Faculty By-Laws

Preamble

The Any successful endeavor in the art of theatre requires a code of collaboration and cooperation that far exceeds that of most professional and academic ventures. This interdependence demands that the model for departmental governance reflect this unique quality. To reach the highest possible academic and artistic goals, and ultimately, for the benefit of our students, a balanced policy of departmental inclusion and governance must be sought.

Departmental Definition

The Department of Theatre and Dance consists of tenured, tenure track, high percent time faculty and staff (referred to hereafter as non tenure track personnel). Tenured and tenure track members of the Department serve as the principal governing body for the Department.

I. Meetings and Voting

The Department of Theatre and Dance shall meet a minimum of two times each semester. All tenured and tenure track faculty are expected to attend these meetings. All non tenure track personnel are invited to attend and in some cases may be strongly urged to attend, if matters pertaining to concerns in their area(s) of expertise are on the agenda. All non tenure track personnel in the Department will have voting privileges on any committee on which they are a member. Beyond the committee level voting privileges on issues and policies concerning the Department of Theatre and Dance will be restricted to tenured and tenure track faculty, henceforth known as the Governance Committee. Non tenure track personnel will have a voice at Department meetings but not a vote on issues and policies above and beyond the committee level. Non tenure track personnel can be granted voting status at Department meetings on a specific item on the agenda should a majority of all voting members plus one of the Governance Committee vote in favor of a full departmental vote on a specific item on the agenda.

Theatre and Dance Department Meetings

Department of Theatre and Dance meetings shall be called by the Chairperson of the Department and may be held when half of the members plus one are present. In case of a vote, those members who are not able to be present shall be entitled to present a written proxy to any other member of the Department and Theatre and Dance.

Minutes will be taken by the Department's Administrative Assistant or by a designated member of the Governance Committee. The minutes will record (a) reports and announcements; (b) the substance of each motion; (c) the action taken on each motion. Upon request of any voting member, the vote count will be noted in the minutes. These minutes will be disseminated to the Full Department not more than seven working day subsequent to the meeting to which they pertain. Each meeting will include, as an agenda item, the formal approval of minutes for the previous meeting.

The usual procedure will be to call for agenda items no less than seven calendar days prior to each Theatre and Dance Department meeting. Agendas for each Theatre and Dance Department meeting will be disseminated to all members of the Department forty-eight hours in advance of said meeting.

Governance Committee Meetings

The Governance Committee of the Department of Theatre and Dance shall consist of tenured and tenure track members of the faculty. All tenured and tenure track faculty are expected to attend. Non tenure track personnel maybe invited to participate, with a voice but not a vote, at portions of Governance Committee meetings in which matters pertaining to concerns in their area(s) of expertise are on the agenda. Such invitations may be tendered by a majority plus one of all voting members of the Governance Committee. Non tenure track personnel may request attendance at portions of meetings. This request may be granted by a majority plus one vote of all voting members of Governance Committee. A majority plus one of all Governance Committee voting members may elect to bring a matter for vote before the entire Department.

Governance Committee meetings shall have authority, consonant with University rules and regulations, over all policy and program matters falling within the purview of the Department of Theatre and Dance, including, but not limited to: statements of goals and objectives; curriculum matters; grievance procedures and evaluation of teaching. The Governance Committee shall not exercise hegemony over the promotion and Tenure Committee or the Annual Review Committee. The duties and purviews of those committees are described in the Theatre and Dance Guidelines on Promotion and Tenure. From to time, the Governance Committee, on behalf of the Department, shall adopt procedures, including personnel procedures, governing its responsibilities to the College and University. Such procedures will conform as far as possible with the published regulations of the Faculty Senate and A.A.U.P.

Governance Committee Meetings shall be called by the Chairperson of the Department or by petition of any three voting members of the Governance Committee and may be held when half of the eligible voting members plus one are present. Those members who are not able to be present shall be entitled to present a written proxy to any other voting member of the Governance Committee.

The Governance Committee members shall strive to meet at least once a month, and the budgets shall be discussed and approved at the beginning and end of each academic year. Pursuant to the determination of the Department and Production budgets, the Chair and/or other appropriate personnel shall make available to the Governance Committee information about Department sources of revenue, including, but not limited to, FUND 1000 accounts, gift accounts, and all other possible sources of Theatre and Dance funds.

