Bylaws
of the Faculty of the
Department of Computational and Data Sciences of the
This document is subsidiary to the George
Mason Faculty Handbook and to the
Bylaws of the
Section 1 ---Faculty
The faculty of the Department of Computational and Data
Sciences comprises all persons holding faculty rank (as defined in the George
Mason University Faculty Handbook) in the Department. The Department of
Computational and Data Sciences is heretofore and hereafter referred to as the
Department; the faculty of the Department is hereafter referred to as the
faculty; the
Section 2 --- Chair
The Chair of the Department is appointed by the President on the recommendation of the faculty and the Dean of the College in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the Faculty Handbook.
Section 3 --- Rights to Vote
In all cases, faculty members studying for a degree within the Department are ineligible to vote.
The faculty of the Department is divided into four
categories with regard to voting rights as follows.
a. Those who may vote on all issues: Tenured faculty.
b. Those who may vote on all issues not involving promotion, tenure, or the hiring of tenure-track faculty: Tenure-track faculty and specially approved Fixed-Term, Part-Time, and tenured Affiliate faculty.
c. Those who may vote on all issues not involving promotion, tenure, the hiring of tenure-track faculty, the admission of new members into the Department, or the granting of voting rights: Fixed-Term, Part-Time, and Affiliate faculty.
d. Unless
specifically granted, Fixed-Term, Part-Time, and Affiliate faculty do not have
voting rights in the Department.
e. Post-doctoral
fellows and visiting faculty do not have voting rights in the Department.
The Chair of the Department, prior to the first faculty meeting of each year, shall certify to the faculty in a written form the names of all persons holding academic rank and their level of voting rights, if any.
Article II—Responsibilities of the Faculty
Section 1.
a. The faculty shall have responsibility for general educational policies and processes for degrees, certificates, and minors in the Department.
b. Teaching responsibilities of the faculty include teaching regular classroom courses, teaching individualized reading courses, teaching distance-learning courses, advising graduate students, directing doctoral dissertations, participation on doctoral committees, and/or leading seminars and study groups.
c. The faculty are expected to conduct research leading to the advancement of the state of knowledge in their fields and to disseminate the results of their research through scholarly publications and by participation in conferences.
d. The faculty are expected to participate in activities of learned societies and other professional associations within their academic fields.
e. The faculty are expected to serve the Department and the broader University in the development and administration of courses or programs of study, in the governance of Academic Programs, in the governance of the Department, of the College, and of the University, and in other activities relating to University life.
Section 2.
It shall be within the province of the faculty, generally through empowered committees:
a. To propose, review, and approve matters affecting the development of courses and curricula in the Department.
b. To propose, review, and approve academic requirements for degrees, certificates, and minors.
c. To authorize conferral of those degrees, certificates, and minors upon students who have been certified by the registrar to have fulfilled the requirements set for them.
d. To propose, review, and approve regulations governing evaluation and acceptance of credits transferred from other institutions.
e. To propose, review, and approve policies pertaining to standards of undergraduate and graduate student admission to the Department;
f. To review and make recommendations regarding general governance issues relating to the Department;
g. To review and provide advice regarding selection of Chair;
h. To review and make recommendations regarding matters of faculty welfare such as professional conduct, hiring, tenure, promotion, and grievance.
Article III—Meetings of the Faculty
Section 1.
Meetings of the faculty shall be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order (revised) except as the rules and procedures described therein have been or shall be modified by adoption of these or of future Bylaws or standing rules. The presiding officer of all meetings of the faculty shall be the Chair, or such member of the faculty as designated by the Chair.
Section 2.
a. Meetings shall be open to all members of the faculty as defined in Article I, Section 1.
b. The quorum for the faculty meetings shall consist of not fewer than 50 percent of the voting members of the faculty as defined in Article I, Section 3.
Section 3.
a. Any person invited by the Chair to meet with the faculty may participate in the discussion of any item of business brought forth upon the floor.
b. All members of standing and ad hoc committees may be present at the meeting(s) of the faculty during consideration of a report from their respective committee(s) and may participate in such consideration.
c. Freedom of discussion shall be the rule.
Section 4.
The faculty may go into closed session by majority vote. Only members of the faculty may be present during a closed session.
Section 5.
a. The Chair shall prepare the agenda and shall distribute it in a timely manner (generally at least 48 hours prior to the meeting) to all members of the faculty, and appropriate administrative officers of the University.
b. Any member of the faculty may submit items of business for inclusion on the agenda. All items submitted at least 5 days prior to the meeting shall be placed on the agenda.
c. Explanatory or background information on all agenda items shall be prepared by the sponsor of the item and shall be attached to the agenda. Agenda items submitted for faculty actions shall be in writing and accompanied by the text of all principal motions to be put on substantive matters and shall be circulated with the agenda in accordance with Section 5 a.
Section 6.
a. As a general rule, meetings of the faculty will be convened at least once every fall and spring semester.
b. When the agenda of a scheduled meeting is not completed on the scheduled date, the meeting shall be recessed or adjourned and shall be reconvened as agreed upon and the agenda should be completed at the next meeting.
