BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY ALFRED UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
Approved August 18, 2020 PREAMBLE
ARTICLE I - MEMBERSHIP AND FUNCTION ARTICLE II - OFFICERS
Section 1 - Officers of the Faculty Section 2 - Duties of the Officers
ARTICLE III - MEETINGS OF THE FACULTY Section 1 - Meeting Schedule
Section 2 - Special Meetings Section 3 - Attendance Section 4 - Rules of Order Section 5 - Quorum Section 6 - Agenda
ARTICLE IV - FACULTY COUNCIL Section 1 - Membership Section 2 - Purpose
Section 3- Meeting Schedule Section 4- Officers of the Council ARTICLE V - FACULTY COMMITTEES
Section 1- Promotion and Tenure Committee
Section 2- Ad Interim Committee Members and Officers Section 3- Other Committees
ARTICLE VI - ELECTIONS
Section 1- Terms of Office Section 2- Vacancies Section 3- Eligibility
ARTICLE VII - AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS
APPENDIX A PROTOCOL FOR FACULTY MEETING
BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY ALFRED UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
PREAMBLE
The purpose of these By-Laws is to provide an organization through which the Faculty may effectively discharge its responsibilities in the conduct of the Libraries’ programs including instruction, academic support, research, and professional activities. In the governance of the Faculty these By-Laws are supplementary to, and consistent with, the By-Laws of the Faculty of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, the Alfred University Faculty Handbook, and the By-Laws of the Board of Trustees of Alfred University, and have been drawn up with due regard to the Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York.
ARTICLE I - MEMBERSHIP AND FUNCTION
The Faculty shall consist of the Dean of Libraries, the Director of Libraries and all full-time librarians; all with voting privileges. Emeriti, and librarians serving part-time or temporary appointments, are considered Faculty, but are without voting privileges. The President and Provost of Alfred University are considered ex officio members without voting privileges. The Faculty shall participate with the Libraries, NYS College of Ceramics, and
University faculty and administration in the development of its policies and collections, and in the conduct of the libraries’ programs and services.
ARTICLE II - OFFICERS
Section 1 - Officers of the Faculty
1. The Dean, the Faculty Senator elected to the Alfred University Faculty Senate, and the Faculty Councilor elected to the New York State College of Ceramics Faculty Council shall be the Officers of the Faculty.
2. The Dean shall be the Chief Officer of the Faculty.
3. The position of Secretary of the Faculty shall be rotated among the Faculty.
Section 2 - Duties of the Officers
1. The Dean shall preside over all regular and special Faculty meetings.
2. At the request or in the absence of the Dean, the Director or the Faculty Senator shall preside.
3. The Secretary shall take minutes of the meetings of the Faculty, shall present copies of these minutes to all members of the Faculty for review and approval, and shall forward a copy of the minutes to the designated staff member who will post the minutes in the libraries’ digital repository. The minutes shall include a record of Faculty present at meetings.
4. Other responsibilities of the Officers are those specified in the Alfred University Faculty Handbook, the Alfred University Faculty Senate Constitution, the Bylaws of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred
University, and other relevant documents.
ARTICLE III - MEETINGS OF THE FACULTY Section 1 - Meeting Schedule
Faculty shall meet at least once a month when the University is in session.
Section 2 - Special Meetings
Special meetings may be called at the discretion of the Dean or the Director, or when requested by a member of the Faculty.
Section 3 - Attendance
Faculty shall have a responsibility to attend all meetings of the Faculty. At the Dean or Director's discretion, and after consultation with the Faculty, other persons may be invited to Faculty meetings.
Section 4 - Rules of Order
Faculty meetings shall be conducted in accordance with recognized parliamentary rules of order to the best ability of those present.
Section 5 - Quorum
A quorum of the Faculty at regular and special meetings shall be a majority of the voting members.
Section 6 - Agenda
An agenda shall be distributed prior to each Faculty meeting.
ARTICLE IV - FACULTY COUNCIL Section 1 - Membership
The Faculty Council shall consist of all members of the Faculty with voting privileges, excluding the Dean and Director.
Section 2 - Purpose
The purpose of the Faculty Council is to:
a. Serve as a liaison committee representing Faculty interests to other College and University Faculty and to the Administration;
b. Act in an advisory capacity to the Dean and Director, especially in matters of governance, long-range planning, assignment of responsibilities to Faculty committees, preparation of the Faculty Meeting agenda and the evaluation of problems either internal to the Libraries or relating to other divisions of Alfred University;
c. Prepare nominations and obtain permissions of nominees in order to present a slate of candidates and/or conduct elections, as required, and in accordance with the relevant Bylaws, for all Committees requiring Library representation. When conducting elections, the Chair of the Faculty Council will cast the tie-breaking vote if necessary.
d. Act as a Grievance Committee. The Grievance Committee shall establish procedures for resolution of grievances brought by individual Faculty members on matters of personal or professional concern as outlined in the Alfred University Faculty Handbook.
e. Select a tenured librarian as the Promotion and Tenure Chair when the Director is untenured. Revisit this selection annually.
