Ohio Admin. Code 3337-3-01 - Faculty governance

(A) Constitution of the faculty senate of Ohio university.

(1) Preamble. We, the members of the faculty of Ohio university, concerned that improvement of academic standards keep pace with the physical growth of the university, convinced that those directly involved in the instructional and research activities of the university can play an active advisory role to the administration and board of trustees, who alone have the responsibility to the people of Ohio for the proper conduct of university affairs, in arriving at decisions involving university policy, aware that a regularly authorized and representative agency of the faculty must serve this function if academic excellence is to be maintained and improved, do hereby establish a faculty senate of the university to constitute the official channel of faculty opinion in all matters which have a bearing upon the furtherance of academic excellence.

(2) Article I. Composition and election.

(a) The faculty senate shall be composed of faculty members with faculty status, with or without tenure. Forty-one senators shall be elected by the full-time faculty of the degree colleges and divisions of the Athens campus of the university in proportion to the number of members of such faculties eligible to serve on the faculty senate. One senator from each of the regional campuses of the university shall be elected by the full-time "'faculty of that campus, and one member will be elected "at large" from the regional campuses. The election shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of election stated in the senate by-laws.

(b) Each year members shall be elected for a three-year term, to replace those whose terms of office have expired. No member shall serve more than two terms in succession without at least one elapsed year.

(c) Elections shall be held in May of each year, and shall be conducted by secret ballot by an elections committee of the senate. Terms of office shall expire on August thirsty first31 new members shall assume office on June first.1

(d) A presiding officer to be known as the chairman of the faculty senate shall be elected by the senate at the May meeting. Members of the senate who have served at least one year shall be eligible for election to the office of chairman. The chairman shall preside at meetings of the senate throughout the year and until a new chairman has been elected at the May meeting following his term of office.

(e) A vice-chairman shall be elected from among those members eligible for election to the office of chairman. He shall preside at meetings of the senate, and otherwise fulfill the duties and obligations of the chairman, at the request of the chairman or in the event of his absence.

(f) A secretary of the faculty senate shall be elected annually from those members eligible for election to the office of chairman. He shall be responsible for the preparation of minutes and for such other duties as may be assigned by the chairman.

(g) When vacancies occur in the membership of the senate because of death, resignation or extended absence from the campus, an interim member shall be appointed by the chairman as provided for in the rules of election. The interim member shall serve until the original term is completed (or until the absent member is able to resume his duties) and shall be eligible for reelection. The secretary shall notify the senate that a vacancy exists when he is informed of the death, resignation or extended absence of a member.

(3) Article 2. Meetings of the faculty senate.

(a) The faculty senate shall hold, at least one regular meeting each month during the calendar year. Except in circumstances specified in the by-laws, any member of the. faculty or any administrative officer of the university may attend the meetings of the senate and may express his views upon recognition by the presiding officer.

(b) The chairman, or, in his absence, the vice-chairman, shall preside over all meetings of the faculty senate.

(c) Special meetings of the senate may be called by the chairman upon his initiative, or at the request of the president of the university, or upon petition in writing to the chairman signed by five elected members of the senate. The chairman shall be responsible for advance notification to all members of the time and place of all special meetings.

(d) A quorum of any regular or special meeting of the faculty senate shall be a majority of the membership of the faculty senate.

(4) Article 3. Functions of the faculty senate.

(a) The faculty senate shall:

(i) Initiate policies relating to university-wide academic matters, recommending their approval by the president through the executive vice president and dean of faculties.

(ii) Act upon all faculty grievance matters according to policies and procedures of the faculty handbook.

(iii) Initiate policies relating to the rights and responsibilities of faculty members incident to their employment by the university, recommending their approval by the president through the executive vice president and dean of faculties.

