The School of Public Health and Health Professions (hereafter referred to as the "School") affirms its commitment to collegiality as the most effective basis upon which to manage its affairs and to maintain excellence in its trifold mission of research, teaching, and service. The Bylaws of the School should be interpreted in this light.
At the same time, the Faculty acknowledges that the School, its administrative officers, and its faculty are subject to rules of law and social policies which impinge on the principles of collegiality. These Bylaws are to be interpreted in such a manner as to be consistent with applicable law while at the same time giving the greatest possible weight to the faculty commitment to sharing, with their colleagues in administrative office, the burdens and benefits of cooperative management and development of the School.
It is the intention of the Faculty of the School that this preamble be a part of its Bylaws.
a. "Board of Trustees." The Board of Trustees of the State University of New York.
b. "Chancellor." The Chancellor of the State University of New York.
c. "University." The State University of New York at Buffalo.
d. "University Council." The Council of the University as provided for by Section 356 of the New York Education Law.
e. "President." The chief administrative officer of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
f. "Provost." The chief academic officer of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
g. “School” The School of Public Health and Health Professions of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
h. "Dean." The Dean of the School of Public Health and Health Professions of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
i. "Academic staff." Members of the staff having academic rank or qualified academic rank, as specified in the policies of the Board of Trustees.
j. "Unqualified academic rank." .Rank held by those members of the academic staff having the titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor, and including geographic full-time faculty members having such titles.
k. "Qualified academic rank." Rank held by those members of the academic staff having the title of lecturer, or titles of academic rank preceded by the designations "research", "clinical" or "visiting" or other similar designations, in accord with the Policies of the Board of Trustees.
l. "Voting Faculty." All voting faculty of the School as specified in Article III, of these Bylaws.
a. The Dean of the School of Public Health and Health Professions;
b. Faculty members with unqualified or qualified appointments of at least 50 percent FTE in the School are considered members of the School voting faculty. Faculty members of the School who are enrolled in a degree program or courses to be credited toward a degree program in the School shall not be considered as members of the voting faculty.
a. Written or email notice of the annual meeting shall be sent to all voting faculty at least ten working days (exclusive of official University recesses) before the meeting. These meetings will be scheduled by the dean’s office.
b. Special meetings of the voting faculty may be called at any time by the Dean, the School Faculty Council, or upon a petition of at least twenty percent (20%) of the membership of the voting faculty. A petition for a special meeting shall be in writing, signed by each of the petitioning faculty, and copies shall be delivered to the Dean and the Chair of the School Faculty Council. A petition for a special meeting shall set forth matters to be presented at the special meeting. Unless the petition for a special meeting stipulates a later date, such special meetings shall occur no later than fifteen workdays (exclusive of official University recesses) after the petition is received by the Dean and President of the School Faculty Council, who will collectively determine the exact date and time of the meeting.
c. Notice of a special meeting shall be sent by mail or email to all voting faculty at least ten calendar workdays (exclusive of University recesses) before the special meeting, unless in the judgment of the Dean and the President of the School's Faculty Council, it is necessary to convene the special meeting on short notice. The written notice to each voting faculty member shall contain the agenda for the meeting.
d. At least fifty percent (50%) plus one of the membership of ALL School voting faculty shall constitute a quorum for any meeting of the voting faculty. Minutes of the annual meeting will be provided to all voting faculty following the meeting. A quorum is required only for a vote of the voting faculty at the annual meeting.
e. The Dean may adopt rules for the transaction of the School's voting faculty. If the Dean proposes that Robert's Rules of Order will be observed in the conduct of voting faculty meetings, the Dean will assign a willing voting faculty member to serve as Parliamentarian, to ensure that Robert’s Rules of Order are followed.
f. Minutes shall be taken at all meetings of the voting faculty. The Dean shall assign a staff member to take minutes of each meeting, review those minutes and distribute them to the voting faculty. Voting faculty will be sent the draft minutes for their comments. The revised minutes will be sent out to faculty and an electronic ballot format can be used (faculty will be given at least 10 workdays to vote electronically). Alternately, the revised minutes can be sent electronically to the voting faculty no less than 10 days before the next School meeting of the voting faculty, and a vote on the minutes taken at the next meeting of the voting faculty. The minutes shall be considered approved with a simple majority positive vote. The meeting minutes, and an indication of whether they were approved by the voting faculty, shall be made available on a school web site or in a shareable electronic folder available to the voting faculty of the School.
