Guidelines for appointments
Section A15.2 of the Charter states that “The Chair, after appropriate consultation, shall appoint all committees of the University Faculty and also name the committee chairs. The Chair shall report the membership of all committees to the Senate. Whenever possible, at least one member of the Senate shall be appointed to each committee.” In accordance with the above Charter provision, the Faculty Senate adopts the following guidelines on Standing committee appointments.
The Senate Chair shall appoint the members of these committees taking into consideration the need to maintain the representative nature of such committees, the need for relevant expertise among the members of such committees, and the need for Faculty Senate representation on most committees.
The Chair may not appoint administrators (as listed in Section A7.1(f) of the Faculty Manual) to the Termination for Cause Committee, Committee on Professional Conduct, the Committee on Rank, Salary and Conditions of Employment, or the Tenure Review Board. The Chair should generally avoid appointing other administrators (as listed in Section A7.1(g) of the Faculty Manual) or department chairs to serve on these Committees. Except as provided in this paragraph, upon the recommendation of the standing committee chair, the Chair of the Faculty Senate may invite an administrator to serve for a one-year term as a non-voting ex officio member of the standing committee when doing so would advance the work of the committee, provided that the Chair of the Faculty Senate may terminate this designation at any time. The committee may for good cause hold executive sessions without ex officio members present as determined by the chair of the committee.[1]
Committee members are appointed for a term of three[2] years (unless the committee charge states otherwise) ordinarily no member may be appointed for more than two consecutive terms. At the recommendation of the Committee Chair, a member with a poor attendance record may be replaced before completing the three-year term. Committee Chairs are appointed annually.
[1] This section was approved by the Faculty Senate on 4/21/10.
[2] Member and Committee Chairs terms were amended and approved at the 3/25/2020 meeting.
Guidelines for operation
In the fall, each committee member will be sent an availability schedule to complete. Returned schedules will be compiled by the Senate office staff. After consultation with the Committee Chair, the staff may schedule meetings for the semester, send meeting announcements and reminders to members, secure a meeting place, and forward Committee issues or business to the Committee Chair.
Any committee recommendations need to be presented to the Senate. If you wish the recommendations to be acted on that year, they must be filed with the Senate office by the date required. To present to the Senate, items must first be approved by the General Welfare Committee. Materials must be received in the Senate office in electronic form at least ten days prior to the General Welfare Committee meeting. This deadline can be waived by the Senate Chair for good cause. Visit https://fs.miami.edu/ or contact the Senate office at FacSen@miami.edu for a list of materials due dates and meeting dates. Upon approval of the General Welfare Committee, the proposal will be placed on the Senate agenda.
All Standing Committees are required to submit a written annual report to the Senate Chair summarizing the action and/or the recommendations of the Committee for that year, including (on a separate sheet) the Chair’s recommendations for next year’s committee membership. The reports summarizing the activities of the committee, appropriately redacted to remove any confidential information, shall be made available to the Senate and posted on the Senate web page. Among other things, this report may propose a more specific definition of the Committee’s sphere of interest, responsibility, authority, and procedures. Committee Chairs are responsible for alerting the Senate Chair to any issues or potential problems relating to Committee business.
[1] This section was approved by the Faculty Senate on 4/21/10.
[2] This sentence was approved unanimously by the Faculty Senate on 10/28/09.