Minutes will be taken by the Department's Administrative Assistant or by a designated member of the Governance Committee. The minutes will record (a) reports and announcements; (b) the substance of each motion; (c) the action taken on each motion. Upon request of any voting member, the vote count will be noted in the minutes. A draft of these minutes will be disseminated to the Governance Committee not less than 3 working days before the meeting at which they are to be approved and these minutes will be circulated to the full department not more than 3 working days subsequent to the meeting at which they have been approved. Portions of Governance Committee minutes may be withheld from dissemination to the department upon a vote of confidentiality by the Governance Committee, or should such dissemination be found to be in violation of university procedures. Each meeting will include, as an agenda item, the formal approval of minutes for the previous meeting.

The usual procedure will be to call for Governance Committee agenda items no less than seven calendar days prior to each Governance Committee meeting. Agendas for each Governance Committee meeting will be disseminated to all members of the Department forty-eight hours in advance of said meeting.

II. Selection of Chair

The chair is nominated by the tenured and tenure track faculty and appointed by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, with consent of the President of the University. It is an obligation of the Governance Committee to seek and to take into account the views of high percent time faculty and professional staff. As per the faculty Handbook, the appointment of the Chair shall be for a period of three years and is renewable.

The Chair may leave office prior to the expiration of the three-year term as a result of incapacity, voluntary resignation, or following a "vote of no confidence." "No confidence" proceedings may be initiated by no fewer than three members of the Governance Committee, acting in concert. At such proceedings, the senior tenure track member present shall preside. The Chair shall have a vote. Should a 3/5 majority of the Governance Committee vote no confidence, the senior member of the faculty shall inform the Dean that the Department no longer reposes confidence in the Chair, and shall request guidance and assistance.

Should the Chair take a sabbatical or other long-term leave (a semester or more) during the course of a three-year term, the Governance Committee shall determine whether to recommend to the Dean the appointment of an Acting Chair, or the appointment of a new permanent Chair to finish out the term. Should the Chair become unable to discharge duties for a briefer period, the Chair shall recommend to the Dean, for the affected period, an Interim Chair with the advice and consent of the Governance Committee. Should the Chair be unable to make such an appointment the Governance Committee shall recommend an interim chair to the Dean.

III. Duties of the Chair

The Chair oversees all operations of the Department. Specifically the Chair presides over all Governance Committee and Full Department meetings:

(1) Conducts with the written participation of the Department's Promotion & Tenure/Annual Review Committee, an annual written evaluation of each tenured and tenure track faculty member according to the Department's Annual evaluation and Promotion & Tenure Handbook. Evaluations of non tenure track personnel will be in keeping with University guidelines and with published regulations of the Faculty Senate and A.A.U.P. and will include appropriate consultation with departmental personnel.

(2) Oversees the disbursement of the budgets in accordance with guidelines contained' in the Bylaws, donors' letters of intent, or issued by the Dean of the College in consultation, as appropriate, with members of the Department;

(3) Determines, after consultation with the members of the Department, the courses and course schedule to be offered each semester;

(4) Represents the Department to the College and the University;

(5) Formulates and disbands after appropriate consultation standing and ad hoc departmental committees;

(6) Appoints, after appropriate consultation, departmental personnel to supervise the other curricular and co-curricular activities of the Department (student activities, advising of majors and minors, coordination of multi-section courses, library orders, internship programs, etc.);

(7) Determines appropriate release-time for faculty members engaged in significant administrative and production work, major artistic and research projects, major service to the profession, or other curricular and co-curricular activities. Such decisions shall be made as objectively as possible with consideration of faculty resource allocation, relative faculty workloads, and the overall long-range goals of the Department in terms of both the on-campus program, and a regional and national and international research and service profile. The Chair shall, each semester, report to the faculty all current and continuing release time allocations. the Chair shall further provide to the faculty a rationale for all changes in release-time allocation. The faculty may, by majority vote, propose an alternative release-time schedule to which the Chair must agree before such release-time is granted or rescinded. Release time granted to the Chair by the Dean in recognition of duties assumed in connection with that position is not subject to faculty review or vote;

