and to the Registrar for the at-large elections.  Additionally, the incoming appointed chairs of the General Education and Assessment Committees will not be listed on the ballot.
2. The Division Chairs will run the Divisional elections in the spring immediately after the Faculty Steering Committee elections, and the Faculty will elect at-large representatives in the spring, usually at its April meeting.
3. Vacancies of elected members for a long academic term or longer will be filled by the Faculty Steering Committee with advice from the appropriate Division Chair.
4. “With the exception of the Steering Committee, membership and chairs of committees of the Council shall be appointed by the President of the College with the advice of a Nominating Committee to consist of the President of the Faculty, the President of Student Congress, the Co-Presidents of the Staff Congress, and the Dean of the College, who will serve as its chair. Elected members of the Council will be appointed in reasonable proportion to all Council committees. Additionally, all full-time members of the Faculty, all full-time students, and all full-time members of the staff may serve as members of Council committees." (By-laws of the College Council)

Faculty Elections: General Guidelines and Schedule of Elections

Under normal circumstances, no Faculty member shall serve in more than two elected positions, or on more than one of the following elected committees: Faculty Development, Tenure and Reappointment, Curriculum and Academic Standards, and the Of-Campus Programs Committee. In addition, the appointed chairs of the Assessment Committee and the General Education Committee shall not serve on any other committee. The Registrar will keep records of the results of all Faculty elections and elected Faculty positions, and, in consultation with the President of the Faculty, shall determine eligibility for office based on the restrictions noted within each Committee’s description. The Registrar and Division Chairs will conduct the elections with the advice of the President of the Faculty, as needed. In all elections, ties will be settled by lot by the President of the Faculty and the Registrar or Division Chair. The results of all elections will be announced to the Faculty. The normal schedule for Faculty elections shall be as follows:

Faculty Meetings

1. President of the Faculty (when necessary)
2. Committee on Tenure and Reappointment
3. Special Subcommittee on Promotions (when necessary)
4. Review Board

       Note:  the entire faculty will vote for At-large College Council representatives by electronic vote.

1. Faculty Development Committee
2. Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards
3. Faculty Steering Committee
4. Off-Campus Programs Committee
5. College Council Faculty representatives