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Bylaws for Faculty Review Committee

  1. Name
    Faculty Review Committee
  2. Purpose
    To advise and make recommendations to the President of the College on review and evaluation of faculty members for continued employment, promotion, tenure, and sabbatical leave. The committee also considers candidates for honorary degrees and faculty emerti status.
  3. Composition of Committee Membership, Criteria for Selection
    Provost and Dean of Faculty (without vote); three elected faculty members as division representatives, all with vote; one additional faculty member elected as a faculty at-large representative, with vote. Faculty committee members must be tenured and have the rank of associate professor or full professor. Gender representation among the voting members of the committee is required.
  4. Terms and Process for Selection of Membership
    Provost and Dean of Faculty, by virtue of office. Division representatives serve rotating three-year terms. The faculty at-large representative serves a four-year term. Division representatives are elected by full faculty from at least two nominees recommended by the appropriate division. The faculty at-large representative is elected by full faculty. Because requirements for membership to FRC are the most restrictive, election to FRC supersedes elected membership on any conflicting committee (FPC, EPC, IRC). In the event division elections result in a loss of gender representation, the faculty at-large position will be replaced through faculty elections for the remainder of the outgoing member’s term.
    A committee member(s) scheduled for promotion must be replaced by a new committee member for the year of promotion consideration. The election process to determine the replacement member will be the same as previously stated.
    A committee member scheduled for five-year post-tenure review will recuse her/himself from the discussion and documentation of the review. No replacement of that member is needed.
  5. Committee Officers or Leadership
    Provost and Dean of Faculty serves as chair and also arranges for minute taking and archiving.
  6. Meeting Procedure
    Meetings will be held as coordinated by the chair (dean), as required for the expeditious handling of required agendas. A quorum shall consist of the dean or his/her representative, plus three of the four elected faculty, provided all four faculty members are consulted in advance. Three affirmative votes are necessary for passage of a vote.Minutes will be kept on all meetings and archived by the dean. Minutes will be of two kinds and maintained in separate format: confidential and open. Minutes of discussions or actions on employment status of any faculty member will be strictly confidential, as will be minutes related to nomination of persons for honorary degrees. Minutes of any other nature will be regarded as open unless the committee expressly votes to the contrary on the grounds of personnel confidentiality. The open minutes for any given meeting shall be distributed to members of the faculty no later than one week following their final approval. Minutes are to be made available in hard copy in the office of the dean and distributed to the faculty electronically.
  7. Committee Charge – Responsibilities & Accountabilities
    1. Oversee the evaluation process according to policy-prescribed schedules and guidelines; make recommendations to the President regarding evaluation of faculty effectiveness and continuation of contracts.
    2. Make recommendations to the President for the granting of sabbatical leaves to individual faculty members based on approved policy and guidelines.
    3. Make recommendations to the President on promotion and tenure for individual faculty members based on approved policy and guidelines.
    4. Make recommendations to the President for the awarding of emeriti status.
    5. Consider candidates for honorary degrees and recommend such candidates to Faculty Meeting.
    6. At any time other than regular evaluation times, make recommendations to the President whenever concern arises about faculty effectiveness or discipline that has potential implications for, or impact on, the faculty member’s employment status.
  8. Reporting Relationships:
    Matters on which this Committee makes recommendations to Faculty Meeting:
    Candidates for honorary degrees
    Matters on which the Committee makes recommendations to the President:
    Performance evaluation of individual faculty members; promotion, tenure, sabbatical leave, and emeriti status decisions for individual faculty members.
    Committees or groups which make reports and/or recommendations to this Committee:
    Grievance Committee to the extent of its involvement in faculty personnel issues.
  9. Appeal Process
    Appeals of specific employment related decisions:
    If any faculty member takes exception to a recommendation of this Committee regarding that faculty member’s employment status, or wishes to question the basis for recommendations, s/he may lodge a request in writing to that effect by delivering that request to the Provost and Dean of Faculty. The Committee will then schedule a mutually suitable time for dialog with the faculty member within 21 days of the request. At his/her own election, the faculty member may bring one other faculty member or staff to the meeting. Following such meeting the Committee may reconsider its recommendation, gather new information, or reiterate its former position.
  10. Bylaw Amendment Process
    These bylaws may be changed through the following process:
    A.  Job titles included in these bylaws may be updated by the Vice President for Academic Affairs on his or her own authority.
    B.  Changes to these bylaws may be brought to the Faculty Review Committee for a first reading and then acted upon at any subsequent meeting, provided the action item is announced in advance as an agenda item for that meeting.  Once approved by the Faculty Review Committee, changes shall be forwarded to Faculty Meeting for final approval.
    C.  Changes to these bylaws may also be initiated by Faculty Meeting. Bylaw changes may be brought to the Faculty Meeting for a first reading and then acted upon at any subsequent meeting, provided the action item is announced in advance as an agenda item for that meeting.

Approved by Faculty Meeting 15 February 2007
Approved by Board of Trustees 02 March 2007
Amendments approved by Faculty Meeting 21 October 2010