CFA College Charter

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Approved by the College Council – February 25, 2022
Approved by Dean John Scheib – February 25, 2022
Approved by the Academic Senate Executive Committee – May 2, 2022

I. PURPOSES AND DUTIES

This Charter, adopted pursuant to University Policy Policy 6-001-III-C-1-b and Policy 6-003-III- B, shall govern the structure and functions of the College Council, which shall be the representative body of the College of Fine Arts, and shall have, subject to the approval of the Academic Senate, jurisdiction over all questions of educational policy affecting the College, including program development, requirements for entrance and graduation, curriculum, course fees, and special projects.

The purpose of the College Council is to ensure shared governance and support transparent communication. College leadership will regularly offer updates on evolving policies, processes, budgets, etc. to the College Council. College Council members are responsible for (1) representing the voices of their respective constituencies during meetings and in College Council processes, (2) serving in an advisory capacity to college leadership, and (3) reporting information shared with the College Council back to their appropriate constituencies.

II. STRUCTURE

A. Membership and voting privileges.

    1. The Dean, Associate Dean(s), Assistant Dean(s), Chair/Director of each academic unit (academic department, or department-equivalent “school”), Director of the Utah Center for Vocology, four elected staff members from the College (or their elected staff alternate), and three elected faculty members from tenured/tenure- track and/or career-line faculty ranks in each academic unit of the College (or their elected faculty alternates). Typically, each academic unit’s elected faculty members should include two tenured/tenure-track faculty member and one career- line faculty member. In cases where there are not available career-line faculty members to serve on the College Council, with permission of the Dean, all faculty representatives from a given academic unit may come from the tenured/tenure-track ranks. This membership shall constitute the Council and each member holds voting privileges.

    2. The Student Advisory Committee (SAC) representatives—two student representatives from each academic unit in the College (or their alternate)—shall also be members of the Council and have voting privileges. In units with graduate programs, one representative should be an undergraduate student, and one representative should be a graduate student. These representatives may be elected annually to their SAC position by their student peers in each unit or may be appointed annually by the unit’s Chair/Director. They serve for one-year, repeatable terms.

    3. The term of service for tenured/tenure-track faculty members serving on the Council will be two years. After serving a two-year term, a faculty member must be off the Council for at least one year before being eligible for re-election. All tenured and tenure-track faculty in each department/school, regardless of rank or percentage of FTE appointment, are eligible to vote for a representative and eligible to serve as a representative. The voting faculty will elect one representative annually to replace the outgoing faculty member from their unit, providing continuity on the Council through staggered terms.

    4. The term of service for career-line faculty members serving on the Council will be two years. After serving a two-year term, a career-line faculty member must be off the council for at least one year before being eligible for re-election. All career-line faculty members in any of the three categories of Lecturer, Clinical and Research (See University Policy 6-300) with appointments of at least .50 FTE in the College are eligible to vote in elections for the career-line representative from their unit. Only career-line faculty members in one of these three categories with appointments of at least .75 FTE in the College are eligible to serve as an elected representative.

    5. For the purposes of broad representation without unduly taxing departments with small numbers of staff, the staff members in the College have been placed into four groups with approximately the same number of staff in each group. Those groups are: Academic Advisors All staff members with a contract of at least .50 FTE in the College are eligible to vote in the elections for their respective group. Only staff members with a contract of at least .75 FTE are eligible to serve as the elected representative. Staff representatives are elected to three-year terms.
           Group 1: Art & Art History and Film & Media Arts
           Group 2: Dance and Theatre
           Group 3: Music
           Group 4: CFA Information Technology, CFA External Relations, and CFA

      All staff members with a contract of at least .50 FTE in the College are eligible to vote in the elections for their respective group. Only staff members with a contract of at least .75 FTE are eligible to serve as the elected representative. Staff representatives are elected to three-year terms.

    6. The Dean, Associate/Assistant Deans, and Department Chairs/Directors shall be members of the Council for the duration of their administrative appointments.