(iv) Receive, act upon, and transmit to the president through the executive vice president and dean of faculties the views of the senate with respect to proposals initiated by the president, the executive vice president and dean of faculties, or other individuals or groups regarding policies relating to university-wide academic matters, changes and additions to the faculty handbook, and policies relating to the rights and responsibilities of faculty members incident to their employment by the university.

(v) Initiate changes and additions to the faculty handbook, recommending their approval by the president through the executive vice president and dean of faculties.

(vi) As as official channel of faculty opinion on all matters which have a bearing on academic excellence.

(b) The faculty senate shall transmit recommendations to the president of the university via the chairman. In appropriate cases, the faculty senate shall transmit recommendations to the board of trustees via the chairman and the president of the university.

(c) Upon the majority vote of the elected membership of the faculty senate, the chairman of the senate shall request the president to convene a meeting of the university faculty for the consideration of matters of general interest to the faculty.

(d) Upon written petition of one-fifth of the faculty members of Ohio university eligible to serve on the faculty senate, the chairman of the faculty senate shall request the president to call a meeting of the university faculty.

(e) The officers of the faculty senate shall be responsible for officially informing the president or the dean of faculties of the transactions of the senate and for informally discussing these and related matters with them. They shall communicate to the senate any information or request which the president or dean of faculties wishes to be communicated, except that the president or the dean of faculties, or a designated representative is privileged to present his views from the floor in any regular or special meeting.

(f) In performing the duties stated herein, the chairman shall be governed by the following stipulations:

(i) The chairman is charged with the responsibility for representing the faculty senate and with presenting the faculty senate's recommendations and views.

(ii) The chairman shall transmit all formal actions from the faculty senate to the appropriate persons in written form approved by the senate, and shall request that all formal communications to the senate by in written form.

(g) The faculty senate shall consider, in any action taken, the two major responsibilities of all persons who serve as members of the faculty of Ohio university the welfare of the citizens of Ohio and the pursuit of truth.

(h) The faculty senate shall prepare by-laws of organization and procedure for the conduct of its afairsaffairs.

(i) An amendment to the constitution may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of the membership of the senate and submitted to faculty for approval. A simple majority of those voting shall constitute an affirmative vote. The amendment shall become effective upon approval by the board of trustees of Ohio university.

(B) By-laws of the faculty senate of Ohio university.

(1) Rules of election.

(a) Each member of the faculty senate shall be elected for a three-year term beginning June 1first and ending August 31thirty first

(b) The election shall be held by secret ballot in the first week of May of each year. At least two weeks prior to the date of the election, the senate elections committee shall circulate to all faculty a call for nominations of eligible faculty members for the senate. The call shall request the faculty member

(i) To list his own name if he wishes to have his name on the ballot, and is not disqualified by the rules of election;

(ii) To list the name or names of any other eligible faculty members whom he wishes to place in nomination for election to the senate, and who are not disqualified by the rules of election.

(c) The elections committee will draw up a ballot listing all the names returned with the following exceptions:

(i) Members of the senate whose terms do not expire;

(ii) Members of the senate whose terms expire but who have been elected and who have served for two consecutive three-year terms (such persons are ineligible for election until one year has elapsed) and

(iii) Members of the faculty who will not be on the Campus for two or more quarters of the next academic year. Provisions shall also be made on the ballot for write-in votes.

(d) Every faculty member with faculty status is eligible to vote for members in his college or regional campus. The balloting shall be carried out according to the "Method of Proportional Representation." In this method, each voter's ballot is used for the candidate of his first choice unless this candidate has too few votes for his election to be possible, in which case his ballot is transferred to his second choice candidate, and so forth. Almost every voter's ballot is used to elect some representative, and thus each minority faction "will have its proper share of representatives. The ballots will be tallied as follows:

(i) Step 1. Distribute all ballots to candidates of first choice. (If a ballot does not indicate an unambiguous first choice, it is invalid and is discarded).

(ii) Step 2. Count the number of ballots distributed to each candidate.

