Ohio Administrative Code
Title 3342 - Kent State University
Chapter 3342-2 - University Constitution, Policies and Bylaws
Section 3342-2-05 - Faculty senate charter
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 3342-2-05
Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 16, 2024
(A) Preamble. The university is dedicated to teaching, advancing knowledge, and to public service. The faculty of the university supports these aims and resolves to promote excellence in all endeavors. In the interest of achieving these objectives, the charter and bylaws of the university faculty senate as set forth in this rule and in rule 3342-2-06 of the Administrative Code, respectively, define a role and mechanisms for effective participation of the faculty in the formation and establishment of university policies and the conduct of university affairs.
(B) Entitlement and functions of the faculty senate.
(1) Adoption of and amendments to this
charter and the accompanying bylaws.
(a) This
charter and the accompanying bylaws shall, following ratification by the board,
supersede all earlier versions of the faculty senate charter and
bylaws.
(b) Amendments to this
charter and the accompanying bylaws shall proceed in accordance with paragraph
(H) of this rule..
(2)
General responsibilities and rights of the faculty senate.
(a) The faculty senate shall be concerned
with the formulation and enactment of policies for the university as a
whole.
(b) The faculty senate shall
render advice and, if appropriate, act upon any matters laid before it by the
president, bodies of the university, bodies of the faculty senate, or members
of the faculty.
(c) Consistent with
a principle of shared responsibility, the faculty senate shall recognize its
own prerogative and that of the administration of the university to consider
any matter relevant to the welfare of the university. Consistent with a need
for differential responsibility, the charter and bylaws shall provide for
differential involvement of the faculty senate across areas of university
interest.
(i) There shall be domains within
which the faculty senate and/or its bodies have a primary responsibility. That
responsibility is, foremost, to approve or disapprove proposed changes in
policy. It shall be understood that faculty senate actions in areas of primary
responsibility will be disapproved by the president only in circumstances where
substantive reason can be described. It is also understood that a primary
responsibility conveys neither an exclusive right nor an exclusive obligation
for the genesis or presentation of proposals for change. Ideas and
recommendations are the privilege and responsibility of every segment of the
university community.
(ii) There
shall be domains within which responsibilities for decisions and actions are
shared cooperatively with others as specifically assigned through regular
channels. Major proposals within these areas shall uniformly be referred to the
faculty senate for consideration as provided in implementing
procedures.
(iii) There shall be
domains in which the faculty senate recognizes an important interest, but
within which its role is primarily advisory and consultative.
(d) The faculty senate shall
organize, establish, and define the functions of its councils, committees, and
commissions.
(e) The faculty senate
shall define its own rules and procedures within the limits of this charter and
the accompanying bylaws.
(3) Specific responsibilities and rights of
the faculty senate.
(a) Primary
responsibilities.
(i) The faculty senate shall
have primary responsibility for the academic standards and the educational
policies of the university. This responsibility shall encompass proposals for
the establishment, discontinuance, or major alteration of academic
programs.
(ii) The faculty senate
shall have primary responsibility for general policies related to professional
standards of the university and its faculty. This responsibility includes
general policies on faculty appointment, rank, promotion, leave, tenure, and
academic privilege; welfare, and dismissal; it also encompasses general
policies related to the evaluation of academic programs, units, and
personnel.
(iii) The faculty senate
shall have primary responsibility for defining the mechanisms of approved or
established faculty participation in university governance and in statewide
faculty issues and bodies.
(b) Shared responsibilities. The faculty
senate shall participate in and consider with others, by means specified in the
faculty senate bylaws as included in rule
3342-2-06 of the Administrative
Code, problems related to long-range academic planning, student affairs,
selection of academic administrative officers, and academic facilities in
long-range planning.
(c) Advisory
responsibilities.
(i) The faculty senate
bylaws shall provide for a body advisory to the president on the university
budget.
(ii) The faculty senate
shall be consulted with respect to proposed changes in the administrative
organization of the university directly and primarily related to academic
divisions.