1. The Dean. The Dean shall be the chief administrative officer responsible for the accomplishment of educational objectives and the implementation of policies of the School. Review of the Dean's performance shall be conducted in accordance with procedures established by the Office of the Provost.
2. Chairs of Departments and Directors of Interdepartmental Programs.
a. Designation. The chief administrative officer of a department shall be designated the Chair of the Department which designation shall be in addition to his or her academic rank. All programs contained entirely within a department shall be considered intradepartmental programs, and such programs may also have a Program Director, who answers to the Department Chair. The chief administrative officer of an interdepartmental program shall also be designated as the Program Director, which designation shall be in addition to his or her academic rank, who answers to the Chairs of the Departments that are involved in the interdepartmental program.
b. Appointment and Term. Department Chairs shall be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Provost. The School recommendation for initial appointment and subsequent reappointment shall be made to the Provost by the Dean following consultation with appropriate faculty, which, at a minimum, includes all eligible voting faculty members of the Department concerned. The terms of office of Department Chairs shall be no more than 3 years per term, and multiple terms are allowed.
c. Responsibilities. Department Chairs and directors of interdepartmental programs shall, in consultation with their respective faculties, be responsible to the Dean, the Provost and the President for the supervision of the personnel and educational program of the departments for which they serve. They shall have such other powers, duties and responsibilities as may be assigned by the President, Provost, Dean, and/or Department Chair(s). Program directors shall be appointed by the Department Chair (or in the case of directors of interdepartmental programs, by consensus of the Dean and the relevant Department Chairs).
3. Other Administrative Officers. Other administrative officers of the School, duly appointed under University procedures, shall have those powers, duties and responsibilities assigned to them by the Dean to assist him/her/them in the tasks of the Office. Faculty members appointed to such administrative duties will serve at the pleasure of the Dean.
4. Faculty Administrative Organization.
a. Designation. The Dean shall be responsible for the establishment of administrative structures and processes for the implementation of School policy, after consultation with the voting faculty or appropriate committee.
b. Departments. Within its academic area, each Department shall design and implement programs of instruction, research, and service. The Department, through its Chair, shall report to the Dean and shall recommend action concerning appointments, reappointments, and promotions to the Dean. The Department(s) shall be responsible for meeting the criteria for professional accreditation related to their programs.
Committee Membership in Transition: In all SPHHP committees listed below, there is a requirement that all Committees have limited terms for faculty members, and that only a subset of faculty on each of these standing committees transition each year to ensure continuity of committee function. The selection process as to how the faculty members serving on the committee are chosen has been revised in the 2021 version of the Bylaws. To ensure a smooth transition, approximately one third of the committee members on each of the 5 Committees (the two Academic Action Committees, the two Promotion Committees and the Faculty Council) will have a 1-, 2- or 3-year initial term. In the Fall of 2021, the Chair of Faculty Council, the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, and the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs will meet and equitably (i.e., trying to have term durations split more or less equally across departments) determine which committee members on each committee will have 1-, 2- or 3-year initial terms. This clause of the Bylaws will sunset in the Fall of 2024.
1. Academic Action Committee: Undergraduate (AAC-U)
a. Functions.
i. Establish standards for undergraduate study in the School.
ii. Provide advice and counsel to the Dean of the School on academic and curricular matters including the establishment of new programs, new course proposals, course changes, curricular changes, continuing education, academic policies and procedures, admissions, and clinical education policies.
iii. Recommend to the Dean of the School policies and procedures related to student training and education
b. Membership. The Committee voting members of the AAC-U shall be elected by the voting faculty in each department. By the beginning of each spring semester, the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs will inform those department Chairs that need to elect new committee members that year. The Department Chair will present a ballot of eligible and willing faculty members for departmental vote by mid-April of each year. The AAC-U shall be composed of the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs (ex officio member), departmental faculty representatives on the committee, and one undergraduate student (a voting member). One faculty member from each department will be a voting member of the committee. The Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs shall serve as a non-voting member of the committee. The School's Director of the Undergraduate Public Health program shall also serve as a voting committee member. The Assistant Dean/Director of Student Affairs (or their designee) will serve as a non-voting member of the Committee. One or more non-voting committee members from the Dean’s office can be appointed by the Dean or the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs to represent the school. Should a specific program not be represented by the Department Committee member for an issue coming before the Committee, then one member of that program can attend the meeting as a non-voting member to participate in the discussion of that agenda item. The voting members of the committee will annually elect a Committee Chair from their ranks.
