Department Committees

a.  Membership

All Departmental Faculty members, including Regional Campus Faculty members who hold a tenure-track appointment.

The FAC is structured and operates as described in the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article VI, Section 3.B. The Department of Philosophy FAC is a Committee of the whole full-time Faculty of the Department as defined above in Section A, Definition of the Faculty

b.  Purpose

The FAC is convened and chaired by the Department Chairperson to provide recommendations and advise on all academic matters central to the mission of the Department at least once per term or as needed. The Chair, in consultation with the FAC, sets the agenda for the meetings. FAC members may request that items be added to the agenda. Additional meetings of the FAC may be called by the Chair, or upon a request by at least one-half of the members of the FAC. The elected Department Representative to the CAC may also call, set agendas and Chair FAC meetings with the understanding that no Department business may be transacted or represented as having been transacted at such meetings. Matters of concern to the Faculty may be discussed at such meetings and added to the agenda of the next regular meeting of FAC.

a.  Membership

The FAC supplemented by two student members – a second year graduate student and an undergraduate philosophy major (a junior or a senior) – serves as the Curriculum Committee.

b.  Election of Student Members

I. The graduate student member will be elected by the graduate students in a meeting held by the Graduate Coordinator in the week prior to the beginning of Fall classes.

II. The undergraduate student member will be appointed by the FAC. At the first FAC meeting of the Fall semester, the Chair will circulate a list of junior and senior students who have properly declared their major in philosophy. The FAC will nominate a short list of undergraduate students, and then vote on the undergraduate students. On the basis of the FAC’s rank ordering of the students, the Chair will proceed down the list contacting students by email and/or phone till the Undergraduate student member of the CC is filled.

The Undergraduate Coordinator, who serves as departmental representative to the Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee, chairs the departmental curriculum committee. The chair shall identify those meetings, or parts thereof, for which attendance by student members is not expected.

The policies and procedures of the Department Student Academic Complaint Committee (SACC) are governed by University Policy 3342-4-02.3.

a.  Membership

Four faculty members plus one student member – a graduate student member if the student lodging a complaint is a graduate student, an under-graduate student member if the student lodging the complaint is an undergraduate.

b.  Election of Members

I.   The faculty members shall be elected by FAC from among its members at the first FAC meeting of each Fall semester.

II.   The graduate student member will be elected from among the second year graduate students by the graduate students in a meeting held by the Graduate Coordinator in the week prior to the beginning of Fall classes.

III.  The undergraduate student member will be appointed by the FAC. At the first FAC meeting of the Fall semester, the Chair will circulate a list of junior and senior students who have properly declared their major in philosophy. The FAC will nominate a short list of undergraduate students, and then vote on the undergraduate students. On the basis of the FAC’s rank ordering of the students, the Department Chair will proceed down the list contacting students by email and/or phone till the Undergraduate student member of the CC is filled.

Once the membership of the committee is constituted, the committee shall meet to elect a chair from among its members to chair the meetings of the committee.

In the event that a member of the Student Academic Complaint Committee is the subject of or may otherwise be involved with a student complaint, the FAC will select a replacement from the full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty. If the Chair of the SACC is the subject of or may otherwise be involved with a student complaint, the Chair will appoint a member of the Student Academic Complaint Committee to chair the committee and the FAC will appoint an additional member to the committee from the full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty.

c.  Purpose

The purpose of the committee is to hear any academic complaints lodged by students and to make recommendations to the Department Chair concerning the resolution of those complaints.

a. Membership

The full and associate members of the Graduate Faculty plus one second year graduate student member. The graduate student member will be elected from among the second year graduate students by the graduate students in a meeting held by the Graduate Coordinator in the week prior to the beginning of Fall classes.

The Graduate Coordinator is the chairperson of the committee, and will communicate with the graduate student member regarding the GSC meetings or parts thereof for which the attendance of the graduate student member is expected.  

Every member of the committee, including the graduate student member, is a voting member of the committee.

b.  Purpose      

The GSC assists the Graduate Coordinator with the oversight and development of the Department’s graduate program, and to be a consulting body to the Department Chair on matters pertaining to the graduate program. The GSC reviews proposals for new graduate courses, changes in course content and related curricular matters, and conducts periodic reviews of the Department’s graduate program as a whole. The GSC may also assume the role of Curriculum Committee for graduate curriculum. The GSC is responsible for evaluating applications for admission, evaluating and recommending candidates for graduate appointments to the Chairperson, and monitoring the progress and academic performance of graduate students in the Department.

The policies and procedures which govern the Department’s Ad Hoc Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion (RTP) Committees are included in University Policy. Procedural and operational guidelines for the committees are provided annually by the Office of the Provost. The committees review materials relevant to the professional performance of faculty who are candidates for reappointment, tenure, or promotion in rank, and to make recommendations to the Chair on each of these personnel decisions. The recommendations of the committees and the Chair, together with the materials assembled for the committees, are forwarded to the Dean of the College.

a.  Membership

As stipulated in the relevant University Policy.

b.  Purpose       

To make recommendations to the Chairperson for reappointment, tenure, and promotion of Department faculty. The committee is chaired by the Department Chairperson.

The Chair may establish, charge, and appoint the membership of additional departmental standing or ad hoc committees as required by the Department. In establishing departmental committees, naming members and designating a committee chair, the Chair shall consult with the FAC. The Chair will welcome requests and preferences from the faculty before establishing and making appointments to departmental committees.