APPLICABILITY: FACULTY 

Preamble  

A university is a community of scholars engaged in the free discussion, research and dissemination of ideas and knowledge. To the end that the governing of this university shall embody the full freedom of discussion, participation and examination of ideas by faculty, students and administrators in the search for truth, the administration and the faculty of the University of North Texas hereby establish and promulgate this Charter of the Faculty Senate of the University of North Texas.  

Article I. Role and Competence of the Faculty Senate  

The Faculty Senate shall decide and promulgate academic policy (except tenure and review policy) for the university, acting with due regard to the requests and needs of the specific departments, divisions, schools and colleges, to the advice of the president and provost and vice president for academic affairs of the university, and to the regulations of the Board of Regents of the University of North Texas System and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Such policies become official when published by the president in the official university policy publication.  

The Faculty Senate may consider all other matters of general welfare to the university including matters raised by senators, by senate committees and by the president of the university, and, through petition, by any other administrative official or body, and by any full‑time faculty member who shall then have the right to speak to the petition. Decisions on all such matters shall be final when approved by the president of the university, subject to the regulations of the Board of Regents of the University of North Texas System.  

Article II. Composition of the Faculty Senate  

Section 1. The Faculty Senate shall be composed of a maximum of 48 voting senators.  

Section 2. There shall be a maximum of 40 senators elected by and from groupings of the instructional units. These groupings shall consist of schools, divisions and similar large units.  

Section 3. There shall be eight senators elected by and from the faculty at large, apportioned by academic rank.  

Section 4. There shall be two students elected by the Student Association (formerly the Student Government Association). These student senators shall have the status of observers, with the rights of speaking and serving with vote on committees of the Faculty Senate, but they shall not vote on decisions of the Faculty Senate.  

Section 5. The Faculty Senate shall reapportion itself every three years in time for the spring election of senators in the third year of each term. Reapportionment shall be achieved by dividing 40 into the membership of the entire full‑time faculty and applying the quotient thus obtained to the voting groups in such a manner as to give representation proportionate to members; the number of senators‑at‑large and student senators shall remain at eight and two, respectively.  

Article III. Terms, Qualifications and Elections  

Section 1. The term of office for each faculty senator shall be three years. Faculty senators may serve a maximum of two full consecutive terms.  

Section 2. The term of office for each student senator shall be one year. Student senators may serve a maximum of two full consecutive terms.  

Section 3. (As amended on 6-11-75.) Qualifications for faculty senators shall be full-time faculty status. For purposes of this and all other pertinent provisions, the term “full-time faculty status” shall be defined as including instructors, assistant professors, associate professors and professors in a tenured or tenure-track position who normally carry a full teaching and/or research load, but excluding student instructors who are working toward a degree at the University of North Texas. The term “full-time faculty status” also shall be defined as including resident artists (as full professors) and librarians. (For purposes of at-large elections, the librarians will be considered as instructors.)  

Section 4. Qualifications for student senators shall be the attainment of 45 semester hours by the time of election.  

Section 5. (As amended 12-76; ratified 9-77; approved 10-81.) A vacancy shall be declared if a senator is absent from three meetings of the Faculty Senate within a Senate year (Sept.-Aug.), and the chair of the senate may thereupon immediately declare a vacancy in the membership of the senate; or for good cause in the judgment of the chair, such declaration may be deferred or omitted. In the event of a declared vacancy, the Faculty Senate Election Committee shall conduct a special election among the appropriate electorate to fill the vacancy. A senator dropped from membership because of three absences is eligible for re‑election; however, for the purposes of determining the length of continuous membership in the senate (as in the case of limitation of two consecutive three‑year terms) a senator who is re‑elected to fill a vacancy for a position which he or she has just vacated shall be deemed to have had continuous membership. A specially elected senator shall be seated in the next regular Faculty Senate meeting following his or her election and shall serve the remainder of the senator’s term. No vacancy shall exist if a senator‑at‑large, elected from a specific academic rank, is promoted to a new rank during his or her term of office in the senate. The senator‑at‑large shall complete the elected term. Absences from three consecutive meetings of a senate committee, except in the case of ex officio members, shall constitute automatic resignation by the member, and the chair of each senate committee shall report such absences to the chair of the Faculty Senate, who may thereupon immediately declare a vacancy in the membership of the committee; or for good cause in the judgment of the chair of the senate, such declaration may be deferred or omitted. In the event of a declared vacancy, the chair of the senate shall notify the Committee on Committees, which shall nominate a replacement in accordance with nominating procedures of the senate.  

The chair shall report regularly the status of resignations, and the chair’s decisions regarding declarations of vacancies.  

Section 6. Qualifications for voting in the elections for all faculty senators shall be full‑time faculty status in a tenured or tenure-track position or full-time status as a professional librarian.  

Section 7. (As amended on 2‑9‑72 and ratified on 2‑29‑72.) Elections shall be held by all electorates during the spring semester of each year in which terms of senators representing such electorates expire. The election period for Faculty Senate positions of instructional units shall be completed by the 15th day of each March. The election for Faculty Senate positions of the university‑at‑large shall take place after the 15th day of each March, but nominations for senators‑at‑large may be made prior to that date. Elections shall be by secret ballot and shall be supervised by an appropriate committee of the Faculty Senate.  

