CHAPTER ONE: 1540

HISTORY, MISSION, GENERAL ORGANIZATION, AND GOVERNANCE

July 2009

1540

STANDING RULES OF THE UNIVERSITY FACULTY

PREAMBLE: The university faculty have adopted for their convenience certain standing rules, given in this section. This section appeared for the first time in the 1979 edition of the Handbook and remains essentially in the form it took then. In 2009 constitutional changes giving off-campus faculty voting rights at faculty meetings necessitated adding venue determination to A. For further information, consult the Office of the Faculty Secretary (208-885-6151). [ed. 7-97, rev. 7-09]

CONTENTS:

A. Voting Privilege

B. Referral of Catalog-Change Proposals

C. Circulation of Curricular and Policy Proposals

D. Admission of Nonmembers to Faculty Meetings

E. Procedures for First Fall Meeting

F. Minutes

G. Identification of Speakers

A. VOTING PRIVILEGE. Constituent faculties of colleges and other UI units must limit the voting privilege to those who are qualified under the provisions of the constitution of the university faculty. [See 1520 II-1 and II-3.] Moreover, those who are qualified cannot be deprived of their vote in meetings of constituent faculties. [See 1520 IV-8.] Emeritus, adjunct, and affiliate faculty members, staff members, students, and others may be permitted to participate in meetings in an advisory capacity only, and they may serve as voting members of committees.

A-1.  Venue Determination.  The approved sites remote from the Moscow campus for General Faculty Meetings will be determined annually.  At the first faculty senate meeting in the fall, with other committee elections, the remote sites for the year will be approved (see also 1520, III-1-A). [add. 7-09]

B. REFERRAL OF CATALOG-CHANGE PROPOSALS. When substantive catalog changes of a curricular nature that have not been considered by the University Curriculum Committee are presented directly to the university faculty, such proposals are referred automatically to the University Curriculum Committee for study and recommendation.

C. CIRCULATION OF CURRICULAR AND POLICY PROPOSALS.

C-1. Routine Catalog-Change Proposals. Additions, deletions, and changes of courses and changes in existing curricula may, after approval by the University Curriculum Committee, be circulated in a general curriculum-policy report to the resident faculty for consideration. The report is published at an appropriate UI web-site and its publication data announced in the University Register. [ed. 7-02]

C-2. Policy-Change Proposals. Proposals that affect policy or general university requirements and academic procedures, e.g., those in part 3 of the catalog, or that concern the addition or expansion of instructional programs may, after approval by the Faculty Senate, be circulated in a general curriculum-policy report to the resident faculty for consideration. The report is published at an appropriate UI web-site and its publication data announced in the University Register. [ed. 7-02, 7-09]

C-3. Actions of the University Curriculum Committee and of the Faculty Senate that are circulated in general curriculum-policy reports (see above) are considered to have the necessary faculty approvals unless a petition requesting further consideration of specific items is signed by five faculty members and submitted to the chair of the Faculty Senate within 14 calendar days after the date of circulation. If no petition is received within 14 days, the entire report is submitted to the president for approval and transmittal to the regents, if regents' action is required. [ed. 7-09]

C-4. If a petition is received, the items in the report for which further consideration is requested will be referred to the Faculty Senate, and the remainder of the report will move forward. On items referred to it, the senate may (a) affirm the action and report it to a meeting of the university faculty, (b) amend the action and report it to a meeting of the university faculty, or (c) rescind the action. [NOTE: If a petition concerns courses or curricula in the College of Letters and Science or in the College of Agriculture, and is signed by five faculty members of the respective college, those items will be returned to the college concerned for further consideration.] [ed. 7-09]

C-5. Interim Approval. If there is insufficient opportunity for the faculty to act on a routine catalog-change proposal [see C-1] between the time of its approval by the University Curriculum Committee and the date that it is to be effective, it may be reported directly to the president. Upon approval by the president, the change will be considered temporarily approved for implementation. Such interim approval is valid only until the end of the succeeding semester. Actions thus approved will be reported to the faculty at the earliest possible time, either in the agenda for a faculty meeting or in a general curriculum-policy report. Continuing approval of the change is subject to ratification at a faculty meeting or by the procedures described in C-3 and C-4. (To illustrate: Late in the spring semester, the University Curriculum Committee approves a routine catalog change that is to be effective during the next fall semester. That action is reported to the president and, if approved by the president, the change can be put into effect. If it is included in a curriculum-policy report that is circulated to the resident faculty early in the fall semester, the approval of the change may, by means of the steps outlined in C-3 and C-4, become permanent or it may be terminated at the end of that semester. Alternatively, the faculty may take either of these actions in a meeting if the change is included in the agenda.)

D. ADMISSION OF NONMEMBERS TO FACULTY MEETINGS. Nonmembers may be admitted to meetings of the university faculty under the following conditions:

D-1. Student government leaders, specifically the ASUI president, vice president, attorney general, and members of the ASUI Senate, may attend meetings of the university faculty. The presiding officer must be informed of the names of four of their number who may speak for the group at any particular meeting.

D-2. Two representatives from each campus or other news medium, designated to the presiding officer by the editor or manager, as applicable, may attend meetings of the university faculty as auditors.

D-3. Members of the Faculty Senate or of university-level committees who are not members of the university faculty may attend meetings of the university faculty at which proposals of the senate or of their committees are being considered. They may speak only on issues presented by the body on which they serve. [ed. 7-09]

D-4. Under unusual circumstances any nonmember may submit a request to the Faculty Senate for admission to meetings of the university faculty for the purpose of discussing a particular issue that is stipulated in the request. [ed. 7-09]

E. PROCEDURES FOR FIRST FALL MEETING.

E-1. Substantive policy matters are not included in the agenda for the first fall meeting of the university faculty unless emergency action is needed on particular items.

E-2. To expedite the proceedings, each new member of the resident faculty is introduced by name and department only. The person's name, degrees, past experience, new assignment, campus telephone number, and the location of his or her office are supplied by each dean or division head to the president's office well ahead of the meeting. The president's office compiles the information by colleges or similar units and distributes it at the meeting. [ed. 7-02]

F. MINUTES. Minutes of the meetings of the university faculty, constituent faculties, and committees are to be sent on a regular basis to the Department of Special Collections and Archives in the University Library.

G. IDENTIFICATION OF SPEAKERS. Those who are recognized by the chair for the purpose of speaking at meetings of the university faculty are to identify themselves by name and discipline or position.

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