College Bylaws

ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Bylaws of the College Assembly (Revised: 1992, Amended: 1996, 2001) Articles

1. Name of Organization
2. Membership
3. Officers
4. Right and Privileges of the College Assembly
5. Conduct of College Assembly Meetings
6. The College Senate (CS)
7. College Committees
8. Nature and Functions of Academic Administrative Units
9. Appointment of Personnel
10. Promotion Policies
11. Tenure/Continuing Status Policies
12. Sabbatical Leave Policies
13. Parliamentary Authority
14. Distribution
15. Clarification and Higher Authority
16. Proposed Amendments to the Bylaws

PREAMBLE This document contains the bylaws of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of Arizona State University and supersedes any previous documents addressing that purpose. These bylaws are binding upon current and future administrative officers and members of the academic unit (ACD 111-02). If either faculty or administrators wish to deviate from procedures outlined in this document they must go through the specified amendatory procedures defined below in article Sixteen. If one portion of the document becomes in conflict with policy or invalid, the rest of the document remains in force.

1. ARTICLE ONE. NAME OF ORGANIZATION (back to top) The primary governing unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (hereafter called the College) is the College Assembly (CA). The CA will normally exercise its power through its representative body, the College Senate (CS).
   
   1. The business of the CA will ordinarily be conducted by mail ballot.
   2. When needed, a meeting of the CA can be called by the Dean, while classes are in session, with ten calendar days' notice.
   3. The Dean must call a special session of the CA, to be held within ten working days, upon receipt of a petition signed by 2% of the membership. Such a petition must state the specific item(s) to be considered at the meeting.




2. ARTICLE TWO. MEMBERSHIP (back to top) The voting members of the CA shall include the following:
   
   1. Faculty who hold the rank of instructor and above in a tenure-track or research position and who are budgeted fifty percent or more in the College, including persons on leave and lecturers appointed on three-year renewable contracts.
   2. Academic professionals with continuing-track appointments who are budgeted fifty percent or more in the College, including persons on leave, and academic professionals on year-to-year contracts holding positions for which funding is committed for at least three years in the College.
   3. Individuals who hold the rank of instructor and above or its equivalent in the Departments of Aerospace Studies and Military Science.
   4. The Dean, Associate Deans, and Assistant Deans of the College and any other individuals with administrative contracts who also hold qualified rank in the College.
   5. The President of the University.




3. ARTICLE THREE. OFFICERS (back to top)
   
   1. The Dean of the College
      
      1. as chief executive officer of the College, shall fulfill the responsibilities outlined in this document and in ACD 107-01;
      2. will be assisted in the administration of the Office of the Dean by associate and assistant deans, and such appropriate administrative and office personnel as the Dean determines will best serve the needs of the College (A current description and/or diagram of the structure of the Office of the Dean shall accompany this document and be updated as is necessary);
      3. shall schedule and preside over the meetings of the CA and shall appoint a parliamentarian; and
      4. shall implement the policies agreed upon in this document.
   2. The Secretary of the College Assembly
      
      1. shall be elected annually by the CA;
      2. shall serve on the executive committee of the CS and function as Secretary of the CS;
      3. shall edit the minutes and all other announcements of the CA and the CS before they are published and/or distributed;
      4. shall review annually ACD references to update/revise this document when necessary to accord with university policies and shall see that the updated document is posted on the CLAS website: http://clas.asu.edu/node/100.
      5. shall be assisted by a staff assistant to the CA Secretary appointed by the Dean. This assistant will take notes during CA and CS meetings from which to prepare minutes and will prepare other announcements as requested for approval and subsequent publication and/or distribution.




4. ARTICLE FOUR. RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE COLLEGE ASSEMBLY (back to top) The CA shall possess all rights, privileges and prerogatives conferred upon it by the Board of Regents, the University administration, and the Academic Constitution and Bylaws of Arizona State University. Specifically, the CA shall have the authority:
   
   1. To formulate educational, curricular, and personnel policies as fall within the purview of the College, and to enact rules, regulations and bylaws to promote and enforce such policies.
   2. To formulate bylaws detailing the governance of the College.
   3. To receive and act upon reports of its standing committees and advisory councils.




