Constitution

College Policy Committee Constitution
The College of Arts and Sciences

AS REVISED AND APPROVED ON 4.17.2023

Preamble
The faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences consists in all TT and NTT faculty with at least 50% FTE appointment in the Core College or its constituent schools: the Hamilton Lugar School, the Media School, and the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture, and Design. The College Policy Committee (hereafter, the Committee) is the elected representative body for faculty in the College exercising delegated authority as specified by the Bloomington Faculty Council Constitution Section 2.2.

A. College faculty authority may be delegated in part to the College Policy Committee as the College's body of elected representatives.

B. The faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences delegates authority to faculties of schools within the College, to departments, divisions, or other academic units. The faculty of any unit to which faculty authority is delegated shall establish democratic means of self-governance, consistent with university, campus, and school/college faculty standards. Appointments of faculty to the unit, or to the chair of the unit, should be made only after consultation with the members of the unit.

I. Powers and Duties of the College Policy Committee 

1. The Committee represents the College faculty in the formulation of College policies and the monitoring of their impact. It may advise the Executive Dean and the faculty on any matters concerning the College. This may include (a) questions concerning the school's academic mission, (b) structure of faculty governance (consistent with university faculty standards) c) the creation, reorganization, and elimination of academic programs and units within the school; and (d) authority of academic units within the schools and relations between them.
2. The Committee also functions as the Budgetary Affairs Committee of the College, as stipulated by policies adopted by the Budgetary Affairs Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council (BFC). In this role it advises the Executive Dean on budgetary and salary processes including, but not limited to, the following. The Committee comments on the Executive Dean's implementation of merit raise pools and equity increases, and it can monitor departmental policies on merit raises for conformity with BFC policy. In order to be able to provide the Executive Dean with informed advice on budgetary matters, the Committee may send one or two Committee representatives to any regular budget conference between the Executive Dean (or the Executive Dean's representative) and a department chair or program director. CPC Committee representatives will not, in their capacity as CPC members, attend a regular budget conference between the Executive Dean (or the Executive Dean's representative) for their home department. The Committee will follow established procedures to assure the confidentiality of the budget.
3. The Committee may request budgetary information such as trends or comparisons in salary according to rank, gender, discipline, etc. The Committee may make recommendations to the faculty on matters requiring faculty action and to the Executive Dean on matters that are to be handled by administrative action.
4. The Committee may consider questions and proposals that are referred to it by the Executive Dean, by other committees, by members of the faculty, and by students. It may also consider matters that it originates. The Committee may liaise with any other College or University committee or member of such a committee through means it deems appropriate.
5. The Committee sends one or two Committee representatives to other general meetings of chairs and directors called by the Executive Dean.
6. Purposes of Committee member attendance at Department Annual/Budget meetings and Chairs and Directors meetings include, among others: to provide oversight by faculty representatives of interactions among the College administration and departments; to keep a record about those interactions to facilitate transparency; to consult with the Dean regarding issues arising from those meetings; and to communicate those issues to the faculty.

II. Structure of the Policy Committee

The Committee consists of eleven elected faculty members (nine members from the tenure track; one member from the lecturer track; and one member from other tracks, including clinical professor, research scientist/scholar, professor of practice, or academic specialist), the Executive Dean of the College, and the Executive Associate Dean of the College. With the exception of the Executive Dean and Executive Associate Dean, faculty members holding administrative appointments in the College at the rank of department chair, program director, or above on the Bloomington campus are not eligible to serve concurrently on the Policy Committee.

1. The Executive Dean and the Executive Associate Dean are non-voting members. All other members are voting members. Voting members attend all regular meetings of the Committee. It is expected that non-voting members attend when requested.
2. The non-tenure-track representatives will be considered full voting members with the following exceptions:
   • NTT representatives shall not vote on matters specific to TT faculty such as FTE transfers or policies on promotion and tenure
   • In order to vote on matters pertaining to graduate students, the NTT representative must be a member of the graduate faculty
   • In order to vote on matters pertaining to undergraduates, the NTT representative must teach at least one undergraduate course per year
3. The tenure-track faculty members are chosen from the following distribution units of the Bloomington Faculty Council, as defined and updated:

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   Arts and Humanities	2 members
   Social and Historical Sciences	2 members
   Natural and Mathematical Sciences	2 members
   At Large, which may be from the three divisions listed above or from one of the internal schools (Hamilton-Lugar, Eskenazi, or Media)	3 members

4. Each faculty member serves three years, beginning July 1; terms of elected members are staggered on a three-year basis. If a Committee member takes sabbatical or leave during their term, a temporary representative is recruited and appointed.
5. The chair of the Committee must be a tenured representative, or an NTT representative with rank equivalent to or above Senior Lecturer. The chair is responsible for setting agendas (in consultation with the Executive Dean), managing voting restrictions (II.2), and maintaining confidentiality.

