Adopted March 12, 2019
1 GENERAL PRINCIPLES
These by-laws supplement the UW Faculty Code. In case of conflict, the Faculty Code takes precedence. Note that the Faculty Code delegates certain powers and duties to departments: Section 23-43A, Subsection A, delegates certain academic matters, and Section 23-43, Subsection B, delegates certain personnel matters. These by-laws address these powers and duties, as well as departmental governance.
1.1 Meetings of the Department
a. Meetings of the department shall be held once a month during the regular academic year. Further meetings may be called by the chair of the department.
b. The department chair is the chair of the meetings of the department.
1.2 Departmental Administration
The department has three administrative positions held by faculty members, in addition to the chair: Graduate Program Director, Undergraduate Program Director, and Associate Chair. Each is appointed by the chair. The Graduate Program Director is the chair of the Graduate Program Committee, and the Undergraduate Program Director is the chair of the Undergraduate Program Committee. Both serve on the Instructional Program Committee. The Associate Chair serves on the Personnel and Executive Committees and assists the chair in administrative duties, as determined by the chair.
1.3 Committees
a. The following are the standing committees of the department:
*Ad hoc committees may be established by vote of the department or by the chair.
b. The chair and members of each committee are appointed by the department chair, except as noted elsewhere in these by-laws.
2 JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE FOR COMMITTEES
2.1 Personnel Committee
a. The chair of the department is the chair of the Personnel Committee.
b. The Personnel Committee prepares information and recommendations on promotions, merit increases, reappointments, and tenure for discussion and action by the department, as provided by the Faculty Code.
c. The Personnel Committee deals with any personnel issues brought to it by the chair.
2.2 Executive Committee
a. The chair of the department is the chair of the Executive Committee.
b. The Executive Committee prepares information, provides advice, and makes recommendations on departmental policy.
2.3 Appointments Committee
a. The Appointments Committee prepares recommendations for departmental faculty appointments for discussion and action by the department, in accordance with the Faculty Code.
2.4 Instructional Program Committee
a. The chair of the department is the chair of the Instructional Program Committee. The Graduate Program Director, the Undergraduate Program Director, and the Director of Student Services serve on the committee.
b. The Instructional Program Committee's jurisdiction is course scheduling, teaching assignments, and related topics.
2.5 Other Committees
a. Matters within the jurisdiction of each committee are either routine or involve policy.
b. On routine matters, committees are authorized to take final action.
c. On matters involving policy, committees shall prepare recommendations for the meetings of the department.
2.6 Policy matters for other committees
Diversity Committee:
Graduate Program Committee:
Standards for examinations
Planning Committee:
Long-term planning for tenure-stream hiring
Undergraduate Program Committee:
Policies for courses numbered below 500
If not listed above, any matter handled by a committee is considered routine, unless the chair declares it to be policy or the committee votes to consider it as dealing with policy.
2.7 The Graduate Student Representative
The Graduate Student Representative (GSR) is a graduate student serving as liaison between the department's graduate students and faculty. The functions of the GSR are to serve on the Graduate Program Committee and to inform the graduate students of committee activities. The GSR participates in all discussions of the Graduate Program Committee except those that may have an effect on the GSR's own status (such as the consideration of fellowships or other awards). The GSR is elected by the graduate students once a year. At the time of election, a GSR candidate must have completed the preliminary exam requirement.
3 PROCEDURE FOR SALARY INCREASES BASED UPON MERIT
Section 24-55 of the UW faculty code provides procedures for evaluating merit for faculty members. For those who do not have the rank of full professor, the Personnel Committee evaluates them and recommends salary increases, and according to the code, these recommendations are considered by all voting faculty of the department who are superior in rank. For full professors, the code requires "a procedure approved by the voting members of the unit." That procedure is: for the full professors who are not on the Personnel Committee, the Personnel Committee evaluates their merit and recommends salary increases to the chair. For the full professors who are on the Personnel Committee, the chair evaluates their merit and recommends salary increases to the dean. The chair's merit and salary increases are evaluated by the dean, as specified by the code.
4 PROCEDURE FOR AMENDING THE BY-LAWS
An amendment to these by-laws must be voted upon by the Executive Committee, with at least two thirds of the committee members voting to approve. Following the committee's approval, the amendment must be approved by a quorum majority of the voting faculty of the department, as specified in Section 23-46 of the UW Faculty Code, upon which it is incorporated into the by-laws.