Faculty Handbook

Part VII. – FACULTY SENATE

Part VII. – FACULTY SENATE

Faculty Senate  The Faculty Senate is described in the Bylaws, Article IV, Section 2. The membership, advisory membership, general purpose, and specific duties of the Faculty Senate are described below.

Section 1. MEMBERSHIP

The Faculty Senate shall consist of the chair, vice chair, a representative for contingent faculty elected by all contingent faculty who are contracted when the election is held and two representatives each elected by the members of the College of Health Professions, the College of Liberal Studies, the College of Natural Sciences, and the College of Professional Studies.  All members have the right to voice and vote in the senate.

Section 2. ADVISORY MEMBERSHIP

Advisory members shall consist of the president, the provost, and the chairs of faculty standing committees.  These advisory members shall have the same rights and privileges as any other member of the senate except the right to make motion and to vote.

Section 3. GENERAL PURPOSE

To manage faculty governance, address faculty concerns, and support faculty welfare. The Faculty Senate represents the interests of Pacific Lutheran University’s faculty to the administration With input from its constituents and oversight from the Faculty Assembly, the senate recommends, creates, and administers faculty legislation.

Section 4. SPECIFIC DUTIES OF THE SENATE

  1. To conduct the regular business of faculty governance.
  2. To express faculty sentiment on appropriate occasions.
  3. To collaborate with, support, and consider recommendations from faculty standing committees.
  4. To advise the administration of the university and express faculty concerns and interests regarding the allocation of funds in the budget.
  5. To make recommendations to the administration regarding future directions and policies of the university.
  6. To formally report to the faculty concerning all senate activities and all matters of faculty interest, including the activities of those designated organizations on which faculty representatives have been appointed by the senate.
  7. To review and make recommendations to the faculty regarding all proposals for the establishment of ad hoc faculty committees and other ad hoc committees involving faculty membership and which transcend division or school lines, including joint faculty-student or faculty-administration committees.
  8. To review faculty and university policies regularly, including:
    1. Reviewing the effectiveness of faculty governance structures and proposing any necessary changes to the committee system, Faculty Senate, or Faculty Assembly.  A careful review should be managed by the faculty chair every five years.
    2. Reviewing the university’s policies regarding standards of student academic performances and the university’s Academic Integrity Policy, and making or recommending necessary changes. A careful review should be managed by the senate’s coordinator for academic performance and integrity policies every three years.
    3. Reviewing curricular policies related to global and community engaged education in consultation with the Wang Center for Global and Community Engaged Education, and making or recommending necessary changes. A careful review should be managed by the senate’s coordinator for global education policies every three years.
  9. To develop policy and make recommendations to the administration concerning all matters of university business that impact faculty welfare, including:
    1. Policy concerning the utilization of resources available to faculty.
    2. Policy concerning faculty scholarships and grants.
    3. Policy concerning faculty leaves.
    4. Policy concerning fringe benefits, retirement, and salaries.
  10. To consult with the Office of the Provost in the planning and organization of the faculty fall conference.
  11. To elect members of the senate to serve in the following roles:
    1. Faculty Secretary
    2. Faculty representative to the Board of Regents
    3. Two members of the University Budget Advisory Committee
    4. One member of the University Benefits Committee
    5. One coordinator for academic performance and integrity policies
    6. One coordinator for global education policies
    7. One member that will serve on the Conciliation Committee if it is called
    8. Four members, one representing each College, that will serve on the Faculty Joint Committee if it is called.
  12. To recommend, elect, or appoint faculty to serve in the following roles:
    1. Advisory member to the Retirement Fund Advisory Committee
    2. Member of the Title IX Committee
    3. Member of the University Diversity Committee
    4. Member of the University Safety Committee
    5. Four faculty who will work closely with the Dean of Students Office to serve on Academic Dishonesty Hearing Panels.
    6. Five members and five alternatives for the Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee

Section 5. SPECIFIC DUTIES OF SENATORS

  1. To attend and actively participate in senate meetings.
  2. To represent the faculty in additional role as assigned by the senate.
  3. To communicate regularly with the academic unit or group that elected them, and to schedule and conduct at least two meetings open to all members of that unit or group each semester.
  4. The chair and vice chair of the faculty should work to represent the interests of all faculty.
  5. Senators elected to positions within the senate, including secretary and representative to the board, should work to represent the interests of all faculty when serving in that capacity.
  6. The term of office of the chair and vice chair of the faculty and the faculty secretary begin on July 1 and end on June 30.
  7. The term o f service for other members of the senate begin with the first senate meeting of the academic year, continuing until the first such meeting following the election of their successor or until the position is vacated.  The term of service for senators elected to serve vacated positions shall being on the date the position is vacated.

