Faculty Handbook – By-Laws of the Faculty Assembly and Faculty Senate
Amended Spring 2023 by Faculty Senate with the vote by all faculty.
ARTICLE I. THE FACULTY ASSEMBLY
Section 1. Meetings
A. Regular Meetings. The Faculty Assembly shall meet as necessary.
B. Special Meetings. The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall call a Special Meeting of the Faculty Assembly at any time upon the request of the Chancellor, the President, the Provost, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, a majority of the Faculty Senate, or the written request of thirty members of the Faculty Assembly.
C. Twenty percent (20%) of full-time faculty shall constitute a quorum.
ARTICLE II. THE FACULTY SENATE
Section 1. Meetings
A. Regular Meetings. The Faculty Senate shall hold a minimum of four regular meetings each year.
B. Special Meetings. The Chair of the Senate may call special meetings of the Senate and shall do so upon the written request of the elected members of the Senate. The Senate may hold an executive session when matters of a confidential nature are being considered; only regularly elected Faculty members may attend unless the Senate votes to invite others.
C. A quorum shall consist of a simple majority of the membership.
D. The Senate may vote on motions per electronic means (e-ballot) if a face-to-face Senate discussion has been held but final details on an issue need to be clarified and communicated to Senators. E-balloting may also occur if special circumstances exist.
E. Members of the faculty may attend Faculty Senate meetings; the Chair of the Senate may invite others to attend.
Section 2. Functions and Duties
A. The agenda for each meeting of the Faculty Senate shall be distributed by email to all members of the Faculty Assembly one week prior to each Senate meeting.
B. A summary of Faculty Senate meetings shall be distributed by email to all members of the Faculty Assembly within a week after each Senate meeting.
Section 3. Membership and Elections
A. Members represent the academic units that constitute TCU: AddRan College of Liberal Arts, Neeley School of Business, Bob Schieffer College of Communication, College of Education, College of Fine Arts, Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Science & Engineering, John V. Roach Honors College, and the Burnett School of Medicine.
B. Representation
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- For the purpose of determining Senate representation, faculty members will be counted only in the academic units of their primary appointments. One Senator will be allocated for every nine-full time faculty in each academic unit, with a minimum of one Senator per unit. An additional Senator will be allocated for 5 or more full-time faculty beyond multiples of nine.
- When an academic unit has fewer than five full-time faculty members, the unit’s full-time faculty members may choose to elect a full-time faculty member from outside their unit to represent them. The faculty member must meet all standard criteria for serving as a Senator. A faculty member may not serve simultaneously as a Senator from his/her unit of appointment and another unit.
C. Term of Office and Elections
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- The Faculty Election Committee (Constitution II.2.D) shall have the following duties:
a. determine who is eligible to vote for and to serve on the Faculty Senate;
b. oversee the election process;
c. determine, every three years, the apportionment of Senators to colleges based on the official faculty list received from the Office of the Provost;
d. appoint Senators for academic units unable to fill their allocated seats or which have Senators who have resigned.
e. appoint Senators to serve temporarily while elected Senators are on leave or otherwise unable to fulfill their duties
f. strive to maintain proportional distribution among academic units.
2. The term of office of elected senators shall be three years; appointed Senators shall complete the term to which they were appointed.
3. It is recommended that the elections shall proceed as follows:
a. By the seventh week of the spring semester, the Faculty Election Committee shall contact by email all eligible faculty requesting their response concerning their willingness to serve on the Senate.
b. By the ninth week, a list of candidates for each academic unit from all the names of that unit’s willing faculty will be created and electronically sent to that unit. Voting instructions shall specify that a valid ballot will contain votes up to the number of open positions in the unit.
c. The Faculty Election Committee resolves any inconclusive election in an academic unit by conducting a second election. The second ballot shall consist of at least one more candidate than the number of seats to be filled. These candidates shall be those who previously received the most votes. Any inconclusive results of a second election shall be resolved by the Faculty Election Committee.
d. Election results will be announced by email to the faculty by the twelfth week of the spring semester.
Section 4. Officers
A. Any Senator who has served during the current academic year is eligible for nomination.
B. Officers of the Senate shall be the Chair, Chair-Elect, immediate Past-Chair, Recording Secretary, Administrative Secretary, Diversity Advocate, and Information Officer.
