Faculty Bylaws

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BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY:
DEPARTMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC SCIENCES

ARTICLE I: CORE FACULTY
1) The Core Faculty of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (referred to subsequently as the Department or ATOC) is made up of those individuals who hold the rank of Professor, Associate Professor or Assistant Professor and who are rostered in the Department.

2) The Core Faculty shall have jurisdiction over the academic program of the Department, including curriculum development, examinations, and advising and evaluation of students.

3) The Core Faculty shall have jurisdiction over matters concerning the governance of the Department, including nomination of a Chair and Associate Chair and recommendations on appointment, reappointment, termination, promotion, tenure, and salary.

4) The Core Faculty shall assume responsibility for proposing and developing the long-range plans of the Department through the development of a strategic plan.

 

ARTICLE II: AFFILIATE, ADJOINT AND ADJUNCT FACULTY
1) Definition of Affiliate Faculty
Affiliate Faculty are tenure track or research track faculty (see Article I.1) at the University of Colorado who have a strong interest in interdisciplinary teaching and research in atmospheric and oceanic sciences. Affiliate faculty may also come from scientists at research laboratories. Affiliate Faculty must also be members of the graduate faculty.

• Affiliate Faculty are expected to supervise ATOC students or contribute to the educational mission of ATOC.
• Affiliate Faculty will be able to participate in all discussions related to issues requiring a vote, and will be able to vote on all issues other than those related to bylaws and personnel. Affiliate Faculty will not be allowed to vote on issues requiring a secret ballot. An abstain vote [or non-vote] by an Affiliate Faculty member will be counted as one less person voting. Affiliate Faculty will not be counted towards a quorum in faculty meetings.

2) Appointments and Reappointments of ATOC Affiliate Faculty
Appointments for three-year terms will be made from nominations by the core faculty of ATOC. Successful appointments require two-thirds majority vote of the Core faculty.  Department reappointments for three-year terms will be made following nominations of the core faculty of ATOC. Successful reappointments require the same two-thirds majority required for the appointment of new faculty, as described in Article IX. Affiliate Faculty who hold the rank of Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor, and who request their FTE be moved to ATOC will require approval by a two-thirds majority vote of the Core Faculty.

3) Definition of Adjoint and Adjunct Faculty
Adjoint and Adjunct faculty, are defined in the University Faculty Handbook. The titles Professor Adjoint, Associate Professor Adjoint, or Assistant Professor Adjoint are used to designate individuals, such as employees of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or other agencies or institutions who offer courses or supervise academic programs without compensation above their regular salary. Adjoint Professors have the usual privileges and responsibilities of members of the regular faculty, except that these positions are not tenure eligible and are at will. Their academic qualifications should be similar to those of regular faculty in full Professor, Associate, or Assistant ranks. Adjunct faculty status of Professor Adjunct, Associate Professor Adjunct, and Assistant Professor Adjunct is awarded to an individual who previously held the rank of full Professor, Associate, or Assistant at a comparable higher education institution. Adjunct faculty members are hired on a course-by-course, part-time, non-tenure track basis (similar to Lecturers). The title of full Professor, Associate, or Assistant Professor Adjunct will be dependent upon the last rank held by the individual in a comparable institution. If the permanent faculty believes an individual’s qualifications and experience warrant an adjunct appointment even though the individual has not previously held a professorial rank, the title of Assistant Professor Adjunct normally would be recommended.

Adjoint and Adjunct faculty do not have voting rights in ATOC.

4) Appointments and Reappointments of ATOC Adjoint and Adjunct Faculty
Appointments for three-year terms will be made from nominations by the core faculty of ATOC. Successful appointments require two-thirds majority vote of the Core faculty.  Department reappointments for three-year terms will be made following nominations of the core faculty of ATOC. Successful reappointments require the same two-thirds majority required for the appointment of new faculty, as described in Article IX.

 

ARTICLE III: RESEARCH FACULTY
1) ATOC Research Faculty are expected to participate in ATOC by attending faculty meetings, performing service at the level of at least one committee a semester, and working with ATOC students as advisors and mentors. Following the Graduate School rules, Research Faculty will participate in a formal course (ranging from several guest lectures to full responsibility) once every four semesters.

2) ATOC Research Faculty will be able to participate in all discussions related to issues requiring a vote, and will be able to vote on all issues other than those related to by-laws and personnel. Research Faculty will not be allowed to vote on issues requiring a secret ballot.  An abstain vote [or non-vote] by a Research Faculty member will be counted as one less person voting. Research faculty will not be counted towards a quorum in faculty meetings.

