IV. The Faculty Senate

A. Authority and Responsibility of the Faculty Senate

The Faculty is self-governing, and the Faculty Senate is the expression of this right. The Faculty Senate acts as a communication and coordination link between the Faculty and the various administrative and/or educational entities of the University. The Faculty Senate is responsible for representing faculty interests during the policy formulation phase. The Faculty Senate is responsible for insuring that substantive issues affecting the welfare of the Faculty are brought to the attention of the Faculty in a timely and complete fashion. In this regard, it is particularly incumbent upon the Faculty Senate to work freely and closely with the Administration and the Board of Trustees in the pursuit of common goals which affect the welfare of the Faculty and the University. The Faculty Senate acts for the Faculty body on issues in any primary or shared area of responsibility, as defined in the Faculty Handbook. The Faculty Senate shall:

1. Deliberate, develop, review or revise all University policies affecting the Faculty.
2. Provide uniform opportunities for participation by all faculty members.
3. Conduct business in open meetings. Any matter that properly may be brought before the Faculty may be brought before the Faculty Senate except for the election of Senators as noted in this document.
4. Communicate its actions to the University Faculty and to other appropriate University entities in a timely manner.
5. Oversee, create, review and dissolve, as needed, all committees of the Faculty, and serve as the body to which these committees shall report.
6. Facilitate communication between the University Faculty and the other entities of the University.
7. Consider other issues as needed.

B. Composition of the Faculty Senate

The Faculty Senate shall be composed of twenty‐‐‐nine faculty with seven elected from each college and one elected by the librarians as described below.

C. Faculty Senate Eligibility

Eligibility for Senate membership shall be limited to full‐‐‐time faculty who have completed one year of teaching at The University of Tampa. To be eligible to serve, a faculty member may not hold administrative positions above the level of department chair/program director.

D. Guidelines for Faculty Senate, Curriculum Committee, Faculty Grants Committee, Faculty Sabbatical Committee, and Tenure and Promotion Committee Elections

Each of the four colleges shall elect seven senators and the library shall elect one senator. Elections shall be conducted by secret ballot, cast by full‐‐‐time faculty members and returned to a central location. Ballots shall be tabulated as directed by the Senate vice president and the Executive Council of the Faculty Senate.

1. Each college shall elect seven senators with one from each faculty rank: full professor, associate professor, and assistant professor, and four at‐large seats. At least four of the seven must be tenured or tenure‐track.

2. No more than two senators shall come from the same department.

3. Ballots should contain the names of all of a college’s eligible members, as prescribed in the faculty handbook, who have not expressly opted out of the ballot via a mechanism designated by the senate executive of a particular college. (Approved April 28, 2017).

4. Elections for each position should follow a two-round runoff system. This means unless someone receives 50%+1 of the votes in the first round, a second runoff round will be administered. In this round, the total number of candidates will depend on a number of circumstances and some discretion should be allowed to Executive Senate members in the case of a tie. In principle, however, the number of candidates on the second round of the ballot should approximate the following formula 2x (number of seats) – 1 if there is more than one seat available and 2 candidates when there is only one seat available. (Approved April 28, 2017).

5. Though the schedule may be altered by the Senate Executive, following is a rough timeline for elections: (Approved April 28, 2017).

• Email all eligible faculty before the end of January to notify which ballots they are eligible for and ask if they wish to opt out of any or all.

• In mid-February send out first round ballots to eligible voters for all Spring semester elections.

• In the first week of March send out run-off ballots for Tenure & Promotion committee.

• In the second week of March send out run-off ballots for the FSC & FGC.

• In the third week of March send out run-off ballots for the Faculty Senate

• In the fourth week of March send out run-off ballots for Curriculum Committee.

6. Faculty should be given at least 5 full class days to vote on any given ballot. This number excludes weekends, holidays, and spring break. (Approved April 28, 2017).

7. In the event that a faculty member becomes unable to fulfill his/her duties on a faculty-elected committee mid-term, the Senate Exec member from his/her college may replace said faculty member with the highest eligible vote getter not elected in the preceding election to a temporary term not to exceed one academic year. The following Spring a new election for a replacement will be held if there is time remaining on the term. (Approved April 28, 2017).

8. Senators are elected for two academic years with the terms staggered such that the sixteen at-large and the library positions shall be filled in alternate years from when the twelve rank positions are filled. Terms of newly elected Senators shall begin after the last regular monthly Senate meeting of the spring.

