Persuaded That a Constituted System of Procedures for Self-Governance Is Desirable, The
Revised December 06, 2005
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
Bylaws
Persuaded that a constituted system of procedures for self-governance is desirable, the members of the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences adopt and affirm the following articles and bylaws:
Article I – NAME
The body here constituted is the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences of the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.
Article II – PURPOSE
The purpose of the body is to aid the members to fulfill individually and collectively the stated missions and goals of the University, of the College of Letters and Sciences, and of the Department.
Article III – MEMBERSHIP
3.1 All Mathematical and Computer Sciences faculty and academic staff holding one year teaching and/or administrative appointments equivalent to at least six credits per semester in the Department, as well as persons on leave of absence holding such an appointment immediately prior to their leave, are voting Department Members.
3.2 Emeritus Faculty are non-voting Department members.
Article IV – OFFICERS
Officers are the Chair of the Department and the Recording Secretary.
4.1 Chair: The Chair of the Department shall serve as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Department, and is expected:
a) To oversee the operations of the Department, address day-to-day problems, and institute new
policies and procedures as needed.
b) To represent the Department Faculty to the College, University, and community.
c) To consult with the Department on matters that affect the Department.
d) To implement College and University policy within the Department.
e) To encourage high professional standards.
f) To enforce these bylaws.
4.2 Recommendation for Chair of Department:
The following rules shall be guidelines for recommending a Chair:
a)Qualifications: The Chairperson must be a tenured, full-time faculty member in the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences.
b) The Chair is chosen by, and serves in accordance with the policies and procedures of the College
and the University and with these bylaws of, the Department of Mathematical and Computer
Sciences.
c) Procedure to facilitate the recommendation of the Department Chair: Three weeks
prior to the consultation of the Department members with the College Dean, the Elections Committee shall seek nominations for the Chair position. For the Department members to learn more about the candidates and their vision for the Department, the Elections Committee shall do the following:
(1) The Committee shall ask each candidate to provide his/her vision in a position paper within one week. The Committee shall then distribute the candidates’ statements among the
Department members by Monday of the second week.
(2) The Committee shall arrange one or more Department meetings at which candidates present their ideas and answer questions from the Department. These meetings must take place before the consultations with the Dean.
d) Chair’s Term: The term for Chairperson will be three (3) years, and it shall end on June 30th.
A Chairperson shall not serve more than two consecutive terms.
4.3 Recording Secretary: The Recording Secretary for both Department General and Tenured faculty
meetings is elected from among tenured faculty. The election shall be in the spring semester for the
following academic year. The Secretary will maintain accurate records of the meeting deliberations
and distribute the minutes at least three school days before the subsequent meeting.
Article V – MEETINGS
5.1 All meetings will be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order unless otherwise specified in
these bylaws.
5.2 The body shall meet at the call of the Chair of the Department. The agenda for the meeting shall be
distributed to the members three school days in advance of the meeting. Business not on the agenda
may be conducted during the meeting either by adoption of suspension of rules to receive it or under a
“New Business” heading on the agenda subject to the State Open Meeting rules. There will be a
minimum of two Department meetings per semester.
5.3 Special meetings may be called by the Chair of the Department.
5.4 The Department Chairperson, or his/her designate shall be the presiding officer at meetings of the
Department.
5.5 Upon a request of at least five Department members, the Chairperson shall schedule a Department
meeting within ten school days of the request.
5.6 A quorum shall consist of a majority of the Department voting members.
5.7 Meetings of the tenured faculty of the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences shall be
governed by the same rules of conduct that govern the Department as a whole.
5.8 The method of voting shall be at the discretion of the person presiding, unless law, policy, consensus,
or a call from the floor determines otherwise, subject to Article V (5.1).
Article VI – COMMITTEES
6.1The following statements shall apply to all committees unless otherwise specified in the bylaws:
a) Committee terms shall be two years.
b) All Committees shall have staggered terms.
c) There shall be no limit on the number of consecutive terms a member may serve on the same Committee.
d) Committees shall elect their own Chair.
e) When a vacancy appears on an elected Departmental Committee, the Chair of the Department, in consultation with the Committee, may appoint Department members to fill the vacancy until the next election.
f) A quorum of a Committee shall consist of one-half of the membership, not counting vacant
memberships.
g) Members of the academic staff may serve on any Committee, except those from which these bylaws debar them, but they shall not be required to serve on any Department Committees.
h) Election shall be held every year at the beginning of the fall semester for all Committee positions needed.
i) Committee members shall be considered voting members of the Committee only if they are voting
members of the Department.