3) Nominations of new candidates for Research Faculty positions may come from any Core ATOC faculty member. A two-thirds vote of the ATOC Core faculty will be required to forward the nomination to the Graduate School. Successful appointments require the same majority required for the appointment of new faculty, as described in Article IX.

ARTICLE IV: DEPARTMENT GOVERNANCE
1) Chair

a) The Chair is the executive officer of the Department, and as such shall:

• Be responsible for Department, College and University policies and for coordinating the Department with other Departments and Programs.
• Call and preside at Department meetings, act on specific recommendations of the Faculty, approve teaching schedules as submitted by the Department Curriculum Committee, plan the Department budget, and carry on such financial negotiations with the responsible administration as are deemed necessary for the academic Department.
• Coordinate recruitment of new faculty.
• As outlined below in Articles V, VI, and VII, the Chair shall appoint all standing committees and ad hoc committees, but not the Executive Committee (Article V.2) or the Nominating Committee (Article IV.1.e), and shall provide adequate supervision to insure that the functions herein assigned to such committees, or to the Faculty as a whole, are carried out.

In all such duties, the Chair shall actively seek the advice of the Faculty.

b) The Chair shall communicate to the University administration results of faculty votes, recommendations for salary increases as presented by the Executive Committee (Article V), and his/her own recommendations on reappointments, terminations, promotions, and tenure.

c) The normal term of office of the Chair shall be four years.

d) The Chair shall be a tenured Professor or Associate Professor of the Department.

e) Early in the beginning of the final year of the Chair's term, the Core faculty shall elect from its membership, by simple majority, excluding the Department Chair, a three-person Nominating Committee whose responsibility shall be first to canvass opinion of the Core Faculty and then to present a slate of candidates for Chair. A previous or current Department Chair shall be eligible for re-nomination.

f) The election of a nominee for Chair shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the Core Faculty via a written ballot no later than the beginning of the final semester of a Chair's term. The nominee becomes Chair, once approved by the Dean. The voting privilege of each Core Faculty member shall not be forfeited should his/her absence from the election be required.

g) The Core Faculty of the Department may recommend to the Dean that a Chair be removed from that position by a two-thirds majority vote of the Core Faculty.

2) Associate Chair

a) The Associate Chair shall be nominated and elected to serve a two-year term, subject to annual approval of the Chair. The chief functions of the Associate Chair shall be to assist the Chair in his/her duties with concurrence of the Dean (Article IV.1 of the Bylaws), to serve as Acting Chair during short-term absences of the Chair, to serve on the Executive Committee (Article V.3) and to perform such other duties as required, in consultation with the Chair.

b) The Associate Chair shall be a member of the Core Faculty, with a minimum rank of Associate Professor (tenure or research track), and shall be nominated by the Core Faculty. Election of the Associate Chair shall require a two-thirds majority of the Core Faculty and approval of the Dean.

3) Absences

a) If both the Chair and Associate Chair are to be absent from the Department, the Chair shall, subject to approval by the Dean, appoint an Acting Chair from the Core Faculty. If an Acting Chair is to serve for a continuous period longer than one month, the Core Faculty must approve the appointment by a motion in a business meeting.

b) If the Chair is to be absent from the Department for longer than one month, the Core Faculty shall confirm at a business meeting that they accede to the Associate Chair’s assuming functions of the Chair for the period designated.

ARTICLE V: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1) The Executive Committee provides a forum for detailed consideration and discussion on a timely basis of all matters of potential concern to the Department.  The committee shall advise and assist the Chair, shall help coordinate the interdisciplinary functions and communications within the Department, and shall assume responsibilities for initiating faculty personnel actions (Article V.5). The committee shall be sensitive to issues that may require discussion and decision by the Faculty after preliminary work is conducted by the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee is the body responsible for addressing concerns pertaining to personnel issues and actions, matters of new faculty appointments, renewal/non-renewal of existing appointments, promotions, tenures, post-tenure reviews, request for sabbaticals and leaves of absence, staff appointments, salary issues, and allocation of space within ATOC.  The deliberation and recommendations of this committee shall be reported to the Core Faculty, for votes when required (Article IX.5). The actions shall be transmitted by the Chair to the University administration. The status of appointment (i.e. reappointment, promotion, and/or tenure) shall be reviewed by the committee each academic year for each Assistant and Associate Professor and each untenured member of the Core Faculty, or upon the request of the faculty member concerned. Recommendations regarding salary adjustments for all of the Core Faculty members, including the Chair, shall be made by this committee for transmittal to the University administration. The Chair shall also provide his/her advice to the administration. Any of the committee’s recommendations and the basis for these shall, upon request, be made available by the Chair to the faculty member concerned. Any member of the committee whose appointment or salary shall be discussed by the committee will depart for the duration of the deliberations.

