
College Governance
Bylaws for College Shared Governance
The bylaws for governance of the College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social
Sciences were adopted in spring 2012. Revisions were made in May 2018, February 2020,
May 2021, December 2022, and May 2023.
I. Philosophy
The College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences (CHABSS) is
committed to the principle of shared governance by the faculty and the Dean. The governance
structure shall encourage a balance of responsibility, authority, and accountability
with the goals of maintaining and developing the viability and diversity of College
programs and promoting excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. College
governance shall operate in a spirit of fair play, mutual respect, and commitment
to the College community, and with elected representation to reflect the perspectives
of academic discipline. The faculty, with appropriate input from staff and students,
shall assume primary responsibility for developing, and recommending to the Dean,
College academic policy, procedure, allocation of instructional and support positions,
and curriculum. It is understood that the Dean will consult regularly and meaningfully
with the faculty via the regular governance process, described in this document, about
College budgets. On those occasions when the Dean chooses not to follow a recommendation
put forth by the faculty or any of the governance committees, the Dean shall strive
to clearly communicate their reasons for doing so. College governance shall be consistent
with the
University and College Mission Statements and the Memorandum of Understanding between
the California Faculty Association and the Trustees of the California State University.
II. College Faculty Meetings
A. The faculty shall carry out its duties in formulating policies and establishing
procedures through college faculty meetings and through participation in standing
committees (see below). As appropriate, policies related to specified aspects of the
College's educational program are to be implemented (administered) by the Dean, academic
programs, institutes, centers, program directors, and department chairpersons.
B. College faculty meetings are essential to the effective governance of the College.
At these meetings, faculty will be informed of the business and decisions being transacted
in the committees. Of equal importance is the opportunity for faculty to comment upon
and give advice to the standing committees and the Dean, who will give brief reports
at each meeting, on a regular and formal basis. In addition, the college faculty meetings
will be the place where members of the College can call for discussion of College
business falling outside the regular business of the committees.
C. College faculty meetings shall be held at least two times a year.
D. Given the expectation of routine service, all members of the tenure-track faculty
are expected to attend regular and special college faculty meetings, which will be
public. Lecturer faculty members are welcome to attend regular and special college
faculty meetings. The privilege of voting at college faculty meetings shall extend
to all persons holding tenure-line appointments and lecturers on contracts of one
year or more.
E. The Chair of the Faculty will have the responsibility for setting meeting dates,
in consultation with the Dean’s office and faculty.
F. The presiding officers of the college faculty meetings will be a Chair and a Secretary
who are elected in May, with terms of two years that are staggered, if possible. Because
tenure-line faculty are required to take leadership in service, the presiding officers
shall be nominated from among the tenure-line faculty. All faculty may vote in the
election. The Chair shall conduct the meetings and the Secretary shall be responsible
for keeping and publishing minutes of the meetings. The Chair may call a special college
faculty meeting at their discretion. Clerical support to the Chair and Secretary will
be provided by the Office of the Dean.
G. Recommendations from standing committees need not be approved by the faculty before
being forwarded to the Dean. However, the voting members of the faculty are free to
call for a vote of endorsement, dissatisfaction, or modification of any aspect of
committee business, as well as matters falling outside the regular business of the
committees, at any college faculty meeting. If there is cause for a vote during the
meeting the Chair shall have the authority to postpone the vote to allow more deliberation
or input. The opinions and votes of the faculty will be reflected in the minutes of
the meetings.
H. Bylaws Changes
1. Changes to the bylaws shall be proposed by the CCC or by the Dean.
2. The proposal must be in writing and distributed to the faculty ten days prior to
a regular college faculty meeting.
3. The Chair of the Faculty shall ask the Dean’s office to prepare and distribute
a
ballot no later than two weeks after the meeting. A simple majority of all eligible
tenure-line faculty who cast votes in the election and a simple majority of all lecturer
faculty on contracts of one year or more who cast votes in the election must vote
in favor of the proposed change(s) for the change(s) to be implemented.
III. College Coordinating Committee (CCC)
A. The CCC shall facilitate communication among the standing committees.
B. The CCC shall meet in the spring of each year to evaluate the extent to which
planning documents such as the current strategic plan and three-year rolling plans
are aligning with resource allocations and College priorities, and to advise the Dean
accordingly, regarding budget allocations in the upcoming year. The Dean shall provide
the CCC with information necessary to make these evaluations and recommendations.
