BY-LAWS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
Adopted November 7, 1975
Amended April 30, 1999
Last Amended May 6, 2011
Preamble
It is desirable that all members of the faculty participate in the policy decisions affecting
academic standards, research facilities, and personnel matters. The principles of election
to committees and the rotation of committee assignments will enable virtually every
faculty member to weigh policy, which will result in informed recommendations, an
increase in the range of alternatives, and widened perspectives on policy. These
principles will also encourage innovation while maintaining continuity of policy -- a
condition that tends to minimize conflict and to discourage apathy. Each member of the
faculty deserves the opportunity to serve on departmental committees, as this service is
regarded by the university as a mark of merit, power, and influence.
Although the Department and university are committed to the principle of elections
without regard to distinctions of rank, seniority, and tenure, some concessions to these
will have to be made in the cases of promotion and tenure.
Members of the faculty have the right to appeal or request reconsideration of any
personnel decisions on promotion, tenure, and annual merit evaluations. Procedures
governing such appeals and/or requests are described later in these bylaws or in the
Evaluation of Professional Performance (EOPP) document governing annual merit.
Article I: THE FACULTY
The faculty is the policy making body within the Department of Sociology, interpreting
policy as well as formulating it. With the exception of the Promotion and Tenure
Committee, it elects the standing committees of the Department and the Director of
Graduate Studies, elects the ad hoc committees as the need arises, and has the right to
issue procedural regulations for any of its committees. If the faculty should issue such a
procedural rule, it will go into effect at the end of the semester during which it was
adopted and will take precedence over any regulation previously adopted by the
committee.
Faculty meetings will ordinarily occur once a month. As used in these Bylaws, Faculty
are those with tenure or on tenure-track appointments; “voting members of the
department" include the following: (l) all persons holding faculty rank in sociology, (2)
internship coordinator, and (3) a representative of other instructional staff, including
visiting professors and temporary instructors. The representative of instructional staff
must be on at least ¾ time for the second or subsequent year.
Faculty meetings may take one of three formats: 1) Open to all voting members of the
department plus one non-voting undergraduate representative and one non-voting
graduate student representative, which will be called an Open session and is expected to
be the typical meeting format; 2) Open only to voting members of the department, known
as an Executive session, or 3) A mixed format involving a combination of Open and
Executive sessions. Executive sessions may be scheduled in advance as a part of the
faculty meeting agenda, or may result from a successful motion in Open session.
Voting members of the department and both student representatives should be notified of
faculty meetings, and a meeting agenda should be circulated at least one day in advance
of a meeting.
For purposes of voting, a quorum shall consist of a majority of the voting members of the
department. Voting may occur in either open or executive session meeting formats.
Proxy voting will be permitted only when the proxy voter does so in writing and states
the motion on which the proxy vote is being cast. The voter also must be present for at
least a portion of the meeting and for the specific issue on which proxy voting is being
done. The vote is left with the departmental Chairperson.
If a departmental committee acts unfavorably on a proposal brought before it by a faculty
member, the faculty member may present it at the next regular faculty meeting, when the
committee will also report its recommendations. This provision specifically excludes
personnel matters.
Article II: THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE DEPARTMENT
The Chairperson is responsible to the faculty for carrying out policy; calling regular and
special faculty meetings; setting agenda of regular faculty meetings upon consultation
with committee chairpersons; calling meetings of the Council; acting as faculty liaison
with the Dean and other administrative branches of the university; and in general, for the
smooth running of the Department.
The Chairperson is an ex officio member of every departmental committee except the
Appeals Board, lacking the right to vote on deliberations but furnishing information. In
case of disagreement with a committee, the Chairperson has the right to take the case to
the entire faculty.
When the need arises for immediate policy decisions occasioned by non-recurring and
nonforseeable events, the Chairperson may consult with the Council either individually or
collectively. Such decisions, however, must be referred to the entire faculty at its next
regular meeting for its concurrence or nonconcurrence with the principles involved in the
decision.
