Faculty Senate Bylaws

Faculty Senate By-Laws

Approved 5/5/2023

Definition

The Davenport University Faculty Senate (FS) is the representative body of the faculty.  The senate is recognized as an autonomous body that serves as an advisory and consultative group to university leadership on academic matters.

Purpose

The purpose of the faculty senate includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• To formally communicate faculty recommendations to the Provost and President regarding relevant academic affairs such as curriculum, pedagogy/andragogy, best educational practices, faculty personnel policies, and other academic concerns as they arise.
• To facilitate faculty communication and engagement on university committees and teams.
• The Faculty Senate works to promote good will and honest relationships through two-way communication between university leadership and faculty calling for responses to formal inquiries in a public forum accessible on website.

Membership

The Davenport University Faculty Senate is comprised of all full-time Davenport University faculty (with 10-month appointments), lab coordinators (12-month appointments), associate department chairs (who do not supervise full-time faculty), part-time teaching and learning coordinators and librarians with faculty status and campus associate department chairs.

Faculty Senate Officers

Elections will be held at the final winter semester meeting each year.  Officers will serve for two years. The following officers will be elected:

• President:  The President will normally preside at all meetings and will serve as the chief spokesperson for the Senate. The president is elected in the even year.

• Vice President (VP):  The VP will work with the President to promote the goals and workings of the Faculty Senate. This person will preside over meetings in the absence of the President. The VP is elected in the odd year.

• Communication Officer (CO):  The CO will work with the President and Vice President to promote the goals and workings of the Faculty Senate.  This person will be responsible for all internal and external communication regarding the Faculty Senate, including any web presence, attendance records and meeting minutes. The CO is elected in the odd year.

• Technology Officer (TO):  The TO will work with the President, Vice President, and Communications Officer to manage all technological needs (remote meetings, voting systems, assessment of new technology needs, etc.) of the Faculty Senate.  This person will also work with the Communications Officer to manage any electronic (web) content related to the Faculty Senate.
  The TO is elected in the even year.

Meetings

The Faculty Senate will meet at least three times during the fall semester (including TLI) and at least three times during the winter semester. The goal of the Faculty Senate will be to meet at a time and place that will be as inclusive as possible based on members’ schedules and locations.  All meetings will be held via web conferencing.

Before each regular meeting, the president will put out a call for agenda items; an agenda will be sent to all members via email.  Each agenda will include an item for new business.

Regular meetings are open only to Faculty Senate members.  The quorum for a meeting will be ten Faculty Senate members, two of whom must be officers.  Agenda items and specific discussion and debate are considered to be confidential among the members.  Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each meeting; the minutes will reflect the number of attendees and the attending officer(s), to establish quorum status.

Guests may be invited or they may request to speak at a meeting, including (but not limited to) the Davenport President, the Provost, and other EVP’s.

Responsibilities

The Faculty Senate has the responsibility to:

• Facilitate communication between its members and leadership
• Maintain a current webpage for curating and archiving information and to publish formal inquiries and leadership response.
• Elect officers
• Seek proactive, positive solutions for the betterment of the university and its stakeholders.
• Seek yearly initiatives with measurable outcomes to support academic excellence within the university.

Committee Representation

There will be dedicated official FS representatives participating with and reporting on (including but not limited to) the following committees. This committee list will be updated based on current University Leadership.

Faculty Senate Committees

• Executive Committee
  This committee shall be composed of the President, Vice President, Communication Officer, and Technology Officer.  This committee will work to lead the Senate and act on behalf of the members. The Executive Committee meets twice a semester virtually or when needed.
   
• By-Laws Committee
  This committee will be composed of three active FS members who will review the by-laws prior to the first FS meeting in the fall semester and suggest changes to the members as needed for the betterment of the Faculty Senate. Review of Bylaws is required every two years unless requested or proposed by senate leadership sooner. See below By-Law Governance.
   
• Election Committee
  The Election Committee shall conduct elections. This committee will be composed of three active FS members who will seek qualified officer candidates each year to serve as Faculty Senate officers. They will present a slate of nominees at the election meeting that will be held during the last FS meeting of the winter semester.

Members of the By-Laws and Election Committees will be proposed by the Faculty Senate President and approved by the Senate.

By-Law Governance

The Faculty Senate shall be governed by its by-laws.

• Any changes to the by-laws must be presented to the members for consideration prior to a scheduled meeting.
• Any changes to the by-laws must be approved by a ⅔ vote of members present.

Rules of Order

• The Faculty Senate meetings shall follow Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct business.
• Decisions will be made by a majority vote except for bylaws which must be approved by ⅔ vote of members present.
• Votes may be collected in person and/or electronically as circumstances permit.