5. ARTICLE FIVE. CONDUCT OF COLLEGE ASSEMBLY MEETINGS (back to top)
   
   1. Unless a quorum is called for, a majority of those present and voting at regular and special sessions of the CA shall be sufficient for the adoption of all measures, except as other provisions of these bylaws require a two-thirds majority.
   2. Representation of over half of the academic departments and attendance at a meeting by ten percent of the members of the CA shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of business.
   3. A mail ballot, to be submitted to all members of the CA, shall be ordered on any question, before the final vote shall have been taken, at the request of one-third of the members present and voting.
   4. An item of new business cannot normally be acted upon until the next meeting subsequent to its introduction. However, it can be discussed and acted upon with the approval of at least two-thirds of those present and voting.




6. ARTICLE SIX. THE COLLEGE SENATE (CS) (back to top) The obligation for advice and consent of the members of the CA is vested in the CS. A majority of the members of the CS shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of business. The CS shall meet at least three times each semester.
   
   1. Membership
      
      1. Membership may be determined in two ways:
         
         1. University Academic Senators from each academic unit of the College and the University Academic Senators-at-large from the College may be further designated as unit representative(s); or
         2. any academic unit may choose to hold an independent election to choose alternate representation to the CS in equivalent numbers to its representation on the University Academic Senate. These representatives will be referred to as College Senators.
      2. The Senators-at-large and the Secretary of the CA shall constitute the executive committee of the CS, with the senior senator-at-large acting as the presiding officer of the CS.
   2. Duties
      
      1. Preparing an agenda for CS meetings to be distributed to each member of the CA at least one week in advance of the CS meeting to give timely notice of items to be covered. If a petition signed by at least 2% of the members of the CA so requests, the matter to be discussed must be referred to the CA for action.
      2. Providing advice and counsel to the Dean between meetings of the CA.
      3. Approving or disapproving recommendations from standing committees such as curriculum changes, standards changes, or any other current items of business.
      4. Preparing an agenda for the CA meetings.
      5. Settling any questions of clarification or interpretation of this document, with appeal to the CA possible by the same processes outlined for other CS matters.
      6. Providing for a continuing review of the structure and effectiveness of the Liberal Arts and Science curricula.
      7. Providing for the formulation and implementation of standards for a sound education in Liberal Arts and Sciences.
      8. Providing for ways and means to enhance the intellectual environment of the College, to encourage research, to encourage and reward service to the university and the greater community, to re-enforce the College's commitment to affirmative action, and to foster personal interactions among students and academic personnel.
      9. Providing for a continuing review of the objectives of the College, including long range planning.
   3. Relation to the CA

   Any proposal that is not adopted or defeated by a two-third majority of those present and voting at a CS meeting shall be referred to the CA. In the case of conflicting votes between the CS and the CA, the CA vote shall prevail.




7. ARTICLE SEVEN. COLLEGE COMMITTEES (back to top)
   
   1. Nature and Function of Elected
      
      1. List of committees:
         
         1. The Academic Standards Committee shall advise the Dean in decisions concerning the enforcement and interpretation of College standards as stated in the General Catalog . The Committee shall consist of nine members of the CA.
         2. The Committee on Committees shall nominate candidates for all standing committees and make its report to the CA in time for the annual election each spring. The committee shall consist of six members of the CA.
         3. The Curriculum Committee shall consider and make recommendations to the CS and report to the Dean on all proposals involving curricular changes within the College, including consideration of all undergraduate and graduate programs and General Studies requirements, and review of all copy for the General Catalog . The committee may initiate proposals concerning any aspect of the College curricula. The committee shall consist of nine members of the CA and three student members.
         4. The Committee on Quality of Instruction shall investigate any matters relating to faculty development and the improvement of instruction, including selection of outstanding teacher awardees, and shall recommend to the CA via the CS policies and guidelines for evaluation of instruction. The committee shall consist of nine members of the CA and three student members.
         5. The Committee of Review shall hear faculty and academic professional complaints and assist in resolving personnel differences over matters within the purview of the College, including performance evaluation. The committee shall not handle appeals of recommendations made by the Dean's Advisory Councils, and shall attend to situations for which no regular channels of procedure exist or only after all normal appeal procedures in the originating unit have been exhausted. The committee shall consist of six faculty members with tenure and one academic professional with continuing status. The committee shall use non-adversarial fact-finding procedures and will report its findings and recommendations to the Dean.
         6. The Student Affairs and Grievances Committee shall hear student grievances. It shall recommend policy and procedure as appropriate. It shall consist of six members of the CA, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs or an appropriate representative from that office.
      2. Membership as specified above by committee will be drawn from the following three groups:
         
