Responsible Officer: Faculty Council Chairperson
I. PREAMBLE
To promote faculty participation in academic decision-making according to sound principles of higher education, to provide an orderly process for improving communication and mutual understanding between the administrative officers and faculty of the college, to foster mutual trust and respect, and to facilitate the expression of the collective opinion of the college faculty, the Faculty Council of Motlow State Community College (Motlow State) establishes this constitution. In matters crucial to the maintenance of the highest possible academic standards, there should be shared governance among the faculty, the Faculty Council, and the college administrators.
II. CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE I – FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL
Section 1
The Council makes recommendations and advises the President concerning matters of general education policy and matters of general faculty interest.
Section 2
The Council acts on behalf of the faculty in cases requiring consideration of general matters when the faculty cannot be convened and considerations of individuals’ grievances and concerns.
Section 3
The Council considers matters suggested by members of the administration. The Council develops and/or coordinates plans for college-wide faculty development in consultation with the academic deans and the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (EVPAA). Some Council members, appointed by the President of Motlow State, serve on the local appeals board as specified by Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Policies and procedures for hearing appeals on matters of promotion and tenure. In exercising these functions, the Faculty Council shall have the power to make for itself such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary for the fulfillment of its functions.
ARTICLE II – STRUCTURE AND MEMBERSHIP
Section 1
The Faculty Council shall consist of Representatives elected by the faculty.
Section 2
Representatives shall be selected according to the following criteria:
- Representatives shall be members of the teaching faculty who are hired on a full-time basis for no less than one academic year and hold the rank of instructor or above.
- Representation of the academic departments shall be proportional to the faculty membership of each department (as defined in Article II, Section 2.A for Representatives) at the time of election based on the following scheme: A department shall be entitled to one Representative for each five faculty members or major portion thereof.
- Representatives shall be elected for three-year terms. A Representative shall be eligible for re-election after being out of office for one year.
- A Representative will select an alternate as necessary to serve with full privileges in the absence of the regular Representative. This alternate is to be selected from the department represented by the elected Representative if possible and shall meet the same qualifications required for an elected Representative.
- Each department shall elect the number of Representatives to maintain its full delegation for the following academic year in the spring term. These new members will assume duties on the Council at the last regularly scheduled meeting of the academic year in the spring term.
Section 3
Officials of the Faculty Council shall be as follows:
- Officials elected from the membership shall be Chair, Chair Elect, and Secretary. The Chair-Elect will become the Chair at the last regularly scheduled meeting of the academic year in the spring term of the year following the election. A Chair-Elect and Secretary shall be elected annually from the membership. The Chair-Elect and Secretary shall be elected in the last regularly scheduled meeting of the academic year in the spring term. This meeting will be called and chaired by the Chair of the current year’s Council. New officials will assume duties immediately following the meeting at which the election takes place.
- A Parliamentarian may be appointed by the Chair, or the Chair-Elect may serve in that capacity.
- A Representative may be elected to the office of Chair-Elect in either of the first two years of membership. A Representative may be elected to the office of Secretary in either of the three years of membership. An individual shall be eligible for reelection to any office upon re-election to the Council.
- The officials of the Council function as the steering committee.
ARTICLE III – DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF REPRESENTATIVE AND OFFICIALS
Section 1
Representatives shall:
- Serve as liaisons between their departments and the Faculty Council in disseminating information and soliciting responses.
- Present department proposals and discussions on the issues.
- Elect the Council officials.
- Serve on Council committees as appointed.
Section 2
The Chair shall:
- Preside over meetings of the Faculty Council.
- Establish the agenda and provide a copy for each member in advance of all regularly scheduled meetings.
- Call special meetings.
- Appoint Council committees.
- Speak for the Faculty Council at the President’s Council meetings but cannot commit the Faculty Council to a specific course of action without Faculty Council approval.
Section 3
The Chair-Elect shall:
- Act in the Chair’s absence or at the request of the Chair.
- Assist the Chair in the performance of the Chair’s duties.
- Serve as a Parliamentarian if so designated.
- Assume the role of Chair the year after serving as Chair-Elect.
Section 4
The Parliamentarian shall:
- Inform Representatives concerning points of order, rules, and regulations set forth by the Council.
