RULES, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER, 80309-0390
April 2006
This document consists of two parts:
I. Rules
II. Policies and Procedures
A. Undergraduate curricula and requirements
B. Graduate curricula and requirements
C. Departmental committees
D. General
Rules
Rule 1
Unless otherwise specified in these Rules, Policies, and Procedures, Departmental meetings will be carried out in accord with the latest edition of Roberts’ Rules of Order.
Rule 2
The following procedure is required to adopt, amend, or delete an item in the Rules:
A. A notice of motion containing the complete text of the motion must be presented to the voting faculty at least one week before the faculty meeting at which the proposed motion is moved. This notice may be made by paper or email distribution.
B. Passage by the faculty (voice vote or show of hands) with a simple majority) of a motion and second to have the faculty vote on the proposed motion by a Written Ballot.
C. Passage by a two-thirds majority on a Written Ballot vote.
I. Rules, Page 2 January 2006
Rule 3
The Rules, Policies and Procedures of the Department of Physics shall be reviewed and updated as necessary, no less often than once every three years and shall be available from the Departmental home pages.
Rule 4
The minutes of each Departmental regular or special faculty meeting shall be kept and made available from the Departmental home page. If the faculty votes to keep no minutes at a meeting a record of this action shall be entered with the next recorded minutes.
Rule 5
Additions, changes, or deletions to the Policies and Procedures require a one-week notice of motion, a second and a simple majority vote.
Rule 6
The required notices of motion for changes in the Rules or the Policies and Procedures may be suspended temporarily by a two-thirds majority voice vote.
Rule 7
Definitions: a) The Regular Faculty consists of the Assistant, Associate, and Full Professors rostered in the Department of Physics.
Special Faculty may be appointed. All Special faculty are expected to be continuously and actively involved in the Department’s programs of teaching and research and may serve on Departmental committees. Excepting Professors Emeritus and Faculty on joint appointment, appointments to the Special Faculty shall be for terms not exceeding three years, save for those Professors Attendant Rank or Research professors who have been granted the implication of ‘contract tenure’ by vote of the Department.
A) Emeritus professors of this Department (nonvoting)
B) Professors on joint appointment with other academic departments who are not rostered in this Department (voting)
C) Professors on joint appointment with other academic departments who are not rostered in this Department (non-voting)
D) Professors Adjoint (voting), (any rank)
E) Professors Adjoint (non-voting), (any rank)
F) Attendant Rank Professors (voting)
G) Attendant Rank Professors (non-voting)
H) Lecturers
I) Visiting Professors
J)Research Professors (voting)
K) Instructors and Senior Instructors (voting)(For definitions, see the current edition of the Faculty Handbook.)
Rule 8
Definition: The Voting Faculty consists of the Regular Faculty plus the following Special Faculty, who may be given one half vote or one full apiece by majority vote of the faculty upon their appointment or reappointment
A) Professors on joint appointment (voting)
B) Professors Adjoint (voting); voting Professors Adjoint assume non-voting status upon retiring from their parent organization.
C) Attendant Rank Professors (voting)
D) Senior Instructors(voting)
E) Research Professors (voting)
Rule 9
Limitation: No appointment or reappointment may be made to the voting Special Faculty if the number of voting Special Faculty would then exceed one-third of the number of Regular Faculty members.
Rule 10
Faculty reviews
A) Annual Reviews shall be carried out according to University criteria and schedules. The Chair shall offer to meet individually with each faculty member to discuss that member’s performance, the evaluations, and the goals and plans for that faculty member for the coming year.
B)Post-tenure Reviews shall be carried out according to University criteria and schedules. These reviews shall be part of the Annual Review process, with the addition of a statement of future plans by the reviewed faculty member.
I. Rules, Page 3 January 2006
Rule 11
Definition: In any meeting of the Faculty, a quorum exists if more than one half of the Regular Faculty, excluding those on leave, are present.
Rule 12
Voting:
A) In voice or hand votes in meetings each member of the Regular and Voting Special Faculty present has one vote. No proxy votes are allowed.
B) A motion to require a written ballot on a motion on the floor takes precedence over the motion on the floor and passes if it receives eight affirmative votes. Rule 13.d defines the method for this written ballot.
C) In all written ballot voting, members of the Regular Faculty shall have one vote each. Other members of the Voting Faculty shall have one vote or one-half vote ., according to the voting status conferred as in Rule 9.