         1. Non-voting ex-officio members from the Dean's office,
         2. Students appointed annually by the Dean, and/or
         3. CA members elected in equal numbers from the three major academic areas of the College. Faculty and academic professionals are assigned to one of these three divisions according to their departmental affiliation, not their center affiliation. For the purpose of this Bylaw, the three major academic divisions of the College are defined as:
            
            1. Humanities: Faculty and Academic Professionals in the Departments of English, Languages and Literatures, Religious Studies, and Philosophy; the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program, and the Center for Latin American Studies.
            2. Natural Sciences: Faculty and Academic Professionals in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Geological Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Microbiology, Physics and Astronomy, and Plant Biology; the Center for Solid State Science, the Center for Meteorite Studies, and the Cancer Research Institute.
            3. Social and Behavioral Sciences: Faculty and Academic Professionals in the Departments of Aerospace Studies, Anthropology, Chicana and Chicano Studies, Family and Human Development, Geography, History, Kinesiology, Military Science, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Speech and Hearing Science; the African and African American Studies Program, the Women's Studies Program, and the Center for Asian Studies.
      3. Terms of office, including rotation
         
         1. Unless otherwise indicated on specific committees, members serve three-year overlapping terms.
         2. Each standing committee shall elect its chair from the members on the committee.
         3. The standing committees of the College shall report at least annually to the CA via the CS and to the Dean; however, those committees dealing with personnel matters shall not report on the specifics of given cases, but only upon general matters of concern.
      4. Elections and Filling Vacancies
         
         1. Elected members will be nominated by the Committee on Committees in equal numbers from the three academic areas and in time for the annual spring elections.
         2. A vacancy in an elected position will be filled by the person who had the next highest vote on the ballot to the member whose position has been vacated, but preferably one who does not duplicate department representation on the Committee. If such person is unavailable, the Dean shall fill the vacancy by appointment.
   2. Nature and Function of Appointed Standing Committee. The Interdisciplinary Programs Committee shall consist of members appointed by the Dean and will advise the Dean on matters pertaining to interdisciplinary programs, initiatives, and other matters of a cross-disciplinary nature, as may arise from time to time. There is no fixed term of appointment and appointments are made on a yearly basis.
   3. Nature and Function of Mixed Standing Committees. Members of these committees will include persons appointed by the Dean and members of the CA elected in accordance with the processes described in part A of this Bylaw. Specific committees shall include a Research Awards Committee . Each year two members are elected and one is appointed to three year terms.
      
      1. The Research Awards Committee shall review and advise the Dean on the awards of various research monies distributed by the College. It may also advise University committees about awards to members of the College. It shall consist of nine members of the CA.
   4. Nature and Function of Appointed and Special Committees. The Dean may create such other committees as are necessary to carry on the business of the College on an ongoing or an ad hoc basis. Members of these committees will be appointed by the Dean.
   5. Nature and Function of Dean's Advisory Councils. The Dean's Advisory Councils shall be composed of members of the CA elected from each of the three major academic areas of the College in accordance with the processes described in part A of this Bylaw. These councils will schedule regular meetings at least once a semester, and special sessions of the appropriate council can also be called by the Dean whenever decisions are being planned which will affect the CA membership in the specified areas.
      