c. Term of Office. The term of office for committee members shall be up to three years. Additional terms may be served, if the committee member is elected by their department. Terms shall be staggered such that no more than one half of the members' terms expire in any given year, if feasible. If no qualified and willing replacement for the exiting committee member can be found, then the Department Chair (in consultation with the President of the School Faculty Council) can be appointed to the committee for continuing one-year terms until the vacancy can be filled by a qualified faculty member. If a committee member leaves the committee before their term is finished, the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs will inform the Chair of that member's department, and the Departmental Chair will appoint a committee member for the remainder of the term. Student members shall serve a non-renewable one-year term.
d. Operational Issues: The Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, in cooperation with the Committee Chair, shall develop the agenda for each meeting. There shall be at least one meeting during each academic (Fall, Spring) semester. Each meeting will be run jointly by the Associate Dean and Committee Chair. The departmental representative is responsible for presenting agenda items from their department, and for ensuring implementation of any changes approved by the committee. Meeting minutes will be written by the Committee Chair, with input from the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, and those minutes (including action items) shall be approved by the voting committee members either at the next committee meeting, or via electronic ballot. The Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Chair of the AAC-UG, or the Dean may call special meetings.
2. Academic Actions Committee: Graduate (AAC-G)
a. Functions.
i. Establish standards for Graduate study in the School.
ii. Provide advice and counsel to the Dean of the School on academic and curricular matters including the establishment of new programs, new course proposals, course changes, curricular changes, continuing education, academic policies and procedures, admissions, and clinical education policies.
iii. Recommend to the Dean of the School policies and procedures for facilitating policies related to student training and education.
b. Membership. The AAC-G voting members shall be elected by the voting faculty in each department. The Department Chair will present a ballot of eligible and willing faculty members for voting no later than mid-April of each year. By the beginning of each spring semester, the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs will inform those department Chairs that need to elect new committee members that year. The Department Chair will present a ballot of eligible and willing faculty members for departmental vote by mid-April of each year. The AAC-G shall be composed of the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs (ex officio member), departmental faculty representatives on the committee, and one Graduate student (a voting member). One faculty member from each department will be a voting member of the committee. The School's MPH program director will serve as a voting member of the AAC-G. The Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs shall serve as ex-officio, non-voting member of the Committee. The Assistant Dean/Director of Student Affairs (or their designee) will serve as a non-voting member of the Committee. One or more non-voting members from the Dean’s office can be appointed by the Dean to represent the school. Should a specific program not be represented by the Department Committee member for an issue coming before the Committee, then one member of that program can attend the meeting as a non-voting member to participate in the discussion of that agenda item. The voting members of the committee will annually elect a Committee Chair from their ranks.
c. Term of Office. The term of office for Committee members shall be up to three years. Additional terms may be served, if the committee member is elected by their department. Terms shall be staggered such that, if possible, no more than one half of the members' terms expire in any given year. If no qualified replacement for the exiting committee member can be found, then the Department Chair (in consultation with the President of the School Faculty Council) can be appointed to the committee for continuing one-year terms until the vacancy can be filled by a qualified faculty member. If a committee member leaves the committee before their term is finished, the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs will inform the Chair of that member's department, and the Departmental Chair will appoint a committee member for the remainder of the term. Student members shall serve a one-year (non-renewable) term.
d. Operational Issues: The Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, in cooperation with the Committee Chair, shall develop the agenda for each meeting. There shall be at least one meeting during each academic (Fall, Spring) semester. Each meeting will be run jointly by the Associate Dean and Committee Chair. The departmental representative is responsible for presenting agenda items from their department, and for ensuring implementation of any changes approved by the committee. Meeting minutes will be written by the Committee Chair, with input from the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, and those minutes (including action items) shall be approved by the voting committee members either at the next committee meeting, or via electronic ballot. The Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Chair of the AAC-G, or the Dean may call special meetings.