B. Officers. The Dean of the College of Fine Arts shall serve as Chair of the Council. The Associate Dean for Faculty & Academic Affairs shall serve as Vice Chair. The CFA Executive Assistant to the Dean shall serve as the Executive Secretary of the Council.

C. Nominations and Elections. Nominations and elections of faculty, student, and staff representatives to serve on the Council and their alternates will take place in the individual units (or staff groups) prior to the last scheduled Council meeting of each spring semester. For each open position, there shall be election of the representative, and of an alternate to substitute when the representative is unable to participate in Council business.

D. Meetings. The Dean of the College shall schedule regular meetings of the Council four (4) times per year. Special meetings shall be held at the call of the Dean or at the request of any five members of the Council.

E. Quorum and Procedure. A majority of the voting members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A majority of those voting is required to carry a motion. All Council members shall have full discussion and voting privileges with the exception of the Dean, who may participate fully in the conversation but shall vote only in the event of a tie. Voting will ordinarily be by voice vote, but shall be conducted by written ballot at the request of any member. Robert’s Revised Rules of Order shall be the authority for parliamentary procedure.

III. COMMITTEES

The Council shall designate such standing and ad hoc committees as it deems necessary to prepare and administer its programs and policies effectively. All committees are accountable to the Council, and all actions taken by the Council shall be subject to review by the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate and shall be subject to the power of the Senate to establish uniform policies and to take action on all matters of University concern (University Policy 6-001- III-C-1-b and Policy 6-003). Appointments to standing committees are made annually. Ad hoc committees will be constituted by the Dean, or by a vote of the Council.

Membership on standing and ad hoc committees shall consist of tenured, tenure-track and/or career-line faculty (at least .75 FTE) of the College, and of appointed student and/or staff representatives when appropriate for a particular committee. Annual election or appointment of standing and ad hoc committee members shall be made by April 30th of the spring semester preceding the year in which these members will serve. The term of elected or appointed members for standing and ad hoc committees shall commence at the beginning of the fall semester following their spring election or appointment. The Dean shall serve as an ex officio member of all standing and ad hoc committees except the Executive Committee, which the Dean chairs. Standing committees serve to address ongoing needs in the College; ad hoc committees will be created at the Dean’s discretion or by vote of the Council for specific concerns, issues, or projects of a limited scope and duration.

A. Standing committees include:

  1. Academic Appeals Committee. In accord with the University Student Code (Policy 6-400), members of this Committee are appointed to staggered 3-year terms by the Dean. The full Committee shall consist of one representative from the faculty of each academic unit of the College, the Student Advisory Committee Chairs, and one external faculty representative as determined by the Academic Senate’s Personnel and Elections Committee. The Associate Dean for Faculty & Academic Affairs shall serve as chair unless the appeal concerns a graduate student, in which case the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Student Affairs will serve as chair. For each individual appeal that comes to the Committee, the relevant Academic Appeals Committee Chair shall form a panel (subset) of the Committee, and shall appoint a chair of that panel, according to the circumstances of the particular case and in accordance with the University’s policy. In each case, the subset of the Committee shall establish internal procedures consistent with the Student Code. See University Policy 6-400-Sec. IV-C, V-C, VI-C (Student Code—Academic Appeals Committee).

  2. Arts Education Committee. Members of this Committee are appointed annually by the Dean. The Committee shall consist of one representative from each academic unit of the College and one representative from each area that supports a youth arts program. The Assistant Dean for Arts Education & Community Engagement serves as chair. The purpose of this Committee is to discuss the scope and scale of youth arts education programs and community-based arts education partnerships and to make recommendations on programs, policies, and initiatives to the Chairs/Directors and the Dean. The Committee will meet at least twice a year—once during fall semester and once during spring semester— with additional meetings as required.

  3. Curriculum Committee. Membership on the Curriculum Committee shall consist of all chairs of curriculum committees of the College’s academic units. The Associate Dean for Faculty & Academic Affairs will serve as the ex officio Committee Chair, and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Student Affairs will serve as an ex officio member of the Committee. The Committee reviews curriculum requests from academic units in the College, including new programs, program changes, degree offerings, course fees, minors, and certificate programs. The Committee recommends for or against approval of requests. The Committee may request additional clarification from the proposing unit before making such a recommendation, or alternatively recommend approval pending the proposing unit’s response to certain specific conditions.

