Bylaws

College of Arts and Sciences BYLAWS

Conditionally approved by vote of the A&S faculty, May 3, 2022
Updated and fully approved by the A&S faculty March 20, 2023

ARTICLE I - NAME

The name of this organization shall be the College of Arts & Sciences, hereinafter referred to as the College or A&S.

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE

The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences shall legislate upon and form policies pertaining to educational methods, aims, and activities particular to the College and consistent with the collective bargaining agreement, the Bylaws of the Faculty Senate, and the "Faculty Personnel Policies" (green book).

ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP

The membership shall be constituted as follows: the President of the University, ex officio; the Provost, ex officio; the Dean, and Associate Deans of the College; all Assistant College Lecturers, Associate College Lecturers, and Senior College Lecturers; Assistant Professors of Practice, Associate Professors of Practice, and Full Professors of Practice; all tenured, tenure-track, and emeriti faculty assigned to the College; and all other faculty assigned to the College not named here who are members of the bargaining unit.  Faculty members with dual appointments in this College and another may serve on faculty committees and vote in elections in the College only if they have a 51 percent or greater appointment in this College. In cases involving doubt as to the proper college or colleges to which a faculty member is assigned, assignment will be made by the Vice President for Academic Affairs after obtaining the recommendation of the Deans of the colleges sharing the appointment.

"Faculty Personnel Policies" (3344-16-08 B) describes emeriti rights regarding participation in faculty governance.

Professors of Practice of any rank and College Lecturers of any rank cannot serve on the College Peer Review Committee.

Only members of the bargaining unit are eligible to vote on and to serve in college standing committees. Faculty who are elevated to administration positions during their terms shall step down and be replaced. Only bargaining unit members and department chairs/school directors are allowed to vote in faculty meetings (except for standing committees as described above).

ARTICLE IV – OFFICERS

Section 1

a. The Dean of the College shall be the Chairperson of this organization.

b. The Dean shall preside at all meetings. For meetings they do not attend, they shall appoint a temporary chairperson, or if they fail to do so, the member present with the longest service as department or school chairperson shall preside. The Dean shall notify the Secretary of the University Faculty as to the organization plan and bylaws adopted by the College Faculty and any subsequent changes made in them.

Section 2

a. A Secretary shall be elected by mail or electronic ballot as specified in Article X. The term of office shall be from July 1 to June 30.

b. The Secretary shall notify the members of the meetings and shall keep accurate minutes of all meetings.

c. The Secretary shall receive yearly written summaries of all administrative actions taken by committees of the College.

d. The Secretary shall provide the Secretary of the Faculty Senate of Cleveland State University an electronic copy of the approved minutes of all meetings of the Faculty of the College.

ARTICLE V – MEETINGS

Section 1

There shall be a regular meeting of the Faculty of the College at least once during each of the Fall and Spring semesters. The meeting shall be called by the Dean, or in their absence, by the Steering Committee.

Section 2

Special meetings shall be called by the Dean of the College (or in their absence by the Steering Committee) upon the written request of five or more members of the Faculty of the College.

Section 3

All meetings shall be called and the agenda announced by written notice to all members of the College Faculty not less than forty-eight hours prior to the time set for the meeting.

Section 4

At the end of each meeting, there shall be a period during which any member may make suggestions and proposals from the floor, but no action can be taken on a substantive matter during this period.

Section 5

One third of members of this organization who are eligible to vote shall constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE VI – BYLAWS

Each department or school of the College shall adopt written bylaws for its governance. These bylaws shall cover in separate articles at least the following information:

1. The membership of the school or department's Faculty
2. The titles and duties of the officers of the department or school
3. Provisions for meetings of the school or department's Faculty
4. The names and responsibilities of the standing committees of the department or school and the manner of selection of their members and chairpersons
5. Procedures for amendment
6. Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure

The bylaws of each department or school shall be subject to the approval of the Faculty Affairs Committee of the College. The Faculty Affairs Committee shall review new and amended bylaws for practicability and for conformity with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, University Personnel Policies, and the Bylaws of the Faculty of the College. In each of its reviews the Faculty Affairs Committee shall consult with the Dean of the College before the committee votes.

Departmental or school bylaws which are formally in place at the time of the implementation of these College bylaws shall continue in effect. Any department or school bylaws not in compliance should be revised and submitted within a reasonable amount of time.

