UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

College of Education

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE 1.0

The name of this organization shall be the College of Education of the University of South Florida, hereafter referred to as the College.

ARTICLE 2.0

Goals and Missions

The goals and mission of the College involve an interaction among teaching, research, other creative activities and service. They are:

2.1
To provide opportunities for the pre-service education of school personnel.
2.2
To improve the quality of education in our designated region through the continuing education of school personnel.
2.3
To prepare educational personnel for non school settings;, including libraries, hospitals, recreational agencies and others.
2.4
To develop knowledge fundamental to professional theory and practice in education.
2.5
To provide professional service and leadership to local, state, national- and international educational agencies and institutions.

ARTICLE 3.0

Membership Composition of the College

3.1
Faculty

The faculty of the College are academic personnel whose primary responsibilities to the Colleges are in the areas of teaching, research, other creative activity, and service. The faculty of the College shall consist of all personnel of the ranks of instructor, assistant professor associate professor, and professor. Persons holding courtesy appointments to the faculty shall not be voting members. Joint appointments may be made with another unit of the University. Such appointments shall specify the status of the appointee in respect to voting, tenure, and promotion.

3.2
Non-Academic Staff

Hon-academic staff includes all staff members of the College who are classified as career service or administrative and professional personnel.

3.3
Student Body

The student body is composed of all students admitted to the College whose admission has been validated by actual enrollment In a course.

ARTICLE 4.0

Administration

4.1
Dean

The chief executive and administrative officer of the College shall be the Deans who may at the same time hold academic rank in one of 'the 31 departments of the College. The Dean shall be appointed by the President of the University with the approval of the Board of Regents. In making this appointment, the president will be requested to give consideration to the recommendations of the faculty of the College and to consult with a special committee of at least five faculty members elected by the faculty. The Dean shall be responsible to the President for the administration of the College and shall be the agent of the faculty for the execution of educational policy. The Dean is responsible for providing leadership for the development of the faculty, the policies and the programs of the College which are essential to the achievement of the College goals and missions, and for organizing the supporting resources of the College.

The Dean is responsible for establishing relationships with other colleges, schools, state and federal agencies and professional associations that will support and promote College goals and mission

4.2
Administrative Council

An Administrative Council shall be composed of the Dean, departmental chairpersons, and other individuals designated by the Dean. This council shall coordinate administrative matters of the College and advise the Dean. Meetings of the Administrative Council shall be called and chaired by the Dean or a person designated by the Dean. The President of the Council shall serve as ex officio member of the Administrative Council.

ARTICLE 5.0

College Faculty

5.1
Responsibilities

The faculty shall develop the internal policies of the College of Education (COE) consistent with policies of the State University System (SUS) and provisions specified in Article 8.2.1. The faculty is responsible for the development, conduct and quality of the academic programs of the COE. Individually and collectively the faculty provides professional competence knowledge, and experience in an effort to

5.1.1
Develop personnel qualified to occupy a variety of positions in education agencies and allied agencies.
5.1.2
Create and organize knowledge related to problems associated with education.
5.1.3
Provide services consistent with the competencies of the faculty. In the performance of these responsibilities, the faculty shall be committed to the high standards, practices, and ethics of the profession.
5.2
Voting Eligibility

For purposes of policy adoption and general College elections faculty members eligible to vote are defined as those fulltime faculty who are tenure earning or tenured and who are budgeted half-time or more in the College.

5.3
Meetings
5.3.1
Methods of Calling Meet

The College faculty shall meet upon call to discuss issues of concern or to vote on recommendations submitted to it by the Dean, the Council, or other appropriate group. Meetings may be called by the Council President when authorized by the Faculty Council.

At any meeting of the faculty, a simple majority of the eligible voting faculty shall constitute a quorum. Approval of all matters except revision of the Constitution shall require a simple majority of the quorum of eligible faculty members.

5.3.2
Agenda

The persons or body calling a meeting shall be responsible for preparing and publishing an agenda for that meeting.