9. To ensure consistency among colleges, Senate elections will be conducted in March by the respective college’s dean’s office using an approved online platform with reports going to the college’s dean, administrative assistant, and Senate Executive Committee representative. (Approved May 3, 2013)

10. The newly elected Senators shall attend the last Senate meeting of the spring for the purpose of electing a new Executive Council for the next term. For purposes of continuity, newly elected senators shall attend all meetings following their election.

11. Should a senator resign or become ineligible to serve, he/she shall notify the president of the Senate. If the vacant seat is for one semester or less, the Senate Executive from the affected college delegation shall appoint as a temporary replacement the candidate with the next highest vote total from the most recent election. If the vacancy is longer, the senate executive shall immediately cause a special election to be held within the unit affected to fill the unexpired term. All rules such as, maximum number from a single department or at rank requirements, remain in force.

12. Elected Senators shall attend all meetings of the Senate unless extenuating circumstances prevent attendance. Should a senator miss more than two of the regular monthly meetings per academic year, he/she will be dismissed from the Senate with the unexpired term filled as stated above (6). A dismissal may be appealed to the Executive Council.

E. Responsibilities of Faculty Senators

Faculty Senators are expected to represent accurately the views and interests of the Faculty as a whole as well as individual faculty concerns. Senators may be elected to serve on the Executive Council and may be appointed to other committees by the Executive Council. The duties of a Senator shall include but are not limited to:

1. Participation at all regularly scheduled Senate meetings.
2. Preparation for all meetings by reviewing of the agenda and all documentation.
3. Encouragement and facilitation of open dialogue with college and University Faculty on all matters.
4. Consultation with college and University Faculty for guidance towards appropriate referrals and actions.
5. Receiving requests for faculty or Senate action from all members of the University community and providing responses back to those members in a timely manner.

F. Faculty Senate Meetings

The Faculty Senate shall normally hold eight regular monthly meetings during the academic year, with four each semester.

1. The Faculty Senate shall meet in open session in a space adequate for potential visitors. Faculty in attendance will be given the opportunity to express opinions and ask questions of the Senate. Other visitors may be invited by a member of the Executive Council to participate in particular discussions.
2. The Executive Council will determine the dates and times for the regular monthly meetings and publish these for the Faculty each semester.
3. The agenda and proposals for each monthly meeting will be distributed to the full Faculty at least one week in advance of each meeting.
4. Minutes and executive summaries from each meeting will be published in a timely manner except when excluded by this document.
5. Any committee, department or faculty member may request an item be placed on the monthly agenda provided the president of the Faculty Senate is notified in writing at least ten days in advance of the next monthly meeting. Faculty may request to remain anonymous.
6. Other University entities that desire to communicate with the Senate may request time on the agenda from the Senate president.
7. The Executive Council of the Faculty, president of the Senate, and president of the University or his/her representative may call a special meeting of the Senate as deemed necessary.
8. On rare occasions, the Senate may decide to meet in executive session by majority vote of the total Senate. Executive session includes elected senators and other parties as invited by the Senate.
9. A majority of the Senate must be present to conduct business excluding exceptions allowed for elsewhere in this document.
10. A motion shall require a majority vote of the total Senate membership to pass. The vote tally shall be recorded.
11. Meetings are conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order unless otherwise specified in this document.
12. The University shall provide an assistant to take minutes at the Senate meetings when requested.
13. The University shall provide for storage and maintenance of Faculty Senate files and any programmatic needs of the Senate.

G. Faculty Jurisdiction

The Faculty shall have the right to review, rescind, or recommit with instruction any action passed by the Senate on written petition of not less than fifteen percent of the membership of the Faculty. Such appeals shall be made in writing within four weeks of the Senate action to the Senate president. The Senate president shall call a special meeting of the Faculty to review the action and consider the instructions presented in the petition. The agenda for this meeting will be distributed to the full Faculty at least one week before the meeting. If a full Faculty vote is necessary it shall be done by secret ballot returned to a central location. A motion shall require a majority vote of the entire faculty membership to pass.

H. Faculty Vote of No-Confidence in the Senate

A faculty vote of no‐confidence in the Senate must proceed as follows:

1. Twenty‐five percent of the full‐time Faculty must sign a written petition requesting a special meeting of the full Faculty and present that petition to the current president of the Senate.
2. The president of the Senate must set a date for a full faculty meeting, at a reasonable time, not more than two weeks after receiving the petition. The purpose of the faculty meeting is to discuss the question of a no-confidence vote.
3. Following the faculty meeting, secret ballots will be distributed to the full faculty membership, with ballots returned to a central location.
4. Ballots will be counted by the three most senior members of the Faculty who are available.
5. A two‐thirds no‐confidence vote of the full faculty membership will result in new elections for all Senate positions.