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Mary Frances Early College of Education Bylaws

Preamble

The Mary Frances Early College of Education’s (COE) mission can best be achieved through cooperation, collaboration, and consultation among the college’s faculty, staff, and administration. These bylaws describe a vision for shared governance through open consultation, communication among stakeholders, informed participation in decision-making processes, and valuing diverse opinions.

ARTICLE I Shared Governance

In the spirit of promoting effective governance, the College adopts the following principles, which are designed to promote understanding, openness, trust, accountability, and participation in the processes that accomplish the mission and goals of the college. Shared governance gives voice but not necessarily the ultimate authority to all stakeholders as well as to specific groups with unique issues.

The Dean is the chief executive officer of the College and has the duties, powers, and responsibilities as specified in the Statutes of the University of Georgia and exercises these responsibilities through engagement with stakeholders.

Principles

Consultation

To facilitate open communication and effective governance, faculty, staff, the Dean, and other administrative officers of the college will exercise due diligence in consulting with one another on issues affecting them. The consultation process will involve discussions with the affected constituencies, the development of policies and procedures created through engaged discussion, appropriate timelines given the constraints of the academic calendar, access to needed and appropriate information, adequate mechanisms and opportunities for feedback, and timely communication of decisions to the affected constituencies.

Representation

Faculty members have several avenues for their voices to be heard. First, faculty members act individually when there are college-wide forums or votes. Second, faculty members may elect representatives from each department to the Faculty Senate. The Senate ensures faculty representation in college-wide groups and committees that make decisions about matters related to faculty, curriculum, and students. Finally, faculty members exercise their voices through their departments: faculty members participate in governance on matters internal to the department, such as curriculum, admissions, and budget in accordance with departmental bylaws; and faculty members have a voice in the selection of their Department Head, who represents the department in meetings with the other Department Heads and the Dean’s office.

Authority

By University statutes, authority for decision-making is vested in Deans, Faculties of Schools and Colleges, and Departments.

The COE has further delineated authority into primary, shared, and advisory.

Primary Authority

The body has essential decision-making authority.

The Dean has primary authority for the development and implementation of administrative policies and procedures including but not limited to personnel matters, budget, and facilities.

The Faculty as a whole (or by program or department) has primary authority for

  • College bylaws and other matters that require a college-wide vote of the faculty.
  • Curriculum and student matters within departments.
  • Implementation of academic policies and procedures.
  • Organization and reorganization of the College and Departments in accordance with Academic Affairs Policy Statement 2.01-18 and educational programs, degrees, and majors in accordance with Academic Affairs Policy Statement 2.01-4.

The Faculty of the Mary Frances Early College of Education has vested its authority in the Faculty Senate for the development of college-level academic policies and procedures as specified in Article 8 of the University Statutes.

Shared Authority

The body participates with other bodies to make a joint decision.

The Dean and Dean’s designee(s) and the Faculty Senate have shared authority for developing college-level

  • Mission, priorities, strategic plans, and program initiatives that cross Departments.
  • Annual review of progress toward the Mary Frances Early College of Education’s mission, its strategic plan, and its goals, with recommendations for future directions.
  • Teaching, research, and service-related policies that have both budget/personnel and faculty quality of life implications (e.g., indirect cost return, minimum enrollments).
  • Policies regarding physical resources (e.g., classroom design, aesthetics, parking).
Advisory Authority

The primary decision-making body consults other stakeholders.

The body with primary authority should initiate policies and procedures as necessary and should provide for sufficient advisory input from others following the principles noted above in the section titled “Consultation.” In many cases, advisory input should be sought through multiple channels, such as through the Faculty Senate and through departments, so that stakeholders have maximum opportunity for input.

ARTICLE II The Faculty

Section 1. The Faculty

The Faculty of the Mary Frances Early College of Education shall consist of the Dean and the Corps of Instruction as defined in the Board of Regents Policy Manual and ex-officio members designated by the University of Georgia Statutes.

Section 2. Regular Meetings of the Faculty

The Faculty of the College shall meet at least once each academic year at a time and place to be determined by the Dean. Written notice of these meetings shall be given to members of the Faculty by the Dean at least ten days in advance. The Dean shall preside and/or invite others to participate in the presentation.

Section 3. Special Meetings of the Faculty

Special meetings of the Faculty may be called at the discretion of the Dean under the following circumstances:

  1. The Dean identifies issues or concerns that need full engagement from the faculty
  2. Upon a written request to the Dean and signed by at least fifteen percent of the Faculty
  3. Upon request by a majority of the Faculty Senate.
  4. Upon request by a majority of the department heads

ARTICLE III The Faculty Senate

Section 1. Mission

The mission of the Mary Frances Early College of Education Faculty Senate shall be to improve the quality of life in the College community while promoting excellence in educational scholarship, research, teaching, service, and practice. In order to create an open and democratic culture, the Faculty Senate is committed to shared governance by serving as an elected representative voice of the Faculty as a whole. The Senate is committed to promoting an open and informed decision-making process on policies and procedures by providing a community forum and fostering an involved citizenry wherein the Faculty exercise both rights and responsibilities.