The departmental Chairperson is officially invested with the authority to schedule classes
offered by the Department, in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies
and the Director of Graduate Studies.
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In consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, the Chairperson allocates the
graduate assistantships on the recommendations of the Graduate Committee. This
committee should specify the criteria and procedures utilized in granting the awards.
In addition to being consulted by the Faculty Recruitment Committee in its decisions to
issue invitations to candidates to visit the campus and to make offers of positions, the
departmental Chairperson may vote as a member of the faculty on prospective
candidates.
When a new Chairperson is to be appointed, the departmental Chairperson will announce
the open position to the Department Council, and Council, in writing, will call for
candidates and will set a deadline no sooner than two weeks after such announcement
when nominations of candidates will be closed. One week and again two days prior to the
close of nominations, Council will circulate a list of candidates to the faculty.
Subsequently, Council (excluding any candidates) will convene a meeting in which the
candidates can be queried by members of the Department, conduct an election of
nominees to the Dean, count the ballots, and report the vote totals to the Department and
to the College. The process for selecting a Chairperson to a second consecutive term is
identical to the initial appointment.
The electorate will consist of all faculty of the Department. Voting will be by written,
secret ballot sent to the residence of each member of the faculty no less than ten calendar
days prior to the advertised deadline for voting.
The Chairperson’s initial term shall be from three to five years, as mutually agreed by the
Chairperson-select and the Dean. A second term, if elected by the faculty and authorized
by the Dean, shall be for three years. A Chairperson may not serve more than two
successive terms.
The Chairperson will be evaluated annually by the members of the Council, including the
Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Director of Graduate Studies.
Article III: DIRECTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
The Director of Undergraduate Studies is responsible to the faculty for implementing its
policies regarding the undergraduate program. In this capacity the Director will oversee
the undergraduate advising program and the process for admitting undergraduate students
to major or minor in sociology. The Director will advise the departmental Chairperson on
the scheduling of undergraduate courses. The Director is a nonvoting member of the
departmental Council and nonvoting, ex officio member of Curriculum Committee, as it
deals with undergraduate curriculum matters. The Director will serve as the advisor or
designate a full-time member of the department who, in consultation with the Director,
will be the advisor of the Sociology SAC, and carry out the responsibilities mandated to
that position.
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The Director of Undergraduate Studies will be nominated by the departmental
Chairperson and confirmed by majority vote of the faculty, normally for a maximum of
two consecutive two-year terms. If nominated for a final third consecutive term, the
Director must be confirmed by a two-thirds majority of the faculty. If the Chairperson's
nominee is not confirmed, the Director of Undergraduate Studies will be elected by the
faculty.
Article IV: DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE STUDIES
The Director of Graduate Studies is responsible to the faculty for implementing its
policies regarding the graduate program. In this capacity the Director of Graduate Studies
will check on the progress and work of the graduate assistants and deal with the graduate
students' problems. The Director of Graduate Studies will advise the departmental
Chairperson on the scheduling of graduate courses. The Director is a nonvoting member
of the departmental Council and a nonvoting, ex officio member of the Curriculum
Committee, as it deals with graduate curriculum matters. The Director will consult with
the Graduate Committee and will advise the departmental Chairperson on the allocation
of graduate assistantships. The Director of Graduate Studies will be elected for a twoyear term by the faculty for a maximum of two consecutive two-year terms and must
belong to the graduate faculty.
Article V: REPRESENTATIVE TO THE LIBERAL ARTS AND
SCIENCES COLLEGE COUNCIL
The College Council consists of one tenured faculty member from each Department. The
representative from Sociology will be elected by the faculty by ballot from a list of those
eligible and willing to serve. The elected representative will serve for a two-year term.
Article VI: DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEES
Section A: COMMITTEES AND SELECTION PROCEDURES
The following shall constitute the standing committees of the Department:
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Assessment
Awards
Curriculum
Development
Faculty Recruitment
Graduate
Promotion and Tenure
The election of voting members of the department Council and the chairpersons of
standing committees of the department will be by ballot of the faculty, with the exception
of the Personnel Committee, which is selected by lot. Only faculty are eligible to serve
on Council and the standing committees. In addition to the standing committees, two ad
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hoc committees shall be selected annually: The Personnel Committee and the Appeals
Board.