(iii) Step 3. Add these numbers to find the total ballots. Call this "B".

(iv) Step 4. Let "n" be the number of candidates to be elected, and let "E" be the number of ballots required to elect any candidate. Compute "E" as follows: If B/(n+1) is not a whole number, then "E" is the next largest whole number. "Example: B = 100, n = 2, then B/(n+1) = 33 1/3, and E = 34. If B/(n+1) is a whole number, then E = B/(n+1) +1. Example: B - 100, n = 3, then B/(n+1) - 25, and E = 26.

(v) Step 5. If one or more candidates have at least "E" ballots, then declare elected the candidate with most ballots. Call his number of ballots "N". (In case of a tie, choose one by lot). (If no candidate has an many as "E" ballots, go to step 11.)

(vi) Step 6. Count the elected candidate's transferrable ballots (those with a second choice indicated). Call this number "T".

(vii) Step 7. Compute the value of each transferrable ballot, V = (N-E)/T to two decimals. Write this value at the top of each transferrable ballot. (Example: Smith has twenty-five ballots, of which twenty-three indicate a second choice; E is twenty. Then V = (25-20)/23, or 0.22 to two decimals.)

(viii) Step 8. Distribute all transferrable ballots to candidates of second choice.

(ix) Step 9. Compute a new total (N) for each candidate by adding the values of all his ballots. (The value of an untransferred ballot is one.)

(x) Step 10. If one or more of the remaining candidates have at least "E" ballots, repeat steps 5 through 9. In step 7, the new value of any transferred ballot is computed by: New value = old value times (N-E)/T. If none of the remaining candidates has "E" or more ballots, then go to step 11.

(xi) Step 11. Declare defeated the candidate with the fewest votes. (If two candidates are tied for low, select one by lot.) Record all defeated candidates in the sequence of their defeat, for the purpose of compiling a list of alternates.

(xii) Step 12. Distribute all ballots of the defeated candidate among the remaining candidates according to the highest choice indicated on the ballot. The value of a ballot does not change in this transfer. (If a ballot indicates no further preference among the remaining candidates, it is declared exhausted, and plays no further part in the election.)

(xiii) Step 13. Count the new totals for all remaining candidates. Repeat steps 5 through 12 until "n" candidates have been elected, or until the number of remaining candidates is just sufficient to fill the remaining positions, at which point they are declared elected.

(xiv) The election shall be carried out by the elections committee of the senate, consisting of the chairman, the vice-chairman, and the secretary of the senate, plus the other two members serving on the executive committee of the senate. The chairman of the senate or a member of the elections committee designated by him, shall serve as chairman of the elections committee.

(xv) The elections committee shall be charged with preparing and distributing the ballot, counting the votes, and notifying the new members elected. The elections committee shall also prepare a list of alternates, in order of number of votes, from each of the colleges and regional campuses. The list shall be maintained by the secretary, who shall notify the senate of any vacancy that exists in the membership of the senate and who shall aid the chairman in appointing the highest-ranking alternate to the vacancy.

(xvi) Vacancies may occur due to the death, resignation, or extended absence of a member; extended absence shall be considered to mean more than two absences from meetings without excuse during an academic year (September through May). An alternate, or interim member, shall serve until the original term is completed unless the absent member has signified a date at which he will be able to resume his duties.

(xvii) In addition to the procedures governing vacancies as described in the preceding paragraph and "Article -1, section of the constitutuion" Paragragh (A)(2)(g) of this rule an absent senator may be temporarily replaced for a given meeting by one of the alternates from his college or branch from the list maintained by the secretary. The alternate shall, during the meeting at which he serves, have all the privileges of membership, including voting. Temporary replacement shall be accomplished in the following manner: A senator who must be absent shall notify the chairman or secretary in advance of the meeting. The chairman or secretary will then notify, if time permits, the first alternate. If the first alternate cannot serve, the second alternate will be notified, and so on. An alternate must report his presence to the secretary at the beginning of the meeting. The interim member shall be eligible for election (or re-election) as soon as his interim term expires, but he may not serve more than two elected three-year terms in succession.