Section 2. Composition

The Mary Frances Early College of Education shall have a Faculty Senate that shall consist of elected Senators apportioned among the Departments at the rate of two representatives for each Department. The Dean and immediate Past President shall each be ex-officio, non-voting members of the Faculty Senate. The President shall not be included in the count of Senators from any Department. When a Senator assumes the office of Senate President, the President’s Department shall elect another Senator for the duration of that Presidency. In the case of faculty members who hold joint appointments in two Departments, voting privileges shall rest with the faculty member’s home or base Department in the Mary Frances Early College of Education. For the purpose of representation in the Faculty Senate, a Department shall be defined as any group that has been officially defined as such.

Section 3. Powers and Responsibilities

A. According to Article VIII, Section 2 of the University of Georgia Statutes, the Faculty has primary authority for developing academic policies for the Mary Frances Early College of Education. In these matters, the Faculty Senate shall act as the agent of the Faculty except when the Faculty is meeting and shall exercise duties and functions as specified by the University of Georgia Statutes. When policies have academic as well as budgetary and personnel implications, the Senate shares this authority with the Dean and the Dean’s designee(s).

The Faculty Senate has primary responsibility for developing and/or implementing college-level policies concerned with but not limited to the following:

  1. Student academic appeals, undergraduate and graduate curricular matters that affect the College as a whole, college-wide student scholarships, college-wide awards, and promotion and tenure.
  2. Organization and reorganization of the College and Departments in accordance with Academic Affairs Policy Statement 2.01-18 and educational programs, degrees, and majors in accordance with Academic Affairs Policy Statement 2.01-4.
  3. Creation, defining responsibilities, composition, operating procedures, and dissolution of Faculty Senate committees.
  4. Annual review of progress toward the Mary Frances Early College of Education’s mission, its strategic plan, and its goals, with recommendations for future directions.
B. The Faculty Senate and COE Administration have shared authority for developing college-level
  1. Mission, priorities, strategic plans, and program initiatives that cross Departments.
  2. Teaching, research, and service-related policies that have both budget/personnel and faculty quality of life implications (e.g., indirect cost return, minimum enrollments).
  3. Policies regarding physical resources (e.g., classroom design, aesthetics, parking).
C. The Faculty Senate shall be responsible for the following tasks and others to be determined by its membership:
  1. Meet as often as necessary as determined by its membership. Senators shall report issues raised in the Faculty Senate to their Departments, gather feedback and elicit new concerns at Department meetings, and then report to the Faculty Senate.
  2. Facilitating shared governance by holding elections to Senate Standing Committees and University Committees.
  3. Facilitating shared governance by preparing and presenting to the Dean slates of candidates for consideration for appointment to Senate Special Committees.
  4. Facilitating communication between the Faculty and the Dean and the COE Administration. The Dean shall describe actions taken by the Dean’s office on Senate motions involving the Dean’s office during the last Senate meeting of the year.
  5. Representing the Faculty on issues that affect academic issues and quality of life within the College as described in the Senate’s mission.

ARTICLE IV The Staff

The staff are an essential part of the Mary Frances Early College of Education and should be engaged in communication and consultation regarding matters that affect them. The Staff Representative Group (SRG), which has its own bylaws, serves as a channel of communication between staff and the COE administration.

ARTICLE V The Administration

The administration of the college consists of the Dean, department heads, and other administrative officers the Dean may appoint. The Dean is responsible for the configuration of the Dean’s office and the administrative structure of the college, but stakeholders should be consulted prior to significant changes in either.

ARTICLE VI Amending Bylaws

  1. The Faculty of the Mary Frances Early College of Education shall have the power to alter, repeal, or amend these Bylaws and to adopt new Bylaws.
  2. Proposed amendments and new Bylaws shall be distributed to all Faculty, and an electronic forum shall be provided for open discussion for no less than one week before a vote on such amendments and revisions is taken.
  3. A simple majority vote of the eligible faculty members voting shall be required to change the Bylaws.
  4. The President of the Faculty Senate, assisted by the Dean’s Office, shall ensure that the provisions of this article are properly implemented.
  5. BOR and UGA policy supersede COE bylaws.

This document is based, in part, on the Mary Frances Early College of Education Faculty Senate Bylaws which were revised as follows:

  • Revised and approved by COE Faculty October 2005.
  • Revised and approved by COE Faculty May 2007.
  • Revised and approved by COE Faculty May 2010.

The Mary Frances Early College of Education Bylaws were approved by the MFECOE Faculty in October 2012.