ARTICLE VII – COMMITTEES

Section 1

Each committee shall elect a chairperson at its first meeting after the election. The committee member whose last name comes first alphabetically shall convene and chair the first meeting until a new chair is elected.

Section 2

a. Each elected committee member shall serve a two-year term beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30, and the terms shall be staggered so that half of the members of each committee are chosen each year.

b. Each committee shall consist of six members, except for the Steering Committee and the Peer Review Committee. Motions must be passed with more than 51 percent of the committee membership.

c. Each standing committee except for the Peer Review Committee shall have three members from Arts and Humanities and three members from Sciences, apportioned in the following manner:

1. One representative from Arts (Art and Design; Film & Media Arts; Music; Theatre and Dance)
2. Two representatives from Humanities (Africana Studies; Anthropology; English; History; Philosophy and Comparative Religion; Political Science; World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures)
3. Three representatives from Sciences (Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences; Chemistry; Physics; Psychology; and Mathematics and Statistics)

These proportions can be revisited every three years to be adjusted for changes in department, school, and division sizes, if needed.

The Peer Review Committee will have eleven members apportioned in the following manner:

1. Two from the Arts (defined above)
2. Three from the Humanities (defined above)
3. Five from the Sciences (defined above)
4. And one at-large member

The members of the Peer Review Committee must all come from different departments with the exception of the "at-large" member who may come from a represented department.

d. Each committee, excluding the College PRC, shall have at least one member with the academic rank of Assistant College Lecturer, Associate College Lecturer, Senior College Lecturer, Assistant Professor of Practice, Associate Professor of Practice, Full Professor of Practice, or Assistant Professor, unless there are no willing candidates of these ranks. The members of each standing committee shall be from different departments.

e. No department shall have two faculty members on the same committee at the same time, except for members of the steering committee and PRC, or if the number of departments becomes less than the committee membership numbers.

f. No member of the Faculty may serve on more than one committee at a time, except that the chairperson of each committee shall be a member of the Steering Committee.

g. The chair of standing and ad hoc committees should keep the Dean's office apprised of any issues, projects or initiatives they are addressing that may require the input or approval of either the Dean or the college.

h. Should a vacancy occur in any elected college standing committee position, the Nominating Committee shall appoint the person who received the next highest number of votes after the elected faculty member in the most recent College general election while maintaining the committee's required representation of academic departments, schools, divisions, and faculty rank. If that person cannot serve, the Committee will choose from other candidates in descending order of votes received. If no such candidate exists, the Nominating Committee shall do their best to submit the names of at least two faculty members as nominees for approval. This approval can occur either at a faculty meeting or through an online ballot. If a vacancy should occur in another elected committee where there is a defined method to replace, such as Faculty Senate Bylaws 3344-13 for senators and University standing committees, that method will be used. Otherwise the above method will be used.

i. In the case of PLOA, the faculty member on leave will have the option of continuing their work on any committee to which they have been elected.  If the faculty member declines to continue, their replacement will be determined based on section h above.  Upon the return of the faculty member on leave, the replacement has the prerogative to continue service on the committee.  If the replacement committee member chooses to step down, then the faculty member returning from leave may resume membership on the committee.

j. In the case of FMLA or other medical leave, the faculty member should work with the committee chair and department chair to determine whether they will continue their committee work and, if they step down, whether they will get the position back upon their return. If the faculty member steps down, a replacement will be determined based on section h above.  Any disagreements shall be arbitrated by Faculty Affairs.  

k. Each committee shall present a summary report of its activities to the Faculty at the end of the academic year. A written copy shall also be submitted to the Faculty Secretary.

Section 3 – Standing Committees

1. The Committee on Academic Standards

The Committee on Academic Standards shall formulate and recommend to the Faculty: (i) standards for admission and college graduation and (ii) rules for student load and probation and dismissal. It shall also recommend other rules and standards for the performance of academic work. It shall consider all petitions regarding exceptions to College rules and those petitions for exceptions to University rules that have been delegated to the Committee for its consideration by the Faculty Senate. It shall also consider the college-wide academic honors such as the college Valedictorian. No academic requirements of the College or those University requirements delegated by the Faculty Senate to the jurisdiction of the College shall be waived or alleviated except by the approval of a petition addressed to this Committee.