All personnel actions in the School which lead to initial appointment, reappointment, promotion, or the granting of continuing appointment begin as recommendations at the level of the department (or comparable administrative level) and proceed to the School level. All such actions shall be conducted in strict compliance with the University's "Policies, Procedures, and Criteria for Faculty Personnel Actions" as approved by the President in June 1988 and reaffirmed by the Provost on 3/12/18 (http://www.buffalo.edu/provost/admin-units/faculty-affairs/presidents-review-board/procedures.html). Review for reappointment and/or promotion from the rank of instructor to assistant professor is a function of the department or comparable academic unit but requires approval at the School level by the Dean. The School Promotion and Tenure Committee for unqualified titles (PTU), and the Appointment and Promotion Committee for qualified titles (PQ) serve as advisory committees to the Dean.
Appointment or promotion to any faculty rank with either a qualified or unqualified title is recognition of significant accomplishment and is never a reward merely for years of service.
3. Promotion and Tenure for Faculty with Unqualified Titles (PTU) in the School
a. Initiation of the School promotion and tenure review. The School review of faculty in unqualified titles for consideration of promotion in academic rank to associate professor or full professor and/or the granting of continuing appointment (tenure) is initiated upon request of a department within the School. The request shall include a Department Chair's letter and a candidate's dossier forwarded to the Dean of the School or the Dean's designee.
Mid-course Reviews: For Assistant Professors, at approximately 3 years after initial appointment, the faculty member will participate in a mid-course review. A committee consisting of department chairs, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, and the Dean will review the faculty member’s curriculum vitae; teaching, research, and service statements, an annotated description of all courses taught while at UB and a list of all grant proposals submitted to provide feedback that will be useful to the candidate. A similar process can be used to provide feedback to Associate Professors, at approximately 3 years following appointment at or promotion to their current rank. Should a faculty member be in their current rank for more than six years, then either the faculty member or their Department Chair can request another mid-course review.
The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, faculty on the Promotions Committee for Faculty with Unqualified Titles, or the Dean may call special meetings.
i. Candidate's dossier: Compilation of the candidate’s dossier is the responsibility of the Chair of the candidate's department, and it must meet all current standards of the University as specified in the current Office of the Provost document “Policies, Procedures, and Criteria for Faculty Personnel Actions” for review.
ii. Departmental voting: The School requires a vote by a minimum of three eligible departmental faculty for all cases referred to the School for review. Voting eligibility is according to University policy. To be eligible to vote, the faculty member should hold an unqualified (tenured) rank at or above the rank to which the candidate is being considered. The Chair's vote counts as one of the minimum three votes if they are eligible to vote. When there are less than three eligible voting faculty in a candidate's department, the department Chair consults with the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, then appoints an ad hoc department committee that includes faculty from other departments or Schools who hold the appropriate rank and are tenured faculty members at the University.
b. Functions of the School promotion and tenure committee – unqualified titles (PTU). The PTU committee shall serve as the School's review and recommending body in actions which lead to promotion in academic rank to associate professor or full professor and/or the granting of continuing appointment (tenure). The following specifications are intended to be consistent with the Office of the Provost document "Policies, Procedures, and Criteria for Faculty Personnel Actions". The PTU committee's vote, and all discussion related to the deliberations of the PTU committee shall be considered privileged and confidential information. The PTU committee's report with the vote is advisory to the Dean.
