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BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS

 

ARTICLE I. NAME AND PURPOSE

The name of this body shall be the Faculty Senate of the 91Ö±²¥. As an authorized, representative body of the faculty, the Faculty Senate is constituted to promote and implement, consistent with the purposes of the University, maximum participation of the faculty in university governance.  In this capacity, the Faculty Senate will assist the administration in such matters of primary faculty responsibility and interest, such as academic standards and curriculum, student affairs, and administrative policy as it affects faculty welfare. Further, the Faculty Senate shall have authority in all matters affecting more than a single college, school, or a division and involving the establishment of curricula, the setting of standards of instruction, the determination of requirements for degrees, and generally the formulation of the educational policy of the University in such matters.

The Faculty Senate shall generally act as the representative of the entire Faculty. Faculty participation in shared governance at the University level will be conducted primarily by the Faculty Senate, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, and the Standing Committees of the Faculty Senate.

The Faculty Senate will recommend, when appropriate, faculty to serve on university-wide committees, including the search committees for University-wide administrators. The Faculty Senate shall establish, set charges for, and supervise Senate Committees.  It shall be responsible for populating membership of Faculty Senate Committees.

The Faculty Senate will advise the administration in the formulation and execution of policy with respect to the broadly defined goals, priorities, and financial needs of the University.
The Faculty Senate shall serve as the forum for meetings between University administration and faculty regarding relevant issues for debate and discussion. This body will also serve as a forum for advocacy of faculty prerogative and position on important academic and University matters.

The Faculty Senate shall assist in the dissemination of appropriate administrative information to faculty. The Faculty Senate will also communicate faculty interests to the public and public officials as deemed appropriate.

ARTICLE II. REPRESENTATION

Section A.  Composition and Voting Privileges. Faculty Senators shall be voting members in the Faculty Senate whereas non-faculty Senators shall be non-voting members. The Senate shall be composed of the following:

1.    Faculty
a.    Each academic unit (each college or the Library) shall be represented on the Senate Executive Committee, elected in a manner to be determined by that unit. This election shall precede and be separate from that for the remaining faculty Senators. Elected representation on the Senate Executive Committee from each unit is limited to full-time faculty, exclusive of the administrators of the rank of Dean or above, with at least five years of full time academic service at 91Ö±²¥, or tenure.
b.    The remaining faculty members of the Senate, elected from full-time faculty, exclusive of administrators of the rank of Dean or above, shall be divided among units to be one representative for every ten faculty members.  Each unit shall determine the manner in which their representatives are elected. Each unit with ten or more full-time faculty members at the rank of Instructor will have at least one Instructor representative to the Senate at all times.
c.    Each academic unit will have at least one Senator in addition to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee member.
d.    A duly elected senator shall be allowed to complete his/her term.
e.    The chief academic officer shall by December 1 of each year forward to the Senate Executive Committee the number of full-time faculty for each major unit, using the methods employed in The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reporting. The Senate Executive Committee will then compute the number of seats to be elected by each unit for the next year and shall notify each unit.
f.    At the beginning of each academic year, the Senate Executive Committee will nominate one adjunct faculty of the University to be a Senate member.
g.    Vacancies shall be filled in a manner to be determined by the respective electoral unit.
h.    If there should exist full-time faculty members who are not accorded representation on the Senate under the procedures outlined above, and if these faculty are associated with administrative units not large enough to merit individual Senate representation, the Senate Executive Committee shall develop a mutually satisfactory agreement by which these faculty will be attached to an appropriately represented unit for purposes of Senate representation, and for purposes of being eligible to be candidates and to vote in Senate elections. Such agreements will be subject to ratification by the full Senate.
2.    Students. The student body shall be represented by the President of the Student Government (or by his/her designee).
3.    Alumni. The alumni shall be represented by the President of the Alumni Association (or his/her designee).
4.    Staff. The staff shall be represented by the President of the UNO Staff Council (or his/her designee).
5.    Administration. Administration shall be represented by a Senate Executive Committee appointed member.

Section B. Terms of Service.

1.    Faculty. Full-time faculty shall serve staggered three-year terms. The adjunct faculty representative shall serve a one-year term.
2.    Students. The student representative shall serve a one-year term.
3.    Alumni. The alumni representative shall serve a one-year term.
4.    Staff. The staff representative shall serve a one-year term.
5.    Administration. The administrative representative shall serve a one-year term.
6.    All terms shall run from the end of the regular April meeting until the election for officers at the end of the regular April meeting the following year.
 
