Multidisciplinary Graduate Programs

MULTIDISCIPLINARY GRADUATE PROGRAMS ACROSS SCHOOLS:

Structure and Governance

Preamble

Important intellectual work takes place both within individual academic disciplines and professions and at the intersection of those disciplines and professions. Although the majority of the graduate effort takes place within single academic units, throughout its history Binghamton University has also had many successful ventures that cross disciplines, schools, and colleges. These ventures have included graduate degree programs that afford students an opportunity to pursue their intellectual interests. In the past, informal arrangements among academic units have supported these ventures. It is anticipated that such informal arrangements involving the cooperation among departments and/or schools and colleges will continue to be the common way multidisciplinary efforts are supported in the future. That is, the prevailing presumption is that multidisciplinary programs will continue to be housed within and overseen by the University’s schools and colleges.

However, experiences on this and other campuses have shown that, in some specific circumstances, different organizational structures may better facilitate development of multidisciplinary graduate programs across schools, especially when those programs receive resources and so are accountable for the use of resources. In order to be able to accommodate such circumstances, guidelines for the role of the Graduate School in serving as an alternative organizational structure for multidisciplinary graduate programs across schools follow.

Guidelines

Multidisciplinary graduate programs may be overseen by the Graduate School in circumstances where the institution believes the program is important and when program goals can be most effectively achieved outside of existing academic units.

The Graduate Dean will designate all faculty affiliated with a multidisciplinary program in consultation with the appropriate dean(s). All faculty designated for a multidisciplinary program must fit the definition of graduate faculty as described in the Graduate School Bylaws. Designations to the program will be based upon the centrality of each faculty member’s research/scholarship to the intellectual foci of the program, plus expertise as graduate faculty.

Most designations in such programs will be part-time, as faculty will have dual designations with other academic unit(s).

oBU’s Faculty/Staff Handbook indicates two kinds of joint designations:

A joint appointment constitutes an appointment to a position that is in more than one academic unit. The appointee has formal and on-going teaching obligations in each unit, and the line and salary of the position are divided among the units. It is the position that is jointly assigned.
A joint title may be granted to an individual who has an appointment to a position that is entirely within one unit, and who has formal and on-going teaching obligations only in that unit. The line and salary of the position are assigned entirely to that one unit. Joint titles constitute recognition of affiliation based upon the individual's interest in another discipline. Individuals holding joint titles may, on a voluntary basis, participate in the teaching or research program of the other unit, but the joint title does not imply any obligation to do so. Joint titles are awarded for renewable terms of up to three years.

oWe envision that most designations to formally organized multidisciplinary graduate programs will be as “joint titles”. However, a full-time appointment in a multidisciplinary program is not precluded, nor is the possibility that a faculty member’s personnel berth would reside in a multidisciplinary program.

The Graduate Dean will appoint the director of such a multidisciplinary program after consulting with the program faculty and the appropriate dean(s). Appointments will be for 3-5 years, with renewal possible. The program director will report to the Dean of the Graduate School.

The Graduate Dean will appoint a Governing Committee for each multidisciplinary program after consulting with the program faculty and the appropriate dean(s). The Governing Committee in consultation with the program faculty and Graduate Dean will develop program bylaws, policy and graduate student handbook.

Policies and practices (including criteria for renewal, tenure, and promotion) governing the program are recommended by the Governing Committee and approved by the program faculty and the Graduate Dean.

For faculty with joint (and thus part-time) appointments in a multidisciplinary program, the remaining portion of each appointment will reside in a department/school and will typically entail the following responsibilities: 1) undergraduate teaching in that academic unit and 2) service functions for that academic unit (committee service and so forth). Specific responsibilities depend upon the portion of time available. Responsibilities for a given year will be spelled out in writing so expectations are clear to everyone.

Faculty whose personnel berths are located in a multidisciplinary program will be reviewed for tenure and promotion by a junior or senior personnel committee appointed by the Provost. That committee will solicit significant input from the academic unit(s), if any, that shares the appointment for the faculty member under review. Reviews for discretionary increases will likewise involve the multidisciplinary program, relevant academic unit(s), and the Dean of the Graduate School.

Programs are approved for 5-year periods and reviewed in the spring of the fourth year. The review will address the program’s quality, contributions to the University’s mission, and relationships developed with other academic units. Based upon the findings of that review, the program may be moved into a school or college, renewed under the auspices of the Graduate School for another 5 years, put on probation with explicit recommendations for change, or discontinued.

Each multidisciplinary program will be assigned resources to support the program. These resources will be under the purview of the program with oversight from the Graduate Dean. Where those resources involve faculty and staff salaries, those salaries will generate a pool of funds for discretionary raises, as is the case in other academic units. Allocation of discretionary funds will flow from the Provost to the Dean of the Graduate School to individual programs, as is the case for other academic units.

The designation of a multidisciplinary program with direct oversight by the Graduate School may also come after a period of development of the multidisciplinary program with direct oversight by a college or school; that is, it would be a two-step process. In this way the viability of the multidisciplinary program can be evaluated and the potential value of a change in oversight ascertained.

Depending on what is appropriate in terms of the Graduate School, SUNY-System and NYS Dept. of Education guidelines, degrees awarded by a multidisciplinary program may be via an established degree program (e.g., PIC awards Ph.D. in Philosophy) or establishment of a new degree program (e.g., Ph.D. in Materials Science).