c. The School PTU membership. Each promotion applicant's School-level review must have five voting members. These five members include one from each department, except the applicant's home department. The home Department representative is replaced by a PTU member from another department. The entire PTU committee shall be comprised of ten full-time faculty (professor or associate professor, two per department) holding tenure (unqualified title) at the University. By the beginning of each spring semester, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs will inform those department Chairs that need to elect new committee members that year. The voting faculty of each department will elect their representatives on this committee, from a ballot of eligible and willing faculty created by the Department Chair. If possible, at least one of the department representatives should be a full professor. The names of the Department representatives will be sent to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs by mid-April each academic year. A committee of 5 of the 10 standing members of the School Promotion Committee will be formed for each promotion candidate. Members of the committee must be at or above the academic rank for which the candidate is being considered. For any specific promotion meeting, no more than three of the PTU committee members can be at the rank of Associate Professor for each promotion and tenure case to Associate Professor rank. A maximum of two Department Chairs may serve on the committee for any given School-level promotion meeting. For promotion cases for the rank of Professor, each PTU committee member must hold the rank of Full Professor. Should there not be enough eligible members of the PTU Committee at the rank of Full Professor, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and the PTU Committee Chair will approach one or more Departmental Chairs to identify eligible faculty members in order to have five eligible Full Professors on the Committee. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and the PTU Committee Chair may bypass the rule of no more than two department Chairs serving on a specific promotion committee or may appoint faculty from other academic units at the University should the need arise.
d. PTU membership term of office. The term of committee appointees shall be up to three years. Additional terms may be served, if the committee member is elected by their department. If a committee member leaves the committee before their term is finished, the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs will inform the Chair of that member's department, and the Departmental Chair will appoint a committee member for the remainder of the term (or for up to a full 3-year term). If feasible, the committee shall be constructed such that no more than half of the committee shall turn over every year. . The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (ADFA) will be an ex officio, non-voting member of this committee. The ADFA will facilitate the meeting. A departmental representative on the PTU is ineligible to serve on the committee when a member of their department is being considered.
e. Voting. The five voting PTU committee members will meet to discuss each case prior to voting. The case will be presented by the representative from the candidate's department and/or the candidate's advocate if one was appointed. The selection and role of the advocate will follow the guidelines stated in Section 11.C. 4. Right of Advocacy in the Provost Office Document "Policies, Procedures, and Criteria for Faculty Personnel Actions." The department representative and/or advocate participate in PTU committee discussion but recuse themselves from the PTU committee vote and any further discussion of the candidate's case. The department representative and/or advocate must be available to answer questions about issues that may have arisen during committee discussion after they have left the room, if their input is requested by the Committee or the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The department representative from the candidate's department will cast their vote with their department. The voting of the committee shall be in the form of a closed ballot submitted to the Committee Chair. Each voting committee member must register a "yes" or "no" vote for promotion in academic rank and/or the granting of continuing appointment (tenure); "abstention" votes or absentees are not allowed. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs shall announce the vote to the committee. The administrative staff person will prepare a draft written report of the discussion of the deliberation of committee members. This draft report will be sent to voting members of the committee for their review and comment. After consideration of comments made by the voting members of the committee, the final report will be sent to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, who will forward this report to the Dean. This report is advisory to the dean and shall not be included in the promotion dossier that is forwarded from the Dean's office. The Dean's letter of transmittal to the Provost's office reports the department vote and School's PTU committee vote. The dossier will be forwarded to the UB Provost's office for review by the President’s Review Board, and subsequently by the Provost and then President of the University.
f. Withdrawal of Promotion Application: In the event a faculty member wishes to withdraw from the review process, that individual must send a written request for withdrawal to the Dean prior to the Dean's office forwarding of the dossier to the Presidents Review Board (PRB). The faculty member can withdraw from consideration for promotion at any stage of promotion consideration prior to the final determination made by the President. This withdrawal letter shall be sent to the University official at the highest level the dossier has reached, but no final decision regarding the promotion has been made and the dossier has not been forwarded to the next level of review. This letter should be copied to those University officials who had oversight of the dossier earlier in the process. For example, if the dossier has reached the Presidents Review Board, but no decision has been rendered at this level, the Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs shall be sent the letter of withdrawal, with the Dean and Department Chair copied on the letter of withdrawal.
Roles and Responsibilities: The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, working with the responsible Department Chair, shall ensure that the dossier forwarded to the voting members of the School Committee follows University guidelines, and survey voting committee members to establish a time and location for the Committee meeting. The ADFA shall facilitate the discussion in the meeting and the ADFA administrative staff person will draft the summary of the committee discussion; with approval of the committee, this summary is included in information submitted to the dean.
4. Promotion for Faculty with Qualified Titles (PQ) for the School
As required by the University at Buffalo’s Policies, Procedures, and Criteria for Faculty Personnel Actions, the appointment to or promotion in qualified rank will be carried out with the same care, using the same criteria and the same standards applied to unqualified academic ranks as relevant in the applicable area of academic activity or service.