Section C. Timing of Elections.

1.    The elections of faculty Senators shall be staggered so that one-third of the elected representation from each unit shall be chosen each year.
2.    Senatorial elections shall be held in the spring semester no later than April 1.
The elected officers of the Senate shall be a President, Vice President, and Secretary. The Parliamentarian shall be appointed by the Senate President from faculty Senate members.

ARTICLE III. OFFICERS

Section A. Duties.

1.    The President shall be the presiding officer at all meetings of the Senate. The President shall have the primary responsibility for preparing the agenda for each meeting and shall circulate notices of meetings and agendas to the entire UNO community. The President shall maintain a Senate calendar of business in committees and shall publish an updated calendar with the agenda for each regular Senate meeting. The President shall monitor the status of all resolutions passed by the Senate that request action and take appropriate steps to expedite implementation of such actions. The President shall report on the status of all actions passed by the Senate but not yet implemented or rejected. The President shall serve as the faculty’s representative to the UL System Faculty Advisory Council and other statewide groups or may designate another member of the Senate to serve in his/her place. The President or his/her designee shall report to the Senate on issues being considered by any of these statewide groups that have an effect on the UNO campus.
2.    The Vice President shall assume the responsibilities of the President whenever the President is absent or otherwise unable to perform these duties and shall handle all correspondence of the Senate other than that specifically assigned to the Secretary. The Vice President shall keep minutes at the meetings of the Senate Executive Committee.
3.    The Secretary shall keep minutes of each meeting of the Senate and send them to the Senate President for inclusion with the meeting notice and the agenda for the upcoming meeting. The Secretary shall ensure that the approved minutes are posted to the Faculty Senate web page and SharePoint sites within one week after each Senate meeting. Reports made to the Senate shall be made available to the Secretary by electronic means within one week of the Senate meeting at which the report was made.
4.    The Parliamentarian shall ensure that all meetings are conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order (latest revision).

Section B. Elections and Terms of Office.

1.    Elected officers of the Senate shall be nominated and elected by majority vote of continuing and newly-elected members present at the regular April meeting.
2.    The Senate President, Vice President, and Secretary shall be elected from faculty Senate members.
3.    The officer elections shall be run by an Elections Officer appointed by the Senate President from the Senate Executive Committee and an elected representative from the Academic, Faculty and Administrative Affairs, and Budget and Fiscal Affairs Senate Committees. These individuals shall solicit and submit a slate of candidates for the Senate transition meeting elections, at least 7 days before the Senate meeting when the elections are to take place.
4. Officers of the Senate shall serve until their successors are elected.
5. Elected officers of the Senate shall serve a one-year term and be eligible for reelection but shall not serve more than three consecutive terms.

ARTICLE IV. COMMITTEES

Section A. Executive Committee.

The Senate President, the Vice President, the Secretary, and representatives elected by each college and the Library shall comprise the Senate Executive Committee. There shall be no more than two members from each of the colleges and Library serving on the Senate Executive Committee at any one time. The President shall chair the Senate Executive Committee. Each College and Library Representative may be assigned a specific role, such as Parliamentarian and Elections Officer. The Senate Executive Committee represents the faculty as an advisory committee to the University President, making recommendations and stating faculty viewpoints concerning the policies and proposed policies of UNO.

The Senate Executive Committee shall hold administrative authority for the Faculty Senate. It shall meet regularly to review proposals and resolutions submitted to the Senate for action and to determine whether the matter should become an item of Senate business. The Senate Executive Committee may seek clarification of the submitted item from the senator who originated it. If the Senate Executive Committee agrees that the matter deserves Senate attention, it shall assign the item to a Senate Committee, or refer the issue to a University committee, with a specific written charge, a tentative timetable for action, and a recommendation to work with other University committees, if appropriate. If the Senate Executive Committee chooses not to accept an item for Senate action, it may refer the matter to the administration. Decisions by the Senate Executive Committee may be appealed to the entire Senate. The President shall report the actions of the Executive Committee to the Senate. The Senate Executive Committee members from each college and the Library will also be responsible for nominating or ensuring the election of faculty members to Senate and non- Senate committees from their own colleges and the Library. The Senate Executive Committee will also be responsible for reviewing the committee structure and charges at the beginning of each academic year to ensure that the committee structure, charges, and memberships are updated.