      1. The Dean's Faculty Advisory Council shall advise the Dean in personnel matters in determining promotions, tenure, sabbatical leaves or other matters related to faculty. No member shall vote on the promotion or retention of faculty in the member's own unit. The Council shall consist of nine tenured full professors. Chairs, center and program directors, and assistant/associate deans are ineligible for this committee.
      2. The Dean's Academic Professional Advisory Council shall advise the Dean in personnel matters in determining promotions, continuing status, sabbatical leaves, or other matters related to academic professionals. No member shall vote on the promotion or retention of academic professionals in the member's own unit. The Council shall consist of six elected academic professionals who have continuing status plus one year-to-year academic professional appointed by the Dean.
      3. The Dean's Strategic Planning and Academic Resources Advisory Council shall be involved in the planning processes of the College, particularly in terms of long-term directions and related budgetary matters. The Dean shall make available to the Council for its consideration all pertinent information requested by the Council to make informed decisions. The Council shall then make recommendations to the Dean concerning College priorities. The Council shall consist of nine tenured professors and an academic professional with continuing status, six of the faculty members and the academic professional shall be elected and shall not currently be holding administrative appointments. Three of the members shall be appointed by the Dean and shall currently be Chairs or Directors. Each member shall serve for three years, with three new faculty members to join the Council each year and the academic professional at three-year intervals.
   6. Nature and Function of the Administrative Council. All chairs and directors of the College serve on the Administrative Council. The Council is chaired by the Dean and serves as an advisory body on such issues as budget, teaching and research priorities, planning, affirmative action issues, legislative initiatives, and other issues which affect the entire College.




8. ARTICLE EIGHT. NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS (back to top) The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences includes academic departments and other administrative divisions as may be created. Each academic unit shall develop its own operating bylaws which should include explicit policies and procedures on annual evaluations, promotion, and tenure and continuing status. These bylaws and any amendments must be approved by CLAS and the Provost's Office. Voting membership must be clearly defined in writing by each academic unit. Units should refer to ACD 203-02 guidelines concerning academic professionals when defining such membership.
   
   1. Chairs and Directors
      
      1. Suggested term

      Chairs and directors are officially appointed by the Dean of the College. Academic units may by statute set limits in the length of service for their leadership positions. In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the term of a chairperson or a director of a degree-granting unit will be four years (technically, four annual renewable appointments), with the option of an extension for two years to be approved by a two-thirds vote of confidence by the unit. Additional two-year extensions, if desired, should be approved by at least four-fifths of the voting members of the unit. Balloting should be secret and carried out with due notice by the senior senator, under the direction of the Dean during the spring semester prior to the terminal year of the current term or extension. The decision on extensions is the Dean's (as the hiring official), but a unit recommendation must be sought on all extensions. Extraordinary majority votes taken as part of the renewal consideration process bind the interpretation of the unit recommendation, but are not technically binding on the renewal decision. Directors of research centers will also be reviewed after a four-year tenure. Faculty and academic professionals housed in the centers, as well as affiliated faculty and academic professionals, will be asked to evaluate the leadership of a director. Extraordinary majority votes will not be required for reappointment.
      

      2. Duties

      From a philosophical perspective, the role of the chair or director in an academic unit is that of an equal making decisions, emphasizing consensus and cooperation with persons of equal professional standing offering thoughtful advice. The administrative official is (by delegation from the President) the individual holding the authority and carrying the responsibility for decision-making. The interaction of the administrative official and the academic personnel should feature excellent communication. When an administrative decision deviates from the unit recommendation the administrative official should communicate the reasons for the deviation to unit personnel. All chairs and directors in this College are expected to report regularly to their units information which affects faculty and/or academic professionals that has been disseminated at Administrative Council meetings and through other sources. The duties of the leadership role include fulfilling the responsibilities outlined in ACD 109, consistent with unit bylaws.
      

