3.2.4 University Senate

(Bylaws)

The University Senate is responsible to the faculty.
The University Senate consists of the following members:
1. Chair and Vice Chair
  
  The chair is the Chair of the Faculty. The vice chair is the Associate Chair of the Faculty.
2. Faculty
  1. The chair/dean of each academic department
  2. The associate dean of the School of Nursing, who represents the College Place campus of the School of Nursing
  3. The Billings M.S.W. program coordinator or designee from Billings faculty
  4. The directors of the Honors Program and the university libraries
  5. Three faculty members, who are not otherwise voting members of Senate, elected by the faculty in multi-candidate elections--one each from the three academic areas--serve three-year terms with rotation and due regard for continuity.
3. Administrators
  
  The President, Vice Presidents for Academic and Financial Administration, the Dean of Graduate Studies, the Assoc. Vice President for Academic Administration, and the Registrar are ex officio members. The Director of Student Financial Services or designee is a non-voting ex officio member.
4. Students
  
  Three student members, elected by ASWWU Senate, serve for one year.
5. Staff
  
  Two staff members, appointed by Staff Council, serve two-year terms with rotation.
6. Committee Chairs
  
  If not otherwise voting members of Senate, the chairs of General Studies Committee, Governance Handbook Committee, and the University Master Planning Committee are non-voting ex officio members.
7. Conflicting Appointment
  
  In the event that a person who is otherwise a voting member of Senate is not eligible to vote due to serving as Chair (or acting Chair), the represented entity(s) may select a replacement voting member. In the event of a significant conflict of interest between a member's voting role and non-voting ex officio role, the member should invite one of the represented entities to select a replacement during the time fo the conflict of interest.
The work of the University Senate is to
1. Originate, review, and recommend policies for the academic program
2. Review specific academic matters that are new or that may have a broad effect on academic departments and the academic program
3. Commission the governance working committees responsible to Senate to develop appropriate policies
4. Review and approve specific policy recommendations of the governance working committees responsible to Senate
5. Accept reports for information purposes from the governance working committees responsible to Senate and evaluate any proposed exceptions to policy that the reports contain
6. Report to the University Assembly all actions that are intended as recommendations to the President
7. Make available to faculty and staff, in a timely manner, agendas, reports of all actions, related discussion, and minutes of Senate meetings
8. Maintain open, two-way communication with the administration; recommend administrative review of policies which are more pervasive than specific academic polices but which affect the academic program; provide reports to, and receive reports from, the administration; participate in a two-way advisory relationship with administration
9. Senate shall have final authority to approve curriculum changes to existing academic programs of the University. Recommendations to add new degree programs (see 3.3.1 New Academic Programs) or to delete existing degree programs (see 3.3.2 Termination of Academic Programs) are subject to review by University Assembly.
The duties of Senate administrators are as follows:
1. The chair is responsible for the overall direction of the Senate and chairs meetings of the Senate. The chair establishes the agenda for Senate meetings in coordination with the Vice President for Academic Administration.
2. The vice chair is responsible to the chair. He or she chairs meetings of the Senate Executive Committee, organizes and guides the work of the Executive Committee (see below), chairs Senate meetings in the absence of the elected chair, and serves on Nominating Committee.
3. Time will be designated on each Senate agenda for items brought by the Vice President for Academic Administration.
4. The parliamentarian is a faculty member of the Senate, elected by the Senate for a term of one year. The duty of the parliamentarian is to see that the business of the Senate is conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order.
5. The secretary is a non-member of the Senate, appointed by the chair in consultation with the Executive Committee and the administration.
6. The Executive Committee consists of the Associate Chair of the Faculty, chair; the Chair of the Faculty; and the Vice President for Academic Administration. The Executive Committee serves as a liaison between the Senate and working committees, maintains and coordinates the flow of information, reports to and from the committees responsible to the Senate, and serves as liaison between the faculty and the administration.
Senate Chair Consideration

Faculty members accepting the responsibility of Chair of the Faculty chair will be given consideration in recognition of service. Consideration options are determined by the Vice President for Academic Administration in consultation with Senate Executive Committee (see Appendix P: University Senate Chair Consideration).
Senate meets as listed in the academic calendar and at other times as called by the chair.

(Procedures)

Protocol
1. The chair develops the agenda and distributes it at least two days in advance of Senate meetings.
2. Actions are taken by vote.
3. Committee workload (average in clock hours per quarter):
  
  i. Chair: 180 hrs.
  
  ii. Vice Chair: 40 hrs.
  
  iii. Members: 20 hrs.
  