(iii) The faculty senate
shall be prepared to render advice on nonacademic facilities.
(d) Recommendations approved by
the faculty senate shall be forwarded to the president and, as appropriate, to
other subordinate members or bodies of the university; thereafter, the
president or the appropriate administrative officers or bodies of the
university shall within ninety days advise the faculty senate, in writing, of
the nature of the action which has been taken in reference to the
recommendation. "Action" as defined shall mean steps which have been taken
toward acceptance, rejection, or further study of the recommendation. In the
absence of such response within ninety days, acceptance may be
assumed.
(e) If a recommendation
approved by the faculty senate is
not
accepted by the president, or appropriate
officer, the matter shall be discussed in detail by the interested
parties, with the end in view of mutually satisfactory action but without
prejudice to final decision.
(f)
The faculty senate shall be responsive to faculty petitions seeking initiative
and referenda as defined in paragraph (B)(7) of rule
3342-2-06 of the Administrative
Code.
(i) On petition containing at least one
hundred signatures of tenuretrack faculty members and/or full-time
non-tenure-eligible faculty members as defined in paragraphs (D)(1)(b) to
(D)(1)(c) of this rule,, any action of the faculty senate shall be submitted to
a referendum of the entire tenure-track and full-time non-tenure-eligible
faculty.
(ii) On petition
containing at least one hundred signatures of tenuretrack faculty members
and/or full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty members, the faculty senate shall
submit the issue initiated by the petition to a vote of the faculty senate or
of the entire tenure-track and full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty, whichever
is requested in the petition.
(iii)
A majority of votes cast in either an initiative or a referendum shall have the
force of faculty senate action.
(iv) The secretary may review any and all
signatures to a petition and discard those deemed not to be signed by a
tenure-track or full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty member.
(v) All petitions and the signatures
contained therein are public records and subject to disclosure to anyone who
submits a request to the office of general counsel.
(C) Membership.
(1) Academic unit representatives.
(a) Academic unit representatives shall be
elected representatives.
(b) An
"academic unit" is a faculty body headed by an administrative officer who
reports to the provost or the vice president for Kent state system
integration
(c) The full-time
non-tenure-eligible faculty shall be considered a unit separate from the
academic units in which they have their primary assignments.
(d) Each college, independent school,
regional campus, and the university libraries shall be entitled to
representation.
(e) Tenure-track
faculty with appointment in the
college of applied and technical studies shall be
entitled to representation in addition to their representation as members of a
regional campus.
(f) The number of
representatives from an academic unit shall be determined in accord with the
faculty senate bylaws and shall be based upon the most recent faculty
census.
(2) At-large
representatives.
(a) At-large representatives
shall be elected representatives.
(b) The number of the at-large
representatives shall be determined in accord with the faculty senate bylaws
and shall be based upon the most recent faculty census.
(3) Full-time non-tenure-eligible
representatives:
(a) Full-time
non-tenure-eligible faculty shall be entitled to representation.
(b) Full-time non-tenure-eligible
representatives shall be elected representatives.
(c) The number of representatives for the
full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty unit shall be determined in accord with
the faculty senate bylaws and shall be based upon the most recent faculty
census.
(4) "Ex officio"
representatives.
(a) The faculty senate bylaws
shall enumerate the titles of those individuals who shall be "ex officio"
members of the faculty senate.
(b)
"Ex officio" representatives are without vote.
(c) Except where specifically indicated
otherwise in this charter or the accompanying bylaws, "ex officio" members
share the privileges and responsibilities of elected members.
(D) Elections.
(1) Eligibility for faculty senate
membership.
(a) Only tenure-track faculty
members and full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty members with academic rank
are eligible for election to the faculty senate.