- Follow, in other situations, Robert’s Rules of Order (revised).
Section 5
The Secretary shall:
- Record, prepare, maintain a permanent record of, and distribute the approved minutes of meetings to the full-time faculty.
- Prepare and maintain an official membership list of the Council from which roll call votes may be made.
- Keep a record of attendance for each Council meeting.
- Prepare an annual report which consists of the minutes of each Council meeting, pertinent documents, etc., and place this report on permanent file in the EVPAA’s office.
ARTICLE IV – PROCEDURES
Section 1
Regular meetings shall follow these procedures:
- The Faculty Council shall meet at least once each month during the academic year. Meetings shall be open to faculty and invited guests; however, visitors have no vote and may exercise floor privilege at the discretion of the Chair or with the approval of Council.
- The Chair shall submit an agenda to each Representative before the beginning of each meeting.
- Business shall be automatically placed on the agenda if a petition signed by ten percent of the faculty is presented to a Representative.
Section 2
Called meetings shall follow these procedures:
- Meetings may be called by the Chair or by a majority request of the Council members. Adequate notification of two working days for called meetings shall be given.
- The Chair may call an emergency meeting on shorter notice. Representatives shall be notified of all called meetings.
Section 3
Voting procedures are as follows:
- All business shall be decided by a simple majority of the total Council members present, the Chair voting, except the approval of constitutional amendments and bylaws, which shall require a majority vote of the Council.
- Voting privileges shall be limited to elected departmental Representatives or their alternates in the Representative’s absence.
- Voting shall be by open vote.
- Any voting council member may call for a roll call vote.
Section 4
General procedures include the following:
- In all matters of procedure not specified herein, Robert’s Rules of Order (Revised) shall be applied.
Section 5
All recommendations receiving a majority vote are provided in writing by the Chair to the President and the EVPAA for action.
ARTICLE V – AMENDMENTS
Section 1
Amendments to the constitution shall be proposed:
- By a Representative of the Faculty Council.
- By petition of ten percent of full-time faculty.
Section 2
Procedures for amendments shall be:
- That an amendment shall be presented in writing at open meetings of the Faculty Council.
- The Council shall vote on an amendment at the next meeting following its proposal. A majority vote of the Council shall be required for approval.
- After Council approval, an amendment shall be presented to the faculty and must be ratified by two-thirds (⅔) of the faculty before it becomes part of the constitution.
- An amendment not approved by the Council may be appealed to the faculty at large and ratified by two-thirds (⅔) of the faculty, at which time it becomes part of the constitution.
III. FACULTY COUNCIL BYLAWS
- A quorum of Council shall consist of a majority thereof.
- Bylaws may be changed or amended by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the Council.
- The Council ordinarily will not meet in the summer. The officials of the Council may meet but may not commit the Council to any course of action. They may call a meeting of the full Council if any action is deemed necessary.
- At the discretion of the Chair or majority vote of the Council, an invitation to attend Council meetings may be extended to the President, the Executive Vice Presidents, and other administrative officers when their areas of responsibility are under discussion by the Council. Likewise, a request by these administrative officers to attend Council meetings may be granted at the discretion of the Chair or majority vote of the Council.
- Whenever a matter ends in a tie vote, the Council will vote on it again at the next three regularly scheduled meetings. If a tie is not broken after these three votes, the matter is defeated.
- If a Council member cannot attend Council meetings regularly, the member will advise the Council of the circumstances. The Council will advise the Representative of possible procedures to follow, such as identifying a regular alternate to attend or requesting that the department elect a new Representative.
- The chair-elect and secretary for the following year will be elected in the last regularly scheduled meeting of the current academic year. The choice of chair-elect and secretary will be voted on by the next year’s members rather than the outgoing members.
SOURCES
HISTORY
- Revised and Approved March 1994; Editorial Revisions (Reviewed) March 2006; Revised and Approved April 2008; Revised and Approved December 2011; Bylaws Revision Approved March 2013; approved by the Leadership Council on August 25, 2017
- Revised: January 21, 2023
- Institutional Oversight Committee Approved: June 12, 2023
- Faculty Council Approved: April 13, 2023
- President’s Cabinet Approved: June 21, 2023
- Effective Date: August 25, 2017; June 21, 2023