6.2Ad Hoc Committees
Ad Hoc Committees may be established from time to time, their functions and membership being
defined at the time either by the Chair in a memorandum or by the Department in a Department
meeting.
6.3 Faculty Hiring Committees
There will be a new Hiring Committee formed for each tenure-track position the Department is allowed to advertise. The size and composition of each committee shall be determined by the full department. A majority of each committee shall be department tenured faculty members. The department shall elect the members of each committee. Terms will be for one year.
The Committee shall prepare the job description and submit it to the Department faculty for
approval. Proposed job descriptions must be circulated to the faculty at least two school days prior to
the meeting where they will be discussed. Upon authorization of the position search by the College
and University administrations, the corresponding hiring Committee shall continue to serve as a
Search and Screen Committee of the position and function in accordance with the University
Personnel Rules, Article III, B.
6.4 Peer Review Committees
There shall be one peer committee for each probationary faculty member. Each committee shall have three members appointed from among the tenured faculty by the department chair. Committee membership shall be for the entire probationary period of the probationary faculty member. The department chair may appoint replacement members for the committee when vacancies occur. The tenured faculty may vote to disband a peer committee at which point the department chair shall appoint a new peer committee. Each peer committee shall elect their own committee chair.
Each peer committee shall assist and advise its probationary faculty member with the goal that the probationary faculty member will grow as a teacher, become a productive researcher, find appropriate service opportunities and eventually earn tenure and promotion. Each committee member must observe classes taught by the probationary faculty member at least once each academic year and submit a written review of each visit for the probationary faculty member’s file. The peer committee shall prepare annual written reviews of the progress toward earning tenure made by the probationary faculty member. The reviews shall be presented to the tenured faculty to be considered when the probationary faculty member is reviewed.
6.5 Audit and Review Committee
There will be an Audit and Review Committee consisting of three elected members, of whom at least two are tenured faculty of the Department. Terms will be for five years.
The committee shall oversee the preparation of an Audit and Review report, and periodic up-dates to existing reports as required by the University. The committee may delegate related tasks to faculty not on this committee as it sees fit in order to draw upon the knowledge and skills of the department as a whole.
The Committee shall meet at the call of the Chair, and report its results to the Department as a whole, so that revision of the report may be an ongoing process open to all.
6.6Standing Committees
The following Standing Committees shall be created from among the members of the Department
faculty. These Committees shall report directly to the faculty. The Chair of each Standing Committee
shall be prepared to report at Department meetings, when notified by the Chair in advance, as to the
process, actions, and recommendations of the Committee on matters under its responsibility.
a) Constitution Committee
The Committee shall consist of five elected members, of whom at least three are tenured faculty of
the Department.
The Committee shall conduct an annual review of the bylaws and submit their recommendations
to the Department. The Committee will review any proposal for an amendment to the bylaws and
make recommendations to the Department within two weeks of receipt.
b) Standards Committee
The Department representative to the College of Letters and Sciences Standards Committee shall
serve as Chair of the Committee. The tenured and tenure-track faculty shall elect four additional
members from the tenured and tenure-track faculty. At least four members of the Committee
must be from the tenured faculty. The Committee term shall be two years. Members of the Committee seeking promotion shall retire from the Committee and be replaced. Members seeking retention shall absent themselves while their applications are being considered.
The Committee shall carry out the functions required by the University Personnel Rules, Article
III, A, (2), and by instructions issued by the Standards Committees of the College of Letters and
Sciences and the University with regard to promotion, tenure decisions, and the re-appointment of
tenure-track faculty. It shall also assist members who seek help with the preparation of their
promotion or re-appointment applications. The Committee will make recommendations to the
tenured faculty.
c) Academic Staff Review Committee
The Committee shall consist of five tenured faculty elected from the Department. A member shall
not serve more than two consecutive terms.
The Committee shall assist newly appointed academic staff to become fully functional members
of the Department. The Committee is responsible for making class visitations and reviewing
academic staff. The Committee shall advise the Chair regarding the hiring and re-appointing
academic staff. The Committee shall implement College and University personnel rules
regarding academic staff, submitting the report to the tenured faculty for review and action.
d) Elections Committee
The Committee shall consist of three elected voting members. The Elections Committee shall be elected in the spring semester and shall be responsible for preparing the Department elections scheduled for the following Fall semester.
The Committee shall seek nominations, prepare ballots, hold elections, and adjudicate the election
results. The Committee shall assure that the membership of Department Committees conform to
the bylaws. The Committee shall report the results of elections to the Department.