(b) Regular faculty members with academic
rank are individuals who hold A tenured or tenure track position and the titles
of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. Tenure
track faculty members are full-time faculty members or librarians with
indefinite tenutre or full-time faculty members or librarians in the
probationary period prior to the tenure review. Tenured or tenure-eligible
administrators with faculty rank are not considered to be tenure-track faculty
members for the purpose of the faculty senate charter and bylaws.
(c) Full-time non-tenure track faculty
members with academic rank are individuals who hold the titles of instructor,
lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. Full-time
non-tenure-eligible faculty members are full-time faculty members or full-time
librarians who do not hold an appointment in a tenure-track position.
Administrators with faculty rank are not considered to be full-time
non-tenure-eligible faculty for the purpose of the faculty senate charter and
bylaws.
(2) Term of
office.
(a) The term of office for an elected
representative is three years, except in special circumstances for which the
faculty senate bylaws shall make provision.
(b) The faculty senate year shall begin on
the first of June and shall end on the thirty-first of May of the following
calendar year.
(3)
Electorate.
(a) All tenure-track faculty
members; full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty members, and full-time
administrators with academic rank except for those who have ex officio
membership status are entitled to vote in the elections of their assigned
academic unit.
(b) All tenure-track
faculty members and full-time administrators with academic rank except for
those who have ex officio membership status are entitled to vote in the
election of at-large representatives.
(c) An annual census of tenure-track faculty
members, full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty members, and full-time
administrators with academic rank shall be taken in the fall term of each
academic year by the provost or designee. The census shall be used to determine
the electorate, the number and apportionment of
elected representatives, and to identify by name, department, and academic unit
all tenure-track faculty members, full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty
members, and full-time administrators with academic rank.
(4) Nominations. Candidates for academic unit
representative, full-time non-tenure-eligible representative, and at-large
representative shall be nominated as specified in the faculty senate
bylaws.
(5) Election procedures.
(a) Elections shall be conducted by the
secretary of the faculty senate and certified by the vice chair of the faculty
senate.
(b) Elections of both
academic unit and at-large representatives shall be conducted by the fractional
single transferable vote (FSTV) system.
(E) Officers and delegates of the faculty senate.
(1) Election of officers.
(a) Elected officers of the faculty senate
shall be elected annually.
(b) Only
elected representatives are eligible for election as officers.
(2) Officers. The elected officers
of the faculty senate shall be the chair, the vice chair, the secretary, and an
at-large member of the executive committee.
(3) Delegates. A "delegate" shall be an
official faculty senate representative to another body which is either within
or external to the university as defined in paragraphs (B)(5) to (B)(6) of rule
3342-2-06 of the Administrative
Code.
(4) Appointed officers. The
faculty senate bylaws may define the responsibilities of additional officers
who shall be selected by appointment.
(F) Meetings.
(1) Types of meetings.
(a) The faculty senate shall hold regularly
scheduled meetings which may be attended by any member of the faculty,
administration, or student body, or by other guests upon invitation of the
faculty senate.
(b) The faculty
senate may hold special meetings which may be closed to nonmembers by the chair
of the faculty senate, by the faculty senate executive committee, or by vote of
the faculty senate.
(2)
Frequency and schedule of meetings. The faculty senate shall schedule at least
eight regular meetings per year.
(3) Procedures and rules.
(a) The faculty senate bylaws shall establish
rules and procedures under which the faculty senate meetings shall be
conducted.
(b) A quorum shall be a
simple majority of the elected members. The presence of a quorum is required
for the faculty senate to take binding action and to vote on substantive
matters.
(c) Meetings of the
faculty senate, except where explicitly specified otherwise in the faculty
senate charter and bylaws, shall be conducted in accord with "Robert's Rule of
Order Revised."
(4)
Minutes of all regular faculty senate meetings shall be made available to the
faculty.
(G) Councils, committees and commissions.
(1) Rights of the
faculty senate and definitions.
(a) The
faculty senate may establish faculty senate councils. A "faculty senate
council" is a permanent body chaired by the president,
the
provost, or a faculty senate member appointed by the
faculty senate executive committee.