Section 7.
a. The Chair shall call a meeting of the faculty in response to a petition signed by at least twenty-five percent of the voting members of the faculty and should normally call such a meeting within eight days of receiving the petition.
b. The written call to the meeting shall include a statement of the purpose of the meeting and shall be distributed to all members of the faculty at least seven days before the meeting.
c. Only
that business stipulated in the call to the meeting may be transacted at such a
special meeting.
Section 8.
a. Ballots may be conducted at faculty meetings or by mail. In all ballots, voting members have the option of voting “abstain.” In a faculty meeting, upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting members present and voting, any matter may be submitted to a vote by mail ballot. If a mail ballot is authorized at a faculty meeting, the ballot must be submitted to the faculty within seven working days of the faculty meeting. Faculty may be notified of the ballot by electronic or campus mail.
b. A ballot at a faculty meeting shall be by voice vote or by secret ballot. Any voting member upon request may cause a secret ballot to be taken. An absentee vote may be counted only in cases when a motion has been stated prior to the meeting and the motion comes before the meeting substantially unchanged. Absentee votes do not count for purposes of establishing a quorum for the meeting. Proxy ballots are not allowed. Except for motions that concern the Bylaws, a motion at a faculty meeting that has a quorum of the faculty shall be approved if the majority of votes, both by voting members present and absentee votes by voting members, are in favor of the measure. If the number of votes in favor of the measure exceeds the number of votes against the measure, but does not constitute a majority of all votes including abstentions, the motion shall be tabled until the next meeting, unless there is an affirmative vote of a majority of the voting members present and voting, to submit the motion to a vote by mail ballot.
c. For a mail ballot, votes may be submitted either by electronic mail, campus mail, or by hand delivery to the office of the Chair. There shall be a mechanism that allows individuals to vote in secret. A deadline for voting must be imposed, but faculty must be given a period of at least one week to submit their votes. Votes not received by the deadline will be ignored. The Chair shall report the results of the balloting within one week of the deadline for voting; this report may be distributed orally at a faculty meeting, or in writing by electronic or campus mail.
d. For a mail ballot, a motion shall fail to pass if less than one-half of the eligible voting members vote, or if the number voting "nay" exceeds the number voting "aye".
e. A mail ballot on a motion may also be initiated outside of a faculty meeting by submitting a petition to the Chair signed by at least twenty-five percent of the voting members of the faculty. The ballot shall be submitted to the faculty within seven working days of the petition being submitted, according to the rules and procedures described in paragraphs c and d above.
Section 9.
Items of new business not appearing on the agenda may be introduced from the floor by any member of the faculty after consideration of all agenda items has been completed. Disposition of any item introduced without prior notice and information may be carried over to the next regular meeting of the faculty if at least 33% of the voting members present support a motion to carry it over. A motion carried over under this provision shall appear on the agenda of the next regular meeting as an item of old business and shall be supported by background information as provided in Section 5 of this article.
Section 10.
Minutes of all meetings of the faculty shall be prepared in a style that will convey the essence of discussion on each item of business considered. The minutes shall be distributed to the faculty, and appropriate officers of the University. At least one copy of the minutes of every meeting shall be preserved in a minute book as part of the permanent archives of the University. The minute book shall be kept in office of the Chair and shall be open for inspection by any member of the academic community. The minutes may be distributed to faculty via electronic mail, or by notifying faculty of an online source for the minutes.
Article IV—Committees
Section 1.
a. "Standing committees" shall be those permanent committees whose faculty members are elected by the faculty or appointed by the Dean. Generally, the term of the memberships on all Department standing committees is three years and members may succeed themselves.
b. "Ad hoc committees" shall be those established by the faculty or the Chair, as appropriate, for consideration of special or transient issues. If no term is specified, the committee is deemed to serve until it issues a final report or until the committee is dissolved, generally in the same manner in which it was appointed.
Section 2.
a. Unless otherwise specified, each faculty committee shall elect its chair from among its own membership. Each committee shall establish a quorum for its own function. Each committee may determine procedures for maintaining appropriate records of its activities.
b. Committees shall normally serve during the academic year; however, all committees are authorized to function as necessary during the entire calendar year.
Section 3.
The faculty may authorize student representation on any standing committee. The faculty, or the Dean, may authorize this in the case of ad hoc committees.
Section 4.
Any faculty committee may be required by majority vote of the faculty to report to it at a specified later meeting any matter referred by action of the faculty to the charge of that committee. (The report may be distributed in paper form, by electronic mail, or by notifying faculty of an online source for the report.) Upon receipt of its report, the committee may be discharged of further responsibility for the matter by majority vote of the faculty.
Section 5.
There is a standing Curriculum Committee. The principal
tasks of this committee are to review and provide advice concerning academic
degree programs and courses.
Article V—Effective Date and Amendment
Section 1.
This revision of the Bylaws shall become effective if approved by a two-thirds majority vote carried out in accordance with the rules and procedures described in Article III, Section 8 of this document.
Section 2.
All motions to amend these Bylaws shall be read and discussed at regular meetings of the faculty. Amendments to the Bylaws shall become effective only after discussion at two consecutive meetings of the faculty and if approved by a two-thirds majority vote carried out in accordance with the rules and procedures described in Article III, Section 8 of this document.