Section 6. SENATE MEETINGS

  1. Rules for Senate meetings are established in the Faculty Bylaws, Article IV, Section 2.
  2. Senate meetings may be held in person, in hybrid format, or electronically, at the discretion of the chair of the faculty.  The format should be clearly stipulated in the meeting’s agenda, and any necessary changes in format should be announced to all faculty as soon as possible
  3. Any 10 voting members of the faculty may propose to overrule any senate decision, using the process outlined in the Bylaws, Article IV, Section 2, Subsection H.

Section 7. REPRESENTATIVE SENATORS

  1. College Representatives
    1. Senators representing colleges are elected by all members of that college who have the right to vote in Faculty Assembly
    2. No two members of any department or school shall serve simultaneously as senators representing the same college.
    3. These senators’ primary task in the senate is to represent the interests of and communicate regularly with the faculty of their college.
    4. Candidates for these senate positions must agree to be nominated or nominate themselves.
    5. These positions may be filled by any regular faculty member.  Candidates will normally come from the college they represent, but if no member of that college agrees to nomination, faculty from other units may be nominated.
  2. Contingent Faculty Representatives
    1. The contingent faculty representative is a senator elected by all contingent faculty who are employed at the time of their election.
    2. The task of this senator is to represent the interests of and communicate regularly with all contingent faculty.
    3. This position may be filled by any faculty member with voting rights in assembly.
    4. Candidates for this senate position must agree to be nominated or nominate themselves.
    5. Candidates will normally be contingent faculty, but if no contingent faculty member agrees to nomination, regular faculty may be nominated.
    6. The senator in this position will normally not be asked to take on additional responsibilities within the senate, nor asked to serve on other university standing committees.
    7. The contingent faculty representative must be employed by the university.  If this person’s employment with the university ends, they will be considered to have resigned their position on the senate.
    8. The contingent faculty representative shall receive extra pay for each year of service, usually equivalent to the standard per-course rate for 4 credits taught at the university.

Section 8. DESIGNATIVE REPRESENTATIVES AND PROXY VOTING

  1. The chair of the faculty shall work to schedule meetings when all senators can attend, and senators are expected to attend all meetings.  However, should exigent circumstances arise and a senator be unable to attend all or part of a meeting, that senator may formally designate a representative to take their place.
  2. The designated representative must be a member of the unit or group the senator represents and must be will to serve.
  3. The designated representative’s name must be sent to the chair and vice chair of the faculty and to the unit or group the senator represents at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.
  4. The designated representative will have voice and vote in the meeting for which they serve in this role.
  5. The name of the designated representative and the senator they are replacing shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

Section 9. RESIGNATION OR RECALL OF FACULTY SENATORS

  1. Senators are expected to serve the full term to which they are elected, and can only end their term if they resign for an approved cause or are recalled by the unit or group that elected them.
  2. Senators will be considered to have resigned their senate position in the event of an appointment to a position with administrative faculty status, election to vice chair, leave or sabbatical, or separation from the university.  Senators wishing to resign for other reasons should follow the process to petition for resignation laid out in the Faculty Constitution Article III, Section 1.C.
  3. The unit or group that elects a senator has the sole right to remove that senator by recall election.
    1. A recall election is initiated by a petition, signed by at least 1/3 of the voting faculty members in the senator’s academic unit or represented group, submitted to the Governance Committee.
    2. Upon receiving the petition, the Governance Committee will notify all faculty in the relevant unit or represented group and the entire senate.  The Governance Committee will administer a vote within one month of receiving a petition.  If a majority of the members of the relevant unit or group vote for recall, the senator’s term will end immediately.
  4. If a senate position becomes vacant at any point, the Governance Committee will schedule an election to replace that senator as soon as possible.