(b) The faculty senate may establish faculty
senate committees. A "faculty senate committee" is a permanent body chaired by
a faculty member, or an administrative officer other than the president or the
provost.
(c) The faculty senate may
establish faculty senate commissions. A "faculty senate commission" is a body
which is discharged upon completion of a specific responsibility.
(d) A "body of the faculty senate" is any
council, committee, or commission so designated by the faculty senate charter
or the accompanying bylaws, or established by action of the faculty
senate.
(e) Bodies not of the
faculty senate whose primary concerns are the total university, as opposed to
collegial and departmental matters, shall be referred to as university
councils, university committees and university commissions.
(2) Councils of the faculty
senate. The educational policies council shall be a body of the faculty senate.
The educational policies council shall consider
curricular matters of concern to the university as a whole, and shall be the
faculty senate body responsible for long-range academic planning for the
university. Following discussion and support of the educational policies
council, all curricular matters including associate, undergraduate, graduate,
certificate, and research programs offered on all campuses are forwarded to the
faculty senate for approval.
The educational policies council shall consist of two bodies, one responsible
(3)
Committees of the faculty senate.
(a) The
faculty senate executive committee shall be a body of the faculty
senate.
(b) The professional
standards committee shall be a body of the faculty senate.
(c) The committee on administrative officers
shall be a body of the faculty senate. The committee on administrative officers
shall represent the faculty senate and the faculty in procedures implemented to
select or replace the president, the provost, and other academic administrative
officers of the university. It shall be available for consultation by the
president on other matters involving administrative officers.
(d) The committee on committees shall be a
body of the faculty senate.
(e) The
faculty ethics committee shall be a body of the faculty senate.
(f) The faculty senate budget advisory
committee shall be a body of the faculty senate.
(g)
The faculty
marshals shall be a body of the faculty senate.
(h)
The survey of
student instruction review committee shall be a body of the faculty
senate.
(i)
The university libraries advisory committee shall be a
committee of the faculty senate.
(4) Commissions of the faculty senate. The
chair of the faculty senate shall establish commissions as needed.
(5) Responsibilities and prerogatives of the
faculty senate councils, committees and commissions.
(a) Faculty senate bodies shall carry out
charges directed to them by the faculty senate or the chair of the faculty
senate.
(b) Faculty senate bodies
shall assume responsibilities within their general sphere of
interest.
(c) Faculty senate bodies
may appoint subcommittees.
(6) University councils, committees,
commissions and boards.
(a) The president, in
consultation with the committee on committees, shall designate those university
councils, committees, commissions and boards to which the faculty senate may
appoint one or more senator(s) to full membership. The appointee(s) shall be
the faculty senate representative(s) of the body.
(b) Those university councils, committees,
commissions, and boards designated positively under paragraph (G)(6)(a) of this
rule shall report to the faculty senate upon request.
(c) The faculty senate may recommend
responsibilities to university councils, committees, commissions and
boards.
(7)
Membership of faculty senate bodies shall be determined in
accordance with the procedures in the faculty senate bylaws. Membership of
faculty senate bodies shall be listed on the faculty senate
website.
(8) Additional
programs, functions, and responsibilities of the faculty senate may be
established.
(H) Amendments.
(1) Proposals to amend the faculty
senate charter.
(a) Proposals to amend the
faculty senate charter may be submitted to the faculty senate at any regular
meeting.
(b) A valid proposal to
amend the faculty senate charter must be submitted in writing and must be
supported by the handwritten signatures of:
(i) At least ten elected members of the
faculty senate, or
(ii) At least
twenty-five tenure-track and/or full-time non tenture-eligible faculty members,
or
(iii) The majority of the
membership of a charter and bylaws commission appointed by the chair of the
faculty senate to prepare proposed amendments.
(2) Votes upon proposed amendments to the
faculty senate charter.