As for all faculty, Department Chairs are responsible for reviewing necessary qualifications for promotion with qualified faculty on a regular basis.
a. Initiation of promotion review in the School. Review of faculty in qualified titles for consideration of promotion in academic rank to Clinical or Research Associate or Full Professor is initiated upon request of a department within the School. The request shall include a Department 'Chair's letter' and a candidate's dossier forwarded to the Dean of the School or the Dean's designee.
Mid-Course Reviews: For Clinical/Research Assistant Professors, at approximately one year before the anticipated promotion, the faculty member will participate in a mid-course review. A committee consisting of department chairs, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, and the Dean will review the faculty member’s CV; teaching, research, and service statements and an annotated description of all courses taught while at UB to provide feedback that will be useful to the candidate regarding their readiness for promotion. A similar process can be used to provide feedback to Clinical/Research Associate Professors, at about 3 years following appointment at or promotion to their current rank. Should a faculty member be in their current rank for more than six years, then either the faculty member or their department Chair can request another mid-course review.
The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, faculty on the Promotions Committee for Faculty with Qualified Titles, or Dean may call special meetings.
i. Candidate's dossier: Compilation of the candidate's dossier is the responsibility of the Chair of the candidate's department and will include the candidate's curriculum vitae, a personal statement and teaching dossier (addressing teaching, scholarship, and service accomplishments and future plans), at least two ‘internal’ letters from a faculty member at the University, and at least 3 external letters from faculty at other Universities holding the appropriate qualified or unqualified rank (Associate Professor or higher for an application for Associate Professor; Professor for an application for Professor). For Research faculty, it is strongly preferred that these external letters will be from appropriate faculty working at AAU, R1 or R2 Universities. For Promotion to Research Professor, a minimum of 4 external letters are required from faculty holding the rank of Professor at AAU institutions. If justified in the department Chair's letter, one of these four external letters can come from an R1 or R2 (rather than an AAU) institution. It is anticipated that the Department Chair may solicit help from departmental faculty in identifying appropriate external reviewers. Under no circumstances can the candidate be asked to suggest external reviewers. The candidate can be asked to send the Department Chair a list of potential reviewers who they do not want to be asked to write recommendation letters. The candidate can also suggest to the Department Chair the names of mentors, students/mentees and/or research collaborators who might be asked to write letters of support for inclusion in the dossier as 'internal’ letters.
ii. Department Chair’s letter: The Chair’s letter will specify the teaching/research/service requirements of the position, and whether the teaching load has changed over time. These should be in agreement with the expectations stipulated in the offer letter, and if not, the department Chair's letter will provide an explanation. The Chair's letter should provide a balanced appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate's qualifications for promotion and comply with all current standards in the School. The Chair's letter must report the vote of all eligible voting department faculty (both qualified and unqualified faculty) who have the same or higher rank than the rank for which the candidate is being considered. Department votes should be by closed ballot and the vote will be reported in the Chair's letter. The Chair's letter must report the faculty vote and address the weight and degree of department support.
iii. Departmental voting: A minimum of three departmental votes are required for all cases referred to the School for review. The Chair's vote (if they are eligible to vote) counts as one of the minimum three votes. When there are less than three eligible voting faculty in a candidate's department, the Department Chair consults with the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and then appoints an ad hoc department committee that includes faculty from other departments or Schools/Colleges at the University who hold the appropriate qualified or unqualified rank.
b. Functions of the School promotion committee – qualified titles (PQ). The PQ committee shall serve as the School's review and recommending body in actions which lead to promotion in academic rank to associate professor or full professor. The PQ committee's vote, and all discussion related to the deliberations of the PQ committee shall be considered privileged and confidential information. The PQ committee's report with the vote is advisory to the Dean.
