A. FACULTY
B. ACADEMIC POLICY
C. FACULTY APPOINTMENTS
D. FACULTY REAPPOINTMENTS, TERMINATION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR
PROMOTION AND TENURE
E. ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS
F. BUDGET
G. MEETINGS
H. GLOSSARY
I. AMENDMENTS
APPENDIX I: SALARY COMMITTEE RULES
These Rules of Procedure recognize the precedence of and requirement of
consistency with the Academic Regulations, the Governing Regulations, the
Senate Rules, and
1. The voting faculty of the Department of Mathematics consists of all tenured and tenure-track faculty members with appointments in the Department. Individuals who hold visiting appointments in the Department of Mathematics are considered to be members of the faculty but do not hold voting privileges in departmental meetings.
1. All matters relating to courses, programs of study, degree requirements and the like are decided by the voting faculty in accordance with the following procedures:
a. Recommendations concerning these matters may be initiated by any member or group of members of the voting faculty, and forwarded to the Chairperson.
b. The Chairperson places such proposals on the agenda of the next departmental meeting.
c. Written statements of proposals plus supporting documentation and material are prepared by the Chairperson and circulated to the entire voting faculty at least one week prior to the departmental meeting at which the discussion of these items is to take place.
d. The final decision on any proposal is made on the basis of a majority vote of the voting members present at the departmental meeting.
2. Academic policy which is not covered in B-1, such as class schedules, teaching assignments and textbooks is made by the Chairperson. In case a textbook selection committee is appointed by the Chairperson for a course taught in part by teaching assistants, then at least one member of this committee shall be a teaching assistant.
3.
Undergraduate student input shall be solicited and
obtained by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Graduate student input is
solicited and obtained through the Department's Graduate Student Council. The
Graduate Student Council consists of five graduate students, four of whom are
elected by the graduate students and one of whom is appointed by the Director
of Graduate Studies.
1. Recommendations on appointments to regular faculty positions are made by the Chairperson in accordance with the Governing Regulations. In the case of an appointment at the level of Assistant Professor or lower, the consent of the voting tenured faculty, and the voting non-tenured assistant professors who have been members of the department for two years must be sought, and may be obtained by the Chairperson on the basis of a mail or e-mail ballot. Appointments at the level of Associate Professor or higher must be discussed at a meeting of the voting tenured faculty. In addition, a written judgment is required from the voting tenured faculty and the voting non-tenured faculty who have been members of the department for two years.
2. The Chairperson solicits from the faculty nominations for visiting appointments from which the Executive Committee maintains a ranked list of candidates. The final decision on visiting appointments is made by the Chairperson with the approval of the Dean of the College and other appropriate segments of the University administration. Such appointments do not need the consent of the voting tenured faculty.
3. Graduate teaching assistants are appointed by the Chairperson with the advice of the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Each fall the Chairperson shall organize the Promotion and Tenure Committee consisting of 8 voting members of the faculty. Four members of the committee shall be elected by the voting faculty: 1 untenured voting faculty member, 2 tenured Associate Professors, and 1 tenured Full Professor. The remaining four members of the committee shall be appointed by the Chairperson. No elected member of the committee can serve more than two one-year terms consecutively. It is expected that this committee will be broad based and fairly represent the various mathematical fields of the departmental faculty.
It is a responsibility of this committee to review the progress of each non-tenured faculty member toward consideration for tenure. These discussions should occur at the end of the non-tenured faculty member's second and fourth years, but may occur more frequently at the Chairperson's discretion. The outcome of this review should be presented by the Chairperson to the voting tenured faculty for further discussion. The results of these discussions should be communicated to the individual non-tenured faculty member and a record maintained in the faculty member's file.
A non-tenured faculty member shall be reviewed for promotion and tenure by the Promotion and Tenure Committee no later than the beginning of the faculty member's sixth year. On the completion of its review, this committee then recommends to the voting tenured faculty that the individual be either:
1. placed on terminal contract for the coming academic year; or
2. recommended to the administration for promotion and tenure.
The recommendation is relayed to the voting tenured faculty and untenured faculty with two years in the department by the Chairperson at a meeting scheduled for that purpose. After debate, the recommendation is either accepted or rejected on the basis of a majority vote of the voting tenured members and untenured faculty with two years in the department present. In case a recommendation is rejected, the case may be returned to the Promotion and Tenure Committee for further deliberation or the voting tenured faculty and untenured faculty with two years in the department may, at one of its meetings, decide on alternate action.
In a case where the decision is to recommend promotion and tenure, the Chairperson prepares a dossier containing the necessary materials to be forwarded to the Administration in support of the recommendation. This dossier must include a written evaluation of the individual from each tenured voting faculty member and untenured faculty with two years in the department.