(a) The faculty senate
shall vote upon a proposed amendment to the faculty senate charter at the
regular meeting immediately following the one at which the amendment is
introduced.
(b) The secretary of
the faculty senate shall circulate a written copy of the proposed amendment to
each member of the faculty senate at least two weeks in advance of the meeting
at which a vote is to occur.
(c)
Written ballots shall be used in votes upon proposed amendments to the faculty
senate charter.
(d) Amendments to
the faculty senate charter shall require a favorable vote of at least
two-thirds of the members of the faculty senate present and qualified to
vote.
(3) Proposed
faculty senate charter amendments ratified by the faculty senate.
(a) Amendments ratified by the faculty senate
shall be submitted to the president and the board for approval.
(b) Amendments approved by the president and
the board shall be incorporated into the faculty senate charter.
(c) A veto of a proposed amendment shall be
accompanied by a statement expressing reasons for the veto.
(d) An amendment which fails because of a
veto may be voted upon again by the faculty senate and, if the vote is
favorable, may be submitted to the president and the board a second
time.
(4) Proposed
faculty senate charter amendments which fail to be ratified by the faculty
senate.
(a) A proposed amendment which fails
to receive faculty senate approval may be ratified by a vote of the full-time
faculty as described in paragraph (H) (4)(c) of this rule.
(b) The secretary of the faculty senate shall
conduct a referendum on the question of the amendment if a petition requesting
a referendum is submitted containing the signatures of at least one hundred
tenure-track and/or full-time non-tenure-eligible faculty..
(c) Ratification of a proposed amendment by
the full-time faculty shall require a favorable vote of at least two-thirds of
the electorate consisting of tenuretrack and non-tenure-eligible faculty
members eligible and voting.
(d)
Amendments ratified by the faculty shall be processed in the same manner as
amendments ratified by the faculty senate.
(5) Amendments to the faculty senate bylaws.
(a) Amendments to the faculty senate bylaws
shall require a favorable vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the
faculty senate present and qualified to vote.
(b) Amendments to the faculty senate bylaws
ratified by the faculty senate shall be submitted to the president and the
board for approval, with any veto accompanied by a statement expressing reasons
for the veto, and, subsequently, the amendment is subject to resubmission by
the faculty senate a second time for final disposition.
(6) Effective date for incorporation of
amendments into the faculty senate charter and the accompanying bylaws, and for
implementation of changes mandated by amendments.
(a) Amendments to the faculty senate charter
and the accompanying bylaws are incorporated into said charter and bylaws
immediately after approval by the faculty senate, the president, and the board,
and pursuant to the procedures established in section
111.15 of the Revised Code for
the filing of new rules, amendments or rescissions.
(b) Changes mandated by incorporation of
amendments into said charter and/ or bylaws will be implemented immediately,
subject to the following understandings and exceptions.
(i) No current member of the faculty senate
shall be removed from membership as a consequence of new rules governing number
and/ or apportionment of representatives. All senators shall serve out their
terms.
(ii) When changes in rules
increase the number of elected representatives due any constituency, the
increase shall be accomplished in the immediately following regularly scheduled
election.
(iii) In instances in
which application of the principle of immediate implementation introduces
ambiguities or creates special problems, the faculty senate shall vote to
resolve the points at issue.
(I) Miscellaneous provisions.
(1) Rights of the board of trustees. The
board reserves the power to initiate and make changes in this charter or to
take other actions in accordance with sections
3341.01 to
3341.06 of the Revised Code or
any applicable statute, or rules, directives, or regulations of the Ohio
department of higher education.
(2)
A member of the faculty senate may be granted a reduced teaching load during
the period of this service to the faculty senate. Officers and members of the
executive committee of the faculty senate shall be granted reduced teaching
loads during the period of their service to the faculty senate.
(3) Delegates to the faculty senate.
(a) All bodies to which the faculty senate
has delegates may send delegates to the faculty senate.
(b) The faculty senate may recognize
delegates from other bodies.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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