c. School PQ membership. Each promotion applicant's School-level review must have five voting members. The five members shall include one from each department, except for the applicant's home department. The home department representative is replaced by a PQ member from another department. For each promotion candidate, the PQ committee shall be comprised of full-time faculty (professor or associate professor) holding either qualified or unqualified titles at the University. Members of the committee must be at or above the academic rank for which the candidate is being considered. At most, three of the PQ committee members can be at the rank of Associate Professor for promotion to Associate Professor rank. For review of full-professor applications, alternate faculty members who hold the rank of Full Professor must be appointed if there are not a sufficient number of Full Professors on the committee. Every department in the School shall be represented by two PQ Committee members. It is preferable that a majority of voting members of the PQ Committee hold qualified faculty titles, if feasible. For any specific promotion meeting, a maximum of two Department Chairs may serve on the committee. The voting faculty of each department will elect their two representatives on this committee from a ballot of eligible and willing faculty created by the Department Chair. If possible, at least one of the department representatives should be a full professor. The names of the Department representatives will be sent to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs by mid-April each academic year. By the beginning of each spring semester, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs will inform those department Chairs that need to elect new committee members that year. For promotion cases for the rank of Professor, all sitting committee members for that case must be full professors. Should there not be enough eligible faculty to serve on the committee who hold the rank of Professor (for promotion cases for the rank of Professor), the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and the Committee Chair can approach one or more department chairs to identify one or more eligible faculty to serve on the committee in order to have the requisite 5 committee members. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs may bypass the rule of no more than two department Chairs serving on a specific promotion committee, waive the above-stated preference that a majority of committee members hold qualified rank, and/or appoint faculty (both qualified and unqualified) from other academic units at the University should the need arise.
d. PQ membership term of office. The term of committee appointees shall be up to three years. Additional terms may be served, if the committee member is elected by their department, If feasible, the committee shall be constructed such that no more than one half of the committee shall turn over every year. If a committee member leaves the committee before their term is finished, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs will inform the Chair of that member's department, and the Departmental Chair will appoint a committee member for the remainder of the term (or for up to a full 3-year term). The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs will be an ex officio, non-voting member of this committee. The ADFA shall facilitate the discussion in the meeting and the ADFA administrative staff person will draft the summary of the committee discussion; with approval of the committee, this summary is included in information submitted to the dean.
e. Voting. The five voting PQ committee members will meet to discuss each case prior to voting. The case will be presented by the department representative(s) and/or advocate from the candidate's department. The selection and role of the advocate will follow the guidelines stated in Section 11.C. 4. Right of Advocacy in the Provost Office Document "Policies, Procedures, and Criteria for Faculty Personnel Actions." The department representative and/or advocate participate in PQ committee discussion but recuse themselves from the PQ committee vote and any further discussion of the candidate's case. The department representative and/or advocate must be available to answer questions about issues that may have arisen during committee discussion after they have left the room, if their input is requested by either the Committee or the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The department representative(s) from the candidate's department will cast their vote for promotion at the departmental level. The voting of the committee shall be in the form of a closed ballot submitted to the ADFA. Each committee member, with the exception noted above must register a "yes" or "no" vote for promotion in academic rank; "abstention" votes or absentees are not allowed. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs shall announce the vote to the committee. The ADFA administrative staff will prepare a draft written report of the discussion of the deliberation of committee members. This draft report will be sent to voting members of the committee for their review and comment. After consideration of comments made by the voting members of the committee, the final report will be sent to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, who will forward this report to the Dean. This report is advisory to the dean and shall not be included in the promotion dossier. The Dean of SPHHP makes the final decision regarding promotion of faculty holding qualified titles, except for the promotion to the rank of Research Professor. For this latter promotion, the Dean writes a letter regarding the promotion, and the dossier is forwarded to the President's Review Board, then to the Provost and President for their promotion determinations.
f. Withdrawal of Promotion Application: In the event a faculty member wishes to withdraw from the review process, that individual must send a written request to the Dean prior to the Dean rendering her/his/their final decision. For a candidate being considered for promotion to Research Professor, this withdrawal letter shall be sent to the University official at the highest level the dossier has reached, but no final decision regarding the promotion has been made and the dossier has not been forwarded to the next level of review. This letter should be copied to those University officials who had oversight of the dossier earlier in the process. For example, if the dossier has reached the Presidents Review Board, but no decision has been rendered at this level, the Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs shall be sent the letter of withdrawal, with the Dean and Department Chair copied on the letter of withdrawal.
g. Roles and Responsibilities: The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, working with the responsible Department Chair, shall ensure that the dossier forwarded to the voting members of the School Committee follows School guidelines, and shall survey voting committee members to establish a time and location for the PQ Committee meetings. The ADFA shall facilitate the discussion in the meeting and the ADFA administrative staff person will draft the summary of the committee discussion; with approval of the committee, this summary is included in information submitted to the dean.