      3. Replacement

      During the year prior to searching for a permanent (not acting or interim) replacement of a chair or director, the Dean shall consult with that individual and with the academic unit about questions of leadership. The appointment and membership of a search committee by the Dean will adhere to the policies outlined in ACD 111. The committee should include tenured professors and continuing academic professionals broadly representative of diversity in academic rank and speciality within the unit, and should seek advice of all unit academic professionals, faculty, and staff. Candidates selected from outside must be invited to the campus to meet with the unit. Unit members are encouraged to provide the search committee with an assessment of unit strengths and weaknesses, program direction and all matters which affect the selection process. Voting members of the unit may also be asked to indicate their candidate preferences. The committee shall then carefully consider these assessments and preferences when making its recommendation and submit to the Dean all written materials that it has received along with that recommendation. The entire process is one of careful and continuing consultation designed to ensure both stability, harmony, and progress.

   2. Academic Unit Committees
      
      1. Budget and Personnel

      Every unit shall create a budget and personnel committee.
      

      2. Affirmative Action

      Every unit shall create an affirmative action committee.
      

      3. Review

      The Review Committee (which must be distinct from the Budget and Personnel Committee) shall hear faculty and academic professional complaints that arise regarding performance evaluations within the unit as a result of actions taken by the Chair and the Budget and Personnel Committee. Members of the Review Committee shall be selected according to democratic procedures determined by the voting membership of the unit. The Review Committee shall use non-adversarial fact-finding procedures and will report its findings and recommendations to the Chair. Membership of the review committee cannot include more than one faculty member or academic professional who was involved in the original review and evaluation.
      

      4. Other Committees

      All academic units may create other committees as are necessary to carry on the business of the unit.




9. ARTICLE NINE. APPOINTMENT OF PERSONNEL (back to top) The academic unit, through its chair or director, shall initiate the process of faculty or academic professional appointments in accordance with the procedures and policies outlined in the ACD 505. After consultation with the appropriate unit personnel committee, the chair or director shall send the recommendation for appointment to the Dean of the College for approval.
10. ARTICLE TEN. PROMOTION POLICIES (back to top)
    
    1. Individual CA members shall keep their files up-to-date in areas relevant to the promotion process as follows:
       
       1. Faculty areas are teaching, research, and service (to the University and larger community).
       2. Academic Professional areas are job performance, professional development and contribution, and service (to the University and larger community).
    2. Recommendation for promotion shall be initiated at the unit level as follows:
       
       1. For faculty, unit members shall be involved in promotion decisions in one of the following three ways. Each academic unit shall decide for itself which of the three procedures to use.
          
          1. All faculty members at and above the rank to which the candidate would be promoted shall vote on promotion decisions; or
          2. a democratically elected committee, elected and operating by procedures set forth in the unit bylaws, shall make all promotion decisions; or
          3. a combination of an elected committee and faculty votes may be used as the unit wishes.

          The unit bylaws shall specify how this combination shall work and which votes (committee and/or faculty) shall be communicated to the Dean. Whichever procedure is selected, the chair or director shall inform the Dean in writing of the precise procedures and criteria used. After the promotion process is initiated, the individual faculty member shall submit separately all documentation necessary for a complete and fair review to the committee. Such documentation shall be forwarded along with the recommendations of the committee and the chair or director to the Dean. When the unit has made its recommendation, the Dean shall be informed of the results of votes taken (a single report from the unit committee must be prepared; no minority report), the range of views of unit members participating in promotion decisions, and the individual recommendation of the chair or director. The Dean's Faculty Advisory Council shall make recommendations to the Dean in the promotion process. All materials relative to promotions shall be presented to the Council. In forwarding his/her recommendations to the Provost, the Dean shall indicate the vote of the Council, views of its members, and the Dean's own recommendations and the reasons therefore.
          Department or College procedural violations on promotion and tenure reviews may be directed to the Committee of Review, at the request of the candidate.

       2. For academic professionals, while the chair or director of each unit is responsible for an annual evaluation of the quality of the performance of all academic professionals employed within the unit, unit bylaws can establish more specific criteria and greater participation in the promotion process. The chair or director shall inform the Dean in writing of the precise procedures and criteria selected.