D) The Written Ballot:
i) The written ballot shall be a secret ballot.
ii) Ballots and ballot envelopes shall be distributed to all voting faculty eligible to vote on the issue or by email to faculty not present on the campus at the time of the ballot. A statement of the due date for the ballot will be provided with the ballot.
iiiEach written ballot shall be identified as to whether the voter casts one vote or one-half vote.
iv) The deadline for the return of ballots shall be at least five days after they are distributed.
v) Faculty members not on campus may submit their votes by email to the Chair or designate, who will remove identifying information and place the ballot in a sealed envelope with a notation as to whether it is a full or half vote.
vi) After the deadline for the receipt of the ballots, the ballot envelopes shall be opened and the ballots counted in the presence of at least three members of the Regular Faculty.
vii)The number of “eligible votes” is the sum of the whole and half votes of the Voting Faculty who are eligible to vote on the issue.
viii) Ballots turned in without a clear expression of the voter’s choice, or ballots marked to indicate that the voter abstains, shall not be counted as votes cast.
ix) A simple majority is more than 50 percent of the votes cast.
x) A two-thirds majority is defined as one third of the following sum: the number of eligible votes plus the number of votes cast.
xi) Ballots shall be preserved for at least two weeks after the results of the balloting have been announced.
I. Rules, Page 4 January 2006
Rule 13
Lecturers may be appointed by the Chair, for a first one-year term. Lecturers who have established a successful extended relationship with the Department may be appointed for terms of up to three years with the advice and consent of the Chairman’s Advisory Committee.
Rule 14
Appointment to the Research Professor ranks is made by the Graduate School. Nominations shall be forwarded to the Graduate School by the Chair with the advice and consent of the Chairman’s Advisory Committee.
Rule 15
Appointments to the Attendant Rank titles are for individuals whose qualifications are comparable to those of the corresponding regular faculty titles, but who are supported by grant, contract or other non-general University funds. Appointments as Assistant Professor Attendant Rank are intended to be of limited total duration, in no case longer than seven years. Appointments to Associate Professor or Professor Attendant Rank may be of limited terms or can carry the implication of “contract tenure”. In the latter case the Department agrees that the appointment is intended to continue as long as sufficient funds are available from external sources to support the salary and the research program of the named person.
Rule 16
Excepting the appointment of a Lecturer or an Emeritus Professor, a favorable Departmental recommendation for an appointment, a reappointment, a promotion, or a decision on the early award of tenure will be transmitted to the Dean only if it has been approved on a written ballot by a two-thirds majority of the Regular Faculty. Independent of the outcome, a recommendation bearing on a mandated tenure review or a comprehensive reappointment review will be forwarded to the Dean together with the results of the balloting. Only tenured Voting Faculty, including members of the Regular Faculty and those on joint appointments with other academic departments, are eligible to vote on recommendations regarding the awarding of tenure. This limitation applies to all tenured appointments to the faculty—and to promotions in which the award of tenure and the change in rank are linked. Otherwise, all Regular and Voting-Special Faculty are eligible to vote in cases of appointment, reappointment, and promotion. Only voting Full Professors are eligible to vote on promotion to that title.Excepting the individual(s) to be discussed, all ranks may participate in faculty meeting discussions of appointments, reappointments, promotions, and/or the awarding of tenure.
Rule 17 Election of the Chair
A) A Chairmanship Election Committee shall be named approximately 10 months in advance of the expiration of the term of office of the Chairman or will be named as soon as possible after notification that the office will become vacant if that vacancy will occur before the end of the normal term. This Committee shall have three members, named by the Chair with the advice and consent of the Chair’s Advisory Committee.
B) This Committee will conduct the election according to the following methods:
i) Each member of the Voting Faculty will be asked to nominate no more than two candidates from the Regular Faculty of this Department.
ii)Nomination of candidates from outside this Department shall be by a petition carrying ten or more signatures of the Regular Faculty.
iii)The Committee will create an alphabetically ordered slate of the five candidates who are willing to serve with the largest number of nominations.
iv)After the slate is announced, other willing members of the Regular Faculty may be added to the slate by petitions signed by ten or more members of the Voting Faculty
v) Candidates will be listed alphabetically on all ballots.
vi) Each member of the Voting Faculty will be asked to cast a written vote for one candidate.
vii) To be elected, a candidate must receive two thirds of the eligible votes
viii) If the first ballot does not select the new Chair, voting will be carried out as in vi) and vii) above in the following sequence.
a) A new ballot will list the three top candidates from the first ballot
b) If the two-thirds majority is not obtained on the second ballot, a third ballot will list the two top candidates from that ballot
c) If no candidate obtains two thirds of the votes on the third ballot, a fourth ballot shall be prepared with only the name of the top candidate from the third ballot, and Voting Faculty shall be asked to vote yes or no
d) If the fourth ballot does not result in a two thirds majority of yes votes, a fifth ballot shall be prepared with only the name of the second candidate on the third ballot, and Voting Faculty shall be asked to vote yes or no for that candidate.