BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY PERIMETER COLLEGE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Section 1.

The voting members of the faculty of Perimeter College (designated throughout as “regular faculty”) shall consist of the Dean of the College, and all faculty in the college, including those with administrator roles, holding the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, principal senior lecturer, senior lecturer, lecturer, clinical professor, clinical associate professor, clinical assistant professor, or clinical instructor. The President of the university and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs shall be ex officio members of the faculty of Perimeter College. Professors emeriti, visiting faculty, limited-term faculty, part-time instructors, and ex officio members of the faculty may participate in faculty meetings and have the right to be heard, but may not vote, hold office, or serve on committees of the college.

As provided in Article X of the Statutes of Georgia State University, subject to the Bylaws and Policies of the Board of Regents and to the policies of the University Senate on all matters affecting general university policy, and subject to minimum requirements as may be established for the University, the faculty of Perimeter College shall have the authority and duty to determine the entrance requirements for its own students; to prescribe and define courses of study for them; to set requirements for degrees, diplomas, and certificates; to enact and enforce rules for the guidance and government of its students; and in general, to exercise jurisdiction over all educational matters within the college or school. In addition, faculty 2 shall be given an official hearing and provide counsel to the administration on the establishment, modification, and discontinuance of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. The faculty shall also have the power to set up rules governing its procedure and to adopt and amend its own Bylaws, which shall become effective upon the approval of the administrative council and the Dean, and to adopt resolutions on matters of concern to the college and/or the university.

 Section 2.

The Dean of the college serves as the Chair of the Faculty. After soliciting and considering recommendations from the faculty, the Chair of the faculty shall have the right to designate a secretary, parliamentarian, and Vice-Chair of the Faculty. The faculty maintain the standing authority to recall and remove these officers in a vote of no confidence by motion subject to majority vote. The faculty shall have the power to elect members of standing committees, and to delegate to those committees matters within the jurisdiction of the faculty for study, consideration, and recommendation.

Section 1.

The powers and duties of the administrative officers of Perimeter College are defined in Article VIII of the Statutes of Georgia State University.

 Section 2.

The Chief Academic Officer (CAO) of Perimeter College is the Dean. The duties of the CAO are defined in Article VIII, Section 2, of the Statutes of Georgia State University.

Section 1.

The faculty of Perimeter College shall hold at least one (1) regular meeting each fall and each spring of the academic year. Regular and special meetings shall be held on dates to be determined by the Dean. The Dean may call a special meeting on their own, or they shall call a special meeting upon receipt of a petition stating the purpose of the proposed meeting and signed by at least twenty (20) percent of the voting members of the faculty. At least ten (10) working days in advance of any college-wide meeting of the faculty, except in emergencies, the Dean shall notify each member of the faculty of the time and place of such meetings and shall supply a working agenda listing all matters that the Dean expects to be presented or considered

 Section 2.

The Presiding Officer of both regular and special meetings shall be the Dean. In the absence of the Dean, the Vice-Chair shall preside.

 Section 3.

A majority (greater than 50%) of the voting members of the faculty shall constitute a quorum.

 Section 4.

All meetings shall be conducted according to the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.

 Section 5.

The regular operations of Perimeter College shall follow a committee review procedure. All matters of substance shall be submitted for committee study, recommendation, and/or action prior to definitive action by Perimeter College. The faculty, by a two-thirds (2/3) majority, may vote to suspend committee review of a specific matter and act as a committee of the whole.

Section 6.

Electronic Voting Actions by the regular faculty may be taken by electronic voting. At least a quorum of the entire faculty membership must be in attendance at the regular faculty business meeting during which the motion or voting item is introduced before an electronic vote can be considered valid. The appointed secretary of the faculty shall be responsible for keeping attendance and voting rolls for all faculty business meetings. Motions/voting items should be sent to the official university email address of record of each faculty member in attendance at the regular business meeting during which the business was introduced with a secure link to an anonymous survey, and the faculty chair must afford the faculty members a reasonable amount of time, and no less than two business days, to respond to a request to vote. For electronic voting, the Dean’s Office will send the voting faculty an email with a secure link to an anonymous survey and set a time frame for voting responses. At least a majority of those responding must vote affirmatively for a motion to pass. Nonresponses will not count as either affirmative or negative votes or as abstentions. The results of an electronic vote must be reported in the minutes of the next meeting. An objection to using electronic voting for a particular motion may be registered at the time of the vote, and if multiple objections are registered for the same motion, the objectors will be given the chance to air their objection to electronic voting on this measure and potentially move for a reconsideration of the motion at the next official meeting of the faculty (or sooner if the issue is deemed time sensitive by the Chair of the Faculty).

Section 1.