Section B. Senate Committees

There shall be three Senate Committees whose duty is to study proposals and resolutions submitted to the Senate and to recommend appropriate action on them to the full Senate. These are the Academic Committee, the Faculty and Administrative Affairs Committee, and the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee. The membership of these three committees shall be comprised of faculty Senators only. There shall be two additional Senate Committees whose duty is to oversee specific areas of the University’s education curriculum. These are the General Education Committee and the University Courses and Curriculum Committee. The membership of these two committees shall include a combination of faculty Senators and non-Senators. 

Each faculty Senator shall serve on at least one Senate Committee. Members of each Senate Committee will elect the Chair Each committee is to regularly report to the Senate Executive Committee, is responsible for submitting an annual report to the Senate, and making more frequent reports to the Senate if warranted or if requested by the Senate Executive Committee. Each committee elects its own Chair from within its membership.

Academic Committee
Charge: The Academic Committee has oversight over all faculty committees involving issues related to instruction and research, including the Academic Program Review Committee and University Courses & Curricula Committee. This Committee formulates and reviews policies, rules, and regulations governing the admission, readmission, academic standing, and dismissal of all students for academic deficiency. The Committee examines policies and procedures for academic advisement, scheduling of classes, academic calendar and registration. Additionally, the Committee creates and analyzes policies to be observed by the instructional faculty in conducting classes, seminars, examinations, students' research, and student evaluations including distance education. The Chair of the Academic Committee shall meet with the Senate Executive Committee regularly to update the Senate Executive Committee on the progress of existing charges and discuss any new charges. The Academic Committee shall work with the appropriate entities in Academic Affairs to resolve these issues. The Academic Committee is responsible for populating its committees with the assistance of each college’s and Library’s representative on the Senate Executive Committee, where appropriate.
Membership: It shall consist of Senate members with at least one representative from each college selected by the Senate Executive Committee.

Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee
Charge:    The Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee shall review the University-wide budgets in cooperation with appropriate officers of the Administration. It shall apprise itself of the general financial position of the University and provide input into significant policy and priority aspects of budget decisions, particularly those related to faculty. It shall report all significant plans to the Senate, with recommendations when appropriate. At least two members of this Committee shall serve on the University Budget Committee.
Membership: It shall consist of Senate members with at least one representative from each college selected by the Senate Executive Committee.

Faculty and Administrative Affairs Committee
Charge: The Faculty and Administrative Affairs Committee is responsible for oversight and input into issues in which faculty interests intersect with administrative functions including oversight of disciplinary committees such as the Charges Committee, Grievance Review Committee, Peer Review Oversight Committee, and Hearings Committee Pool; input into services which contribute to the recruitment, retention, and welfare of faculty including University orientation, housing, payroll deductions, insurance, and health services. The Committee is directly responsible for the faculty evaluation and workload policies, tenure, promotion, and sabbatical issues, and evaluation of administrators.
Membership: It shall consist of Senate members with at least one representative from each college selected by the Senate Executive Committee.

General Education Committee
Charge:  The General Education Committee shall provide leadership and serve as a resource for the overall direction and support of the general education curriculum.  The Committee monitors general education requirements and reviews proposed changes made to general education offerings; further, it oversees general education assessment and evaluation to insure integrated, meaningful and sustained improvement of general education student learning outcomes.

The Committee shall develop and maintain criteria for general education courses, provide steward data for improvement purposes, provide recommendations for budgeting and strategic planning based on assessment results and shall communicate the results of assessment efforts to appropriate campus and external stakeholders to promote accountability and transparency.

Membership:  This committee shall consist of one Senator from the College of Sciences and one Senator from the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Human Development.  Further, among non-Senator members, the Chair of First-Year English, the Chair of First-Year Math, with one member from the College of Business Administration, one member from the College of Engineering and one member from the Library shall serve.  The latter members of this committee will be chosen in consultation between the Senate representatives and pertinent administrators of the Colleges of Business Administration, the College of Engineering and the Library. 

An ex officio, non-voting member representing the Office of Academic Affairs is included in committee membership. The ex officio membership shall be held by the Associate Provost for Academic Programs/Academic Affairs or a suitable representative from the Office of Academic Affairs. The Committee also has the right to ask those with special expertise and those with special interests for their input into decision making processes.