The elections will occur each spring and, with the exception of the Director of
Undergraduate Studies, those elected will take office immediately. The Director of
Undergraduate Studies will take office at the beginning of the next contract year
(normally August 16th). Elections will proceed in the following order: Department
Council, College Council Representative, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of
Graduate Studies, chairpersons of the standing committees, members of the standing
committees. Members, exclusive of chairpersons, will be chosen by any method the
faculty deems appropriate. With the exception of the Promotion and Tenure Committee,
the normal size of each committee is two or three (excluding ex officio members),
although this may vary in practice.
Section B: COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND DUTIES
1. The Assessment Committee
The Assessment Committee will conduct periodic assessments of the department's
undergraduate, graduate, and general education programs, in accordance with
departmental and university policy.
2. The Awards Committee
In consultation with the departmental Chairperson, the Awards Committee shall organize
an annual awards ceremony for especially meritorious students and select student
recipients for those awards, including named endowed awards, student writing awards,
and other awards as deemed appropriate by the Committee.
3. The Curriculum Committee
The Committee's principal duties are to consider suggestions regarding the curriculum
and to present curricular proposals to the faculty. The committee may appoint additional
faculty for consultation on a single occasion or on a recurring basis if this is necessary to
complete its work. If not otherwise elected to the Committee, the Director of
Undergraduate Studies and the Director of Graduate Studies serve as nonvoting ex officio
members of the Committee as it deals with undergraduate and graduate matters,
respectively.
4. The Development Committee
The committee's general task is to explore and develop resources to enhance the
department's teaching and research missions. It will work with the library to coordinate
and periodically examine library holdings in sociology. It will work with the Graduate
School and the graduate student representative to invite colloquium speakers.
5. The Faculty Recruitment Committee
The Chairperson of the committee must hold tenure. The committee is authorized to
perform all duties necessary to the hiring of all faculty members who come under the
jurisdiction of the Affirmative Action program of the University.
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For the recruitment of faculty, the Committee will proceed as follows: It will handle the
correspondence involved in exploring for new faculty. In consultation with the
Chairperson of the Department of Sociology, the Committee will issue invitations to
candidates to visit the campus and arrange colloquia and other events to occur during
these visits. At the completion of all scheduled visits, the Committee will poll the faculty
employing pairwise comparisons by faculty who judge themselves sufficiently familiar
with each member of each pair to make a valid comparison and will announce both the
results of this polling and the Committee's own recommendation. In the event there is a
material difference between the Committee's recommendation and the result of faculty
polls, the Committee will defer recommending a formal offer to the Dean and will wait
for a period of three days to enable the faculty to petition for a reconsideration of the
announced recommendation of the Committee. If within this period of three days at least
one-third of the faculty in Sociology sign and submit a petition to the Department
Chairperson asking for reconsideration of this recommendation, the Committee will
convene a meeting to which all faculty will be invited. If a quorum is present at the
meeting, a three-fifths vote of those present against the recommended candidate will
constitute a veto of the recommendation.
For the recruitment of temporary instructors, the Committee will act on behalf of the
faculty, as long as appropriate Affirmative Action and other relevant university
procedures are followed.
6. The Graduate Committee
The Chairperson of this Committee is the Director of Graduate Studies. The
Committee’s primary duties are to advise the Director on the selection of applicants for
graduate study and for assistantships, and to assist the Director in the preparation and
evaluation of student performance on comprehensive exams, enlisting other faculty as
needed to ensure appropriate expertise. Members must be full or senior members of the
graduate faculty.
7. The Promotion and Tenure Committee
The Promotion and Tenure Committee is vested with the responsibility for all actions that
refer to the promotion, tenure, and retention of faculty. The Promotion and Tenure
Committee will be composed of all tenured members of the Department of Sociology.
