Senate Steering Committee
Standing charge: The Steering Committee will prepare a program of issues to be considered by the Faculty Senate based on input from faculty members and the individual caucuses. It will recommend appropriate faculty committees to accomplish the related objectives. It will also perform other tasks as provided by these bylaws or directed by a vote of the Faculty Senate. The Steering Committee shall certify that the elections of Faculty Senators from the individual colleges are held within the rules specified by these bylaws and otherwise adopted by the Faculty Senate.
Senate Standing Committees
Academic Affairs Committee
Standing charge: The Academic Affairs Committee shall consist of six regular faculty members, who shall serve for staggered three-year terms, and the vice president for academic affairs and provost. The committee shall concern itself with policies and problems related to the academic mission of the university.
Academic Computing Committee
Standing charge: The Academic Computing Committee shall concern itself with all phases of academic computing.
Faculty Affairs Committee
Standing charge: The Faculty Affairs Committee shall concern itself with faculty relations within the university structure and all documents concerned with such issues as academic freedom, responsibility and tenure, institutional policies and procedures, sabbaticals and leaves, and the Faculty Senate constitution and bylaws. It shall also recommend to the president of the university the three faculty members to receive teaching awards at commencement.
Financial Review Committee
Standing charge: The Financial Review Committee shall consist of six regular faculty members, at least one from each college and one academic dean. The Financial Review Committee will meet with the administration and the trustees, including the chair of the Resources and Efficiencies Committee, the chair of the Facilities Sub-committee, and the chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee of the Board of Trustees, to review the financial status of the university. Meeting discussions are to include but not be limited to a confidential discussion of the annual audit and the auditor’s findings regarding the internal control structure of the university, and the budget policies for the coming year approved by the Resources and Efficiencies Committee.
Library Committee
Standing charge: Library Committee shall concern itself with all phases of the university libraries.
Student Affairs Committee
Standing charge: The Student Affairs Committee shall concern itself with all aspects of student life that relate directly to the educational process.
University Committees
Equal Access & Opportunity Committee
Standing charge: The Equal Access and Opportunity Committee is authorized to consider all matters pertaining to affirmative action, equal access and opportunity, and the status of women and minorities. It shall periodically, at least every three years, review the status of equal access and opportunity at the university. It shall have at least one faculty member from each college, appointed to staggered two-year terms.
Benefits Committee
Standing charge: The Benefits Committee is authorized to consider any policy pertaining to faculty benefits, including insurance, retirement plans, tuition waiver, and other personnel matters. It shall have at least one faculty member from each college, appointed to two-year staggered terms.
Faculty Athletics Board
Standing charge: The Faculty Athletics Board is a standing committee of the university. Three of the faculty representatives are nominated from among resident faculty by the president of the Faculty Senate and elected by the Faculty Senate, one being elected each year to three-year staggered terms. The committee shall keep the Faculty Senate informed of its actions by sending a copy of its minutes to the president and vice president of the Faculty Senate.
Research Council
Standing charge: Research Council shall be a forum for promoting research, examining and discussing research policy, and maximizing the internal and external benefits of research activity. The council’s standing charge is to examine ways to promote research activity, discuss research policy and administration, and make recommendations to maximize the internal and external benefits of research activity. This charge emphasizes the role of the council in policy formulation, discussion, and implementation. The council may be asked by the administration for funding recommendations that the council may refer to subcommittees of the council and other faculty members.
TU Scholars Committee
Standing charge: The TU Scholars Committee is a standing committee of the university. The committee shall consist of five regular faculty members elected by the Faculty Senate, one from each college, who shall serve for staggered three-year terms, and an administrator appointed annually by the provost. The committee shall help students navigate the TU Scholars program, approve experiential learning and capstone plans, and approve the inclusion of interdisciplinary programs in the TU Scholars program.
Human, Cultural and Gender Diversity (HCGD) Committee
Standing charge: The Human, Cultural and Gender Diversity (HCGD) Committee is a standing committee of the university. The Committee shall consist of six regular faculty members elected by the Faculty Senate, two from the College of Arts & Sciences and one from each other college, who shall serve for staggered three-year terms, one member appointed annually by the Women’s and Gender Studies governing board, one ex-officio member appointed annually by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), one ex-officio member appointed annually by the Office of Continuous Improvement (OCI), and one ex-officio administrator appointed annually by the provost. The HCGD Committee is responsible for setting policy related to the HCGD requirement and approving courses that satisfy that requirement.
Faculty Appeals Board
“The University Faculty Appeals Board shall hear:
- cases involving non-renewal of term contracts and denial of promotion and tenure …;
- cases involving dismissal due to financial exigency …;
- cases involving dismissal because of educational considerations …; and
- cases involving dismissal due to legally permissible medical reasons …
In addition, the University Faculty Appeals Board may hear appeals of decisions involving dismissal for cause after those cases have been heard by the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities of the faculty member’s college … .” (Blue Book Section VI.A.2.c)
Faculty Grievances Committee
The University Committee on Faculty Grievances has two areas of jurisdiction:
- a petition for redress of a grievance by a faculty member alleging professional, personal or administrative misconduct governed by the statement (see Statement VI.A.3.c); and
- a petition by a faculty member who believes that a minor sanction has been incorrectly imposed under Statement VIII.B. (“Minor Sanctions”) by the administrative head or dean who has supervisory responsibility concerning the faculty member (see Statement VIII.B.).
Parking/Traffic Committee