5. Faculty Council
a. Functions. The School’s Faculty Council is the official body through which faculty participate in the governance of the School. The council shall advise the administrative officers of the School regarding matters affecting the research, teaching, and service programs of the School including but not limited to, matters related to the quality of student and faculty life relevant to the School. The Faculty Council is also the interface between the School's faculty and the University Faculty Senate. As such, the School’s Faculty Council determines the mechanism for appointing faculty to the UB Faculty Senate. The Faculty Council is also responsible for ensuring that the guidelines specified in these Bylaws are followed.
b. Membership. Membership will consist of the Dean or Dean’s designee who will serve as an ex officio member of the council without voting privileges. Each department shall have one faculty representative on the School Faculty Council. Representatives must be members of the School voting faculty. In the event that the School representatives to the Faculty Senate are not members of the Faculty Council, the Senate representatives shall be appointed as ex officio members of the council.
c. Election and appointment
i. Selection of Faculty Council Representatives: The voting faculty of each department will elect their Faculty Council representative. The term of each faculty council representative shall be up to three years, and a second sequential term is not typically allowed (but see 'Committee Membership in transition' at the beginning of this section of the Bylaws entitled 'Article IV. Standing Committees).
ii. Election of Faculty Council Officers: The Faculty Council shall choose from its members a President, who shall be the presiding officer of the Faculty Council, and a President-elect. The President-elect will become the President at the beginning of the next academic year. The President and President-elect shall assign specific Faculty Council duties to specific members of the Faculty Council (such as representing the Faculty Council at the School’s monthly Executive and Planning Committee meeting).
iii. Election of Faculty Senate Representatives: The School representatives to the Faculty Senate shall be selected in an election by the voting faculty of the School. Nominations will be requested from all voting faculty by the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at the beginning of the spring semester. Names must be received for consideration by the end of the second week in April. Individuals can self-nominate. If nominating another eligible SPHHP faculty member, the nominator must obtain approval from the person they are nominating that they will serve if elected. Faculty senators will be elected by the School as a whole. Faculty will be given no less than one week to vote via electronic ballot. The member(s) with the most votes will serve two-year terms as either senators or alternates depending on who they are replacing.
iv. Scheduling of elections: Elections for Faculty Senate members shall take place no later than the end of April of each academic year. New representatives will begin their service in the semester following the election.
v. Election of Faculty Council President-elect (voting will be by the current representatives of the School Faculty Council) will take place at the first meeting of the Fall semester, and this election will be presided over by the current President of the Faculty Council.
vi. Faculty Council Representative Terms. Each representative of the department shall serve for a term of three years. Terms will be staggered so that each year no more than half of the Faculty Council members will be released from faculty council duties (or reappointed for another term). Members may not serve for more than one consecutive term (but see 'Committee Membership in transition' at the beginning of this section of the Bylaws entitled 'Article IV. Standing Committees). If a committee member leaves the committee before their term is finished, the President of Faculty Council will inform the Chair of that member's department, and the Departmental Chair will appoint a committee member for the remainder of the term.
vii. Faculty Council Officer Terms: The officers of the Faculty Council will serve one-year terms with the option of reappointment. It is understood that the President-Elect will serve as the President of the Faculty Council during the following term.
viii. Faculty Senate Representatives Terms: Faculty Senate Representatives will serve for 2 years with the option of serving for no more than 2 consecutive terms (i.e., a total of 4 consecutive years).
ix. Vacancies: Vacant positions prior to the end of an appointee's term for faculty council shall be filled by the department Chair selecting a new department representative. If a Faculty Senate representative or alternate cannot complete their term, the Dean (or the Dean's Designee) shall appoint a willing representative to complete the term.
x. Meetings: The School’s Faculty Council shall meet monthly during the academic year preferably prior to School’s Executive Committee Meetings.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of these Bylaws shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder hereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