Section 3 - Meeting Schedule
The Faculty Council shall meet on an ad hoc basis.
Section 4 - Officers of the Council
The Library representative to the Alfred University Faculty Senate shall serve as Chair of the Faculty Council. A Secretary shall be selected for each meeting to take minutes, distribute copies of these minutes to all members of the Faculty for review and approval, and shall forward a copy of the minutes and relevant attachments to the designated staff member who will post the minutes in the libraries’ digital repository. The minutes shall include a record of the Faculty present.
ARTICLE V- FACULTY COMMITTEES
Section 1– Promotion and Tenure Committee
1. Membership – The Committee shall consist of three members of the University Faculty (one tenured librarian from either Herrick or Scholes, plus two tenured, non-librarian faculty members) elected by the Library
Faculty Council. As an ex officio member, the Dean of Libraries may present information to the Committee but they have no vote and are not eligible to chair the Committee. The Committee member serving their last year will serve as the Chair.
2. Function – The Committee makes its written recommendations to the Dean of Libraries (who forwards the recommendations to the Provost) regarding the promotion and tenure of the Faculty. The Committee normally deals with action items only, e.g. annual reviews of untenured faculty, forecast for tenure or promotion, tenure, promotion, and five-year reviews of tenured Faculty and sabbatical requests, during the formal Promotion and Tenure Committee meeting process. Faculty evaluation is based upon the “Alfred University Libraries: Criteria for Promotion and Tenure.”
3. Procedures – Details are outlined in the “Alfred University Libraries: Promotion and Tenure Process and Procedures” document. In the event of any conflict between this document and the Alfred University Faculty Handbook, the Handbook shall take precedence.
4. Election and Term – In the spring of each year, the Library Faculty Council will elect a new member to the promotion and tenure committee for a three-year term. The Chair of the Faculty Council shall solicit nominations from Faculty Council and the Director, if applicable, and coordinate the nomination and election process. The Director will participate in the nomination and election process if they are
untenured and on the tenure-track. No member may serve for more than three years consecutively except in extraordinary circumstances. Should one of the members not be able to complete their term, the Faculty Council will elect an alternate to fill out the remainder of the term.
Section 2– Ad Interim Committee Members and Officers
The Chair of the Faculty Council may, with the advice and consent of the Council, appoint ad interim officers or committee members to carry on any business of the Faculty, which may arise during vacation periods or when elected officers or committee members are not available.
Section 3 – Other Committees
Ad hoc committees on specific issues may be created at any time by majority vote of the Faculty. These committees are in addition to the committees of the New York State College of Ceramics and Alfred University; nomination and election procedures and terms of office for these committees are defined in the relevant Bylaws.
1. Each Committee shall elect a Chair from its membership.
2. This election should take place at the end of the academic year for the next academic year. The new Chair will be responsible for calling the first meeting of the next academic year.
ARTICLE VI – ELECTIONS
Section 1 – Term of Office
The term of office for all elected officers shall begin at the start of an academic year and end at the start of the next academic year unless otherwise specified.
Section 2 – Vacancies
When a member of a committee will be absent from campus for more than one semester, the position may be filled with an appointment by the Library Faculty Council.
Section 3 – Eligibility
All nominations for elections to Faculty offices must be members of the Library Faculty with voting privileges.
ARTICLE VII -- AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS
These Bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of the voting Faculty at any officially called Faculty meeting having a two-thirds quorum of the Faculty present. Amendments should be read at a Faculty meeting at least one month in advance of the meeting at which they are voted on. Revisions to the Bylaws should be forwarded to the President and Provost for final approval.
Adopted by vote of the Faculty, August 18, 2020
APPENDIX A
SUGGESTED PROTOCOL FOR FACULTY MEETINGS
The Dean chairs the meeting. The Faculty Senator or Director shall preside in the absence of the Dean or as requested by the Dean, as specified in Article II, Section 2 of the By-Laws.
The Dean or their designee will, whenever possible, solicit items for the agenda in advance of the meeting and distribute a draft agenda before the meeting.
1. CHAIR OPENS MEETING Calls Meeting to Order
Appoints Faculty Secretary for the meeting Announces presence of quorum
Distributes printed agenda for meeting Calls for approval of prior meeting minutes Introductory remarks and announcements
2. COMMITTEE REPORTS
College of Ceramics Faculty Council Scholes Library Committee
Herrick Library Committee
AU Libraries Promotion and Tenure Committee Alfred University Faculty Senate
Other reports: Dean’s Council, Executive Council, NYSCC Dean’s/Directors Council 3. OLD BUSINESS
4. NEW BUSINESS
5. BUSINESS FROM FLOOR
6. ADJOURN
