BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY SENATE
JOHN A. BURNS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
The Faculty Senate
The Faculty Senate shall be composed of the members of the Voting Faculty
(JABSOM faculty employed at least .5 FTE) elected from each
department/division of the School. The Faculty Senate shall be chaired by a
President and shall meet monthly to discuss all matters brought before it by any
of its members, the Dean, Standing Committees of the School, or the Executive
Committee. The Faculty Senate shall, by majority vote, make recommendations
to or advise the Dean and Executive Committee on these matters. Members of
the Senate unable to attend the meeting may designate, in writing to the
President, alternates from the Voting Faculty in their department/division to
represent them and vote on their behalf at that meeting. Special meetings of the
Faculty Senate may be called by its President or by the written request to the
President of five of its members. A quorum of the Faculty Senate shall consist of
six faculty senate members or their designees (as emailed to the secretary prior
to the meeting).
ARTICLE I: OFFICERS OF THE FACULTY SENATE
1. The President
The President of the Faculty Senate (President) shall preside at all meetings of
the faculty and the Faculty Senate except as provided in sections 2 and 3 below.
The President shall be an ex-officio member of all Faculty Senate Committees,
and may vote only to break a tie. The President shall appoint, with the approval
of the Faculty Senate, Chairpersons of all Faculty Senate Committees, unless
otherwise specified herein. The President, with the approval of the Faculty
Senate, may appoint Ad Hoc Committees of the Faculty Senate and ex-officio,
non-voting members to the Faculty Senate, which may include school
representatives to university-wide committees or organizations. The President
shall serve for a term of two years. If the President is unable to complete the
term, the Vice-President shall assume the office and remain in that office for the
subsequent term.
2. The Vice-President
The Vice-President of the Faculty Senate (Vice-President) shall preside at
meetings of the faculty and Faculty Senate in the President’s absence. If the
President is a member of the Clinical Science Faculty, the Vice-President shall
be a member of the Basic Science Faculty. If the President is a member of the
Basic Science Faculty, the Vice-President shall be a member of the Clinical
Science Faculty. (For purposes of this and other sections of this document, Basic
Science Faculty will include members of the Department of Public Health
Sciences and Epidemiology and the Department of Allied Medical Science). The
Vice-President shall serve for a term of two years and automatically succeed to
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the Presidency. A vacancy in the office of Vice-President shall be filled through a
special election of the Senate held within 90 days of the vacancy.
3. The Secretary
The Secretary of the Faculty Senate (Secretary) shall keep the minutes of all
meetings of the faculty and the Faculty Senate and conduct the correspondence
and keep the records of the Faculty Senate. The Secretary shall notify the faculty
of each faculty meeting and Faculty Senate members of each Faculty Senate
meeting, give all notices required by these Bylaws or by order of the Faculty
Senate and shall perform such other duties as the President may assign. The
Secretary shall solicit items for the agenda of faculty and Faculty Senate
meetings, prepare the agenda for these meetings in consultation with the
President and distribute the agenda prior to these meetings. The Secretary shall
determine whether a quorum is present and supervise voting and other
administrative procedures at all meetings of the faculty or Faculty Senate. In the
absence of the President and Vice-President, the Secretary shall preside at
meetings of the faculty or Faculty Senate. The Secretary shall serve for a term of
two years and may succeed himself or herself in the same office. A vacancy in
the office of Secretary shall be filled through a special election of the Senate held
within 90 days.
4. The Treasurer
The Treasurer of the Faculty Senate (Treasurer) shall maintain all financial
records and pay all bills as authorized by the Faculty Senate. The Treasurer shall
make a report of the finances at the Annual Meeting of the Faculty. The
Treasurer shall serve for a term of two years and may succeed himself or herself
in the same office. A vacancy in the office of Treasurer shall be filled through
ARTICLE II. FUNCTION
The Faculty Senate shall function as a representative body of the faculty and
shall obtain broadly based faculty input regarding affairs of JABSOM. The
Faculty Senate shall consider any matter brought before it by its members, the
faculty, the Executive Committee, and the Dean, to find facts relative to such
matters and formulate principles and objectives so as to make recommendations
or advise the Dean, the Executive Committee or other individuals or groups as
appropriate. It shall make recommendations to the Dean regarding appointments
to Standing Committees of the School and approve members and chairpersons
of Committees of the Faculty Senate. It shall receive reports from the
Administration, the Executive Committee and Standing Committees of the School
and shall report regularly to the faculty regarding activities of the Administration,
the Executive Committee, the Faculty Senate, Standing Committees of the
School or other matters deemed appropriate.