(8) Consider for possible approval faculty requests for unusual teaching schedules;

(9) Approves, for recommendation to the Dean, faculty requests for sabbaticals and other leaves of absence;

(10) Initiates, after consultation with the Dean of the College, the Governance Committee, and appropriate members of the Department, the process of hiring and/or terminating non-tenure track personnel in keeping with University guidelines and with published regulations of the Faculty Senate and A.A.U.P.;

(11) Ensures that required course evaluation procedures are carried out;

(12) Sees to it that materials emanating from the Department (catalogue copy, brochures, news releases, etc.) are as accurate as possible;

(13) Ensures that promotion and tenure decisions conform to Department, College, University and A.A.U.P. guidelines;

(14) Prepares with appropriate consultation an Annual Report of the activities of the Department for submission to the College. This report is to be made available to the Governance Committee;

(15) Appoints committees after first soliciting input from the Governance Committee and, where appropriate, the non-tenure tack personnel;

(16) Implements major decisions involving personnel, curriculum, facilities, programs, productions and other areas of departmental policy openly after an affirmative vote of a majority plus one of all voting members of the Governance Committee.

IV. Department Standing Committees

The Department will have standing and ad hoc committees. The Chair formulates and disbands, after appropriate consultation, standing and ad hoc departmental committees, and members of these committees are appointed by the Chair after approval by the Governance Committee.

1) The Department Chairperson will be an ex oficio, non-voting member except in the case of ties, in all standing and ad hoc committees. With the exception of the Annual Review/Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Chair will be a voting member of the Governance Committee.

2) Each committee shall elect its Committee Chair.

The composition of the Promotion and Tenure and Faculty Annual Review Committees is discussed in the Promotion and Tenure Document.

Curriculum/Academic Schedule Committee

Each of the major curriculum areas will have one representative on this committee; there will be one tenure track faculty member each from Theory/History, Performance, Dance, Musical Theatre, Theatre Education, and Technical Theatre/Design.

Touring and Outreach Committee

Consonant with these Department of Theatre and Dance Bylaws, composition, responsibilities, and purview of this committee shall be determined in a process separate from the deliberation over and adoption of Theatre and Dance Bylaws. When these are agreed upon, they shall be incorporated, where appropriate, into Theatre and Dance Bylaws.

Play Selection Committee

This committee, elected by the Governance Committee, will consist of three tenure track faculty. One member will be from the Technical/Design Area, one member will be from the performance Area and one member will be elected at large. The committee will develop a set of guidelines separate from these Department of Theatre and Dance Bylaws. When these guidelines are finalized by the committee, they will be voted on by the Governance Committee.

Calendar Committee

V. Course Syllabi and Evaluations

Any officially recognized teacher of a Department of Theatre and Dance course will be considered "faculty" of that course during the semester in which the course is taught.

Each faculty member, or the coordinator of a multi-section course, is responsible for the ordering of texts and the composition of syllabi and examinations, in consultation with other faculty teaching the same course. Faculty members should see that students in every course receive a written course outline or syllabus that includes, at minimum, a description of course content, goals, readings, assignments, and general procedures for determining grades.

Each faculty member is responsible for obtaining student reaction to each course taught by means of the University's standardized questionnaire, which allows both numerical and narrative responses. Faculty members should endeavor to administer the evaluation instrument at some point during the last three weeks of the semester and at a time when at least 75% of the enrolled students will have the opportunity to submit their evaluations.

VI. Travel Funds

Travel funds shall be disbursed by the Chair in consultation with the Governance Committee. To match travel needs with the travel budget, the Chair is empowered to authorize full or partial reimbursement of expenses. The Chair or individual members of the Department may seek additional travel funds as appropriate.