  The workload for chair of Senate is considered to be 1/3rd of a standard teaching load, or four credits per quarter. The chair may opt to accept a teaching load reduction or any one of several other options (see Appendix P: University Senate Chair Consideration) and may change the selected option at the beginning of each quarter by notifying the Vice President for Academic Administration. No consideration is provided for summer quarter.
4. The University Senate
  i. Reviews specific academic matters that are new or that may have a broad effect on academic departments and the academic program
  
  ii. Commissions the governance working committees responsible to Senate to develop appropriate policies
  
  iii. Reviews and approves specific policy recommendations of the governance working committees responsible to Senate
  
  iv. Accepts reports for information purposes from the governance working committees responsible to Senate and evaluates any proposed exceptions to policy which these reports may contain
  
  v. Submits recommendations, policies, and reports to the faculty for information and submits major recommendations, new policies, and departures from policies to the faculty for approval
5. A member who necessarily must be absent should arrange for an alternate from the entity represented. An alternate is considered part of the quorum and is authorized to vote.
6. Prior to faculty actions, all Senate recommendations with pervasive effects on the academic program will be communicated in writing to Administration for review and response. Senate expects that prior to final administrative action, all administrative recommendations with pervasive effects on the academic program will be communicated in writing to the Senate for review and response.
7. Appeals in writing may be made by academic department chairs to the chair of Senate. These appeals concern issues acted on by working committees resulting in decisions deemed by the department chair to be adverse or unfair to the respective department. The appeal process may continue to the faculty if the department chair is not satisfied by the Senate decision. In most matters, the faculty will be the final arbiter.
8. Policy for Visitors to Senate
  
  University Senate is a representative body with teaching faculty, administrative, staff, and student members. Faculty members, administrators, staff, and students of the University who wish to visit the senate are welcome but should make requests of the Senate chair through their senators. To allow for agenda planning, such requests should be made in advance of the meeting. Should alternative arrangements be necessary, visitors, including persons from off campus, must contact the Senate chair.
  
  i. Invitees: The chair of the Senate may invite non-senators to observe or assist the senate in its deliberations.
  
  ii. Visitors: Visitors usually attend as observers for informational purposes and do not take part in the proceedings. Those intending to speak at Senate should arrange in advance for agenda time. Visitors who wish to make group presentations should provide the Senate chair with a list of the people involved. A time limit for presentations will be established in keeping with the other items on the agenda.
9. Policy of Administrative Evaluations
  
  The Director of Human Resources, in consultation with the Chair and Associate Chair of the Faculty, oversees design, content, and implementation of an evaluative survey to measure perceptions of administrator effectiveness. Evaluated administrators are the President, Vice Presidents, and Associate Vice Presidents. The survey will meet the following criteria:
  
  The survey
  
  i. Is administered online at least once every two years
  
  ii. Maintains consistent evaluative measures across administrators and time
  
  iii. Includes open-ended response options
  
  iv. Is brief--10 or fewer questions recommended
  
  The process
  
  i. Includes notification to and opportunity for participation of all current faculty and staff
  
  ii. Provides sufficient time and opportunity to respond
  
  iii. Includes the option for administrators to suggest up to 3 questions of their choosing
  
  iv. Maintains anonymity of respondents and privacy of data
Procedural Modifications

Modifications of the Senate procedures are made by two-thirds (2/3) of the voting members meeting in regularly scheduled session.
Communication
1. Minutes are reviewed by the chair and provided to and approved by the senators.
2. The chair maintains contact with administration, serving on the President's Cabinet.
3. The vice chair serves on Nominating Committee.
4. The Senate Executive Committee serves as a liaison between Senate and the working committees, maintains and coordinates the flow of information and reports to and from the committees responsible to the Senate, and serves as a liaison between the faculty and the administration.
5. The Senate
  i. Maintains open, two-way communication with the administration
  
  ii. Recommends administrative review of policies that are more pervasive than specific academic policies but that affect the academic program
  
  iii. Provides reports to, and receives reports from, the administration and serves in a two-way advisory role with the administration
Documentation
1. Rationale for all actions and recommendations is included in the minutes.
2. Minutes of all regularly and specially scheduled meetings are recorded by the secretary. All minutes are sent to the Central File.
3. The chair keeps a notebook recording the work of the Senate.

* These bylaws are pending final approval by the WWU Board of Trustees.

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3.2 Committees