2) Two at large members of the Core Faculty shall serve as voting members on the Executive Committee for renewable terms of up to three years. They shall be elected by the Core Faculty by ballot, with slates of candidates to be developed under the supervision of the Chair for each position to be filled.

3) The Chair and Associate Chair shall be members of the Executive Committee, and the Chair or Associate Chair shall conduct its meetings. A quorum requires at least three members to be present. The Chair may make temporary appointments to the Executive Committee by way of replacement of elected member(s) who are away from the Department for at most an academic term, such appointments to lapse upon the return of the member. For longer absences, the Core Faculty shall elect a replacement.

4) The Executive Committee shall meet as required and meetings can be called by any member of the committee. Records of decisions made by the Executive Committee will be available in the ATOC office.

ARTICLE VI: STANDING COMMITTEES
1) Core faculty, affiliates, research faculty and at large members of the Faculty (such as instructors) shall be eligible for service on standing committees, insofar as they meet university eligibility requirements. Student representatives will be invited to serve on all standing committees.

2) The normal term of service on any standing committee shall be for two consecutive years, reappointment being permissible with consent of the faculty member concerned. The Department Chair shall appoint all standing committees and name a Chair for each committee.

3) The standing committees shall be:

a) Student Admissions and Support: This committee shall be responsible for reviewing all applications for admission to the Department and for indicating to the Chair appropriate action on each application. The committee shall coordinate efforts to arrange financial support in the form of scholarships, fellowships, and teaching and research assistantships for both incoming and continuing students. The committee shall arrange an entrance advising interview for each new student and, after the interview, shall make the initial assignment of an advisory committee for each student. Students may be appointed to this committee, provided they meet university eligibility requirements, and they are not permitted access to documents and information that are confidential under university rules and state and federal laws.

b) Examinations Committee: This committee shall recommend, for the approval of the Faculty, the general form of preliminary and comprehensive examinations to be given. This committee will solicit and assemble questions for the written examinations.  Arrangements for grading and evaluating the written examinations shall be the responsibility of this committee. Final recommendations, based upon evaluation of each student’s complete examination performance, shall be made by the Faculty, with the results communicated in writing to each student by the Department Chair. Two students shall serve on this committee to review the problems, solutions, and grading practices for consistency and fairness.

c) Curriculum Committee: This committee shall address matters pertaining to the courses and curricula in ATOC. It will recommend to the Chair for final approval the courses and instructors to be offered each semester. The committee shall consult with and obtain the approval of the Faculty prior to making these recommendations. The committee shall also periodically review and evaluate ATOC courses and present recommendations to the Faculty for adding or deleting courses.

d) Program Fees Committee: This committee shall be responsible for soliciting proposals for instructional program fees collected from ATOC courses. They will be responsible for developing policies for fair and timely allocation of those fees, subject to approval of the ATOC faculty. Student membership on this committee will be in accord with University rules.

e) Lab and Facilities Committee: This committee will be responsible for monitoring the needs of ATOC labs and demonstrations, including developing budgets for resources needed for those labs. They will report to the Chair.

f) Space Committee: This committee will recommend the allocation of space within ATOC.  This space will include offices, labs, instructional facilities and all other space under the control of ATOC.

g) Computer Committee: This committee will allocate the time of ATOC computer support people, and recommend the purchase or maintenance of new computer facilities as needed.

h) Student Concerns Committee: This committee shall be constituted by graduate and undergraduate minor students of ATOC. A Core Faculty member will be designated as the Graduate Student Concerns Advisor to serve as the faculty liaison. Another Faculty member will be designated as the Undergraduate Minor Student Advisor. This committee shall be responsible for establishing other student committees, appointing a student representative to attend faculty meetings, and choosing students to serve on other standing committees.

4) These standing committees can be modified in their responsibilities or composition and new standing committees added without amending these Bylaws by action of a two-thirds majority vote of the Core Faculty. Any such changes effected shall be recorded in writing and kept in an official file of the Department office until incorporated into amended Bylaws.