C. The CCC shall include the following voting members: the standing committee
chairs, the Chair of the Lecturer Advisory Committee, the Chair and the Secretary
of the Faculty, and one department chair. The department chair representative shall
be elected in the spring of the preceding year by the department chairs and shall
serve a one-year term. The Dean and Associate Deans of the College shall be non-voting
members.
D. Meetings of the CCC are called by the Chair of the Faculty.
E. Agendas of the four standing committees shall be discussed at a meeting of the
CCC in the pre-instructional or early weeks of the fall semester. The discussion will
be aimed at considering issues the College expects to face in the upcoming academic
year, and adding them to standing or ad hoc committee agendas as needed. Additions
to the committee agendas may be proposed at any time during the academic year by the
Dean, by the CCC, or by faculty at College faculty meetings.
F. In addition to its annual meetings each fall and spring, the Chair of the Faculty
may convene the CCC as needed, in order to coordinate the flow of business among committees
and enhance communication between committees, the administration, and the faculty.
Also, the Dean may request that the Chair convene the CCC to discuss matters pertinent
to business carried out in the standing or ad hoc committees.
IV. Standing Committees
A. Composition and Elections
1. Each year, elections for TT committee representatives will be held no later than
May 1 to select representatives to serve in the following academic year. Lecturer
seat elections will be held no later than September 15.
2. For each of the standing college committees, two tenure-line faculty members shall
be elected from each of the two divisions of the College (Humanities and Arts, and
Behavioral and Social Sciences). All tenure-line faculty in the division will vote
on their slate of nominees; faculty may vote in only one division. The divisions are:
Division 1: Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSS): American Indian Studies; Anthropology; Communication;
Economics; Environmental Studies; Ethnic Studies; Global Studies; Liberal Studies;
Political Science; Psychology; Sociology; Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Division 2: Humanities and Arts (HA): Art, Media, & Design; Dance;
History; Literature and Writing Studies; Modern Language Studies; Music; Philosophy;
Theatre.
3. The fifth seat on all standing committees will be reserved for a faculty member
elected at-large from the faculty. All tenure-line faculty, across divisions, will
vote in the at-large elections for each committee. No faculty member may stand for
election in both a divisional race and one of the at-large races for the same committee.
The at-large positions may not be filled by a faculty member from a department represented
via any of the divisional seats. (In case of such duplication, the at-large seat in
question would go to
the next runner-up from a department/program not already seated on the committee via
the divisional elections.)
4. Tenure-line faculty will be elected for two-year terms that are staggered to
maintain continuity across years.
5. The sixth voting seat on each standing committee is reserved for one at-large
lecturer. All lecturer faculty are eligible to nominate and vote on their slate of
nominees, but only lecturers on one-year appointments or above are eligible to be
nominated. Nominations for the at-large lecturer positions may not be from a department
represented via any of the TT seats on that particular committee.
6. If elected, lecturers will be compensated for their service work on an annual
basis. Lecturer faculty will be elected for two-year terms.
7. In committee votes which take the form of approve/oppose/abstain, a motion is approved
with a majority vote. Should a vote end in a tie, the committee can choose to bring
the item up for another vote after further conversation.
8. The Dean’s office shall select one or more representatives (i.e., the Dean and/or
one or more Associate Deans) to attend standing committee meetings in order to provide
information and advice relevant to the topics at hand. In consideration of the importance
of the balance of power implied by shared governance, the Dean’s office committee
members are non-voting.
9. Because tenure-line faculty are required to take leadership in service, the
standing committees shall select their chairs from among the tenure-line faculty
representatives.
10. Committees will establish a regular meeting time for the upcoming semester before
the prior term ends. Terms of office begin the first day of the fall semester.
11. If a seat on a committee is not filled after the spring (or fall, in the case
of
lecturers) election, or if a committee member cannot fulfill their term of office,
the resulting vacancy shall be filled by a replacement member from the same constituency
as the original member. The first eligible faculty member to volunteer shall be seated.
The offices of the Secretary or Chair of the Faculty, if vacant or vacated, shall
also be filled using this procedure.
12. The Faculty Chair shall call for, and the Dean’s office staff shall carry out,
the
elections.
13. Under very rare circumstances a constituency may wish to recall its
representative to a committee. A petition to recall a committee member may be initiated
by a member of the relevant constituency. If 25% of the constituents sign the petition,
a recall ballot shall be prepared by the Dean and distributed to all members of the
constituency. Recall must be favored by a majority of the eligible constituents.
B. Committee on Decolonization, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism:
1. The charge of the Committee on Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (DEIAR) is to
make recommendations to the Dean regarding policy, programs, curriculum, services,
and recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff to obtain equitable
outcomes. The DEIAR serves a crucial role by providing advice and guidance on targeted
issues related to equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in the college.