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2. Executive Committee
The Officers of the Faculty Senate shall comprise the Executive Committee of
the Faculty Senate. The Executive Committee shall be empowered to act on
behalf of the Faculty Senate during the interval between Faculty Senate
meetings and shall report such actions at the subsequent meeting of the Faculty
Senate. The Steering Committee shall consider and formulate long range goals
of the Faculty Senate and plan the Annual Meeting of the Faculty.
3. Departmental Representatives
Each Department/Division/Center of the School shall elect, from among the
Voting Faculty holding primary appointments in the Department/Division/Center,
one or more persons to represent it on the Faculty Senate. Such elected
members shall be referred to as “Departmental Representatives”. A
Departmental Representative shall serve a term of three years and may not
serve for more than two successive terms. Their terms shall be staggered by
electing one-third of the Departmental Representatives each year.
Departmental voting representation on the Faculty Senate shall be apportioned
on the basis of the total number of Voting Faculty holding primary appointments
in the Department/Division/Center as of February 1 of the year of the election, as
follows:
1-15 Voting Faculty: 1 Departmental Representative
16 or greater Voting Faculty: 2 Departmental Representatives
Elected Departmental Representatives, if unable to attend a Faculty Senate
meeting, shall designate alternate Voting Faculty members from their
departments to attend the meeting in their absence and vote on their behalf,
except that other elected representatives may not be so delegated. If elected
Departmental Representatives, themselves, are not present at three consecutive
Faculty Senate meetings, they shall be required to provide reasonable excuse to
the Executive Committee or resign from the Faculty Senate.
If a Representative is unable to complete his or her term of office, the
Department/Division/Center shall elect a replacement Representative within 30
days of the date of the vacancy or resignation. Representatives elected in this
way shall complete the term of the individual they are replacing and be eligible
for re-election.
ARTICLE III. ELECTION
1. Officers of the Faculty Senate
Officers of the Faculty Senate shall be members of the Faculty Senate. At the
first meeting of the Faculty Senate in the 2001-2002 academic year the members
will elect a slate of officers including a President, Vice-President (President
Elect), Secretary and Treasurer by secret ballot from amongst the membership of
the Faculty Senate. Nominations will be solicited from the membership and the
election will be conducted by the current President. Thereafter, every other year
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beginning in academic year 2003-04, a new set of officers consisting of a VicePresident (President Elect), Secretary and Treasurer will be elected.
2. Departmental/Division/Center Representatives
Not less than 90 days prior to July 1, the Secretary shall request that each
Department/Division/Center having Representatives whose terms on the Faculty
Senate are due to expire within the year conduct an election within that unit to
select a replacement representative. The names of the successful candidate(s)
shall be forwarded to the Secretary prior to July 1.
3. Terms of Office
Terms of office of Officers of the Faculty and Department/Division/Center
Representatives shall begin on July 1 and end on June 30 of the appropriate
year.
ARTICLE IV: FACULTY SENATE COMMITTEES
1. General
The President of the Faculty shall appoint chairpersons to all Committees of the
Faculty Senate annually, except the Appointment-Review Committees.
The President, in consultation with each Committee chairperson, shall
recommend to the Faculty Senate individuals from among the Faculty Senate to
be appointed to each Committee. Members of Committees shall serve terms of
two years, with one-half of the members appointed each year. Terms shall begin
on July 1 and end on June 30 of the appropriate year. Student members will
serve terms of one year which may be renewed. Committee chairpersons shall
submit annual reports of Committee activities to the Faculty Senate prior to the
Annual Meeting of the Faculty. A quorum shall be a majority of the Committee
membership.
2. Appointment Review Committee
The Appointment Review Committee shall seek candidates from among the
Voting Faculty to fill vacancies on Standing Committees of the School. This
Committee shall recommend to the Faculty Senate a list of eligible candidates to
fill these positions at least 60 days prior to the time the positions become vacant
or, if such notice is not possible, as early as possible after the vacancy occurs.
Following a vote of approval by the Faculty Senate, the names of the
recommended appointees shall be submitted to the Dean.
The Committee shall be composed of five Faculty Senate members. The VicePresident of the Faculty shall be included as one of these members and shall
serve as its Chairperson.
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3. Ad Hoc Committees
The President may appoint Ad Hoc Faculty Senate Committees, as appropriate,
and shall inform the Faculty Senate and the Dean of the Committee membership
and purpose at or before the meeting of the Faculty Senate following the
Committee’s appointment.
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