  4. Executive Committee. Membership on this Committee shall consist of the Dean of the College, the Associate Dean(s), the Assistant Dean(s), and the Chair/Director of each academic unit. The Executive Committee shall convene at the discretion of the Dean, who chairs the Committee. The Dean sets the agenda for Executive Committee meetings. The Dean shall appoint an Executive Secretary of the Executive Committee annually. The Executive Committee serves as an advisory board to the Dean.

  5. Faculty Counsel Committee (FCC). Membership on this Committee shall consist of all tenure-line/tenured and career-line faculty who are serving as College Council representatives (excluding Chairs and Directors). The FCC is charged with reviewing unit requests for faculty lines (Requests for Positions or RFPs) and making recommendations to the Dean regarding these requests. The Committee shall convene at the discretion of the Dean.

  6. Fine Arts Fees Grants (FAF Grants) Funding Committee. The purpose of the Committee is to award student fee money (Fine Arts Fees) to non-credit activities that enhance students’ learning and experience by delivering Fine Arts events to the University of Utah and the community at large. In order for student organizations to be eligible for a FAF Grant, they must be sponsored by the College of Fine Arts and registered through University Student Leadership & Involvement Office.

    Members of the Fine Arts Fees Grants Funding Committee shall consist of three student representatives for each CFA unit and the CFA student representatives from ASUU (ASUU Senators and Assembly Members). The Associate Dean for Undergraduate Student Affairs serves as ex officio member and chair, with additional support from other members of the Dean’s Office staff as needed. The Committee will develop and publish criteria and meet twice a year—once during fall semester and once during spring semester—to make awards. The Committee will hold additional meetings as needed to complete the awarding of funds and/or to make changes to application and award guidelines and policies.

  7. Grants Committee. Membership of the Grants Committee shall consist of one faculty member from each of the academic units, appointed by the Dean. The Associate Dean for Faculty & Academic Affairs will serve as the Committee Chair, and both the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and the Associate Dean for Research will serve as ex officio member of the Grants Committee. The Committee may be asked to review internal grant proposals. The Committee may also be asked to review proposals for CFA Faculty Fellow awards. After reviewing proposals, the Grants Committee will make recommendations to the Dean, and the Dean will make final decisions on all proposals.

  8. Retention, Promotion, and Tenure Advisory Committee. 

    (a) For all cases other than promotions to full professor, membership on the College Advisory Committee (CAC) (sometimes referred to as the “College RPT Advisory Committee”) will consist of one elected tenured faculty member (or the elected alternate) from each academic unit of the College. Elections of faculty representatives and their alternates will take place in the individual units prior to the last scheduled College Council meeting of the spring semester. No member will serve for more than two consecutive two-year terms. A faculty member may be re-elected after two years off the Committee.

    (b) The Associate Dean for Faculty & Academic Affairs will serve as an ex officio member of the Committee and will schedule the College RPT Advisory Committee meetings and appoint a primary reviewer (chair) and a secretary for each candidate under consideration. The primary reviewer will summarize the accomplishments of the assigned candidate across the areas of creative and/or scholarly research, teaching, and service according to the expectations outlined in the department/school RPT Statement, summarize the evaluation of the candidate’s department Chair/Director, and, based on the type of review, summarize the comments of any external and internal evaluators. The summary will be followed by discussion of the candidate’s dossier by the membership. The secretary will maintain minutes of the discussion, prepare a written report, (including a vote of the Committee’s recommendation), and submit the report to the Dean. Members may not participate in the discussion or vote on cases from their home units and will be excused from the meeting during discussion and voting of those cases. The Associate Dean serves only to address matters of policy during the meetings.

    (c) The purpose of the College RPT Advisory Committee shall be to ensure that candidates are carefully evaluated in accordance with the criteria, standards, and procedures provided for in the RPT Statement established by the candidate’s department/school, in compliance with all relevant College and University policies and procedures. See University Policy 6-303-III-G-1.