(2) The election of faculty senate officers.

(a) The faculty senate shall have three elected officers: a chairman, a vice-chairman, and a secretary. The officers shall be elected in the order given above at the May meeting of the senate or, alternatively, at a special meeting held prior to the June commencement.

(b) Members of the senate who have served at least one year shall be eligible for election to office Members-elect whose terms will begin on June 1first shall participate in the election of officers. Members who will retire from the senate effective August 31thirty first shall not participate in the election of officers.

(c) The election shall be carried out by secret ballot with nominations from the floor. Election to office requires a majority of the votes cast. If no nominee has a majority of votes for a particular office, a new ballot shall be taken until a majority is achieved. The new officers shall assume office upon election.

(3) Meetings.

(a) Notice. Notice of meetings may be given by campus or U.S. mail or by telephone. Mailed notice of meetings must be given so as to be received at least twenty-four hours prior to the meeting. If the member cannot be reached personally, leaving a telephone message announcing the meeting with a responsible person at the member's house or office at least four hours prior to the meeting will constitute sufficient notice.

(b) Notice for special meetings. All business to be taken up at special meetings must be announced with reasonable particularity in the notice of the special meeting.

(c) Closed meetings. In unusual circumstances, the senate may wish to close its meeting to various persons or groups of persons for a variety of reasons. Closing may be accomplished in two ways:

(i) The chairman and/or the executive committee of the senate may announce in the notice of a meeting that the meeting or particular portions of the meeting will be closed. The chairman will ask the members of the senate, when the meeting convenes, if there is objection to closing the meeting or particular portions of the meeting. If a member so requests, a roll call vote will be taken on this question. A simple majority of those voting will close the meeting, except that if the meeting is to be closed to faculty, two-thirds majority of those voting will be required.

(ii) A motion from the floor may close a meeting or a portion of a meeting. Again, a roll call vote on the motion will be taken and a simple majority of those voting will close the meeting or portions of the meeting to whomever is named in the motion, except that if the meeting or portions of the meeting are to be closed to faculty, a two-thirds majority of those voting will be required.

(d) Any motion or recommendation to close a meeting must specify

(i) The person or persons to whom it is to be Closed,

(ii) The reasons for the closure, and

(iii) The business to be transacted during the closed period. Once the conditions in the motion or recommendation have been fulfilled, the meeting will be re-opened in accordance with the senate constitution, "Article" 2.

(e) The faculty senate shall hold at least one regular meeting each month during the calendar year. This meeting shall be on the third Monday of each month (unless members are notified of an exception) at an announced time and place. During the summer months (June, July, and August) the senate membership shall be comprised of all senators elected in May of that calendar year, those whose terms continue into the same or subsequent academic years, and those whose terms end August31stthirty first If necessary, the executive committee may ask alternates from the list maintained by the secretary to fill vacancies in the summer senate. These alternates shall be chosen from among those most recently elected. A quorum of the summer senate shall be a majority of the number of senators who serve during the regular academic year.

(f) If the chairman, the vice-chairman and the secretary are all absent from the campus during the summer, the chairman shall appoint a chairman pro tempore from the senate's executive committee (or from the other members of the senate if necessary).

(g) No final action on a main motion or resolution introduced at "a regular or special meeting may be taken at that same meeting. This rule may be suspended by a two-thirds majority of those voting at any regular or special meeting.

(4) Standing committees.

(a) The faculty senate shall have the following standing committees:

(i) Executive

(ii) Educational policy

(iii) Finance

(iv) Professional relations

(v) Student affairs

(vi) Promotion and tenure.