Section 8. The Faculty Senate shall be organized each year at the May meeting at which time all new senators shall take office. Terms of office shall thus begin with the May meeting and shall expire the day before the May meeting of the appropriate year.  

Article IV. Officers and Committees of the Faculty Senate  

Section 1. (As amended 2‑9‑72 and ratified 2‑29‑72 and amended 2-9-00/ratified 4-10-00.) The Faculty Senate shall elect a chair from among its members at the May meeting.  It shall be the chair’s duty to preside at meetings of the senate. The chair shall vote only in the case of a tie vote.  The term shall be from July 1^st to June 30^th. 

Section 2. (As amended 2-9-00/ratified 4-10-00)  The Faculty Senate shall elect from among its members a vice chair, who shall preside in the absence of the chair, and such other officers as it deems appropriate. It shall define the additional duties of its officers.  The officers shall be elected at the May Faculty Senate meeting and terms of office shall be from July 1^st to June 30^th. 

Section 3. Committees of the Faculty Senate shall include a Charter and Bylaws Committee, a Committee on Committees, a Curriculum Committee to be chaired by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs or his or her designee and include the academic deans, an Academic Affairs Committee, a Faculty Research Committee, and such other standing and temporary committees as the Faculty Senate shall from time to time create.  

Section 4. (Ratified 2‑80; approved 10‑81.) The Committee on Committees shall consist of nine senators elected at the May meeting of the Faculty Senate plus the chair, vice chair and the secretary of the senate. In turn, the Committee on Committees shall then appoint other members to other committees, subject to the approval of the senate. Where appropriate and subject to the approval of the Faculty Senate, the Committee on Committees may appoint faculty members, administrators and students from outside the membership of the Faculty Senate.  

Article V. Meetings and Procedures of the Faculty Senate  

Section 1. The Faculty Senate shall hold a regular meeting at least once each month from September through June of each year.  

Section 2. Special meetings of the Faculty Senate may be called by the chair on his or her own motion. The chair must call a special meeting when petitioned to do so by 20 percent of the senators.  

Section 3. The Faculty Senate shall be the sole judge of its own rules and procedures.  

Article VI. Status of Existing and Other Faculty Governmental Bodies  

Section 1. With the organization of the Faculty Senate, the present Faculty Council shall be dissolved. As the Faculty Senate proceeds to establish certain committees to carry out its business and as such committees are formed, any existing university faculty committee that has similar functions shall then be dissolved.  

Section 2. There shall be a University Tenure Committee whose members shall not be appointed by the Committee on Committees but shall be elected by the faculty at large. The Tenure Committee shall be responsible, subject to the approval of the faculty, for deciding and promulgating tenure policy for the university and for creating procedures for handling specific complaints or grievances concerning tenure and academic freedom.  

Section 3. There shall be a University Review Committee whose members shall not be appointed by the Committee on Committees but shall be elected by the faculty at large. The Review Committee shall be responsible, subject to the approval of the faculty, for drafting and implementing structures and procedures for appealing questions of faculty salary, promotions and other major issues, excepting tenure and academic freedom.  

Article VII. Amendments  

Section 1. (Amended 3‑77; ratified 9‑77; approved 10‑81.) The charter of the Faculty Senate may be amended in either of the following ways.  

Sub‑section a.   Initiation by two‑thirds of the senators present at any regular Faculty Senate meeting, followed by ratification of three‑fourths of all full‑time faculty members voting. To be eligible for initiation by the senate, the amendment must have been considered by the Charter and Bylaws Committee and must be presented for a first reading at the meeting preceding the one at which it shall be voted upon.  

Sub‑section b.   Initiation by petition of 20 percent of the full‑time faculty members calling for a special faculty meeting. Upon verification of the petition, the Faculty Senate must call such a faculty meeting within 30 days from receipt of the petition. The only subject for discussion at this meeting shall be the proposed amendment. If a majority of those attending the meeting favor the amendment, it shall be initiated. Ratification shall then be by the same method as in sub-section "a" above.  

Section 2. (Amended 3‑77; ratified 9‑77; approved 10‑81.) Amendments and additions to the bylaws shall be initiated by a first reading at any regular meeting of the Faculty Senate and shall be ratified by a simple majority of the senators attending the next regular meeting. The first reading shall be regarded as an announcement of pending consideration; debate on the proposed amendment shall take place at the second reading, at the next regular meeting of the senate. Such amendments and additions to the bylaws shall be published in the minutes and distributed to the entire faculty. Changes in the titles of offices and of academic units shall be made in the bylaws as they occur by the Charter and Bylaws Committee. All such changes shall be reported to the senate at its next regular meeting, and such changes shall become final when so reported, unless the senate shall vote to treat the report as a first reading of a proposed bylaw.  

Section 3. All such amendments shall become final when approved by the Board of Regents.