1. The Committee on Curriculum and Instruction

The Committee on Curriculum and Instruction shall study the educational philosophy, policy, and programs of the College and make recommendations concerning them to the College Faculty. Specifically, the Committee shall review and make recommendations to the College Faculty concerning: 

a. The establishment, implementation, modification, and abolition of curricula, degrees, licenses, certifications, departments, schools, and bureaus
b. Changes in the College subject matter requirements for graduation 
c. Departmental and school proposals that affect a course or curriculum outside the department making the proposal 
d. Departmental and school proposals that set up a new curriculum
e. Departmental and school proposals that require changes in degrees awarded by the University
f. All new or revised undergraduate and graduate courses and programs proposed by departments and schools within the College. It shall make recommendations about graduate-level proposals to the College of Graduate Studies. 
g. The Committee on Curriculum and Instruction shall be responsible for continuing study of the Cooperative Education Program of the College and shall formulate and present to the Faculty recommendations for the development and improvement of this program, as well as estimates of its effectiveness.

1. The Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee shall oversee College elections. The committee shall prepare a ballot that will ensure that each committee maintains, when possible, disciplinary and rank diversity as described in Article VII, Section 2 of these bylaws.

By the end of the last week of January, this committee shall distribute a committee preference sheet to the Faculty in order to generate a slate of candidates. Faculty will have at least two weeks to return their completed committee preference sheets. Within three weeks of the deadline for returning completed preference sheets, the Nominating Committee will submit to the Faculty:

a. At least one nomination for Secretary of the College Faculty
b. A slate of candidates for each standing committee including the Nominating Committee
c. A slate of candidates for representatives from the College to the Faculty Senate, which must be elected by March 1
d. Candidates for the Honors College representative(s)
e. Candidates for the University PRC

The Nominating Committee shall do their best to ensure that all slates of nominees consist of at least one-and-a-half times the number to be elected and take into consideration any requirement to balance membership across College divisions and tenured/non-tenured positions.

1. The Steering Committee

The Steering Committee shall consist of the Dean (as Chairperson), the Secretary, the Chairpersons of the standing committees, and two faculty members elected at large (one from Science or Math, one from the Arts or Humanities). All matters for Faculty consideration shall be submitted in writing to the Steering Committee, which will assign business to the appropriate standing committees as necessary. The Steering Committee shall establish an agenda for each general College Faculty meeting.

1. The Committee on Budget and Planning

The Committee on Budget and Planning shall study the allocation of funds within the College, and make recommendations to the Dean on space, facilities, and budget development and planning within the College. The Committee shall also review proposals and recommend allocation of funds as described in Article 26 of the CBA.

1. The Faculty Affairs Committee

The Faculty Affairs Committee shall perform the following functions:

a. Personnel Policies: The Committee shall study personnel policies and actions related to the College Faculty (such as, but not limited to leaves, academic freedom, teaching loads, discrimination, and related matters), and make recommendations to the appropriate body or the Dean.

b. Workload Guidelines: The Faculty Affairs Committee shall work with the Dean's office to develop and amend College workload guidelines.

• When amendments are made, the committee shall explicitly solicit feedback from the college faculty before the committee votes.

c. Faculty Disputes: A faculty member of the College who has a dispute not covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and that has not been resolved with departmental/school and/or College academic authorities may request to be heard by the College Faculty Affairs Committee. Any resolution reached or recommendations for action deemed appropriate by the Faculty Affairs Committee will be forwarded to the Dean and any affected individuals.

d. Bylaw Amendments: The Committee shall consider proposals for amendment of these Bylaws and report their recommendations to the College Faculty for a college vote (see article IX).

• Whenever there is a new CBA, the committee will review for any necessary revisions to the bylaws.

e. Professional Leaves: The Committee shall review proposals for professional leave approved by schools and departments and make recommendations to the Dean of the College.  The Dean shall forward the Committee's recommendations to the University committee charged with acting on proposed leaves. The Committee shall consider the following, derived from Collective Bargaining Agreement (currently Article 20.4), in making positive /negative recommendations:

1. The extent to which the proposed activities will contribute to the development of the faculty member's capabilities in teaching, research, or public service
2. The expected benefits to the programs of the academic units of the College
3. The ability of the academic unit (or College) in question to cover the absence adequately

If the number of proposals that may be recommended by the College is limited, the Committee shall prioritize the proposals with positive recommendations being determined according to the guidelines listed in the CBA (currently Article 20.4).

