The current Faculty Senate Constitution was approved in 2023.
View the 2005-2023 constitution and rationale for changing it.
PREAMBLE
This Faculty Senate Constitution, as amended from time to time, provides a system for the participation of faculty in the governance of Washburn University. University governance involves collaborative relationships among the Washburn University Board of Regents (WUBOR), the University President, administrators, faculty, staff, and students, as reflected in the WUBOR By-Laws and this Constitution.
I. PURPOSE AND DUTIES OF THE FACULTY SENATE
A. The Faculty Senate, as the agent of the General Faculty of Washburn University, speaks on behalf of that body to the University community and is empowered by the General Faculty as confirmed by WUBOR to act on behalf of the General Faculty of Washburn University in matters described in this constitution.
B. The duties of the Faculty Senate include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Providing a forum for the expression of Faculty opinion;
2. Advocating for the general rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the Faculty;
3. Exercising primary responsibility in curricular matters;
4. Advising on matters of University policy including fiscal matters;
5. Advising on standards and procedures for Faculty evaluation;
6. Promoting and maintaining academic freedom and freedom of expression on campus;
7. Overseeing the membership and function of all committees of the Faculty Senate and receiving, reviewing, remanding, approving, or disapproving recommendations from the standing committees of the Faculty Senate.
C. The Faculty Senate shall consider policies on University matters, including academic issues and matters that affect more than one of the Major Academic Units.
D. As the agent of the General Faculty:
1. The actions of the Faculty Senate may be reviewed, revised, recalled, or endorsed by the General Faculty.
2. Any action by the Faculty Senate concerning changes in University graduation requirements or creation of new academic departments will be brought before the General Faculty for a vote.
3. The Faculty Senate can choose by a majority affirmative vote to bring any action of the body before the General Faculty for consideration.
4. Any action of the Faculty Senate may be challenged by not less than twenty members of the General Faculty or 500 currently enrolled students. Such challenge must be presented as a signed written petition and presented to the Secretary of the General Faculty who will place it on the General Faculty agenda for action.
II. ELIGIBILITY AND MEMBERSHIP
A. Eligibility to vote for Faculty Senators: Full-time faculty on an annual contract who are not serving more than half time in an administrative capacity are eligible to vote for the election of Faculty Senators. Administrative roles are defined in Section 4 of the Faculty Handbook and includes the University President. Questions of eligibility will be referred to and determined by the Electoral Committee.
B. Eligibility to serve as a Faculty Senator: Persons specified in Section II.A. as eligible to vote are also eligible to serve, excluding faculty on authorized leave of absence or sabbatical during such period of leave. Any faculty member who is eligible to serve may put their name forward for election.
C. Faculty who are not contractually assigned to the School of Law, School of Business, School of Applied Studies, School of Nursing, the College of Arts and Sciences, or the University Libraries shall constitute University-Wide Faculty.
D. The School of Business, School of Applied Studies, School of Nursing, University Librarians, University-Wide Faculty, and each Division within the College of Arts and Sciences shall elect representatives to the Faculty Senate in proportion to the number of voting faculty, as defined in Section II.A., in each unit, with one senator selected to represent each ten faculty members (numbers with 0-4 as the ones digit shall be rounded down, numbers with 5-9 as the ones digit shall be rounded up in each voting unit). Each unit is guaranteed a minimum of at least one Faculty Senator to be elected. Representation will be based on a census conducted by the Electoral Committee as described below in Section III.
E. The School of Law Faculty, as defined to exclude the School of Law Librarians in accordance with Faculty Handbook Section I.III.B, shall elect representatives to the Faculty Senate in proportion to the number of voting faculty, as defined in Section II.A. with one senator selected to represent each ten faculty members (numbers with 0-4 as the ones digit shall be rounded down, numbers with 5-9 as the ones digit shall be rounded up in each voting unit). The School of Law Librarians shall separately elect one additional representative to the Faculty Senate. Representation will be based on a census conducted by the Electoral Committee as described below in Section III.
F. In addition, five at-large Faculty Senators will be elected by all faculty specified in Section II.A. No more than two of these at-large Senators may come from any one School, the College, University Librarians, or University-Wide Faculty.
G. A representative from the current pool of adjunct instructors will be invited by the Executive Committee to sit on Faculty Senate as a non-voting member.
H. The Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) or their designee shall serve as a non-voting member of the Faculty Senate. The VPAA or their designee shall provide administrative support for the Faculty Senate and its standing committees.
III. ELECTIONS
A. The Electoral Committee supervises all elections of Faculty Senators.
B. The Electoral Committee is defined in Section VI.E.
C. On the second Monday in February, or the first business day thereafter, a faculty census is taken of all full-time employees on a faculty contract. This census will be the final determination of representation of all Faculty Senate electoral units in the following academic year.
1. The faculty census is completed by the VPAA or their designee in collaboration with other administrative offices as necessary, and delivered to the Electoral Committee within two weeks.
2. The faculty census will include at minimum a listing of the names of all full-time faculty; their contractual assignment to a School, College, Division, Department, and/or other area; Washburn e-mail address; and fraction of reassigned time for administrative duties as described in Section II.A.
3. The Electoral Committee will review the census of faculty, determine the eligibility of each faculty to vote and/or to serve as a Senator, and update the number of Senators for each Faculty Senate electoral unit prior to the annual elections held in April.
D. The Electoral Committee shall maintain a division of Senators into two classes: those to be elected in even-numbered, and those to be elected in odd-numbered years. These senatorial classes shall be apportioned such that the two classes contain approximately equal numbers of Senators, and such that Senators from units are divided as evenly between the two classes as possible. Three at-large Senators shall be elected in even years, and two at-large Senators shall be elected in odd years.
E. The Electoral Committee will conduct elections of at-large Senators. Nominations for the atlarge Senators will be submitted to the Electoral Committee at least three weeks in advance of the election and will be publicized two weeks before the election.
F. Each electoral unit will decide on its own mechanism for faculty voting for their representative Senators, subject to the oversight of the Electoral Committee.
G. Regular elections for Faculty Senate seats shall be for two-year terms. A Faculty Senator is eligible to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms, but may be re-elected after an absence of at least one year from the Faculty Senate. If the Senator’s first term is the result of a special election, that service will count toward the two-term limit if more than one year. No Senator shall serve more than 5 years without an absence of at least one year.
H. Should any Faculty Senator prove unable to serve out a full term, a special election will be held to select a replacement for the remainder of the term. The election and representation (electoral unit or at large) will be the same as for the Senator who is unable to serve.
IV. OFFICERS AND LEADERSHIP
A. In the final Faculty Senate meeting of the spring term, the newly constituted Faculty Senate will elect from among its Senators the Officers of the Faculty Senate: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Parliamentarian.
B. The President of the Faculty Senate shall ordinarily receive one-quarter reassigned time and clerical support from the office of the VPAA. The Secretary of the Faculty Senate shall ordinarily receive one-quarter reassigned time.
C. Duties of Officers
1. The President of the Faculty Senate shall:
a. Preside over meetings of the Faculty Senate;
b. Serve as chair of the Executive Committee;
c. Meet regularly with the University President and VPAA to provide feedback on issues related to the Faculty. At minimum these meetings shall occur in advance of Board of Regents meetings.
d. Sit on the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents of the Kansas Board of Regents;
e. Serve as one of the Faculty representatives to WUBOR, and be prepared to report to WUBOR on issues before the Faculty Senate;
f. Perform other duties as defined in the Standing Rules of the Senate.
2. The Vice President of the Faculty Senate shall:
a. Serve as President in the case of absence or temporary incapacity of the President of the Faculty Senate;
b. Serve as one of the Faculty representatives to WUBOR, and shall be prepared to report to WUBOR on issues before the Faculty Senate;
c. Perform other duties as defined in the Standing Rules of the Senate.
3. The Secretary of the Faculty Senate shall:
a. Maintain Faculty Senate records;
b. Publish agendas, minutes, agenda items, membership list, and committee assignments to the Washburn University public website;
c. Receive items for Faculty Senate consideration, including materials for Faculty Senate committees;
d. Organize meetings of the Faculty Senate;
e. Communicate Faculty Senate business to:
(i) Faculty Senators,
(ii) Secretary of the General Faculty,
(iii) Secretary of the Washburn Board of Regents,
(iv) University President,
(v) President of the Washburn Student Government Association;
f. Perform other duties as defined in the Standing Rules of the Senate.
4. The Parliamentarian of the Faculty Senate shall:
a. Answer procedural questions;
b. Serve as custodian of the Standing Rules of the Senate;
c. Perform other duties as defined in the Standing Rules of the Senate.
D. In the case of vacancy of an officer position, an election will be held at the next Faculty Senate meeting.
V. MEETINGS
A. Meetings of the Faculty Senate and its standing committees are open meetings. Speaking privileges before the Faculty Senate shall be granted to anyone recognized by the President of the Faculty Senate, or whose right to speak is supported by a majority vote of the Faculty Senate. The University President and the President of WSGA shall have the right to speak before the Faculty Senate.
B. All actions of the Faculty Senate require the presence of a quorum, defined as at least half the elected Senators.
C. Actions of the Faculty Senate will be taken by majority vote of Senators present except for amendments to the Senate Constitution as described in Section VII. Proxy voting shall not be allowed.
D. Agenda items can originate with a Faculty Senator, the Executive Committee, or a member of University Executive Staff; or through the governance process of the academic units. Any member of the Faculty or person in the University community can propose agenda items to the above list to be sponsored for consideration by the Faculty Senate.
E. Each matter considered as new business shall be presented to the Faculty Senate as an agenda item in the form of two readings that may not occur on the same date. The first presentation of the matter shall be considered its first reading. Items coming to the Faculty Senate from the Academic Affairs Committee, Graduate Council, Faculty Affairs Committee, or Electoral Committees will be taken up as second reading.
F. Agendas for each Faculty Senate meeting will be distributed to all Faculty Senators and made available to the University community, as described above in Section IV.C.3., five days in advance of any scheduled meeting time.
G. Minutes of all meetings of the Faculty Senate will be distributed as described above in Section IV.C.3.
H. The University President shall have the right to non-concur with any action of the Faculty Senate, but in exercising this right shall state the reasons for non-concurrence in a letter to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate. WUBOR shall then be notified of the action of the Faculty Senate and the non-concurrence of the University President, along with the stated reasons for non-concurrence. A final determination of the matter shall be in the hands of WUBOR, and until such time the status quo shall prevail.
I. Standing Rules of the Faculty Senate shall be established by the Faculty Senate and are supplementary to and subject to this Constitution.
1. The Standing Rules shall be drafted by the Executive Committee and re-affirmed annually as second reading at the first Faculty Senate meeting of the fall semester.
2. The Standing Rules can be revised or suspended by a majority vote of the Faculty Senate. The Standing Rules must address the following, but are not limited to:
a. Procedural orders for conducting meetings and carrying out the business of the Faculty Senate;
b. Detailed job descriptions of officers expanding upon responsibilities mandated in Section IV.C.;
c. Expectations of Faculty Senators;
d. The procedure for conducting Faculty Senate business and shared Faculty governance processes, including the curriculum and item approval processes established by units.
VI. COMMITTEES
A. In addition to the Executive Committee, the Faculty Senate shall establish the following Faculty Senate standing committees:
1. An Electoral Committee, to oversee elections of the Faculty Senate;
2. An Academic Affairs Committee, to review and make recommendations on matters of undergraduate curricula and programs;
3. A Graduate Council, to review and make recommendations on matters of graduate curricula and programs and to facilitate coordination between graduate programs;
4. A Faculty Affairs Committee, to review and make recommendations on faculty issues.
B. All members of these committees must come from the Faculty Senate membership, except as otherwise provided for in the committee description.
C. At least one Faculty representative on each University Faculty Committee, as defined by the Faculty Handbook, must be a member of the Faculty Senate, by special appointment of the Executive Committee, if necessary.
D. Executive Committee
1. The Executive Committee reports to the Faculty Senate.
2. The Executive Committee oversees the operations of the Faculty Senate and acts as the Committee on Committees.
3. Executive Committee consists of the Officers of the Faculty Senate defined in Section IV.A.; and enough additional members elected to ensure that the College, each of the Schools, and either a University Librarian or University-Wide faculty are represented. Chairs of the subcommittees established in Section VI.A. are additional members of the Executive Committee once elected.
4. The Executive Committee is reconstituted each academic year. Non-ex officio members elected to ensure unit representation as described in Section VI.D.3. are elected in May by the senators representing that individual unit. Subcommittee chairs are elected by the respective subcommittee at the start of the fall semester.
5. The Executive Committee provides leadership on matters relevant to Faculty and the Faculty Senate. When classes are not in session for the general fall and spring academic semesters, the Executive Committee shall be empowered to act provisionally on an emergency basis on behalf of the full Faculty Senate, with those actions being subject to the approval of the full Faculty Senate when it reconvenes. The Executive Committee arranges meeting times and establishes agendas for each Faculty Senate meeting. The Executive Committee, in its capacity as Committee on Committees, is empowered to create ad-hoc Faculty committees as deemed necessary, and to oversee faculty representation on Faculty committees. Ad hoc committees or task forces must be defined in terms of the following:
a. Committee name;
b. Committee ownership;
c. Committee charge;
d. Committee composition;
e. Terms of service for members;
f. Specified standing rules;
g. Timeline for sunset of the committee;
h. Other items as needed.
6. The Executive Committee is a standing committee.
E. Electoral Committee
1. The Electoral Committee reports to the Faculty Senate.
2. The Electoral Committee is charged with supervising all elections of the Faculty Senate, as specified in Section III. The Executive Committee may also delegate other matters to this committee.
3. The Electoral Committee shall be comprised of a Senator from the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Applied Studies, the School of Business, the School of Law, the School of Nursing, and either a University Librarian or University-Wide Faculty.
4. The Electoral Committee is reconstituted each academic year. Each member is appointed to a one-year term.
5. The Electoral Committee selects its own chair. Decisions of the Electoral Committee require the affirmative vote of a majority of members. Proxy voting shall not be allowed.
Agendas that contain items that constitute first reading for Faculty Senate will be distributed to all members of the committee five calendar days in advance of any scheduled meeting time.
6. The Electoral Committee is a standing committee.
F. Academic Affairs Committee
1. The Academic Affairs Committee reports to the Faculty Senate.
2. The Academic Affairs Committee is charged with making recommendations to the Faculty Senate regarding undergraduate academic programs and policies, including:
a. All new undergraduate academic programs, including majors, minors, degrees, certificates, and emphasis/concentration areas;
b. Deletions of and major revisions to academic programs (those that fall into Sections VI.F.2.c-e. below);
c. Policies that redefine standing University criteria (e.g., minimum number of hours to graduate, University-wide minimum/maximum number of hours for majors/minors, General Education criteria);
d. Academic or programmatic changes to undergraduate programs requiring financial investments beyond the unit (i.e., new University funding); and
e. Changes that directly affect other units, including changes to prerequisites, listing of potential electives for the major. The primary concerns of the committee shall be consistency of the proposed program with applicable University-wide guidelines and regulations, potential impact of the program on other established programs in the University, and financial implications of such new or revised programs. Unless they meet the criteria for major revisions in Sections VI.F.2.c-e., the following items in Sections VI.F.2.f-j. coming from the College or one of the Schools would not come through the General Faculty Governance process (i.e., Academic Affairs, Senate, General Faculty, and the Washburn Board of Regents), but should be channeled through the Faculty governance process of the academic unit:
f. Changes to minors, certificates, or the advising process
g. New courses, course modifications, changing of course descriptions, credit hours or course numbers
h. Deleting unused course numbers
i. Number of credits in the major (within the University established minimum/maximum levels)
j. Changes to prerequisites or potential electives within the unit for a major. All undergraduate curricular changes coming from units outside of the College or one of the Schools shall be considered by the Academic Affairs Committee. Major revisions to programs as defined above in Sections VI.F.2.a-e will move forward to Faculty Senate for consideration. All other curricular changes will be considered complete after approval of a single reading before the Academic Affairs Committee. The Executive Committee may also delegate other matters to this committee.
3. The Academic Affairs Committee shall consist of two Senators from the College of Arts and Sciences, two Senators from the School of Applied Studies, two Senators from the School of Business, two Senators from the School of Nursing, and one Senator from the University Libraries. The VPAA or their designee will serve as ex-officio, non-voting member. If possible, all Faculty members of the Academic Affairs Committee should be Senators. However, if a Major Academic Unit has three or fewer Senators, the Executive Committee may ask the relevant unit(s) to elect a non-Senator to the Academic Affairs Committee to ensure adequate representation. If elections of non-Senators must be made, the minimum proportion of the Faculty members of the Academic Affairs Committee who will be Senators is two-thirds.
4. The Academic Affairs Committee is reconstituted each academic year. Each member is appointed to a one-year term.
5. The committee selects its own chairperson. Decisions of the Academic Affairs Committee require the affirmative vote of a majority of the membership. Proxy voting shall not be allowed. Agendas that contain items that constitute first reading for Faculty Senate will be distributed to all members of the committee five calendar days in advance of any scheduled meeting time.
6. The Academic Affairs Committee is a standing committee.
G. Graduate Council
1. The Graduate Council reports to the Faculty Senate.
2. The Graduate Council has a twofold charge: a Graduate Academic Affairs charge, and a Graduate Program Coordinating charge.
a. The Graduate Academic Affairs charge is to make recommendation to the Faculty Senate for:
(i) All new graduate academic programs, including majors, dual degree programs, expedited dual degrees with undergraduate programs, and certificates;
(ii) New graduate academic programs or revisions to such programs that originate from units other than major academic units.
(iii) Deletions of and major revisions to academic programs (those that fall into Sections VI.G.2.a.iv-vi. below);
(iv) Policies that redefine standing University criteria (e.g., the prior completion of undergraduate work);
(v) Academic or programmatic changes to graduate programs requiring financial investments beyond the unit (i.e., new University funding); and
(vi) changes that directly affect other units, including courses accepted by units and programs included in dual and expedited degrees. The primary concern of the Graduate Academic Affairs charge of this council is to ensure proposed programs are consistent with applicable University-wide and external accreditation guidelines and regulations including admission criteria and procedures, potential impact of the programs on other established graduate programs in the University, and financial implications of such new or revised programs. Joint programs including the School of Law are subject to this review; all programs exclusive to the School of Law are not subject to this review but will be submitted as information items to Graduate Council and Faculty Senate.
b. The Graduate Program Coordinating charge includes, but is not limited to:
(i) Providing input into the decision process on administrative matters and procedures affecting multiple graduate programs across the campus;
(ii) Providing the means for faculty to collaborate, coordinate, and cooperate in ways to best support and strengthen graduate programs at Washburn University.
c. The Executive Committee may also delegate other matters to this council.
3. The Graduate Council voting membership will consist of the Director or their designee of each graduate program including the School of Law, and one University Librarian designated by the Dean of University Libraries. A minimum of one member of the Graduate Council shall be a Faculty Senator. If there is not a Faculty Senator included in the membership, then the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate shall appoint an additional member in consultation with the Chairperson of the Graduate Council. The VPAA or their designee will serve as ex-officio, non-voting member. In support of the Graduate Council the VPAA or their designee shall at minimum:
(i) Coordinate collaboration with Strategic Analysis, Research, and Reporting to provide the Council with appropriate data regarding graduate programs;
(ii) Coordinate collaboration with Enrollment Management on generating information on student recruitment, financial aid, and graduation.