ARTICLE 6.0

Departments

6.1
The department shall be the basic organizational unit of the College. Departments are responsible for initiation and development of instructional programs.
6.2
Departmental Faculty
6.2.1
Composition

The voting faculty of a department shall consist of the professors$ associate professors, assistant professors, and instructors who hold their primary appointment in that department, together with other persons designated by action of the department. In instances where faculty members are assigned part time in two or more departments, the faculty member shall designate one mutually acceptable department for primary affiliation.

6.2.2
Responsibilities of Departmental Faculty

The departmental faculty shall be responsible for formulating and implementing, within the constraints of existing university and college policies, those specific policies and programs which are necessary for the operation of that department.

6.3
Chairpersons
6.3.1
Appointment

Each department shall have a chairperson. The process of selecting a chairperson shall begin within the College according to the procedures approved by the College faculty. Final approval of a chairperson shall be in accordance with SUS policy.

6.3.2
Responsibility
6.3.2.1
The responsibilities of chairpersons shall be identified by the Dean and the departmental faculty.
6.3.2.2
The Chairperson shall make recommendations to the Dean on matters of concern to departments after consultation with members of the department.

ARTICLE 7.0

Programs, Centers, and Offices

7.1
Programs

A program shall be defined as an area of study leading to professional competence. Programs may be created both in response to client demand and in anticipation of educational needs. Proposed by the Dean, the Faculty Council, departments or faculty; programs shall not be considered legally constituted until they have passed through specified procedures (such as approval by a department, the Program Policies Committees the University Graduate Council or Academic Program Council, the Board of Regents—if necessary).

Programs may be terminated, when the need for which the program was created no longer exists, or college goals of higher priority mandate a reallocation of resources. Responsibility for recommending termination of a program rests with the Dean (the Program Policy Committee and/or the Faculty Council may advise the Dean in such matters).

ARTICLE 8.0

Faculty Council

8.1
Membership
8.1.1
Composition
8.1.1.1
The Faculty Council shall be composed of no fewer than fifteen members from the faculty. The Dean, associate, and assistant deans, and standing committee chairpersons shall serve as ex officio members without voting privileges Ex officio members shall not be counted in quorum determination. All members except ex officio members shall have voting privileges.
8.1.1.2
Any full-time tenured or tenure earning faculty member shall be eligible for membership on the Council. Each department shall be allocated one representative for the first 15 members of the department and one member for each additional 15 department members. One faculty member will be elected to represent the faculty at large. This person will serve as the Council President.
8.1.2
Elections
8.1.2.1
Annual elections shall be held each year in May.
8.1.2.2
The term of office of each Council member shall be two years beginning with the first day of the fall term following the annual election. Approximately one-half of the membership shall be elected annually so that the Council is composed of about one half first-year members and one half second-year members.
8.1.2.3
Each voting faculty member of a department shall be eligible to vote for the representatives of the department.
8.1.2.4
Each voting faculty member shall be eligible to vote for the at-large member.
8.1.2.5
Nomination for vacancies on the Faculty Council shall be made by the department or constituency whose representative has vacated a position.
8.1.3
Officers

The Faculty Council shall have a President, a Vice President, and a Secretary. The Vice President and Secretary shall be elected from and by the members of the Council. The President shall be elected by the faculty. Responsibilities