C. A preliminary slate of officers for election shall be presented at the next to last Senate meeting of the spring semester to allow for additional nominations.
D. Election by secret ballot shall take place at the last meeting of the academic year.
E. In the event of a vacancy in the office of Chair, the Chair-elect becomes Chair, and a new Chair-elect is elected by the Senate. In the event of a vacancy in the offices of Chair-elect, Recording Secretary, Administrative Secretary, Diversity Advocate, or Information Officer, a replacement is elected by the Senate. Election of officers to fill these vacancies shall be administered by the Faculty Election Committee through e-ballot within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy.
Section 5. Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC)
A. The FSEC shall serve as the Election Committee of the Faculty Senate.
B. The FSEC shall appoint and notify the membership of Senate Standing Committees, prior to the first meeting of the academic year, giving due consideration to Senators’ preferences and the needs of the Senate.
C. In consultation with committee chairpersons, the FSEC shall develop any specific charges given to Faculty Standing Committees each year prior to the first meeting of the academic year or as necessary.
D. The FSEC shall serve as the screening committee in bringing forward names of nominees for honorary degrees to the Senate for a vote. The FSEC shall then forward any approved recommendations to the Chancellor (see Constitution, Art. II, sec. 1C and Faculty Senate Handbook, Appendix 1.0 for criteria and guidelines).
E. The FSEC, in consultation with the Provost, shall plan the agenda of any Faculty Assembly meetings.
F. The FSEC may act on behalf of the Senate on matters which in its opinion cannot be deferred until the next regular Senate meeting.
G. The FSEC and the Senate Chair shall circulate to the Faculty an end-of-year summary of Senate activity in the month of May.
Section 6. Standing Committees
The Faculty Senate shall have the following Standing Committees:
A. The Academic Excellence Committee shall propose and monitor solutions to issues of rigor, innovations, and creativity in order to sustain academic excellence in the University.
B. The Committee on University Committees shall solicit faculty preferences and nominate faculty for membership on all University committees, review committee charges and memberships, and provide orientation to, assessment, and oversight of University committees.
C. The Educational Evaluation Committee shall represent faculty interests on issues of 1. Evaluating teaching quality, and 2. Teaching support, including instructional technology, training, and classroom and online environments.
D. The Faculty Relations Committee shall monitor the effectiveness of University policies on faculty conditions of employment and work environment, tenure, promotion, and grievance, and serve as liaison with Human Relations on faculty benefits and compensation.
E. The Governance Committee shall monitor and revise, when needed, the Faculty Senate and Faculty Handbooks, work jointly with the Executive Committee on Senate elections, and monitor the function of the Faculty Senate by recommending changes to improve its governance and effectiveness.
F. The Student Relations Committee shall represent the Faculty Senate on matters involving student concerns, consult with Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, and review strategies to maintain student participation in shared governance.
Section 7. Other Senate Responsibilities
Faculty Senate representation to other bodies:
A. When Senate representation is needed in groups not under the responsibility of the Committee on University Committees, the FSEC may appoint such representatives according to the group’s charter. If clear instructions for representation appointment are not evident, FSEC will appoint a representative.
B. When Senate representation is needed in groups that request an election for representation, the FSEC will coordinate the election, whether in person or by e-ballot. Elections for a Senate representative will occur in the spring of the prior academic year unless the group’s charter or circumstances dictate otherwise.
Approved by Faculty Senate on March 2, 2023
Approved by Faculty Assembly on March 22, 2023
FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2023-2024
Chair – Omar Harvey
Past Chair – Jill Havens
Chair Elect – James Rodriguez
Recording Secretary – Hayat Hokayem
Administrative Secretary – Rebessa Sharpless
Information Officer – Tracy Hicks
Diversity Advocate – Brandon Manning
FACULTY SENATE MEMBERS 2023-2024
https://fsn.tcu.edu/committees
Information on this page was transferred from the 2022 Faculty and Staff Handbook; and then reviewed, updated to reflect the March 2023 changes by Faculty Senate, the addition of the President, and updated officers; and approved by a special committee of the Faculty Senate in July 2023.