The Chairperson, who must have tenure, will be elected by the faculty. Meetings during
which personnel reviews of specific individuals are conducted will be closed to anyone
not a member of this committee. Policy meetings, however, are open to all faculty. For
the purpose of conducting business, a quorum shall consist of two-thirds of the
membership of the committee exclusive of the departmental and members on leave who
choose not to participate.
The phrase "first meeting" is defined to mean the first meeting of the full Promotion and
Tenure Committee. Prior to the first meeting, a committee member may submit a request,
preferably in writing, to the committee Chairperson to be excused from the full
committee meeting for strong, compelling reasons. At the beginning of the meeting the
committee shall decide whether or not to approve the request. If approved, that individual
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shall not be considered a part of the quorum count. Actions that do not refer to the
promotion, tenure, and retention of particular individuals will be based on a majority vote
of those present and voting so long as a quorum is present.
Faculty who hold the rank of Professor are eligible to vote on promotions to that rank.
Faculty who hold the rank of Professor or Associate Professor are eligible to vote on
promotions to Associate Professor. Tenured faculty are eligible to vote on tenure.
Positive recommendations for promotion and/or tenure will be made when approved by a
majority of all members of the committee who are eligible to vote, not on leave, and not
excused from the meeting.
All meetings of the committee shall be announced through written notices placed in the
office mailboxes and sent to the official email addresses of all members with tenure,
including the Chairperson of the Department, at least ten working days prior to the
meeting. These notices shall contain a complete and clearly worded agenda.
A subcommittee consisting of two or three members of the full committee shall do the
initial screening and submit a written report to the full committee. The report will be
available to committee members and the candidate for at least five working days prior to
the meeting to consider promotion and tenure. The subcommittee shall be elected by the
members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee from a ballot listing all those eligible
and willing to serve. The Chair of the Promotion and Tenure Committee is eligible for
election to the subcommittee. Should a committee member wish to present opposing
arguments, s/he may do so, with such comments to be read at the meeting. The candidate
may also submit comments which will be read at the meeting.
Once the full committee has made its recommendation, the departmental Chairperson
shall announce a date for transmittal of the departmental recommendation to the College.
There shall be at least five working days between the departmental decision and
transmission of the recommendation to the College.
Minority reports may be submitted together with the departmental recommendation if
signed by one or more members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee who were
present and voting at the meeting in which the departmental recommendation was
adopted.
The candidate may examine the departmental recommendations and minority reports, if
any, and may submit a written statement which shall be transmitted to the College
together with the departmental recommendations and the minority reports.
8. The Council
The Council's membership will consist of five members elected annually and three
nonvoting ex officio members: the departmental Chairperson, the Director of
Undergraduate Studies, and the Director of Graduate Studies. The elected members of the
Council will be chosen by written ballot at least one week prior to the last faculty meeting
of each academic year. If necessary, ties will be broken by a runoff election; remaining
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ties will be broken by a random process. At least one voting member of the Council
should hold tenure.
Prior to other departmental elections, the Council will receive nominations (including
self-nominations) for College Council Representative, Director of Graduate Studies, and
chairpersons of the standing committees. The Council will present an unedited list of
nominees, to which others may be added, at the faculty meeting at which the remaining
elections will be conducted.
The Council is responsible for the overall implementation of departmental policies.
Subject to the faculty's will, the Council may make broad recommendations to the
committees and will make recommendations pertinent to the number and types of new
faculty to be recruited in the next academic year. Should the Department Chairperson
seek it, the Council will advise about any policy occasioned by events of a nonrecurring
and unforeseeable nature. Furthermore, it will supply any advice requested by the
Chairperson, but the final decision is the Chairperson's responsibility. The Council will
make emergency policy decisions and interpretations in areas not already decided by the
faculty, but such decisions and interpretations must be reported to the faculty at the
earliest possible date for its consideration and ratification.