2. The DEIAR will include in its voting membership one student member nominated and
elected by the members of DEIAR. The student member shall serve a one-year term.
3. The DEIAR shall make recommendations to the Dean regarding the CHABSS response
to policies, issues, or concerns related to equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
4. At the request of the Dean or at its own behest, the DEIAR may provide advice to
the Dean’s Office on any matter of long-term CHABSS planning, development, and/or
resource allocation, working in consultation with the other governance committees,
as necessary and advisable.
5. DEIAR will consult with and advise the other governance committees on matters related
to equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
6. DEIAR will disseminate information and policy updates regarding issues of equity,
inclusion, and anti-racism to the college, and will serve as a resource to college
units as needed.
C. Budget Committee
1. The charge of the Budget Committee (BC) is to make recommendations to the dean
concerning the allocation of the fiscal budget of the College.
2. Laboratory course budgets, compensation for department chairs, course-based fees,
and other short-range budget considerations will be addressed by the BC. Allocation
of College funds for faculty development will also be subject to recommendation by
the BC, but decisions regarding the disbursement of those funds will be handled by
the Faculty Development Committee.
3. The Dean or his/her representative shall discuss with the BC the planning,
acquisition, and management of the College budget on an annual basis.
D. Hiring and Academic Planning Committee
1. The charge of the Hiring and Academic Planning Committee (HAPC) is to make recommendations
to the Dean regarding academic resource planning of the College.
2. HAPC shall consider the College strategic and three-year rolling plans, as
relevant, in its deliberations about academic planning.
3. Each fall the HAPC shall issue a call for hiring proposals for faculty and staff.
4. Tenure-track faculty hiring proposals will apply to hires for which searches will
be conducted in the following academic year; staff hiring proposals will apply to
whatever timeline is established for that cycle of recruitment.
5. HAPC shall present the Dean a prioritized list of recommended faculty searches
late in the fall semester. The list shall consider and attempt to balance the needs
of all departments that submit proposals. It shall also consider and attempt to balance
needs of large and small departments.
6. HAPC shall present the Dean a prioritized list of recommended staff searches in
the spring semester. The HAPC shall review staff hiring proposals in the context of
department and College needs.
7. The Dean shall respond in a timely manner to HAPC’s recommendations and
meet with the committee to explain the final list of faculty and staff searches that
the Dean will bring to the Provost as hiring requests.
E. Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee
1. The charge of the Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee (CAPC) is to
make recommendations to the Dean concerning curriculum and academic policy.
2. The CAPC shall call for, review, and make written recommendations regarding
all proposals for new departments, programs, centers/institutes, majors/minors, courses,
and substantive course changes.
3.The CAPC shall strive to coordinate its efforts with University Curriculum
Committee's requirements and deadlines.
4. The CAPC shall receive from the College community requests for information or clarification
of existing University or College policies regarding issues of academic policy.
F. Faculty Development Committee
1. The charge of the Faculty Development Committee (FDC) is to make
recommendations to the Dean concerning faculty development policies, grants, awards
and related activities, and to develop or revise, as necessary, the College RTP policy
and procedure.
2. The FDC shall promote and establish the generation of resources and
opportunities on behalf of faculty development and call for applications for intra-College
grants in support of teaching, scholarly/creative activity, and service.
3. The FDC shall review and evaluate intra-College grant applications and shall
recommend the names of awardees to the Dean.
4. The FDC shall develop and maintain clearly articulated, published standards for
teaching, scholarly/creative activity, and service for use in the College retention,
tenure, and promotion evaluation process and shall do so with consideration of University
RTP policies and procedures.
5. The FDC shall review and give feedback to departments regarding proposed
departmental RTP standards.
6. The FDC is responsible for planning the Victor Rocha Lecture
Series. Nominations will be solicited from the campus community and speakers will
be selected at least every two years by the FDC in consultation with Professor Rocha
or his designee.
7. The FDC shall consider issues that affect the well-being and success of faculty,
including issues related to inclusion and equity in faculty development.
8. The FDC shall, as needed, put forward initiatives and policies that enhance the
effectiveness of faculty in our College.
G. Ad Hoc Committees
1. The Dean may ask the Chair of the Faculty to convene the College Coordinating Committee
for purposes of discussing the possible need for ad hoc committees (e.g., task forces).
Ad hoc committees would deal with matters that relate to governance but arise outside
of regular committee business.
2. The CCC shall either appoint members to the ad hoc committee under discussion or
shall arrange for the election of representatives to the ad hoc committee.