       After the promotion process is initiated, the individual academic professional shall submit separately all documentation necessary for a complete and fair review to the chair or director. Such documentation shall be forwarded along with any other unit input and the recommendation of the chair or director to the Dean. The Dean's Academic Professional Advisory Council shall make recommendations to the Dean in the promotion process. All materials relative to promotions shall be presented to the Council. In forwarding his/her recommendations to the Provost, the Dean shall indicate the vote of the Council, the views of its members, and the Dean's own recommendation and the reasons therefore. Department or College procedural violations on promotion and tenure reviews may be directed to the Committee of Review, at the request of the candidate.

The criteria for appointment or promotion to each rank are listed in ACD 505 (Appointment) and 506 (Promotion and Tenure/Continuing Status). Academic administrative units are encouraged to develop general criteria specific to the discipline or sub-specialty when appropriate for the purpose of continuity across committees and in different years. The use of referees shall be governed by the regulations listed in the ACD 506-07.


11. ARTICLE ELEVEN. TENURE/CONTINUING STATUS POLICIES (back to top) University policies of tenure for faculty and continuing status for academic professionals are listed in ACD 506. In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences letters of recommendation are a required part of the process. Referees for faculty and for academic professionals with the grade of Research Scientist or Research Engineer must be external to the university; those for other academic professionals may be either internal or external to the university. All letters received by the academic unit must be forwarded to the Dean. The University policies are supplemented by the following specific regulations of the College:
    
    1. Tenure decisions for faculty are governed in accordance with the guidelines in ACD 506-04, 506-07, and 506-10. Faculty members of a candidate's unit shall be involved in providing a recommendation on tenure decisions in one of the following three ways. Each unit shall decide for itself which of the three procedures shall be used. In any case, the results of votes taken as part of the review of tenure cases must be communicated to the Dean.
       
       1. All faculty members with tenure shall vote; or
       2. a democratically elected committee, elected and operating by procedures which are set in the unit bylaws shall vote; or
       3. a combination of an elected committee and faculty body shall vote.

       The unit bylaws shall specify how this combination of committee and faculty votes shall work and which votes (committee and/or faculty) shall be communicated to the Dean.

    2. Continuing status for academic professionals is determined in accordance with the guidelines provided in ACD 506-09 and 506-10. While the chair or director of each unit is responsible for an annual evaluation of the quality of the performance of all academic professionals employed within the unit, unit bylaws can establish more specific criteria and greater participation in the process. The process selected shall be communicated to the Dean.




12. ARTICLE TWELVE. SABBATICAL LEAVE POLICIES (back to top)

Sabbatical leaves are granted when the interests of the University and the enhancement of its strength in teaching and research will be served by them. In view of the many benefits to the University that a program of well-conceived sabbatical leaves provides, such leaves should be fostered and encouraged at all levels of the University. When a sabbatical leave proposal satisfies the conditions stated in ACD 705 and if the academic unit certifies that the leave will not adversely affect its ongoing teaching, research, and service functions, the leave should be approved.


13. ARTICLE THIRTEEN. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY (back to top)

In all matters not specified in these Bylaws, this organization will be governed by the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised .


14. ARTICLE FOURTEEN. DISTRIBUTION (back to top)

The CLAS Bylaws, as amended, are available at: http://clas.asu.edu/node/100.


15. ARTICLE FIFTEEN. CLARIFICATION AND HIGHER AUTHORITY (back to top)

In areas not specifically addressed by this document, the College and its units adhere to Arizona State University policies as outlined in the ACD Manual. Questions of clarification should be directed to the CS, which will review areas of ambiguity and bring a recommended interpretation to the Dean. The recommendation may be appealed to the CA (see Article Six).


16. ARTICLE SIXTEEN. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS (back to top)
    
    1. Proposals for Amendments to the Bylaws must be sent to the members of the CS at least ten days prior to the date on which action is to be taken upon them. This provision is not subject to a motion to suspend the rules. If the CS approves the amendment, it must be sent to the CA by mail ballot for final approval.
    2. Amendments to the Bylaws require a two-third majority of those CA members present and voting.