When a vacancy appears on an elected committee, or an insufficient number of candidates is
elected, the Chair of the Department, in consultation with the Committee, may appoint Department
members to fill the vacancy until the next election.
e) Budget and Planning Committee
The Department Chair shall be the Chair of the Committee. Other members shall be one appointee
of the Chair and three elected by the Department.
The functions of the Committee shall be to plan and oversee the Department budget, to prepare the
annual one, five and ten year planning documents, and to prepare the five year Audit and Review
Report.
The Committee shall meet at the call of the Chair and at least once each semester to prepare budget
requests as necessary, consider requests for funds from members of the Department, and advise
generally on the disposition of the budget. The Chair shall report the budget to Department
members at the end of each fiscal year.
f) Merit Committee
There shall be three members elected from the tenured faculty. A member shall not serve more
than two consecutive terms.
The Chair of the Department may be invited by the Committee to sit in consultation with it, but
shall not be a voting member. A member having a conflict of interest shall recuse himself/herself
so long as that member’s interests are under discussion.
The functions of the Committee shall be to develop a standard evaluation form, to collect and
evaluate the claims for merit by Department members, and to apportion to each member of the
Department their share of the available Department merit money.
The Chair of the Department shall determine the merit points for the Merit Committee members
using the standard form and procedures.
g) Scheduling Committee
The Committee shall consist of three elected tenured members. A member shall not serve more
than two consecutive terms.
The functions of the Committee shall be to meet regularly to plan and oversee the Department course schedule and to review periodically the Department’s course rotation plan. The Committee shall meet each semester to analyze faculty scheduling requests, prepare schedule planning documents as necessary, review the scheduling needs of the Department, and, in consultation with the department chair, determine numbers of sections of each course, make course assignments and advise generally on the course schedule.
h) Faculty Development Committee
The Committee shall consist of five elected members, four tenured, and one tenure-track member,
if available.
The Committee’s function is to review sabbatical applications, to prepare, in consultation with the
chair, the annual staffing report and make its recommendation to Tenured Faculty, and to advise
members who seek aid in researching, preparing or submitting material for publication.
i) Curriculum Committee
The Department representative to the College of Letters and Sciences Curriculum Committee shall
serve as Chair of the Committee. There shall be four additional members elected from Department
faculty.
The Curriculum Committee shall review periodically the curriculum of the Department, edit and
update the Department bulletin copy, propose curricular changes to the Department, review
curricular proposals and changes from Department members and submit such proposals to the
Department for action with a recommendation about their merit, review all proposals for Special
Studies (496), and ensure that all curricular proposals are in correct form.
j) Assessment Committee
There shall be five elected Department members.
The Assessment Committee shall implement the Department’s plan for the assessment of
Department programs, keeping appropriate records of its evaluations, and submitting a report of its
findings and recommendations to the Department each year.
k) Students and Scholarships Committee
There shall be five elected Department members on the committee.
The Students and Scholarships Committee shall work to build esprit de corps among the students
in the Department, shall be the body to determine the recipients of such grants as the Schlicher, Beck and Flanagan Scholarships, and shall take steps it sees fit to attract additional good students.
l) Grievance Committee
There shall be five elected Department members. Members of the Merit Committee and of the
Standards Committee are ineligible. Should a Committee member bring a grievance for the
Committee to hear, the member shall resign. The Department shall elect a new member to
complete the term.
The Committee shall deal with faculty, student, and other grievances as outlined in the Faculty
Personnel Rules and Student Grievance Procedures.
m) Colloquium Committee
The Committee shall consist of three elected Department members.
The functions of the Committee shall include scheduling the talks for speakers from within and
outside the Department, and seeking financial assistance from campus resources, such as L&S
Lecture Series Committee, to fund travel expenses for outside invited speakers.
n) Academic Staff Hiring Committee
There will be an Academic Staff Hiring Committee formed for academic staff positions the Department is allowed to advertise. The Committee shall consist of three elected faculty members at least two of whom are tenured. Terms will be for two years.
For all non-emergency searches for academic staff the Committee shall prepare the job descriptions and submit it to the Department faculty for approval. Proposed job description must be circulated to the faculty at least two school days prior to the meeting where they will be discussed. Upon authorization of the position search by the College and University administrations, the corresponding hiring Committee shall continue to serve as a Search and Screen Committee of the position(s) and function in accordance with the University Personnel Rules, Article III, B.
For emergency searches for academic staff the Committee shall, at the request of the department chair, advise and assist the department chair in finding suitable job candidates for the position.