Eligible faculty members asked to defer professional leave will be accorded priority in the following year. The eligibility for future professional leave of those deferred shall be calculated from the point at which they would have returned from leave in their original proposal.

1. The Committee on E-Learning

The Committee on E-Learning shall monitor the development and status of online courses and programs within the College; act as liaison between the University Center for eLearning, the Faculty Senate eLearning Committee and academic units in the College; consult with Faculty and programs offering and/or developing new online curriculum; and make recommendations to the Dean on policies related to online courses and programs.

1. The Peer Review Committee

The College Peer Review Committee shall review the dossiers of all candidates for promotion and/or tenure and all faculty members undergoing review in accordance with the principles and procedures established in the University Personnel Policies and the Collective Bargaining Agreement and make recommendations to the Dean. Only tenured members of the College bargaining unit as defined by the CSU AAUP contract may serve as members of the Peer Review Committee, and a majority of the members shall hold the rank of Professor.

Section 4 – Ad-Hoc Committees and Subcommittees

Other ad-hoc committees or subcommittees may be appointed by the Dean or may be created by Faculty action (a majority vote of the Faculty at a regular meeting or electronic vote). Any new standing committee shall be created by a majority vote of College Faculty on the recommendation of the College Faculty Affairs Committee and the Dean.

ARTICLE VIII – ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER

All meetings, except as otherwise provided for by the college bylaws, shall be conducted according to the most recently revised version of Robert's Rules of Order.

ARTICLE IX – BYLAW AMENDMENTS

A proposed amendment to these bylaws shall be submitted in writing at a faculty meeting. At a subsequent faculty meeting, not sooner than one week after the submission of the proposed amendment, the Faculty Affairs Committee will make their recommendation and Faculty shall determine by majority vote whether to submit the amendment to secret mail or electronic ballot. A vote of two-thirds of those casting mail or electronic ballots is required to amend these bylaws.

ARTICLE X - VOTING

Section 1

Whenever the Dean or one-third of the members present at a legal meeting deems an original main motion before the College to be a major issue, the Dean or the Faculty may require the vote on that motion to be by secret paper or electronic ballot. In these instances, a majority vote of the members present shall be used to determine whether to employ a paper or an electronic ballot.

Some issues, such as curricular proposals or nominating ballots, may arise that might be amenable to a vote in the absence of a legal meeting of the College. In these cases, the Dean may submit the potential vote to the Steering Committee. If the Steering Committee decides it is appropriate to vote upon the issue without a full meeting of the Faculty of the College, then a vote may proceed via electronic ballot. Otherwise, the issue must wait until the next legal meeting of the College.

In any case, if substantive errors in supporting information are documented while collecting ballots, the vote shall be considered invalid. 

Section 2

Voting for the election of the Secretary, committee members, and representatives to the Faculty Senate, UPRC, and Honors College shall be by secret mail or electronic ballot. The Nominating Committee shall decide whether to employ a mail or an electronic ballot.

Section 3

If an electronic ballot is used, it shall adhere to the following provisions:

a. First, the electronic voting method shall ensure that only eligible individuals vote.
b. Second, it shall ensure that eligible individuals vote only once.
c. Third, it shall ensure that responses are provided to the College members only in the aggregate; under no circumstances should any College member be able to link the identity of any voter to that voter's responses.
d. Fourth, it shall take reasonable precautions to ensure that the identity of voters and their responses are not revealed to any other party inside or outside the University. Such precautions should include password-protecting any database containing votes, and removal of the identity of voters from the database as soon as possible after the vote.
e. Finally, voters must be given at least five business days between the opening and closing of the balloting process.

ARTICLE XI – SENATE DELEGATION

The nominating committee should apportion the senators as close as possible to the following percentage guidelines by rounding:

• 45% science
• 15% arts
• 30% humanities

Any remaining positions will be filled by senators at large. This will be defined as the next eligible person receiving the highest number of votes. In all cases, no more than two members will come from any department.

Where possible, the Senate steering committee should include one senator from sciences and one from Arts and Humanities.