III. Election and Appointment Procedures of the Policy Committee

1. Continuing, appointed, and newly elected members of the Policy Committee will convene once at the end of the spring semester preceding their tenure in office. The purpose of this meeting is to elect the chair and recorder for the coming year; these appointments take effect as of July 1. Chairs and recorders may be reappointed for successive terms, but they are elected for only one year at a time. The position of 'recorder' may also be handled on a rotating basis where each member takes a turn recording the minutes for a particular meeting.
2. If the Committee chooses to hold summer meetings, the continuing members may, at their discretion, invite the newly elected members to attend prior to July 1. The newly elected members, however, are considered non-voting members until July 1. After June 30, retiring members of the Committee may also be invited to attend meetings during the summer, but they will be present in an advisory, non-voting capacity. Should an urgent matter arise during the part of the summer when the sitting Chair (retiring or incoming) is unavailable, the other chair should be considered in charge. If neither chair is available, any member of the Committee may be consulted.
3. At the beginning of the spring semester the Committee appoints a Nominating Committee from its membership. In January, the Nominating Committee invites nominations from the College Faculty to stand for election to the Policy Committee. The Nominating Committee may also provide additional nominations of its own. It is preferred that candidates have experience in elected leadership positions and/or service to the University. Upon recommendation of the Nominating Committee, the Policy Committee designates candidates (normally two) for each anticipated vacancy. Candidates are designated from such units as necessary to maintain the distribution of Committee membership described in Article II. That is, if there is a single vacancy in a distribution unit, the Committee will typically propose a slate of two candidates from departments and programs within that group. If there are two vacancies, the Committee will typically propose a slate of four candidates, and so on. Ideally, depending upon nominees' willingness to stand for election, candidates are also designated in such a way as to maintain a broad representation of departments and programs in the College and to avoid over-representation of any single department or program. NTT representatives may come from any unit. However, successive representatives should not be from the same department or internal school (if possible).
4. In March, ballots containing the names of all nominees, along with a statement from each nominee, are distributed to all members of the College faculty, with a date set for the completion of the voting. The College tabulates the names of those elected and reports them to the chair, who shares them with the Committee. The election process should be completed by mid-April at the latest.
5. Each full-time faculty member (tenured or tenure-track, lecturer-rank, clinical rank, research scientist/scholar, professor of practice) in the College is entitled to vote for one candidate for each vacant seat. Within each distribution unit, the appropriate number of candidates is elected according to the number of votes each candidate receives. That is, if there is a single vacancy, the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected. If there are two vacancies, the candidates with the highest and second-highest number of votes are elected, and so on. The ballot should be constructed in such a way as to optimize broad representation of departments. In the event of a tie in the votes cast, the Policy Committee will determine the winner. The College faculty is promptly informed of election results.
6. If any committee seat goes unfilled, that seat shall remain empty until the next election cycle. When an elected member resigns more than one year before the end of the term or is to be absent for more than one year, the vacancy shall be filled through a special election following, except as to dates, the same procedures as for a regular election. Shorter vacancies may, at the discretion of the Committee, be left vacant, or they may be filled by the Committee through appointment from the appropriate distribution unit.
7. Persons who have completed three-year terms of service are ineligible for re-election for a period of three years following their terms of service. For members who have recently completed a regular term of service, reappointment under Article III. to fill a short-term vacancy is allowed but is considered in determining the three-year waiting period.

IV. Administrative Matters

1. The Committee is an advisory and legislative body that frequently considers personnel matters and other confidential information. The Committee's deliberations require concentration and an in-confidence atmosphere that is not possible in open meetings. Accordingly, attendance at the Committee's meetings is limited to the voting and non-voting members and to invited guests. All invitations are extended in the context of specific agenda items where the Committee wants the input of specific individuals. Invitations are not extended to persons who would serve only as observers. The Committee's minutes are disseminated to faculty and serve as our link to our constituency. The Committee will answer questions about its minutes submitted to its chair. Each set of minutes will invite such comments.
2. The Committee may create such committees, subcommittees, task forces, and similar bodies as are required to fulfill its duties and responsibilities. These bodies may include persons who are not members of the Committee.
3. Archived copies of the minutes of the Committee shall be kept in appropriate College-maintained electronic files. Minutes are distributed electronically by the College office to the Executive Dean, to Associate and Assistant Deans, and to all full-time members of the College faculty. A copy of all policies, statements, and resolutions enacted by the Committee shall be retained in appropriate College-maintained electronic files.
4. The College intranet shall contain a general description of the Committee and its activities, a copy of the Constitution, a list of current members, and any other background information the Committee deems appropriate. The minutes of the Committee, along with copies of policies and resolutions enacted by the Committee, are posted and archived on the intranet for faculty and staff.
5. The Executive Dean's office shall provide Support Staff services to the Committee, including maintenance of the intranet.

V. Constitutional Amendment

This Constitution can be amended by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Committee, subsequently submitted for ratification, by a simple yes/no vote, to those persons who are eligible to vote in the election of members to the College Policy Committee. A simple majority of votes will determine the outcome. Should a tie occur, the amendment will fail, and the present Constitution will continue. If the amendment is approved, the Constitution will be posted promptly on the College intranet.