Sample Bylaws for Inter/Multidisciplinary Graduate Programs

Bylaws for ______

Article 1. NAME AND AFFILIATION

1.1Name. The name of this organization shall be ______Graduate Program.

1.2 Affiliation. The program is one of the graduate programs of Binghamton University.

Article 2. VISION/GOAL STATEMENT AND MISSION

2.1Vision/Goal/Niche. We envision that____/Our goal is ____/Our niche will be _____.

(e.g., We envision that this graduate program in _____ will be the best at public universities in Northeast USA. Or Our niche will be the first/only/most _____ graduate program in ______in the SUNY-system/Northeast/USA/world.)

2.2Mission. The mission of the program is:

(It should be clear “who you are” or what you are all about” and who the constituents are.)

• to facilitate inter/multidisciplinary research and teaching related to ____.

• to_____.

• to _____.

Article 3. PARTICIPATION

3.1 Affiliates. The program may designate as "Affiliates" of the program any interested individuals (including, in particular, members of the Binghamton University faculty) whom it expects to contribute materially to the program's work. To serve on supervisory committees of graduate students, affiliates must meet the definition of “graduate faculty” as described in the Graduate School Bylaws.

3.2 Associates. The program may negotiate with selected Affiliates who are willing to commit themselves in special ways to advance the interests and work of the program for designation as "Associates" of the program. To serve on supervisory committees of graduate students, associates must meet the definition of “graduate faculty” as described in the Graduate School Bylaws.

3.3Joint titles. A joint title may be granted by the Provost or designated dean to anindividual who has an appointment to a position that is entirely within one unit, and who has formal and on-going teaching obligations only in that unit. The line and salary of the position are assigned entirely to that one unit. Joint titles constitute recognition of affiliation based upon the individual's interest in another discipline. Individuals holding joint titles may, on a voluntary basis, participate in the teaching or research program of the other unit, but the joint title does not imply any obligation to do so. Joint titles are awarded for renewable terms of up to three years. From BU’s Faculty/Staff Handbook

3.4Joint appointments. A joint appointment constitutes an appointment by the Provostof an individual to a position that is in more than one academic unit. The appointee has formal and on-going teaching obligations in each unit, and the line and salary of the position are divided among the units. It is the position that is jointly assigned. From BU’s Faculty/Staff Handbook

Article 4. GOVERNANCE AND OPERATION

4.1 Reporting. The program shall be a university-wide body accountable to the Provost and reporting as well to the designated dean(s), its director, and the Steering Committee.

4.2 Steering Committee. The activities of the program shall be overseen by a Steering Committee of a chair and ___ to ___ members, who shall be appointed by the designated dean(s) for two-year terms. Appointments may be renewed up to twice sequentially and may be staggered initially to facilitate rotations in future years. The Steering Committee functions as the faculty body of the program. The program's Steering Committee shall adopt the bylaws of the program, approve its general policies, approve its curriculum, elect its Executive Committee, oversee its management, nominate a Director for approval by the dean(s), and oversee the graduate program, including procedures of graduate recruitment, admission, monitoring and degree conferral. The Steering Committee defines what is expected of Affiliates (i.e., “to contribute materially to the program’s work” means…) and Associates (i.e., “to commit themselves in special ways to advance the interests and work of the program” means…). The Steering Committee shall meet at least once each semester.

4.3Executive Committee. The Steering Committee shall select an Executive Committee composed of the chair and two to four of its members and generally representative of the major units of the university participating in the program. With approval of the Steering Committee, the chair of the Steering Committee can be a member of the Executive Committee. In the latter case, there must be at least two other members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall meet at least twice each semester. The task of the Executive Committee is to provide on-going oversight of the program and ensure that regular tasks of the program as delineated by the bylaws, policies and procedures of the program are completed as needed.

(e.g., The Executive Committee might consist of three faculty, with one of them serving as Associate Director, a second serving also as Director, and a third serving also as chair of the Steering Committee.)

4.4Director. The program's Director shall be appointed by the Provost [or designated dean(s)] in consultation with the program’s Steering Committee and shall be an ex officio member of the program’s Steering Committee and its Executive Committee with voting privileges. With approval of the designated dean(s), the chair of the Executive Committee and Director can be the same individual. In the latter case, there must be at least two other members of the Executive Committee. The Director serves as the Graduate Director and handles most of the day-to-day tasks of the program (e.g., oversight of paperwork for graduate students, budget, space and staff).

4.5Subsidiary bodies. The Steering Committee shall have the power to create such subcommittees, advisory boards, working groups, and other subsidiary bodies as it deems to be needed to carry out the work of the program.

4.6Conduct of meetings. A motion is passed when it receives an affirmative vote from more than half of the committee members. Disputes over conduct of a meeting shall be resolved by reference to the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.

4.7Motions. A permanent record shall be kept in the program’s office of all motions passed by all committees. Each committee shall appoint a secretary for each meeting to record motions passed. The permanent records of motions shall be available to all members of the program.

Article 5. AMENDMENT OF THE BYLAWS

5.1 Amendment of the Bylaws. These bylaws may be amended or repealed by vote of a majority of the Steering Committee, acting at a meeting for which the agenda and the proposed amendment were circulated to the members at least one week in advance.

5.2Severability. If any provision of these bylaws is held to be illegal, unenforceable, or inconsistent with University rules, that provision shall be automatically severed and removed from these bylaws, the remainder of which shall remain in force.

Endorsed by the Graduate Council on 3-7-05.