FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF APPLIED STUDIES BYLAWS

Approved by Faculty September 24, 2013
Approved by Dean – September 24, 2013
Approved by the Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement ________

These Bylaws are established to help the College faculty and administrators conduct College business efficiently and with fairness.  They may not in any way contradict or supersede the Constitution of the University or other higher authority. The Bylaws will undergo a review every five years.

Article I – Definitions

Section A. Faculty

The General Faculty of the College of Applied Studies shall consist of persons holding the rank of Teaching Faculty I, Teaching Faculty II, and Teaching Faculty III.  Faculty on adjunct, visiting or courtesy appointments shall have the right to participate in all deliberations, but not to vote.  

Article II – Jurisdiction

Section A. The General Faculty shall be the basic legislative body of the College.  Subject to state law, the regulations of the Florida Board of Governors, the FSU Constitution, BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement, Faculty Handbook, and annual Promotion and Tenure letter, this legislative body shall have full authority to develop policy and decide matters of curriculum, program offerings, admissions, grading, and any other academic matters of concern to the College.

Section B. All faculty and committee meetings shall be open and conducted according to the following rules, unless exceptions are made for alternative provisions in the Bylaws.  Quorum consists of a majority of the voting members.  Majority rule shall apply.  The Chairperson votes.  Otherwise, Robert’s Rules of Order shall be used to conduct meetings.  

Article III – Faculty Meetings

Section A. The Faculty of the College shall meet at least once in each semester. It will discuss and vote on all major changes in program and curriculum that affect the College, in accordance with Article V of the FSU Constitution.  

Section B. Special sessions shall be held at the call of the Dean or upon the written request of not less than five members of the General Faculty representing at least two programs, or at the request of any standing committee of the College.

Section C. The Dean of the College shall chair the faculty meetings. In the absence of the Dean, the Associate Dean of the College of Applied Studies shall preside.  At least three days in advance of the meeting, an agenda will be distributed.

Section D. At least fifty percent of the General Faculty shall constitute a quorum at any regular or special meeting of the faculty, except where noted otherwise for specific committees. All General Faculty shall be eligible to vote at faculty meetings. Any General Faculty member who cannot attend a meeting may authorize another member of the General Faculty to cast a vote on his or her behalf. This proxy authorization must be in writing, dated, signed by the absent member, and limited to a specified meeting. Proxies shall not be included in the calculation of members present for a quorum. 

Section E. Minutes shall be kept by a secretary appointed by the Dean of the College.  The minutes of the faculty meetings shall be distributed within ten working days.

Article IV – The Dean

Section A. The Dean shall serve as the chief administrative officer of the College.  The Dean shall:

• Provide overall leadership and vision,
  Oversee strategic planning and implementation of the College mission as it relates to academic programs, research, and service,
• Advance the academic and financial interest of the College,
• Be responsible for development and management of all resources,
• Provide leadership in developing external partners,
• Promote faculty, staff, and student welfare, and
• Oversee the conduct of the College.

Section B. The Dean shall call (except as provided in Article III, B) and preside over
faculty meetings and shall prepare and distribute the agenda at least three
days in advance of the meetings.

Section C. The Dean shall appoint any individuals needed to administer the College’s
affairs. The Dean shall report to the College, as soon as practical, normally at
the beginning of the Fall semester, the names and duties of such appointees.

Section D. The Dean shall establish committees for the conduct of College affairs as
provided in Article VII.

Section E. At least once a year, the Dean shall report on the “State of the College” to the faculty. This report shall address the state of the College, priorities for the upcoming year, the College’s budgetary status, and other major issues of concern to the College and the faculty.

Section F. The Dean, in conjunction with the appropriate committees of the College, shall coordinate all segments of the academic program, such as degree requirements, curricular offerings and catalog announcements. The Dean shall determine and/or supervise, in consultation with appropriate committees, administrative personnel and faculty members, such matters as the scheduling of classes, assignments of faculty, budgetary policies, and student appeals.

Section G. The Dean shall be responsible for developing procedures to ensure that
assignments will be discussed with each faculty member in advance, and for evaluating performance on an annual basis in accordance with criteria outlined in the College of Applied Studies Evaluation Criteria Document.

Section H. The Dean shall be responsible for promoting the interests of the College within the larger University, the community at large, and with the alumni. 

Section I. The Dean shall be the principal financial officer of the College and shall supervise receipts and expenditures of all monies as well as prepare an annual budget. The Dean has the ultimate responsibility for making financial decisions at the college level.

Section J.  The Dean shall take all necessary steps to maintain and advance the number of faculty positions needed to fulfill the College's mission.

Section K.  The Dean shall conduct an independent review of all candidates for promotion.

Section L.  The Dean shall make final decisions on merit salary increases, considering faculty recommendations. 

Section M.  The Dean shall provide administrative review and approval of program policies and procedures including promotion and evaluation/merit criteria. 

Article V – Associate Dean

The Dean may appoint Associate or Assistant Deans to assist with administering the College. 

Article VI – Program Coordinators

Section A. The Program Coordinator is appointed by the Dean and program faculty are advisory to the Dean regarding any appointment or re-appointment.

Section B. The Program Coordinator shall be the chief administrative officer of the program. The Coordinator shall be responsible to the faculty of the program and represent the program to the Dean and the University. 

Section C. The Program Coordinator shall coordinate and facilitate all program activities. 

