Table of Contents
Article I
Section 1 : Name
Section 2: Membership
Article II
Section 1: Organization of the Faculty of the University
A. Officers
B. Meetings
C. Quorum
D. Powers
Section 2: Voting
Article III
Section 1: Responsibilities
Section 2: Presidential Concurrence
Article IV
Section 1: Membership of the Academic Senate
Section 2: Duties of the Academic Senate
Section 3: Organization of the Academic Senate
A. Officers of the Senate
B. Committee Structure of the Academic Senate
C. Record of Meetings
Article V
Section 1: Adoption of this Constitution
Section 2: Amendment
Article I
Section 1 : Name
The name of the organization shall be the Faculty of the University.
Section 2: Membership
Membership in the Faculty requires membership in an academic department or program, the Library faculty, or the student services faculty/professional staff. If a person is on administrative assignment but has retreat rights to the Faculty, then that person is a member of the Faculty. Membership in the Faculty shall be distinct from membership in a collective bargaining unit or a management classification. A faculty member may be tenured, on tenure-track, or a lecturer. Membership in the Faculty shall not lapse because of a leave of absence, assigned time for non-classroom projects, attainment of emeritus status, or early retirement. Disputes concerning membership in the Faculty shall be resolved by the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate.
Article II
Section 1: Organization of the Faculty of the University
A. Officers
Officers of the Faculty of the University shall be the President of the University; the Chair, the Vice Chair, and the Secretary of the Academic Senate.
B. Meetings
Meetings of the Faculty of the University:
- may be called by the Chair of the Academic Senate who then preside; if the Chair is not available his/her designee may preside;
- may be called by the President of the University who may then preside;
- may be called by one-third of the Academic Senate, whose Chair or his/her designee shall preside;
- may be called in response to a petition signed by at least fifty voting members of the Faculty, and shall be presided over by the Chair of the Academic Senate or his/her designee;
- shall be conducted with Robert's Rules of Order as a guide.
C. Quorum
The quorum shall be specified in the By-Laws
D. Powers
The Faculty delegates its powers to the Academic Senate except those it may choose to reserve for itself, as provided below:
A quorum of the Faculty may consider any subject at a general faculty meeting but may not take binding action except as follows: a majority of those present and voting may refer one or more action items to the Faculty for a written referendum vote.
Section 2: Voting
All members of the Faculty have certain voting rights. Those members who are tenured or on tenure-track are eligible to vote in referenda, for senators-at-large, for tenure-track senators from Colleges and in all-university elections. Full-time lecturers are eligible to vote in referenda, for senators-at-large, for lecturer senators from Colleges and the Library, and in all-university elections. Part-time lecturers are eligible to vote in referenda, for senators-at-large, for lecturer senators from Colleges and in all-university elections (except for representatives to the Statewide Academic Senate) on a proportional basis equivalent to their fractional appointment level at the time of the election.
Article III
Section 1: Responsibilities
The Academic Senate, subject to established policies and regulations of the Legislature and the Trustees and the concurrence of the President of the University, shall formulate policies and procedures that impact the academic mission of the University and the Faculty, and may include:
- appointment and review of academic administrators;
- faculty appointment, retention, tenure, promotion, leave and dismissal;
- policies impacting Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) and post-FERP faculty
- technology & tech services that impact the Faculty;
- curriculum and instruction;
- policies impacting the Library and its resources;
- research, scholarship or creative works by Faculty or students
- student affairs, admissions, retention, awarding of grades and graduation;
- student success in the classroom;
- business and fiscal matters;
- campus development
- academic and professional standards;
- mission and goals;
- other matters about the welfare and excellence of all of members of the University.
Section 2: Presidential Concurrence
Upon passage by the Academic Senate, proposed policies and procedures will be submitted to the University President for consideration and action. The goal is to arrive at concurrence between the Senate and the President during the deliberative process. Policies and procedures will become official on the date of concurrence by the President. In the event of a disagreement between the President and the Senate, the President will review the issues with the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate before making a decision. The President will respond in writing to the Academic Senate about policies and procedures with which he/she does not concur. The response shall provide an explanation of the reasons for the lack of concurrence with the Academic Senate.
Article IV
Section 1: Membership of the Academic Senate
Elected members of the Academic Senate must be voting members of the Faculty of the University as defined in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, except as provided in Article IV, Section 1, E and F.
The Academic Senate of the University shall consist of:
A. One tenured or tenure-track member elected by and from the tenured and tenure-track voting members of the faculty of each College, as long as such entities are separate instructional units; one tenured or tenure-track member elected by and from the Library faculty; and one member elected by and from the student services faculty.
B. Additional tenured or tenure-track members elected by and from the voting members of the faculty of each college, the Library, student services, or other entity within the institution, proportionate to the entity's share of the previous fall semester utilization of faculty positions. The additional faculty representation will be proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the Academic Senate so as to yield an Academic Senate with at least 62 members and may be adjusted annually, prior to the beginning of elections to the next Academic Senate. The size of an entity's representation may be reduced only when the term of office of the senior senator(s) from that entity expires.