The recommendation as to whether or not an Associate Professor with tenure should be promoted to Full Professor is made by a committee consisting of the Full Professors on the Promotion and Tenure Committee. If less than half of the Full Professors on the Promotion and Tenure Committee are elected, then additional Full Professors will be elected in appropriate number so that there are equal numbers of elected and appointed Full Professors on the committee. (Again no elected member can serve more than two one-year terms in any three-year period.) The final decision on such a case is made by the voting Full Professors of the Department. As with other cases for promotion, dossiers for individuals whom the voting Full Professors have recommended for promotion are prepared by the Chairperson and must include a written evaluation from each voting Full Professor.
In all cases where promotion and/or tenure is being considered, the Chairperson shall solicit a statement of views from the Graduate Student Advisory Committee. This statement will be available to the voting tenured faculty during their deliberations and will be included in the dossier forwarded to the administration in cases where promotion and/or tenure is proposed.
At the times stipulated in the Governing Regulations, members of the Department are evaluated by the Chairperson in consultation with the Salary Committee, and these evaluations are forwarded to the Dean of the College to be used in the faculty performance review process. After the Dean and the Chairperson have completed the review process, the Chairperson will inform the faculty member of his or her performance rating and describe the information used in arriving at the rating. A written record of the evaluation will be retained by the Chairperson and by the Dean and will be made available to the faculty member upon request.
All matters pertaining to the budget are handled by the Chairperson. With the consent of the Dean, the Chairperson fixes salaries for new appointees, recommends stipends for teaching assistants, allocates travel funds, and authorizes the use of funds for such items as telephone charges, printing, computer time, etc. Recommendations for budget changes must be made to the Chairperson and he is responsible for all official requests for changes in the budget which are forwarded to the administration by the Department.
The faculty shall meet at least once per month during Fall and Spring semesters, and the Chairperson shall schedule the timing of these regular meetings. Additional meetings of the voting (respectively, tenured) faculty are called at the discretion of the Chairperson. However, the Chairperson must, within a reasonable time, honor any request for a meeting which is submitted in writing and signed by at least one member of the voting (respectively, tenured) faculty. Meetings of the voting (respectively, tenured) faculty are normally chaired by the Chairperson, but the Chairperson may delegate this responsibility. Minutes of the meetings shall be kept in a permanent file, and copies of the minutes of any particular meeting shall be distributed to all voting members of the departmental faculty.
· Chairperson Duties and responsibilities are defined by the Governing Regulations. Serves ex officio on all department committees. Organizes membership of the Executive Committee and Promotion and Tenure Committee. Appoints Summer Chairperson, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Director of Graduate Studies.
· Summer Chairperson Appointed at the discretion of the Chairperson. Serves as Chairperson during the period May 16-August 15.
· Executive Committee Each fall the Chairperson shall organize the Executive Committee consisting of 8 voting members of the faculty. Four members of the committee shall be elected by the voting faculty: 1 untenured voting faculty member, 2 tenured Associate Professors, and 1 tenured Full Professor. The remaining four members of the committee shall be appointed by the Chairperson. No elected member can serve more than two one-year terms consecutively. Each fall, prior to the Executive Committee ballot, the Chairperson shall inform the voting faculty if elected members of the Executive Committee are to serve as elected members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee.
Recommends departmental goals and policies to the faculty. Recommends to the Chairperson on the initiation of promotion and tenure considerations, requests for leave, special assignments, recruiting priorities, and offers of appointment.
· Promotion and Tenure Committee Organized annually by the Chairperson as described earlier in this document. Periodically reviews the progress of each non-tenured faculty member. Evaluates each case for promotion to tenure placed before it by the Chairperson and reports its assessment to the tenured faculty. In the case of promotion to full professor, the recommendation is made by the full professors serving on this committee together with additional voting full professors, if necessary, as described earlier in this document, and reported to the voting full professors.
· Director of Graduate Studies Responsible for the graduate program. Directs graduate student recruitment efforts and the advising and evaluation of graduate students. Directs the scheduling of preliminary examinations, masters examinations and dissertation defenses. Responsible for the evaluation and development of graduate programs and courses. Oversees the graduate course teaching assignments and supervises graduate instruction. Appoints the Graduate Program and Graduate Recruiting Committees and chairs these committees.
· Graduate Program Committee Appointed and chaired by the Director of Graduate Studies. Offers advice to the Director of Graduate Studies on matters affecting the graduate program.
·
Graduate Recruiting Committee
Appointed and chaired by the Director of Graduate
Studies. Offers advice and support
to the Director of Graduate Studies on all matters regarding the recruiting and
admission of graduate students.
· Director of Undergraduate Studies Responsible for the total undergraduate program. Evaluates, refines and develops undergraduate degree programs and courses. Responsible for the assignment and supervision of undergraduate instruction. Appoints the Undergraduate Program Committee and chairs this committee. Also appoints Course Coordinators, Advising Coordinator, and Department Ombudsperson.
· Undergraduate Program Committee Appointed and chaired by the Director for Undergraduate Studies. Offers advice to the Director of Undergraduate Studies on matters affecting the undergraduate program.