Section D.  In the event of a faculty vacancy or when it is justifiable to add an additional faculty member, program faculty may recommend hiring an additional faculty member.  The Program Coordinator will make the request in writing to the Dean.  If approved the Program Coordinator will select a search committee made up of a majority of program faculty and a member of the General Faculty that is not within the Program.  The search committee will oversee the search process and will recommend to the Dean the candidate they desire to fill the position.

Section E. The Program Coordinator shall provide an independent review of all candidates for promotion. 

Section F. The Program Coordinator shall prepare an annual financial request that will be submitted to the dean by May 1 for the next fiscal year. 

Section G. The percent of assignment for administrative responsibilities shall be negotiated with the Dean. 

Section H. Evaluation of Program Coordinators: The Dean shall conduct an evaluation of the Program Coordinator’s performance for each calendar year. The evaluation will include input from the eligible General Faculty members in each program through a formal survey. The survey will be distributed and collected by the Dean, who will subsequently meet with the program faculty to discuss the results. To guarantee confidentiality, only the summarized results and typed comments will be provided to the Program Coordinator. 

Article VII – Committees

Section A. Committee business, including voting, may be transacted using conference telephone calls, video cameras, or via email. A quorum shall consist of a majority of a given committee’s membership being present in person, except where otherwise noted in the Bylaws, or via continuous conference telephone or video camera call. The Chair of the Committee is responsible for distributing an agenda at least 2 days in advance of each committee meeting, recording minutes, arranging for their review and approval by the committee, and distributing approved minutes or each committee’s business meeting to all faculty. The Chair of the Committee is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date compilation of the minutes, and to make this available to any or all faculty upon request, and to the succeeding chair.

Section B. The Dean or Dean’s designee shall serve as ex-officio member of all standing committees with the exception of the Promotion and Merit Committee.

Section C. Terms of service for the faculty representatives on committees shall be based upon their election.  Elections held to fill unanticipated vacancies are limited to the remaining term of the vacated seat.

1. Committee elections shall be held during April for a term beginning the first day of the Fall Semester and term should be one year.
2. Faculty may choose which College of Applied Studies committees they wish to be considered for election, and must make themselves available for at least one committee.
3. Each elected committee shall elect by ballot a faculty chairperson who will serve a one-year term.

Section D. Committee Roles and Responsibilities

1. Committees shall handle only matters referred to them by the faculty or delegated to them in the Bylaws; and they shall report directly to the faculty.
2. If a dispute at any meeting other than the Promotion Committee meeting cannot be resolved, the issue is remanded to the full faculty for consideration.

Section E. Standing Committees

1. Academic Affairs Committee: The Academic Affairs committee shall consist of all the Program Coordinators. This committee shall oversee coordination of the academic programs, and shall develop, approve, and monitor policies and procedures related to issues of curriculum (including curriculum-related diversity issues), admissions, program requirements, program structure, and other matters referred to it by the faculty. This Committee will serve as the Curriculum Committee for the College of Applied Studies and will make recommendations to the Dean related to new courses.  This committee will review curricular changes that are recommended by the programs.  Matters involving changes in the curriculum or program structure shall be brought to the General Faculty for review and approval prior to being implemented. Any changes that are defined as substantive changes by SACS will be carefully reviewed ensuring that the changes meet the Florida State University Substantive Change Policy and will be submitted to the General Faculty for their consideration.
2. The Promotion and Merit Committee shall be composed of a General Faculty member from each program. No faculty member shall serve during the year of his/her nomination for promotion.
   
   1. The committee shall consider all eligible faculty for Promotion and Merit and shall make recommendations consistent with the College of Applied Studies Promotion and Merit Documents.
   2. A quorum shall consist of all members for the purpose of voting on nominations or recommendations for Promotion and Merit for individuals being considered from the College of Applied Studies.  A quorum for all other purposes shall be a majority of the committee.
   3. The committee shall conform with University policy in its actions related to Promotion and Merit.
   4. The chairperson of the Promotion and Merit Committee will ensure that the records of all candidates for Promotion are available for review by all faculty with the respective rank.
3. The Faculty Affairs Committee shall be composed of 3-5 General Faculty members. 
   
   1. This committee shall provide faculty leadership, and assume responsibility for the mechanisms and procedures to support collegial governance, faculty evaluation, and development and maintenance of College Bylaws.
   2. The committee shall play an active and responsible role in academic matters, assuring that the collegial system of shared governance is maintained.
   3. The committee shall be responsible for developing and conducting election procedures for faculty committee membership.
   4. The committee shall be involved in and make recommendations to the Dean for recruitment of new faculty, including the screening of all applicants; and all concerns relating to faculty rights.
   5. This committee shall assume responsibility for the development of merit policies and procedures which are subject to the approval of the General Faculty and consistent with criteria in the College of Applied Studies Evaluation Criteria Document.

Section F. Ad Hoc Committees

The Dean may establish annually such Ad Hoc Committees as deemed necessary to assist in the operation of the College of Applied Studies. Such committees functioning longer than a period of two consecutive years will be considered annually by Faculty members for abolishment, continuation; or designation as standing committees.

Section G. Vacancies in Standing Committees

Vacancies in elected standing committees shall be filled by an election to be held as soon as such vacancies are known.

Article VIII – Amendments

Section A. Any five members of the General Faculty may propose an amendment to the Bylaws, provided the proposed amendment is circulated at least two weeks in advance of the meeting at which the change will be considered.

Section B. The amendment shall become part of the bylaws when it is adopted by a majority vote of the General Faculty, approved by the Dean, and approved by the Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement.