Faculty Senate Handbook Revisions: Standing Committees

The Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Handbook Revision is working to update and consolidate the Faculty Handbook and nine appendices into one document. Specifically, it has developed a draft proposal combining the materials into one handbook, deleting all but three appendices, and referring to policies that exist elsewhere.

At the November 25 Senate meeting, Brandon Dupont, Chair, Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Handbook Revisions, gave a presentation on section 7 of the Senate bylaws, the next phase of Senate Handbook revisions. This section provides an organizational structure for the standing committees, as well as the Senate Budget Representative and Faculty Legislative Representative. The goal is to make them easier to use by providing a general structure with committee charges and duties, membership tables and voting status, and meeting practices.

The draft presented to the Senate in November contained proposed language that to make student members of Faculty Senate committees non-voting members, using the model that has been in place for university administrators who serve on these committees. At the meeting, ASWWU Senate President Moose Abou-Harb spoke against the provision in the proposal which would move student representatives to ex-officio, non-voting status on Senate committees. Several senators spoke in support of retaining voting status for student representatives. 

Senate Executive Council

On December 2, 2024, the Faculty Senate Executive Council approved (six yes, one no) a motion by the Senate President to send the following revision to the draft bylaws by the Faculty Handbook to the Ad-Hoc Committee on Handbook Revisions: 

Revise student membership on Senate standing committees to retain one voting student member per committee, with any other existing student members retained as non-voting members.

Faculty Senate 

On January 13, 2025, a revised version of the proposed changes which includes standardizing the number of voting student members to one per Senate standing committee was considered by the Faculty Senate. It does not change the number of student members of these committees. 

An Executive Council motion to approve the bylaws pertaining to the Faculty Legislative Representative, Budget and Deputy Budget Representatives, and Senate standing committees was approved by a ballot vote (21 yes, 3 no, 1 abstention, 2 non-voting).