The Chair shall preside over meetings of the faculty and shall appoint a member of the faculty to serve as parliamentarian. The Chair may present to the faculty for its consideration any matter within its jurisdiction and such information about the college and the university as the Chair deems appropriate. The Chair shall designate a secretary who shall record the minutes of all meetings. The Chair shall designate a Vice-Chair to preside over meetings in the absence of the Chair.

Section 1.

Perimeter College shall have an Executive Committee composed of the Dean, the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, four (4) Department Chairs, and one (1) faculty representative, who is not currently serving as Department Chair in a full time or interim capacity, from each academic department. Department representatives shall be elected by their Departments. The Department Chair representatives on the executive committee shall be elected by the Council of Department Chairs.

a) Nomination and election of Department faculty representatives shall be conducted by separate ballot by department. For each position a majority of votes cast shall be required to elect. Voting may be conducted electronically as provided for in Article V, Section 6.

1. Departmental Faculty representatives shall also serve as ex officio members of departmental executive committees and shall have voting rights on those committees.

b) The faculty representatives on the executive committee shall serve for terms of two (2) years, but their terms shall be staggered so that the terms of not more than six (6) members shall expire at the same time.

Section 2.

The Executive Committee shall meet regularly and at least once each semester of the academic year at the call of the Dean. The Dean or the Dean’s designated representative shall preside over all meetings of the committee. The Dean shall appoint a secretary who shall keep the minutes of all meetings. Upon receipt of a petition signed by ten (10) members of the Executive Committee, the Dean shall call a special meeting of the committee to be presided over by a designated representative agreed to by the petitioners and the Dean.

 Section 3.

In all meetings of the Executive Committee a quorum of ten (10) voting members must be present in order for business to be conducted. All decisions of the committee shall be by majority vote.

 Section 4.

The duties and responsibilities of the Executive Committee are:

a) to act as an advisory body to the Dean;

b) to review the academic operations and the budget of the college and any related items submitted by the Dean and/or faculty members;

c) to report its actions at each regular meeting of the faculty;

d) In accordance with Article IX of the Georgia State University Statutes, to initiate the triennial evaluation of Department Chairs, and other academic administrators called for in the Statutes of the university. The Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, in conjunction with the Executive Committee, shall review the terms of each Department Chair during a regular meeting of the spring semester to identify those Chairs to be evaluated. When an evaluation of a Department Chair is to occur, the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, in consultation with the Executive Committee of the department concerned, shall appoint an ad hoc Evaluation Committee. This Evaluation Committee shall formulate an evaluation procedure consistent with at least the following principles:

1. Each regular, full-time faculty member within the department shall be afforded the opportunity to communicate confidentially with the Evaluation Committee;

2. The evaluation shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the Department Chair’s implementation of departmental policies, assignment of course loads, recruitment and retention of faculty, communication within and without the department, and their own professional development;

3. The Evaluation Committee shall investigate confidentially all evaluations, prepare a report including both majority and minority views, and forward the report along with its findings and recommendations to the Dean. All materials in the possession of the committee, except the report, shall be destroyed. The Dean shall provide the Chair with a copy of the report;

e) to consider proposals for the creation or elimination of departments, schools, institutes, and centers of the college and to make such recommendations to the faculty of the college as it deems appropriate.

Section 1. General Considerations

In addition to an Executive Committee, the college shall have the following standing committees: College-Wide Curriculum Committee, Bylaws Committee, Faculty Affairs Committee, Faculty Awards Committee, and the Dean’s Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure. 6 Unless specified otherwise below, all faculty representatives on standing committees shall be elected by the faculty in the represented academic departments following a regular meeting in the spring semester for a term of two (2) years. Nominations and elections may be done electronically by departments, and department chairs shall manage this process. Each committee shall be composed of at least one (1) member from each of the academic departments of the college. For each of these positions, a majority of votes cast in the department shall be required to elect. Terms of office shall be staggered in order that not more than two-thirds (2/3) shall expire at the same time. Each committee shall set up and execute a system of rotating elections to achieve membership staggering and committee chairs shall notify department chairs of upcoming elections as needed. Each committee shall have the right to elect its own committee chair, who should be a continuing member of the committee. Immediately following the elections, department chairs shall notify the secretary of election results. The secretary shall prepare an alphabetical list of the members of all committees, with continuing members named first, and distribute it to the faculty of the college and the committee chairs. Committee Chairs are responsible for calling meetings in accordance with the Perimeter College Bylaws and maintaining membership lists. When a faculty member is unable to fulfill a term, the affected department shall elect, at the first departmental faculty meeting following an unexpected vacancy or by electronic nomination and ballot, a member to serve until the end of the unexpired term. Meetings of standing committees shall be open to all members of the faculty except when a committee deems it necessary to hold an executive session. For committees requiring a department chair as part of their membership, the department chair representatives should be elected by the Perimeter College Council of Department Chairs.