ARTICLE VII: AD HOC COMMITTEES
1) All Core, Affiliate,and Research Faculty members, as well as others such as Instructors, shall be eligible for service on ad hoc committees insofar as they meet university eligibility requirements. Temporary committees will be established as needed for promotions, tenure, reappointment, and new faculty searches. There will also be seminar committees, or seminar leaders. Finally various faculty may assume service-related assignments such as UCAR representative, and Arts and Sciences council representative.

2) Such committees shall be appointed and given a charge by the Chair as needs arise.

ARTICLE VIII: FACULTY MEETINGS
1) Meetings of the Faculty shall be called on a schedule determined by the Chair, after consultation with the Faculty. The meetings shall be used as forums for points of information and general discussions among the Faculty and for making decisions appropriate to the Faculty. The standing and ad hoc committees may seek the intent and advice of the faculty and present their recommendations in the faculty meetings. If a vote is desired on any issue, except those issues for which the Core Faculty have sole jurisdiction, then a quorum for such a general meeting of the Faculty shall be one-half or more of the Core Faculty. All Faculty members, duly notified, who are present, may vote and motions shall carry by a simple majority of those voting.

2) The Chair shall call a special meeting of the Core Faculty whenever at least one-third of the Core Faculty so desire.

3) An agenda for faculty meetings shall be compiled by the Chair and made available to the Core Faculty, normally in the week prior to the meeting.

4) Faculty meetings can be held in Executive Session, as needed, where members with conflicts of interest, or who are not allowed to vote or participate in a particular discussion, will be asked to leave the room.

5) Minutes from the faculty meetings shall be distributed to the appropriate members of ATOC by email. Such minutes will not contain information related to discussions of personnel decisions except for the final results of any related vote.

ARTICLE IX: CORE FACULTY DECISION IN FACULTY MEETINGS OR BY
WRITTEN BALLOT
1) If a vote is desired on any issue in a faculty meeting, except those issues for which the Core Faculty have sole jurisdiction, then a quorum for such a general meeting of the Faculty shall be one-half or more of the Core Faculty. All Faculty members, duly notified, who are present, may vote and motions shall carry by a simple majority of those voting. Any issue that requires a two thirds or greater majority vote of the Core Faculty shall require a written ballot.

2) A Core Faculty member absent from campus may waive, by means of a written request to the Chair, his/her right to cast a ballot on any or all agenda items for the duration of an absence.  In the absence of such a waiver, the Chair shall make reasonable efforts to obtain a ballot from the absentee.

3) Election of a nominee for Chair shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the Core Faculty via a written ballot no later than the beginning of the final semester of a Chair’s term. The voting privilege of each Core Faculty member shall not be forfeited should his/her absence from the election be required.

4) Approval of course offerings and the adding or deleting of courses will require the majority of quorum.

5) Approval of the ATOC budget, course fee requests, fellowship allocations and other minor budget issues will require the majority of quorum.

6) Recommendations for Promotion and Tenure

a) Recommendations on tenure require two-thirds majority of the Core Faculty holding tenure.

b) Recommendations on promotion to Associate Professor will require two-thirds majority of the Core Faculty holding the rank of Associate Professor or Professor.

c) Recommendations on promotion to Professor will require two-thirds majority of the Core Faculty holding the rank of Professor.

d) Recommendations on the initial appointment of any Core Faculty, reappointment of untenured faculty, and appointment of Visiting Assistant Professors, Visiting Associate Professors, Visiting Professors, Lecturers, and Research Faculty, and recommendations on all other Faculty appointments of more than one year duration, will require two-thirds majority of the Core Faculty.

7) An abstain vote or non-vote by a Research Faculty member, or an Affiliate Faculty member, will be counted as one less person voting.

8) Modifications of the duties of any standing committee or addition of a new standing committee will require a two-thirds vote cast by the Core Faculty.

9) Amendment of the Bylaws will require a three-fourths majority of the Core Faculty.

 

ARTICLE X: STATUS OF BYLAWS
These Bylaws, and any amendments thereto, shall be the operating rules of ATOC when submitted to the Core Faculty for their advice and consent and adopted by a three-fourths majority of all Core Faculty.

ARTICLE XI: POLICY OF THE UNIVERSITY
These by-laws are intended to be consistent with the University of Colorado Faculty Handbook and with the policies and regulations of the University of Colorado. In the event of discrepancies, University policy will govern.