VII. Search Committee

Each search committee shall consist of at least two three Governance Committee. Each search committee shall be nominated by the Chair and approved by the tenure-track faculty. Each search committee will pre-screen application materials, and, at the request of the Chair and the remainder of the Governance Committee in a given year, may also work on any or all of the following: prepare drafts of job advertisements; conduct initial off-campus or telephone interviews; seek additional information on given applications (such as publications or comments from professional references); notify applicants of receipt of materials and the progress of the search; keep appropriate records to comply with Affirmative Action guidelines; and schedule on-campus interviews. All members of the Department are entitled to review and suggest revisions in all job advertisements. Final advertisement copy for each position should be approved by a majority vote of the Governance Committee.

Each Search Committee will submit to the Governance Committee the Search Committee's recommendation for finalists for each position. But any member of the Governance Committee may, upon his/her request, review all application materials from all candidates along with the Search Committee's evaluation materials. Non-tenure track personnel may apply to the Search Committee or the Chair for access to application materials from all candidates, along with all Search Committee evaluation materials. The Governance Committee will vote to determine the finalists whom it recommends for on-campus interviews. The list of finalists shall be submitted by the Chair to the Dean. In the case of a "rolling search" it is usual to submit a single candidate at a time to the Dean.

On-campus interviews, for each position shall be conducted by the Search Committee and all interested members of the Governance Committee. The Search Committee and/or the Chair may also elect to invite selected part-time faculty and professional staff to participate in the interviews, when appropriate. High per cent time faculty and/or professional staff may apply to the Search Committee or the Chair for opportunities to participate in on-campus candidate interviews and to forward their views to the Search Committee.

The final recommendations for appointment shall be made by the entire Governance Committee and forwarded by the Chair to the Dean for approval.

VIII. Promotion and Tenure

Promotion and Tenure Guidelines are determined by the Governance Committee adhering to the published A.A.U.P. and University guidelines. They are detailed in a separate document. It is noted here that, while the Department Chair is an Ex Officio member of the Annual Review/Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Committee and the Chair prepare their written reports and documentation independently of each other. Hence, the Chair's vote is separate from that of the Committee.

IX. Approval and Amendment of Bylaws

Insofar as possible, these bylaws go into force immediately upon approval by a 3/5 majority of the full Governance Committee. These bylaws may be amended by a 3/5 majority of the Governance Committee of the Department of Theatre and Dance. Insofar as possible, amendments go into force immediately upon approval.

X. New Course Proposals

All new courses proposed by any faculty member in the department, including but not limited to special topics courses, must be specifically designated by the faculty member as a major credit course in one or more of the Department's sub-disciplines or emphasis areas. The Curriculum Committee reserves the right to consider and to forward to the Governance Committee proposed courses that do not fall within one of the departments' current subdisciplines or emphasis areas. All proposed new courses must be reviewed and approved by a majority of the Governance Committee before being taught. Courses not reviewed and approved by the faculty in a given area can by offered at the discretion of the Chair, on a one-time-only basis, upon appropriate consultation but only for special topics credit. Faculty proposing new courses should be prepared to offer materials and rationale sufficient for colleagues to accomplish the reviews. All courses will be reviewed and approved by a majority vote of the Governance Committee. Courses offered by newly hired faculty in their first semester can constitute an exception to this amendment procedure, but is expected that the Chair will consult appropriate faculty.

XI. Part Time Faculty

The Chair of the Department, after appropriate consultation and upon adherence to published A.A.U.P. and Faculty Senate guidelines shall be responsible for hiring part-time, "per course," or one year faculty, with the advice and consent of a majority of the available members of the Governance in the disciplinary area in which the need for part-time faculty exists. The Chair is required to solicit, from all faculty in the area of the proposed hire, suggestions of qualified candidates for the position. The Chair may not hire any person as a part-time, "per course," or one-year faculty to which the majority of the available faculty in a given discipline area object. Existing faculty with continuing and consecutive one-year appointments may be re-hired at the discretion of the Chair upon appropriate consultation with the Governance Committee and with adherence to approved and published A.A.U.P. and Faculty Senate guidelines. Hiring procedures will be in keeping with university policy and in conformance with published Faculty Senate recommendations. Continuing evaluation of non-tenure track faculty will be in keeping with university procedures and will be conducted with appropriate consultation and in conformance with approved and published A.A.U.P. and Faculty Senate recommendations.University reserves the right to retain selections from a student’s work for a period of not more than two years.