Section 2. College-Wide Curriculum Committee

(a) The College Wide Curriculum Committee shall be composed of one (1) full-time faculty member from each of the departments. The committee shall meet at least once each semester of the academic year.

(b) The powers and functions of the committee shall be:

1. to review periodically the curricular requirements and offerings of Perimeter College and to make appropriate recommendations to the faculty and to the appropriate senate committees;

2. to receive proposals for any changes in course offerings and curricular requirements and

3. to forward to the faculty of Perimeter College and the respective departments at the Atlanta Campus those proposals considered appropriate;

4. to forward to the faculty a report, provided by the department making the proposal, on each proposal that delineates how the proposal affects the core curriculum, the department submitting the proposal, other departments; and to authorize experimental courses on a trial basis for a period not to exceed one year. As soon as possible after the course has been offered, the committee shall review the course and report its findings to the faculty; 7

5. to coordinate curriculum matters with the appropriate GSU senate committees

Section 3. Bylaws Committee

The Perimeter College Bylaws document is a living document. The document will be regularly reviewed and updated as necessary. The procedure for amendments and updates to the Bylaws is outlined below.

(a)The Perimeter College Bylaws Committee shall be composed of at least one (1) faculty member from each academic department, as well as one department chair. The committee shall meet at least once each semester of the academic year.

(b) The powers and functions of the committee shall be:

1. to review periodically the Perimeter College Bylaws and to recommend to the faculty such amendments as it deems necessary or appropriate;

2. to receive from the faculty proposals for changes to the Perimeter College Bylaws and to consider such proposals and to make appropriate recommendations on each;

A full-time faculty member may propose amendments at any faculty meeting, but the proposed amendments shall be referred without debate to the Bylaws Committee for its consideration and recommendation. A faculty member may also send proposed changes in writing to the Chair of the Bylaws Committee for the committee’s consideration and recommendation. After holding open hearings, the Bylaws Committee shall submit its recommendation, along with any related proposed amendments, to the faculty at its next regular meeting.

 Section 4.  Faculty Affairs Committee

a) The Faculty Affairs Committee shall be composed of faculty representation from each of the academic departments. One faculty member from each department will serve on the committee. The committee shall work closely with the Dean of the College and the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs to promote the professional growth and well-being of the faculty. Specifically, the Faculty Affairs Committee is concerned with those matters which pertain to the responsibilities, rights, privileges, and opportunities of the faculty, collectively and as individuals. Such areas include but are not limited to – tenure, promotion, academic freedom and responsibilities, orientation of new faculty members, evaluation of academic administrators with faculty rank, and procedures related to faculty review/discipline.

b) The powers and functions of the committee shall be:

1. to identify, discuss, and make recommendations to the Dean on matters pertaining to faculty growth and welfare. Examples of such matters are described in the section above.

2. to communicate faculty-related matters of interest or concern to the faculty at large. 8

3. to review and make recommendations regarding faculty who are candidates for “emeritus” status.

4. to review and make recommendations on matters of interpretation related to the Perimeter College Bylaws.

5. to form a faculty grievance board as needed

Section 5.  Faculty Awards Committee

a) The Faculty Awards Committee shall be composed of faculty representation from each of the academic departments. One faculty member from each department will serve on the committee. The committee shall meet at least once each academic year.

b) The powers and functions of the committee shall be:

1. to establish qualifications and nominating procedures for all faculty awards recognized by Perimeter College;

2. to coordinate the selection of the recipients of all awards approved by the college; and

3. to consider new awards or other means of honoring outstanding faculty.

Section 6. Dean’s Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure

Faculty will elect, in accordance with the Perimeter College Handbook on Faculty Evaluation, Promotion, and Tenure, a committee to advise the Dean on matters concerning promotion and tenure. These committees will operate in a manner consistent with the Perimeter College Handbook on Evaluation, Promotion and Tenure and the Georgia State University Promotion and Tenure Manual.

Section 1.

Each department shall form its own Executive Committee to act in an advisory manner to the Chair. Provided it keeps to the following requirements, each department shall otherwise have latitude to determine the role and membership of its Executive Committee:

a) Each Departmental Executive Committee will be composed of the Department Chair(s), the Associate Department Chair(s), and representatives from the regular faculty who serve as Departmental Course Committee Chairs. The elected faculty from departments who serve as departmental representatives on the college-wide executive committee shall also be voting members of their departmental executive 9 committees. Each department shall also elect, at large, committee members from the faculty in the department as provided for below.

b) Each departmental executive committee shall share in the governance of the department. The committee members shall elect the chair of the committee. The Departmental Executive Committee shall include at least two (2) to six (6) tenured or tenure-track members of the faculty. Committee size, structure, and term of service shall be determined by a vote of the voting eligible full-time faculty.