C. A minimum of eight members chosen at-large, elected by and from the voting members of the Faculty.
D. One member from each College, plus one from the Library, elected by and from all lecturers in the unit (College, or Library) in residence during the spring semester. Lecturers with appointments in more than one unit will vote in each unit in proportion to their time base in that unit.
E. The Associated Students (AS) President, one undergraduate-at-large student (selected by the Associated Students Legislature), and one graduate-at-large student (selected by the Associated Students Legislature) shall be members of the Academic Senate. Such students must be enrolled for at least the same number of units as required for membership on the Associated Students Legislature and meet the other levels of academic standards required for membership on the Associated Students Legislature. The terms of office shall be determined by the Associated Students Legislature. If the AS President is not able to attend Senate meetings a designee may be appointed.
F. One staff representative from each College and the Library, plus one from each Cabinet area other than Academic Affairs. Staff representatives shall be elected by other staff in their unit. When staff representation on a committee is required by Senate policy, and after a campus-wide call for nominations, staff may be appointed from the pool of nominees by the Executive Committee to serve on such committees. The process stated in this section F supersedes any process described in current Academic Policies.
G. The President of the University.
H. The Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University.
I. Two members, from the Faculty, administrative ranks, staff, Emeritus faculty or student body at-large, appointed annually by the President of the University.
J. The Dean of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning
K. The Vice-Provost for Academic Resources
L. One College Dean selected by the Dean’s Council.
M. All members elected to the Academic Senate of the California State University shall become ex-officio members of the local Senate for the duration of their terms on the Statewide Senate. Any seat occupied by a Statewide Senator already serving on the local Senate at the time of their election to the Statewide group shall be filled, as provided in Article IV, Section M.
N. The outgoing Chair of the Academic Senate shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Senate for one year subsequent to the completion of the Chair's term.
O. Terms of Office
- The terms of office of all elected members of the Senate shall be three years, beginning at the first regularly scheduled meeting in or after June, except for an organizing meeting
- Elected members of the Senate may succeed themselves for one full term. No member of the Senate shall serve more than six successive years as an elected member of the Senate.
P. Vacancies
- Vacancies in All-University positions shall be filled by the Senate Executive Committee. Every effort should be made to achieve a balance of representation across the Colleges and Library.
- Vacancies in unit elected positions shall be filled by the next highest vote getter in the previous election. If no one is available, the represented unit shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of the academic year. Any replacement appointments will serve for the remainder of the academic year, at which time a new Senator shall be elected using normal election procedures. Vacancies in appointed positions shall be filled by the appointing entity.
Q. The members-at-large of the Academic Senate shall be nominated in a process open to all members of the Faculty, allowing for nominees from the previous Senate, as shall be determined in the By-Laws. Such nominees will be candidates for election by the Faculty, as specified in the By-Laws.
Section 2: Duties of the Academic Senate
A. The Senate, in order to perform its duties, shall create committees as provided in Article IV, Section 3. The Senate may request reports from any of the committees when the Senate deems such reports appropriate. All such committees shall make minutes of their meetings accessible to the Faculty through the Senate, except for minutes of confidential meetings.
B. The Senate shall adopt and may amend its By-Laws.
C. The Senate shall make provision in its By-Laws for its operation during summer sessions and other interim periods.
Section 3: Organization of the Academic Senate
A. Officers of the Senate
The officers of the Academic Senate shall include a Chair, a Vice Chair, and a Secretary. They shall be elected from the incoming and continuing membership of the Academic Senate to serve a one-year term.
B. Committee Structure of the Academic Senate
The committees of the Academic Senate shall include the Executive Committee and such other standing committees, all-university committees and ad hoc committees as the Academic Senate shall determine. The Senate also participates in two additional types of committees: committees on which the Senate has liaison members or representatives and committees for which the faculty members are recommended for executive appointment. The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers of the Senate, two additional members elected for terms of one year, the outgoing Chair (who shall serve for one year subsequent to the completion of his/her term of office as Chair), and the Chairs of the Senate's standing committees.
C. Record of Meetings
The Academic Senate shall keep, and make available to the Faculty, a record of its meetings. Summary minutes shall be posted online after adoption from the Senate for faculty to view.
Article V
Section 1: Adoption of this Constitution
This Constitution shall be adopted by a favorable vote of the majority of the Faculty of the University who vote, as defined at the time the vote is taken, but shall not be adopted if fewer favorable ballots are cast than the number comprising a quorum of the faculty as defined in its By-laws.
Section 2: Amendment
Amendments to this Constitution may be initiated in the same way that any other motions are initiated by the Academic Senate or may be initiated by members of Faculty calling for a general meeting of the Faculty, as provided for elsewhere in this Constitution. Proposed amendments adopted by the Academic Senate following its usual rules for the adoption of motions, shall be presented to the voting members of the Faculty, as elsewhere defined in this Constitution, and shall be adopted by a favorable majority vote by the members of the Faculty who vote, but shall not be amended if fewer favorable ballots are cast than the number comprising a quorum of the faculty as defined in its By-laws.
Last Updated March 17, 2020