    (d) A minimum of three (3) full professors from the College will constitute the Committee for the purpose of reviewing files for promotion to full professor. In cases where there are not three eligible faculty members on the College’s RPT Committee, the Dean, in consultation with the pertinent Chair(s)/Director(s), will appoint the membership of this Committee, in all cases excluding members from the candidate’s home department/school.

    (e) Each College RPT Advisory Committee member will have the following responsibilities in completing the review process: (1) to review independently all of the materials in each candidate’s file; (2) to review the materials in light of the criteria and standards as set forth in the departmental/school RPT Statement in the areas of research, teaching, and service; (3) to determine whether the candidate meets the departmental criteria and standards in each area; (4) to share determinations and rationale as called upon by the Committee Chair in scheduled Committee meetings; (5) to contribute to the reporting process as required by University regulations; (6) to maintain the highest standards of professional judgment and conduct in completing each element of the review process, and (7) to preserve the confidentiality of the materials and the proceedings.

    (f) University Policy 6-303-III-K outlines the procedures for appointments with tenure and expedited review processes. Membership on the College RPT Advisory Committee for expedited reviews shall include the elected members or their elected substitute, or if those individuals are not available, the Dean may appoint faculty to serve temporarily on this Committee from an individual unit.

  9. Safety Committee. The purpose of the Safety Committee is to reduce the risk of injuries and illnesses in the College and to involve students, faculty, and staff in creating and maintaining a safe environment. Membership on this Committee shall include at least one representative from each department/school. The total committee must include at least one faculty member, one staff member, and one student representative. Members are nominated by their respective departments/schools and appointed by the Dean. The Assistant Dean for Finance and Operations will serve as an ex officio member of the Committee.

                                                                                                                      

IV. College provisions for departmental/School faculty appointments advisory committees

Pursuant to University Policy 6-302-III-B, in each department/school there shall be a departmental/school faculty appointments advisory committee. The committee membership shall include all tenured and tenure-track faculty, consisting of the professors, associate professors, and assistant professors (both tenured and tenure-track), except as follows: the chair/director of the department/school shall serve as chair of the committee but shall not vote on actions of the committee. Deans, and other administrative officials who are required by the regulations to make their own recommendations in an administrative capacity, and who hold regular faculty appointments within the department, may attend meetings and participate in discussions, but shall not vote on actions of the committee. If approved by a majority of the tenured/tenure-track faculty, other interested persons—which may include career-line faculty, adjunct faculty, tenure- line faculty from outside the department, staff, students, and community representatives—may be allowed to participate in discussions with the committee, but shall not vote on actions of the committee.

The College Council allows current full-time career-line faculty to serve as voting members of the departmental/school faculty appointments advisory committee for particular cases involving appointments or reappointments to career-line, adjunct, and/or visiting faculty positions, if a majority of the tenured and tenure-track faculty of the department/school has approved the inclusion of career-line faculty on the committee either by continuing written policy or for purposes of a particular appointment decision. Such policies may provide for inclusion of all current full-time, long-term career-line faculty members within any specified categories and ranks, or for a specified number of representatives of any categories (with a specified means of selecting such representatives). Whenever any career-line faculty are made members of the committee for purposes of a particular appointment recommendation, the department chair/director shall include a description of such participation in the written report transmitted to the dean of the college, as provided for in Section III-D of University Policy 6-302. The appendices of the CFA Retention and Review Statement for Career-Line, Adjunct, and Visiting Faculty and Other Instructional Personnel, which detail unit specific policies regarding participation and voting rights of Career-Line faculty, will serve as the written report.

V. AMENDMENTS TO THE CHARTER

The Charter may be amended by a simple majority vote of those in attendance at a meeting of the Council when a quorum is present. Written notice of proposed amendment(s) must be submitted to each Council member at least one week prior to the meeting. All amendments are reported to the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate for final approval and then presented for the information of the Academic Senate, pursuant to University Policies 6-003-III-C and 6-001-III-C- 1-b.

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