(b) All members of 'these committees shall also be members of the faculty senate, but sub-committees appointed by these standing committees should include members of the faculty who are not members of the faculty senate. The executive committee shall include among its members the chairman of the faculty senate, who shall serve as chairman of the committee, and it shall also include the vice-chairman and secretary of the senate, and two other senators appointed by the chairman. The chairman shall, in consultation with the members of the executive committee, appoint the members and chairmen of the other standing committees. It is considered desirable that each member of the faculty senate serve on one of the standing committees.

(5) Faculty initiation of proposals.

(a) Any ten faculty eligible to vote in senate elections may present any matter they wish to the senate at a regular meeting. The matter will be discussed and scheduled for vote at the next regular senate meeting or, if the senate wishes, at a special meeting called for the purpose of considering the petition or other matters.

(b) Ten per cent of the faculty eligible to vote in senate elections may present any matter to the senate at a regularly scheduled meeting, and the senate will debate and vote on the matter at that meeting, if the petitioners wish and if they state their wish in the petition itself. If the senate acts contrary to the petition or modifies it in some substantial way unacceptable to the petitioners, the petition will be considered to have met the requirements of the petition in the referendum procedure (section -7Paragraph (B)(6)), and a referendum of all faculty eligible to vote in senate elections will be instituted in keeping with the requirements of the procedure for a referendum.

(6) Faculty initiated referendum. A petition signed by ten per cent of the faculty calling for a referendum on any matter, submitted to the chairman of the senate, will cause the chairman to convene the elections committee, to prepare a ballot, and submit it to faculty eligible to vote in senate elections. This will be done and -the chairman will announce the results within thirty days of receipt of the petition.

(7) Recall of faculty senate members. In order to remove a senator from office, the requisite number of faculty' members from his college or regional campus must sign a petition of the form specified below. The requisite number of faculty members signing shall be at least twenty-five per cent of those eligible to vote in senate elections in his college or regional campus but no less than twenty.

(8) A petition to recall a member of the faculty senate format: The following faculty eligible to vote in faculty senate election in (giving the name of the college or regional campus) request that the elections committee of the faculty senate hold a special election to determine whether the seat in the senate held by (full name of the senator) from our (college or regional campus) shall be vacated and filled by the appropriate alternate from the list maintained by the secretary of the senate. We further request that this election be held within thirty days after the chairman of the senate receives this petition. After-receiving-the-petition-the-chairmanAfter receiving the petition the chairman of the senate shall convene the elections committee, and the elections committee will prepare a ballot which will be distributed to all faculty eligible to vote in senate elections from the college or regional campus from which the petition comes. The ballot will refer faculty to the appropriate senate by-law, a date by which the ballot is to be returned, which will in no case be later than thirty days from the date the petition is presented to the chairman of the senate, and shall be in the following form.

(9) A ballot to recall a member of the faculty senate format: Shall (full name of senator) be retained in the faculty senate? Yes ( ) No ( ) A majority of "YES" votes will retain (senator's name) in the senate. A majority of "NO" votes will result in (senator's name) being replaced by (name of the appropriate alternate) in the faculty senate.

Provided that at least fifty per cent of those eligible to vote in the recall election cast ballots, the elections committee will count the ballots and if a simple majority of those voting vote for recall, i.e., vote "NO", the committee will inform the senator mentioned in the petition that he has been recalled, and will inform the alternate that he serve in the senator's place. If a simple majority of those voting do not support the recall petition, i.e., vote "YES" or if less than fifty per cent of those eligible to vote have cast ballots, the elections committee will inform the senator that he has not been recalled and that he will continue to serve in ,the senate.

(10) Removal of senate officers or committee chairmen: Any officer, committee chairman or other functionary of the senate may be removed by a petition calling for his removal signed by two-thirds of all the members of the senate. Such a petition shall remove the person named from his office immediately (provided it is received by the chairman of the senate at least one week prior to the next meeting of the senate). If the petition is received less than one week before a meeting, the removal will not occur until the following meeting. The office vacated will then be filled by usual procedures at the first meeting occurring after the office has been vacated.

