A.  Faculty Governance Council      

i.  Charge:  The Council shall be a forum for discussion of academic and personnel issues and shall recommend to the Dean policies and procedures for the College.  The Council operates in accordance with the faculty bylaws and procedures of Grand Valley State University.

ii.  Membership:  Faculty of the COE who hold tenure, tenure track, visiting, affiliate, and joint appointments of at least 51% in the COE shall comprise the membership. 

iii. Meetings:  Faculty Governance Council meetings will be held at least 2 times a semester (i.e., a minimum of 4 times per year) or at the petition of 15% of faculty.  Meetings will be open to all professional education faculty and staff, including those on joint appointments.  A majority of the Council’s members are needed to meet.  Faculty on approved university leave are invited to attend, but are not required to attend for the purpose of meeting quorum.   

iv.  Leadership:  The chair and vice-chair of the Faculty Council shall be tenured and elected by tenured and tenure track faculty.  Prior to the final year of the chair’s tenure, a vice-chair will be elected by tenured and tenure track faculty. The vice-chair will then serve a full term as chair beginning the following year. The chair will serve on the Dean’s Leadership team. 

v.  Elections:  The vice-chair will be selected at a meeting during the winter semester prior to the final year of the chair’s tenure.   

vi.  Terms:  The chair will serve a two-year term with the possibility of serving a second term. 

The vice-chair will serve a one-year term then move into the role of chair for two years. The terms will run through the calendar year, to include the summer as well as the academic year.  All faculty governance offices commence with the start of the academic year.  Current officers will assist in preparing the incoming officers during winter semester preceding that transition.

B.  College Personnel Committee (CPC)

i. Charge: To review and recommend to the Dean on all recommendations from the Units for promotion, tenure, contract renewal and sabbatical leaves; to raise any necessary issues of personnel policy with ECS; to review and recommend regarding dismissals for adequate cause referred by the Dean.

ii. Membership:  Five tenured faculty to be elected by Faculty Council, which consists of all the regular faculty. 

a) One member will be elected from each of the two units in the College of Education. 

b) One member will be elected at large from the College of Education regular faculty.

c) The remaining two members from appropriate disciplines outside the COE will be elected by the regular college faculty from those nominated. 

The provost, in consultation with the Dean of COE, will determine the slate of candidates from these nominees, which will be voted on by the faculty. 

All five committee members will vote on recommendations of support for COE faculty personnel actions.

At the first meeting of each fall semester, committee members will vote on whether the Dean will serve as an ex-officio member of the college personnel committee.   A report of the results of the vote will be sent to the Chair of Executive Council of the University Academic Senate. 

The committee will elect its own chair annually from among the three College of Education committee members. 

iii. Operations:

a) If the Dean is not serving as an ex-officio member, the chair of the committee will meet with the Dean to discuss its recommendations. 

b) The chair will call and facilitate meetings in accordance with deadlines specified in the University Handbook. 

c) Members will serve in staggered three-year terms.

C.  Unit Personnel Committee (UPC)

i. Charge: To review and recommend to the Unit Faculty on promotion, tenure, contract renewal, and sabbatical leaves; to raise any necessary issues of personnel policy.

ii. Membership: Five tenured members elected by unit faculty, serving staggered three-year terms.

iii. Voting: All five committee members will vote on recommendations of support for unit faculty personnel actions. 

iv. Meetings: A chair and vice chair will be selected by the committee and call and facilitate meetings.

D.  College Curriculum and Standards Committee (CCSC)

i. Charge: To review and recommend to the Dean on curricular matters, including proposals for new courses, programs, majors, minors, general education courses, prospectus and final plan proposals, and any other UCC document and criteria for program admission. The CCSC will monitor and review curricular consistency with the competencies and objectives established by NCATE, the State of Michigan and the relevant learned societies.

Curricular proposals will move from the initiating faculty member to the program coordinator, and to the initiating Department for a vote.  Proposals will then be forwarded to the CCSC for review and approval.

ii. Membership: Six tenured or tenure-track members elected by the faculty (3 from each department), serving 3 year staggered terms; chaired by a member elected by the committee. UCC representative is requested to attend CCSC meetings and vote only on proposals where there is a 3-3 tie.  Membership should reflect diversity of programs in both departments.

iii. Voting:  Two thirds eligible members are required to hold the meeting and a majority to hold the vote, which includes absentee ballots for those representatives with scheduled teaching assignments.  In the event of a tie the COE UCC representative will serve as a tie-breaker. 

iv. Meetings:  The CCSC will meet as needed.

v. Terms:  Members will serve three year staggered terms.

E.  Elections of Personnel and Curriculum and Standards Committees

i.  Members shall be elected by closed ballot for a three-year term at the first Faculty Council meeting of the academic year.  The members of the committee will elect their own chair-elect. 

ii.  Members may serve on a committee for a maximum of two consecutive terms (6 years).

iii. Terms of office shall be staggered to provide continuity (e.g., one-third of the membership will be elected yearly).

iv. Vacancies in department representation shall be filled by appropriate departments.  Vacancies of at large members shall be filled by Faculty Council.

F.  Voting

i.  Changes in the governance structure are made by two-thirds vote of all tenured and tenure track faculty.

ii.  Decisions are made by a majority of those voting.  A majority of eligible members are required to hold the vote, which includes absentee ballots for those with scheduled teaching assignments.             

Faculty on university-approved leave may cast an absentee ballot but are not required to for the purpose of meeting quorum.  Absentee ballots must be received by the Faculty Governance Council chair prior to the meeting for their vote to be valid. 

Those teaching faculty who are not on a tenure track may vote on programmatic or curricular issues. 

Only tenured and tenure-track faculty who are present at the time of the vote may cast ballots on personnel decisions. 

iii. All items requiring a vote must be distributed by email and/or written documents to all members at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which the vote will occur.

G.  Scholarship, Awards and Merit Committee

i. Charge: To review and select all COE Student scholarship recipients; to nominate and recommend to the dean faculty for meritorious performance; and to promote, select and recommend to the dean faculty for recognition through the annual faculty awards process.

ii. Membership: Six tenure/tenure track faculty members elected by the faculty (3 from each department) serving three year staggered terms, chaired by a member elected by the committee.  Two student representatives and a representative of the Dean’s office shall also be selected to serve on the committee. 

iii. Voting: A simple majority vote is needed for action by the Scholarships, Awards and Merit committee.  Votes and deliberations on faculty merit will be made by a sub-committee composed of the tenure/tenure-track faculty members only.  The Dean’s representative will serve as ex-officio for deliberations of the faculty subcommittee on faculty merit.