Faculty

Bylaws of the Faculty Council

The name of the basic organization shall be the Faculty Council of LSUS, hereinafter sometimes referred to as the LSUS Faculty Council.  The terms "faculty" and "Faculty Council" are used interchangeably in this document.

ARTICLE I. Purpose

1.1  The purpose of this organization is:

  1. To provide the LSUS faculty with a forum for expressing views on matters relating to their well being.
  2. To provide the LSUS faculty with an effective means to participate in academic due process and to promote cooperation between faculty and administrative officers.
  3. To collect and disseminate information so that policies and procedures will be known and uniformly interpreted and implemented.
  4. To evaluate institutional programs and practices and to initiate action for improvements thereby protecting the academic integrity of LSUS and its faculty.
  5. To maintain liaison with all segments of the University community and with other interested groups and individuals.

ARTICLE II.  Powers

The LSUS Faculty Council shall establish curricula, fix standards of instruction, determine requirements for degrees, and generally determine educational policy, subject to the authority of the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University.  Except as otherwise provided, the LSUS faculty shall establish its own educational policies.  It shall, within the framework of the educational policy of the System, have legislative power over all matters pertaining to its own authority to an elected Senate and/or to standing committees, whose authority shall be limited to matters which are proper to the faculty and which have been specifically delegated by the faculty.  It shall make recommendations for the granting of degrees through its respective colleges or schools not within a college.

ARTICLE III. Membership

3.1 The Faculty Council shall include all full-time members of the academic staff having the rank of Instructor or higher (or equivalent) and members of the Administrative Council [Editor's Note: "members of the Administrative Council" should read "administrators holding academic rank"; the former Administrative Council is now known as the Administrative and Planning Council and has been expanded to include administrative staff not holding academic rank. Faculty Council Bylaws have not been amended, as of the publication date of this Handbook, to reflect this change.] As a class, part-time members of the academic staff having the rank of Instructor or higher (or equivalent rank) may be enfranchised by a two-thirds vote to the degree deemed appropriate by the LSUS Faculty Council.
3.2  Voting members shall be members of the LSUS Faculty Council holding academic rank.


ARTICLE IV. Faculty Senate

The Faculty Council delegates its responsibility as set forth in Article II of these Bylaws to a Faculty Senate composed of Faculty Council members elected as outlined in the Constitution of the Faculty Senate.


ARTICLE V. Meetings

5.1  Regular Meetings

  1. There shall be at least two (2) regular meetings of the Faculty Council each academic year
  2. Regular meetings will be held within the first four weeks of classes of the Fall Semester, within the last four weeks of classes of the Spring Semester.  The last meeting in the Spring Semester is designated as the Annual Meeting.

5.2  Special Meetings

  1. Procedure for calling Special Meetings
    1. The presiding officer may call a special meeting.
    2. A written request of 40 members or 20% of the membership, whichever is smaller, may call a special meeting.
    3. The Faculty Senate, by 2/3 vote, may call a special meeting.
  2. The agenda for special meetings shall be as follows:
    1. The presiding officer may specify the agenda for those special meetings which he/she calls.
    2. When the special meeting is called by request of the membership, the agenda for that special meeting will include only the items specified on the written request.
    3. The Faculty Council shall not act upon any matter not embraced in the notice for a special meeting except upon vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the voting membership present and voting.

5.3  Announcement of Meetings

  1. Notice of all meetings of the Faculty Council, both regular and special, shall be given in writing to all members at least five (5) academic working days prior to the date of the meetings.
  2. Notice will include a listing of the agenda items for that meeting.

5.4  Parliamentary Authority

When not in conflict with any of the provisions of these Bylaws and Special Rules, Robert's Rules of Order (latest edition) shall constitute the rules of Parliamentary Procedure applicable to all meetings of the Faculty Council.


ARTICLE VI. Officers

6.1  Presiding Officer

The President of Louisiana State University is the presiding officer of the LSUS Faculty Council.  In his absence the Chancellor of LSUS shall preside.
6.2  Faculty officers presiding at Faculty Council meetings shall be those officers duly elected by the Faculty Senate.

ARTICLE VII. Committees

The Faculty Council may create committees to deal with matters not specifically delegated to the Faculty Senate as set forth in Article II of these Bylaws.


ARTICLE VIII. Graduate Programs

The Faculty Council delegates responsibility of the graduate programs to the Graduate Faculty and its Graduate Council.


ARTICLE IX. Amending Process

9.1  An Amendment to these Bylaws may be proposed by written petition of 25 percent of the entire voting membership of the Faculty Council.
   
9.2 A proposed Amendment must be distributed in writing to all members of the Faculty Council at least five (5) academic working days prior to its first consideration and discussion at a Faculty Council meeting.
   
9.3  Once a proposed Amendment has been presented to the members of the Faculty Council, it will be discussed at a duly authorized meeting (either regular or special), and may not come up for a vote of approval or rejection until a second meeting held not less than ten (10) nor more than twenty (20) academic working days after the meeting at which it was considered and discussed.
   
9.4 The Bylaws shall be amended after receiving a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the voting membership present and voting at a duly constituted regular or special meeting.
   
9.5 These Bylaws shall undergo periodic review by an ad hoc committee duly elected by the Faculty Council from the respective academic units at least every five (5) years.


SPECIAL RULES

Section I.

These Special Rules of the LSUS Faculty Council shall be amended or suspended after receiving a majority vote of the voting membership present and voting at a duly constituted regular or special meeting.

Section II. Meetings

2.1  Quorum

Fifty percent (50%) of the voting members of the Faculty Council shall constitute a quorum.

2.2  Procedures for Notice for Meetings

  1. Written notice must be delivered to the various departments, Deans, and administrators at least five (5) academic working days prior to the meeting.
  2. Notice shall include time, place, date, and agenda for the meeting.
  3. The Faculty Senate Secretary is responsible for distributing the notice.

2.3  Agenda at Regular Meetings

  1. Call to order
  2. Determination of a quorum
  3. Administrative reports
  4. Senate President report
  5. Proposed agenda items
  6. New business
  7. Announcements
  8. Adjournment

Section III. Guests of the Faculty Council

3.1 Guests of the Faculty Council may be asked to sit in a common area of the meeting room.
   
3.2  Guests may be recognized by the presiding officer for the purpose of addressing the Faculty Council.  The Faculty Council may refuse a guest the right to speak upon the majority of the voting membership present and voting.
   
3.3  The Faculty Council may close a meeting or any portion of a meeting to non-members by majority of the voting membership present and voting.

Section IV. Proxy Votes

There shall be no provision for proxy votes.

Last Revised February 17, 2006