(11) Parliamentary authority. The parliamentary authority for conducting senate meetings will be the "Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure.'' The chairman of the senate will appoint a parliamentarian who will serve for each academic year.

(12) Amendments of the by-laws. The by-laws may be amended by majority vote of the senate.

(C) Ohio faculty senate. The Ohio faculty senate is an inter-institutional body composed of duly-elected faculty members of public universities, regional campuses, colleges, community and technical colleges which offer higher education in the state of Ohio, report to the board of regents, and receive substantial proportions of their financial support from the state of Ohio.

(1) The purposes of the Ohio faculty senate as enumerated in its constitution, "Article" II, are:

(a) Concerted action in appropriate settings to achieve excellence in all facets of public higher education in Ohio;

(b) Collation and study of facts relating to higher education in Ohio;

(c) Consensus regarding the dominant opinions, intentions, and/or interests of the faculties of the public institutions of higher education in Ohio;

(d) General and effective dissemination and use of advice from the faculties of the public institutions of higher education in Ohio;

(e) Widespread dissemination of information about the needs, opportunities, responsibilities, and plans of higher education in Ohio;

(f) Review of any and all matters deemed important to the faculties of the public institutions of higher education in Ohio;

(g) Representation to, liaison, and cooperation with the several agents, agencies, and bodies concerned with and responsible for matters of higher education in Ohio and elsewhere.

(2) The constitution and by-laws of the Ohio faculty senate were ratified by the Ohio university faculty senate on July 21, 1969. Representatives from Ohio university are to be selected by a method deemed acceptable to the faculties or senates of the institutions represented.

(3) Rules for electing faculty representatives to the Ohio faculty senate:

(a) Eligibility for election: Any person designated as a faculty member according to the definition given in the by-laws of the faculty senate of Ohio university (section -1Paragraph (B)(1)) shall be eligible for election.

(b) Term of service: The terms of representatives shall be for three years. Terms shall begin on the date of election.

(c) Method of election:

(i) The election shall be carried out by secret ballot at the regular meeting of the faculty senate of Ohio university in September.

(ii) Nominations shall be made by a nominating committee appointed by the executive committee of the senate. Nominations shall also be open from the floor.

(iii) Election as a representative requires a majority of the votes cast. If no nominee has a majority, a new ballot shall be taken until a majority is attained.

(iv) The same procedure shall be repeated until all representatives are selected.

(D) Election of a faculty representative to "FACCOBR". The faculty advisory committee to the chancellor of the Ohio board of regents consists of a representative from each of the state-assisted universities of Ohio, plus representatives from some of the community and private colleges.

(1) The faculty senate will elect a faculty representative to "FACCOBR", and one alternate. The alternate is expected to attend the meetings of "FACCOBR" with the representative.

(2) The election will be held at the regular May meeting of the senate. Nominations will be made by an ad hoc nominating committee, and from the floor. Elections will be by simple majority of those voting. Newly elected members are eligible to vote; members whose terms are expiring are not.

(3) The term of office will be for two years, starting with the time of election. A retiring representative or alternate is urged to attend, as alternate, the "FACCOBR" meetings during the summer following retirement.

(4) An incumbent who has served two complete terms must retire for at least one term.

(5) The representative and alternate need not be members of the faculty senate.

(6) The duties of the representative shall be:

(a) To attend the meetings of "FACCOBR."

(b) To report to the chairman of the faculty senate after each "FACCOBR" meeting, and to the full senate when appropriate.

(c) To consult with the senate, with faculty, and with administrators in the formulation of policies to be proposed at meetings of "FACCOBR."

Notes

Ohio Admin. Code 3337-3-01

Effective: 3/14/2015
Promulgated Under: 111.15
Statutory Authority: 111.15
Rule Amplifies: 111.15
Prior Effective Dates: 3/16/1978