Excluding the Department Chairperson, the tenured members of the Council will serve as
the faculty Grade Appeals Panel, provided that at least four members of the Council hold
tenure; otherwise, the Department Chairperson will appoint additional faculty as needed
to comprise a Grade Appeals Panel of four tenured faculty.
The graduate-faculty members of the Council will serve as the Department's Credentials
Review Committee for graduate faculty membership.
The Council will evaluate (and rank if required) faculty proposals for leave with pay,
research stipends, and similar awards. Finally, the Council will make an annual
departmental budget review. The Council must be consulted and approve requests for
funding that are not routine expenses and greater than an amount to be established by the
Council at the beginning of each year. Such requests should take the form of a proposal
to the Chair, which will be shared as necessary with the Council.
All Council members, excepting the departmental Chairperson, the Director of
Undergraduate Studies, and the Director of Graduate Studies, are voting members. No
voting member shall serve more than three consecutive years as a voting member, with
the lapse of at least one year to re-establish eligibility. Nonvoting members (Chairperson,
Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Director of Graduate Studies) are subsequently
eligible to serve as voting members without a break in service, and vice-versa. Voting
members of the Council may serve as chairpersons of other department committees. The
Director of Graduate Studies serves as chairperson of the Graduate Committee, but
otherwise, the ex officio members may not serve as chairpersons of other department
committees. The Council will consider outside offers to faculty for departmental
recommendations to the College on making counter offers.
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9. The Personnel Committee
Consistent with the Department's Evaluation of Professional Personnel (EOPP)
procedures, the Personnel Committee shall assign ratings to each faculty member for the
purpose of determining increments of salary. It shall consist of three members of the
regular faculty elected by secret ballot by members of the regular faculty from a list of six
such faculty selected by a random procedure. A faculty member otherwise qualified may
not serve on this committee during the first year of service in the Department, nor may
any individual serve for more than two consecutive years. The Personnel Committee will
be elected each year after the due date for EOPP service reports and shall serve until the
Departmental EOPP recommendations have been forwarded to the College.
10. The Appeals Board
The purpose of the Appeals Board is to hear the appeals of faculty members regarding the
Personnel Committee's evaluations of their teaching, scholarship, and service. For these
appeals its decisions within the Department are final. The Appeals Board in any given
year shall consist of three members and one alternate selected by a random process from
the faculty exclusive of the departmental Chairperson, the members of the Personnel
Committee, and those who lodge appeals.
Section C: COMMITTEE MEETINGS
It is suggested that the committees hold their meetings somewhat in advance of the
regular faculty meetings in order to report any business they may have conducted and
circulate their proposals one week in advance of departmental meetings. Subject to the
aforementioned restriction in the case of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the
meetings of committees are open to all members of the faculty. For this reason,
committee meetings should be announced in advance.
Article VII: FACULTY REQUESTS FOR RECONSIDERATION ON
MATTERS OF TENURE, PROMOTION, AND RETENTION
Faculty requests for reconsideration of promotion, tenure, and retention recommendations
will be directed to the entire Promotion and Tenure Committee, whose decisions will be
final within the Department of Sociology. The deciding vote will consist of a simple
majority of all members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee eligible to enter into a
quorum. A quorum shall consist of two-thirds of the membership of the committee
exclusive of the departmental Chairperson and members on leave who choose not to
participate. The requester has seven calendar days in which to file a written request for
reconsideration with the committee and will be allowed one hour to present the case. The
requester may be accompanied at the presentation by two persons, one of whom may be
from outside the Department and/or university; that person is not to be a lawyer. The
committee has seven calendar days in which to act and reply in writing to the requester. If
the original decision is upheld, the departmental Chairperson has no responsibility to be
an advocate for the requester, but simply an even-handed provider of information and
reasonable duplicating assistance to the requester.
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Article VIII: AMENDING THE BYLAWS
Any change in the Bylaws must be proposed at one faculty meeting and brought up for
action at the next. Such amendments must be passed by a two-thirds vote. If the faculty
categorizes a proposed change as an emergency, the amendment may be adopted at the
meeting during which it was proposed.
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