· Course Coordinators Appointed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Provide course syllabi and instructional guidance. Evaluate and choose texts (with the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies). Supervise the uniformity and quality of instruction. When appropriate, course coordinators chair the uniform examination discussion and grading sessions; such course coordinators work closely with the examination coordinator. Provide for by-pass examinations.
· Advising Coordinator Appointed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Responsible for the whole advising program for undergraduate mathematics majors. Appoints advisors. Fosters contact between mathematics students and faculty.
·
Departmental Ombudsperson Appointed
by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Hears and rules on students' excuses
for missing uniform examinations. Helps resolve misunderstandings between
students and instructors.
· Administrative Officer Prepares schedules of classes, supervises registration and drop-add, maintains enrollment records, monitors the spending of personal service monies, reviews payroll records, supervises the spending of current expense monies, supervises the maintenance of ledger sheets, hires part-time instructors and graders.
· Salary Committee See attached document regarding the structure and the responsibilities of this committee.
· Recruiting Committee Appointed by the Chairperson based on recruiting priorities and consultation with faculty groups. The members of the Recruiting Committee shall choose one of their number as chairperson.
These Rules of Procedure can be amended at any time upon the initiation of any voting faculty member or any departmental committee. Amendments must be presented in writing and circulated to all voting faculty, at least two weeks prior to the meeting in which the vote is to be taken concerning the amendment. A two-thirds vote of the voting faculty present is necessary for the adoption of an amendment.
Structure of the Committee
(a)
The Committee will have five voting members.
(c) The election of the members of the Committee will take place in September
of each year.
(d) The election will be conducted and monitored by the existing Salary
Committee.
(f) Following nominations from voting members of the Department, each faculty
member will vote for no more than one person.
(g) The top two candidates will become the new members of the Committee.
(i) The results of the election, including the number of votes received by
each candidate, will be communicated to the faculty within one week of the
election.
(j) Following the election of the Committee, the candidate with the most votes
will be chairperson-elect of the Committee.
Responsibilities of Salary Committee
The primary duty of the Salary Committee is to recommend to the chairperson of the Department of Mathematics:
(a) merit evaluations of each
faculty member;
(b) adjustments to faculty members' salaries.
In addition, the Salary Committee will make recommendations and present information to the chairperson concerning issues involving salaries as is necessary. This might include salary data compiled from surveys conducted by the AAUP and the AMS.
The Committee will use the criteria outlined later in this document to arrive at recommended merit evaluations and amounts for salary adjustments. After a final recommendation has been reached by the Committee for the entire faculty, this recommendation will be submitted to the chairperson of the Department of Mathematics. After joint deliberation, the Dean and the chairperson of the Department of Mathematics will decide upon the merit evaluations of the faculty members. The Salary Committee will discuss with the chairperson possible guidelines or strategy to be used in these discussions with the Dean. After the meeting with the Dean, the chairperson will present the proposed merit evaluations to the Committee for review before this information is released to the faculty.
In order to determine merit evaluations, the Committee will use the three established categories, viz., research, teaching, service. Within each category, the Committee will assign points to each faculty member based on some kind of reasonably objective criteria. The points in each category will be scaled according to the faculty member's Division of Effort, the resulting numbers being added to yield the recommended merit rating. When the Committee is determining the merit rating of an elected member, the concerned member will be excluded from the deliberations.
The Committee will judge each faculty member's performance using the general principles and the list of desirable activities listed below, in accordance with the faculty member's Division of Effort agreement. The principal way in which the Committee will judge each faculty member is by examining his or her Academic Performance Record and the contents of his or her Open File. This file is to contain all information that the faculty member deems reasonable for consideration by the Committee. It is the responsibility of each faculty member to maintain his or her Open File.
Contributions to the teaching activities of the Department include not only the teaching of undergraduate and graduate courses but also supervising teaching assistants, advising students, preparing syllabi, designing new courses, developing new approaches to teaching, guiding independent study, participating in graduate seminars, and supervising dissertations. The quality, quantity and significance of the total teaching contribution of faculty members will be considered in evaluating their contribution to the department.
In evaluating the research activities of faculty members, the primary factors are the quality and quantity of published research during the period of the evaluation. Other important research activities include external funding, invited talks at international, national and regional meetings, colloquium talks at other universities, presentations of papers or invited participation at professional meetings, editorships of journals, preparation of grant proposals, and other contributions that may not have been anticipated. Both the national and international reputations of individuals and scholarly activities in the department will be considered.
All service activities of faculty members will be considered. These may be membership of departmental, college, university, state and national committees, special assignments, organizing conferences, administrative service, etc. However, when a service function has already been rewarded in some way, the Committee should be careful to take this into account.
Each year, the Committee will consider whether a special increase is needed in a faculty member's salary. In such a case, the Committee will consider the current salaries of all faculty members in relation to their peers in the Department. Whereas merit evaluations are based solely on an individual's recent activities, salary adjustments will be determined by association with a peer group, and these adjustments will be based on career-long contributions to the department and the mathematical community. An individual faculty member can petition to be considered for a salary adjustment, with the burden of justification for an adjustment resting with the faculty member.