University Courses and Curriculum Committee
Charge:  The University Courses and Curriculum Committee is responsible for oversight of all matters pertaining to University courses and curricula.  It is charged with acting on behalf of the Faculty Senate in advising the Office of Academic Affairs, particularly regarding proposed additions, changes or dropping of courses and curricula.  The Committee is charged with assuring that uniform and proper formats are utilized in submissions of such alternations, with special attention to be given to issues related to student learning outcomes.  The Committee will not consider matters before it that have not received approval from pertinent Department and College Courses and Curriculum Committees.

The Committee is further charged with oversight over support for and encouragement of inter-program and inter-college collaboration to insure that new programs/courses or alterations to existing programs/courses are consistent with the mission and strategic plan of the University and should conduct ongoing evaluation of courses, curricula and educational requirements to assure such consistency.  All recommendations should be made in consultation with each academic unit affected by any alterations.  All recommendations subsequently approved by the Committee will be forwarded to the Office of Academic Affairs for action consistent with the recommendation.

Membership:  This committee shall consist of one Senator from each College, as well as one non-Senate member from each College and the Library.  The latter members of this committee will be chosen in consultation between the Senate representatives and pertinent administrators of each College and the Library.

Given the nature of this Committee, a number of ex officio members are included in committee membership.  Ex officio members include the Associate Provost for Academic Programs/Academic Affairs, the Director of the Graduate School, the Director of Catalogs and Curriculum and the Assistant Director for Degree Audit.  The Committee also has the right to ask those with special expertise and those with special interests for their input into decision making processes.

Section C. Senate Ad-hoc Committees.

Any Senate Committee may establish ad-hoc committees for the purpose of addressing specific and major faculty and/or institutional concerns within their realm of responsibility. Upon activation of a specific committee, the Committee shall prepare a specific charge for the committee and include the form and timing of the response requested.

ARTICLE V. MEETINGS

Section A.

A regular meeting of the Senate must be held monthly on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rotation, except December, during the fall and spring semesters. Special meetings shall be convened on the call of the Senate President or on the request of four members of the Senate addressed to the Senate Secretary.

Section B.

All meetings shall be open to members of the UNO faculty, staff, student body, and alumni, except when the Senate, by majority vote of those present, designates a meeting or portion thereof as an executive session.

ARTICLE VI. NOTICE OF MEETINGS

One week before the date of regular meetings, an electronic notice shall be sent to the entire UNO community. Notices of special meetings must precede the meeting date by 7 days and shall be circulated as indicated for notices of regular meetings. All notices of meetings must contain as complete an agenda as possible. Members of the Senate may have items included on the agenda by forwarding them to the Senate President two weeks in advance of the regular meeting.

ARTICLE VII. QUORUM

A majority of the voting membership of the Senate shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any regular or special meeting of the Senate.

ARTICLE VIII. RULES OF ORDER

When not in conflict with the Bylaws and Regulations of the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System, Robert’s Rules of Order (latest revision) shall constitute the rules of parliamentary procedure applicable to all meetings of the Senate.

ARTICLE IX. ACTIONS OF THE SENATE

Any action taken by the Faculty Senate may be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the Faculty Council, present and voting, provided that a quorum is met, provided that such veto is voted at a Faculty Council meeting not later than 30 days after the decision.

ARTICLE X. AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS

Amendments to sections I, II, and X of these Bylaws may be made by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Faculty Senate present and voting, provided that a quorum is met, prior written notice of one week having been given to all members of the Faculty Senate of the proposed amendment, or by a majority vote of the Faculty Council via an in-person vote. Amendments to sections III through IX of these Bylaws may be made by affirmative vote of one-half of the Faculty Senate present and voting, provided that a quorum is met, prior written notice of one week having been given to all members of the Faculty Senate of the proposed amendment. [Faculty Senate approved by the Faculty Council on December 7, 2011; Amended by approval of Faculty Senate on April 30, 2012; Amended by approval of Faculty Senate on March 26, 2014; Amended by approval of Faculty Senate on April 24, 2014; Amended by approval of Faculty Senate on March 25, 2015; Amended by approval of Faculty Senate on January 31, 2017; Approved by Faculty Council by online vote on December 13, 2019]