Faculty Committee Responsibilities

Committee overview

Principles:

1. Committee Size: Committees should be small enough to operate efficiently but large enough to ensure adequate representation. Each committee should create the opportunity for meaningful, focused service for each faculty member.

   Rationale: Given the School’s number of committees and other service requirements, committee membership should be limited to three or four faculty members, as specified for each committee. A faculty member should normally serve on only one standing committee.

2. Length of Service: Faculty members appointed to committees should expect to serve a three-year term. Some flexibility may be necessary to ensure continuity of experience.

   Rationale: Three-year terms provide continuity of experience when staggered such that two members are returning (the chair and vice-chair, see #3) and one member is new.

3. Leadership: Each standing committee should have a chair and a vice chair. Note: this excludes committees with permanent chairs (e.g. Graduate) which have no vice chairs. Normally the chair serves for one year. The vice chair is elected by the committee with the expectation to serve as chair the following year. Under exceptional circumstances, if a vice chair is unable to move to chair, the committee may, in consultation with the dean, elect another chair or ask the current chair to continue serving for an additional year.

   Rationale: Service as chair requires experience in the business currently before the committee. Because of the substantial time requirement, a committee chair should not be appointed to other committees.

4. Membership: The appointment of new and replacement committee members is made by the dean in consultation with school managers (e.g. track heads, et al.). Faculty members should express committee preferences in the annual meeting with the dean.

   Rationale: Serving on School committees is part of faculty members’ service responsibility and is determined in consultation with the dean, who must ultimately determine the appropriate service level for each faculty member. The school managers, in consultation with the dean, should advise on committee appointments to ensure balanced representation.

5. Responsibilities: The responsibilities of the standing committees will be stated as charges. These include the permanent or “standing” charges that describe the role of the committee, plus the temporary or “additional” charges assigned to the committee. The charges include the responsibility to report the minutes of each meeting and a year-end report documenting the committee’s work on the charges and making recommendations for the next year.

   Rationale: The committee’s charges should clearly state its permanent responsibilities while providing the flexibility to take on new responsibilities as identified by the committee and the dean. Committee activities should be reported on an ongoing basis via regular minutes and summarized at year-end in a final report. The minutes and annual report should be accessible to all faculty members online through the School’s server.

6. Timetable: The faculty term of service runs from the start of the fall semester through the end of the spring semester. Committee service during the upcoming year will be determined with the dean during the annual review. The dean will submit the upcoming year’s committee recommendations to the faculty at the last meeting of the spring semester. In the summer, chairs are responsible to meet with the dean to discuss the year-end report and to recommend additional charges for next year, which begins at the start of the fall semester.

   Rationale: The annual review discussion is the appropriate time to discuss committee service responsibilities for the upcoming year. Replacement appointments will include only those faculty members returning in the fall.

7. Endorsement: The full faculty should vote by ballot on the committee appointments and on the charges. The vote on committee appointments should take place at the last faculty meeting of the spring semester. The vote on the charges should take place at the first faculty meeting of the fall semester.

   Rationale: Confirming next year’s committee membership at the last meeting of the spring ensures that members are in place during the summer. This allows time for new members to become familiar with the committee’s report and to provide input to the chair for the additional charges. Voting to adopt the charges at the first faculty meeting of the fall enables the new committee to begin its work expediently. Roberts Rules of Order state that the requirement to vote by ballot (which is written and thus secret, as opposed to a vote, whether by voice or show of hands) be specified in the bylaws.

Committees Governed by Full-Faculty Oversight

Curriculum Committee

• Chair: Vice chair from the previous year.
• Vice chair: Elected by the committee
• Members:Two other faculty members, representing a balance to the chair and vice chair.
• Students: Undergraduate student representative appointed by the dean in consultation with the school managers.
• Rationale:This committee includes four faculty members to ensure representation of the School’s courses of study.

Graduate Committee

• Chair: Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
• Vice chair: None
• Members: Three members of KU graduate faculty.
• Student: Graduate student representative
• *Ex-Officio: Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, Assistant Dean for Graduate and Professional Studies, and Graduate Advisor.  
• Rationale: This committee includes four faculty members to ensure representation of the School’s courses of study. Thus the Graduate Committee mirrors the Curriculum Committee.

Technology Committee

• Chair: Vice chair from the previous year
• Vice- hair: Elected by the committee
• Members: One other faculty member
• Students:
• Multimedia Journalism student representative, appointed by the track head.
• Digital Marketing Communications, Advertising and Public Relations student representative, appointed by the track head.
• Lab worker student representative, appointed by the Senior IT Supervisor.
• Rationale: This committee’s membership represents the School’s courses of study and is equally balanced between students and faculty to ensure focus on student technology needs.
• Other organized and necessary service opportunities at the School include the Bremner Center Advisory Board, the Kansan Board, the Faculty Senate, the CTE Liaison, the Multicultural Scholars Coordinator, the Judicial Committee on an ad hoc basis and various search committees.

Standing Charges to the Curriculum & Assessment Committee

1. Review proposed undergraduate curriculum changes and recommend action to the faculty.
2. Advise the faculty on collecting, analyzing and acting on assessment date.
3. Submit minutes of regular meetings and a year-end report.

Standing Charges to the Graduate Committee

1. Review and admit graduate applicants for both the Lawrence and Edwards campuses.
2. Review proposed graduate curriculum changes and recommend action to the graduate and full faculty.
3. Review and act on petitions regarding academic requirements for graduate students.
4. Address any proposed procedure outside the classroom that will affect graduate student learning.
5. Submit minutes of regular meetings and a year-end report.

Standing Charges to the Technology Committee

1. Plan and set priorities for school-wide technology: purchases, upgrades, rotations, maintenance and training. Develop processes for technology requests and needs assessment.
2. Develop the School’s technology budget with the dean. Review and report to faculty and students the uses of fund allocations from Student Technology Fees annual.
3. Plan adequate student access to School labs and to adequately trained lab assistants. Coordinate technology support, working with the dean and professional staff.
4. Submit minutes of regular meetings and a year-end report.

Committees Not Governed by Full-Faculty Oversight

Promotion and Tenure Committee

• Chair: Elected by the committee.
• Vice Chairs (Research, Teaching and Service): Elected by the committee.
• Members: All members of the tenured faculty.

Scholarship Committee

• Chair: Vice chair from the previous year.
• Vice chair: Appointed by the dean.
• Members: One additional faculty member, appointed by the dean.
• Ex-officio: The School’s scholarship coordinator and the Coordinator of recruitment and retention.
• Rationale: Service on this committee is specialized and complicated because it directly allocates School funds and is subject to oversight by the Office of Student Financial Aid and KU Endowment Association for each transaction.

Undergraduate admissions

• Chair: Associate dean for undergraduate studies.
• Members: Two other faculty members who must be teaching or have taught introductory courses in the School.
• Ex Officio*: Undergraduate advisers and the coordinator for recruitment and retention.
  
  (*Ex Officio members are non-voting.)

Standing Charges to the Scholarship Committee

1. Oversee the application process whereby students learn about available scholarships and how to apply for them.
2. Administer the screening process to ensure that students qualify for specific scholarships, meeting criteria such as financial need and donor requirements/preferences.
3. Maintain a system for ranking applicants for each scholarship and determining student eligibility for multiple scholarships.
4. Direct the Student Services Administrator/Scholarship Coordinator to obtain information on the amount of available funds for each scholarship, to determine the amount of each award and order each scholarship from the Office of Student Financial Aid.
5. Submit minutes of regular meetings and a year-end report