Highlights of Faculty Task Force Recommendations : Shared Governance

Add a new Section guaranteeing shared governance and establishing a requisite number of necessary rules and procedures for its effective operation. At a minimum, the new Section should establish the following provisions:

• At all organizational levels, elected faculty representatives will serve on the committees that formulate and implement policies.
• The elected faculty representatives will be given sufficient opportunity to provide aid and counsel to the administration on matters affecting the faculty, before the administration's final decision on those matters. The appropriate administrators will seek the advice of affected faculty before taking final action regarding them.
• Faculty will elect representatives, apportioned equitably by academic unit, to all search committees for administrators at all levels.
• Elected faculty representatives will constitute a majority on all search committees for administrators.
• The faculty of a unit will be consulted in all appointment or reappointment of administrators of that unit.
• There will be no reprisal of any kind against any faculty member based on that faculty member¹s participation in shared governance. The administration will fully repair any damage to a faculty member from any reprisal.
• The Faculty Senate can be neither abolished nor altered, except by a vote of its elected membership.
• The elected voting membership of the Faculty Senate will be apportioned equitably among the academic colleges and departments, based on the number of members in each college or department.
• University governance will be conducted in accordance with the University Constitution, as established by the Faculty Senate, consistent with other provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
• Matters of concern can be brought before the Faculty Senate by individual members or its Steering Committee, as well as by the Administration. Appropriate matters of concern include, but are not limited to curriculum policy and curricular structure; requirements for degrees and granting of degrees; policies for recruitment, admission, and retention of stu-dents; the development, curtailment, discontinuance, or reorganization of academic programs; and other matters of traditional concern.
• Academic units on all levels can only be established, modified, or abolished with the approval of the Faculty Senate.
• Trustee activities and proposals that may potentially affect the academic quality or integrity of the university curriculum will be brought before the Faculty Senate for discussion and action. The Faculty Senate can vote to approve, reject, or send back the proposal(s) for further deliberation.
• The Trustees will implement the recommendations of the Faculty Senate (including those of its delegated committees), except in extraordinary circumstances and for reasons communicated in writing to the Faculty Senate. Upon receiving notice that the Trustees will not be implementing the Faculty Senate¹s recommendation, the Senate may consider the matter further and transmit its views to the President and the Trustees.
• The Trustees, in consultation with the Faculty Senate, will establish procedures for preparing and reviewing the budget. Faculty will be provided the same financial information as the Trustees at the same time it is provided to the Trustees.
• Faculty in the various departments will have an active and significant role in deciding academic matters.
• Faculty of the various colleges and departments have the right to make their own constitutions and by-laws, by which to conduct their respective governance responsibilities. The Constitutions and/or by-laws will be established by majority vote of the faculty in the college or department. A copy of such Constitutions and by-laws will be filed with the appropriate academic administrators and posted on the college and department web sites.
• The Constitution and/or by-laws of each college and department must include procedures for faculty to share significantly in governance responsibilities, including, but not limited to, the recruitment of new faculty; the devel-opment of high quality programs; program review; department review; college and department reorganization; the development of criteria for tenure, promotion, and merit salary increases; and other matters of professional concern.
• In searches for department chairpersons, the faculty of the department will select their top candidate by secret ballot of a majority of faculty voting. If the appropriate dean/director rejects the recommendation of the department, the department may appeal to the President.
• If two-thirds of the membership of a department petition the appropriate dean/director for the removal of a chairperson, the dean/director will make a recommendation to the President and explain this recommendation to the department. The President will decide the matter and explain the decision to the faculty of the department.

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