c) The selection of the committee shall be made annually by secret ballot. Election shall be by a majority of votes from voting-eligible faculty present for the election, and voting may be conducted electronically, organized by department chairs, as provided for in Article V, Section 5 above.

d) The duties of the committee shall be to advise and consult with the Chair in departmental governance including the following matters:

1. goals in instruction, research, and service;

2. policies and procedures;

3. workloads;

4. annual budget;

5. merit raises for faculty;

6. recruitment of faculty;

7. allocation of space and equipment; and

8. committee structure in the department and procedures for selecting members of committees.

e) The Executive Committee must meet at least once each semester and report its actions to the departmental faculty by distributing minutes of its deliberations.

f) Each Departmental Executive Committee shall act in an advisory capacity, providing guidance to Course Committees in that department. The Departmental Executive Committee shall also assist and facilitate communication of college-wide matters affecting the faculty in the department.

g) Each Department shall have a set of Bylaws. The Bylaws of each Department should be advised by the Departmental Executive Committee and be approved by a vote of the faculty of the department. The Executive Committee shall also be responsible for maintaining a current written version of Departmental Bylaws.

h) Each Department shall have a plan approved by its Executive Committee and the Dean’s Office that specifies how professors emeriti, part-time instructors, limitedterm instructors, and individuals with visiting appointments may participate in departmental meetings and committees.

1. Article XII Section 22 of the University statutes stipulates that part-time faculty do not have voting rights.

2. Article II, section I of the PC Bylaws stipulates that the membership (those with voting rights) of the faculty are those with academic rank (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Instructor, Principle Senior Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Lecturer, Clinical Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Instructor) 10

3. Department plans must not be in violation of the University statutes or the PC Bylaws.

Section 2.

Each department shall hold at least one (1) regular faculty meeting during each semester of the academic year at a time and place to be determined by the Department Chair/s.

 Section 3.

For the purposes of representation in faculty governance structures and for the efficient operation of the college, the academic departments are constituted as follows:

Life & Earth Sciences

Physical Sciences

English A (Clarkston, Decatur, Newton)

English B (Online, Dunwoody, Alpharetta)

Mathematics

Computer Science and Engineering

Humanities

Fine Arts

Business

Health Professions

Cultural & Behavioral Sciences

History & Political Science

Department Chairs manage the election processes for the department representatives of committees described in the Perimeter College Bylaws.

Section 4.

When a Department Chair position becomes vacant, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the executive committee of the department shall meet to jointly decide upon (a) what the specific charge of the Departmental Chair Search Advisory Committee shall be and (b) how its membership shall be selected. Once constituted, this Department Chair Search Advisory Committee shall assist and provide official counsel to the Dean in the search for a new Department Chair.

Section 1.

In addition to elected committees, the college shall have a Council of Department Chairs. The Council shall meet at least each semester of the academic year at a time and place to be determined by the Dean. The Dean or the Dean’s designated representative shall preside over all meetings of the council. The Dean shall designate a secretary who shall keep the minutes of all meetings. A majority of the Chairs shall constitute a quorum, and all decisions shall be by majority vote. The duties of the council shall be:

(a) to act as an advisory body to the Dean; (

b) to consider and, when necessary, take action on matters presented by the Dean;

(c) to make recommendations to standing committees of the faculty, and to serve on standing committees of the faculty as provided for in Article VIII above.

Section 2. Membership

Membership Each department listed in Article IX, Section III of the Bylaws above shall have their own Department Chair member on the Council of Department Chairs even if this Chair is effectively serving in that role only in a limited, acting, or interim capacity. To ensure equitable voting power of all departments, members of the Council of Department Chairs should not be charged with representing multiple departments at the same time.

These Bylaws may be amended in the following manner:

a) the Bylaws Committee may propose amendments at any faculty meeting;

b) a faculty member may propose amendments at any faculty meeting, but the proposed amendments shall be referred without debate to the Bylaws Committee for its consideration and recommendation. A faculty member may also send amendments in writing to the Chair of the Bylaws Committee for the committee’s consideration and recommendation. After holding open hearings, the Bylaws Committee shall submit its recommendations, along with the proposed amendments, to the faculty at its next regular meeting;

c) all proposals for amendment made by the Bylaws Committee and all recommendations on proposed amendments received from other sources shall be submitted by the committee, through the Dean, to each member of the faculty at least two (2) weeks prior to the regular faculty meeting; and

d) all proposed amendments submitted to the faculty shall become a part of the Bylaws upon being approved by the Dean and two-thirds (2/3) of the faculty in a meeting where a quorum is achieved and consideration of amendments is a part of the order of business.