4. The Graduate Council is reconstituted each academic year. Each member is appointed to a one-year term.
5. The Graduate Council selects its own chairperson annually. A majority of the members will constitute a quorum. The Chairperson of the Graduate Council will determine to which charge each matter under consideration should be categorized and considered. This categorization may be changed by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Graduate Council membership.
a. When considering matters under the Graduate Academic Affairs charge: These actions of the Graduate Council will serve as the first reading of such action for the Faculty Senate; These actions will be forwarded to the Faculty Senate for consideration or information as prescribed above in Section VI.G.2.a.; All actions related to these actions will require a majority affirmative vote for passage; Proxy voting shall not be allowed for these actions; Minutes detailing these actions will be presented to Faculty Senate for approval. Agendas that contain items that constitute first reading for Faculty Senate will be distributed to all members of the committee five calendar days in advance of any scheduled meeting time.
b. When considering matters under the Graduate Program Coordinating charge: These actions will normally not be forwarded to Faculty Senate for consideration; however, these actions may be forwarded to Faculty Senate upon a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Graduate Council membership; All actions related to these actions will require a two-thirds affirmative vote for passage; Proxy voting is allowed for these actions; For these actions, an absent member may vote in advance of a meeting by submitting their vote in writing or via University E-mail to the Chairperson of the Graduate Council; Minutes taken regarding these actions will be presented to Faculty Senate for acceptance.
6. The Graduate Council is a standing committee.
H. Faculty Affairs Committee
1. The Faculty Affairs Committee reports to the Faculty Senate.
2. The primary concern of the Faculty Affairs Committee is promotion of the general welfare of Faculty members. The Faculty Affairs Committee is charged with making recommendations to the Faculty Senate regarding policies affecting University Faculty, including:
a. Teaching loads and extracurricular duties affecting workload,
b. Retirement policy,
c. Tenure and promotion standards,
d. Faculty grievance policy,
e. Dismissal criteria,
f. Salary and Faculty benefits, and
g. Academic Sabbatical policy.
The Executive Committee may also delegate other matters to this committee.
3. The Faculty Affairs Committee shall consist of one Senator from each Division within the College of Arts and Sciences, one Senator from the School of Business, one Senator from the School of Law, one Senator from the School of Nursing, one Senator from the School of Applied Studies, and one Senator from University-Wide Faculty. If possible, all Faculty members of the Faculty Affairs Committee should be Senators. However, if a Major Academic Unit has three or fewer Senators, the Executive Committee may ask the relevant unit(s) to elect a non-Senator to the Faculty Affairs Committee to ensure adequate representation. If elections of non-Senators must be made, the minimum proportion of the Faculty members of the Academic Affairs Committee who will be Senators is two-thirds.
4. The Faculty Affairs Committee is reconstituted each academic year. Each member is appointed to a one-year term.
5. The committee selects its own chairperson. Decisions of the Faculty Affairs Committee require the affirmative vote of a majority of the membership. Proxy voting shall not be allowed. Agendas that contain items that constitute first reading for Faculty Senate will be distributed to all members of the committee six calendar days in advance of any scheduled meeting time.
6. The Faculty Affairs Committee is a standing committee.
VII. AMENDMENTS
A. Amendments to the Constitution of the Faculty Senate can be proposed by any eligible Faculty member as defined by Section II.A.
B. Amendments to the Constitution of the Faculty Senate shall require two readings before Faculty Senate. Approval of amendments to the Constitution of the Faculty Senate requires an affirmative two-thirds vote of Faculty Senators present and voting for passage.
C. Amendments to the Constitution of the Faculty Senate must be brought before the General Faculty for final ratification.
Ratification of amendments to the Constitution of the Faculty Senate requires an affirmative majority vote of General Faculty present and voting for passage at a meeting of the General Faculty as defined in the Faculty Handbook.