8.2
Responsibilities
8.2.1
Policy Formulation and Related Responsibilities The Faculty Council shall study, review,and formulate policies affecting the College as a whole, acting upon requests or recommendations from general faculty meetings, individual faculty members, departments, the Dean, College committees, or upon its own initiative. The Faculty Council shall have access to all information pertinent to its function.
8.2.2
Policy Ratification
8.2.2.1
All policies that have been studied and approved by the Faculty Council and the Dean shall be submitted to the full-time faculty for ratification. Policies submitted to the Dean but not approved may be submitted to the faculty for vote. Ratification shall require a majority of the faculty voting. No policy shall be considered valid when fewer than 50% of the faculty cast a ballot.
8.2.2.2
In circumstances which require expeditious action, the faculty may empower the Council to make a specific decision on its behalf without undergoing the usual ratification process. The faculty may so empower the Council by a majority vote of the members present at a called faculty meeting. Any such actions taken by the Council are subject to approval by the faculty.
8.2.2.3
If the number of full-time faculty members employed during the summer quarter is less than 2/3 of the number employed during the preceding academic year, all policies approved during that summer quarter shall be considered temporary and shall be resubmitted for faculty consideration during the following fall quarter.
8.3
Meetings
8.3.1
The Faculty Council shall hold regularly scheduled meetings a t least once per quarter.
3.3.2
The Council President may call a special meeting whenever necessary. The President must call a meetings upon the petition of five voting members of the Council.
8.3.3
All meetings shall be announced i n advance to the College faculty.
8.3.4
Meetings shall be open. and any voting faculty member shall have the privilege of the floor, upon recognition of the Chair.
8.3.5
Minutes of all meetings shall be distributed to the total College faculty.
8.3.6
In the event that through resignation, promotion. illness, or any other unforeseen circumstances, the President is unable to call meetings, the succession of responsibility shall be from President to Vice President to Secretary. Should none of these officers be able to call the first meeting of any academic year, the Dean shall call a meeting before October 15 and serve as Chairperson pro tern- the purpose of this meeting is to facilitate 197 the organization of the Council.
8.4
By-Laws

The Faculty Council shall adopt by-laws to govern its operating 199 procedure so Adoption of any amendments to such by-laws shall require 230 a two-thirds majority of the Council membership.

ARTICLE 9.0

Committees

The Council will have three standing committees.

Program Policy Committee

Personnel Policy Committee

Finance and Budget Committee

Each standing committee will serve as a study, review and recommendation development resource for the Dean and/or the Council. The chairperson of each standing committee shall be elected by members of that committee at the first meeting of each academic year. Chairpersons of each standing committee will serve as ex officio members of the Council. In addition to the above named committees, the Council may establish such standing and ad hoc committees as it deems necessary for the conduct of affairs relating to general College and Faculty Council functions* These committees shall consider requests arising from faculty, other college committees, the Dean, or from their own membership on matters appropriate to the purposes of each committee. The Council will select members of committees established by the Council by procedures as specified in the Council By-Laws.

ARTICLE 10.0

Changes in Organization

10.1
Proposals for changes
10.1.1
Proposals for substantive changes in organization of the College shall be submitted to the College Council for study and approval.
10.1.2
Such proposals may be submitted to the Council by the Dean, or 22-1 any group of five or more faculty members.
10.2
Procedures for Adopting Changes
10.2.1
A recommendation for a change in either College or departmental organization shall be made in accordance with procedures for adopting a College policy as outlined in Article 3.0 of this constitution. Non-substantive changes, such as renaming a department, nay be handled administratively by joint action of the concerned department and the Dean's office.
10.2.2
Recommendations for change in organization shall be submitted to the faculty for ratification.
10.2.3
Upon faculty ratification, recommendations for change shall be forwarded to the Dean.
10.2.4
The Dean shall forward these recommendations and his own to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

ARTICLE 11.0

Amendments

11.1
Amendments to this constitution may be proposed by the Faculty Council or by petition of at least twenty-five full-time faculty members. Notice of the proposed amendment shall be sent to all members of the College faculty at least one month prior to the voting date.
11.2
Amendments shall be adopted when approved by a majority of faculty members eligible to vote. Voting shall be by mail ballot.
11.3
Amendments shall become effective immediately upon approval.

ARTICLE 12.0

Ratification

12.1
This constitution shall be considered ratified upon approved by a majority of the full-time faculty on a mail ballot.
12.2
This constitution shall become effective immediately upon approval of the faculty.
12.3
Nothing in this constitution shall be construed as violating any of the established policies of the administration of the University of South Florida, or the SUS or the BOR/UFF agreement.

ARTICLE 13.0

Parliamentary Authority

In the procedural conduct of all College affairs hear-in mentioned the most recent edition of Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedures shall be considered the final authority.

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