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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Philosophy

Bylaws

Department of Philosophy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

ARTICLE I: Authorization

These bylaws exist under the authority and within the limits of the constitution of the College of Liberal Arts, the statutes of Wayne State University, and current WSU- AAUP/AFT contract. In case of inconsistency between these bylaws and the constitution of the College of Liberal Arts, the statutes of the university, or the WSU-AAUP/AFT contract, the latter shall prevail.

ARTICLE II: The department

Section 1. Membership

Members of the Philosophy department during any one year include all and only those persons who hold non-visiting and non-adjunct appointments as full-time or fractional-time faculty in philosophy.

Section 2. Faculty on leave

Members of the Philosophy department on leave are counted as members of the Philosophy department.

ARTICLE III: Departmental assembly

Section 1. Membership

Members of the Departmental Assembly during any given academic year shall include all and only department members (as defined in Article II) and visiting philosophy faculty members under full- or part-time contract with the university.

Section 2. Franchise

  1. Each member of the department has full voting rights in all Assembly meetings.

  2. A majority of members of the department may, at their discretion, extend partial or full voting rights to other members of the Departmental Assembly.

Section 3. Powers

The voting members of the Departmental Assembly have the power to determine all departmental policies and procedures, excepting where otherwise specified by these bylaws, and within the guidelines stipulated in the constitution of the College of Liberal Arts, university statutes, and union contract.

Section 4. Decision procedures

  1. Within the guidelines set by the constitution of the College of Liberal Arts, the statutes of the university, union contract, and these bylaws, policies, and procedures shall be decided by a majority vote of the Departmental Assembly.

  2. A majority of department members (not on leave) shall constitute a quorum for any Departmental Assembly meeting.

  3. A majority of the voting members present at an Assembly meeting may adopt those procedures of debate and voting (not including the issue of franchise) that they deem appropriate for that meeting, within the guidelines set by these bylaws.

Section 5. Meetings

  1. The Departmental Assembly shall meet at least once each semester during the fall and winter semesters.

  2. Other departmental meetings may be called at the discretion of the department chairperson, or upon the request of no fewer that one-third of the voting members of the Assembly.

  3. The chairperson shall normally preside over Departmental Assembly meetings.

  4. If the chairperson is unable to attend a meeting, he or she shall appoint a department member to be the presiding officer for that meeting.

  5. Persons on leave may vote if present at Assembly meetings, but no notification of Assembly meetings need be extended to department members on leave.

  6. There shall be no vote by proxy except when an Assembly member has registered his or her opinion on a specific issue with a voting member of the Assembly.

Section 6. Records

Records shall be kept of votes taken, policies adopted and other important matters discussed at Assembly meetings.

Section 7. Student participation

Full or part-time matriculated graduate students and matriculated undergraduate philosophy majors may be invited to participate in discussion and debate at assembly meetings.

ARTICLE IV: Department chairperson

Section 1. Qualifications

The chairperson shall be any full-time member of the Departmental Assembly.

Section 2. Length of term

The chairperson will serve for a term which is mutually acceptable to the university and College of Liberal Arts Administrations, and the chairperson. The view of two-thirds of the members of the department shall constitute the department's opinion on the matter and shall be conveyed to the appropriate administrators as necessary.

Section 3. Selection procedure

The chairperson will be selected by means mutually acceptable to the university and College of Liberal Arts Administrations, and two-thirds of the members of the department. However, the selection procedure must be in accordance with the WSU-AAUP/AFT contract.

Section 4. Duties

  1. The chairperson is the administrative officer of the department.

  2. The chairperson shall inform the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts concerning departmental matters, and will inform the department concerning college and university matters of interest to the department.

  3. The chairperson shall preside at Departmental Assembly meetings (except as provided for in Article III, Section 5, sub-section d) unless a petition is being considered for the chairperson's removal.

  4. The chairperson shall be a voting member of the Departmental Assembly.

  5. The chairperson shall be a voting member of the Salary and Personnel committees.

Section 5. Removal of the chairperson

  1. The procedures specified in the WSU-AAUP/AFT contract shall be followed.

  2. When the desire for the removal of the chairperson originates from within the department, the process for removal of the chairperson begins with a petition signed by no fewer that one-third of the members of the Assembly.

    1. The removal petition will signify the desire of the signers to have the chairperson removed from his or her office.

    2. Upon the gathering of the minimum number of signatures, the removal petition becomes the first item on the agenda of the next Departmental Assembly meeting. A majority of the voting members of the department will appoint a temporary presiding officer to preside over that phase of the meeting. Should the department members voting decide by a two-thirds majority to proceed on the petition, specific articles of removal shall be drawn by the department members. The next scheduled Assembly meeting will be chaired by a member of the College of Liberal Arts Grievance Panel. The department chairperson may, at that next meeting, reply to and discuss the articles of removal, and shall, upon concluding, leave the meeting.

    3. Voting on the articles of removal shall take place at a later meeting (no sooner that one week after the one chaired by the Grievance Panel Representative). A two-thirds vote, by secret ballot, of the members of the department voting will be necessary to present the recommendation for removal to the proper administrative authorities of the college. A department member shall be designated to present the approved articles for the removal of the chairperson before the proper administrative authorities, accompanied by the chairperson of the Assembly meeting at which the voting on the removal petition took place.

Section 6. Resignation of the chairperson

In case of a vacancy in the Office of the chairperson, the members of the department will choose a committee to confer with the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts regarding the appointment of a new chairperson.

ARTICLE V: Ad hoc committees

Section 1. General

  1. The Department Assembly or chairperson may establish, dissolve, and determine membership of committees for handling such tasks as ordering journal and library books, admitting persons to the graduate or undergraduate programs, preparing qualifying examinations, assessing and organizing curricula, providing amenities for visiting faculty, planning colloquia, and the like.

  2. In case of a conflict between the Assembly and the chairperson, a majority vote of the Departmental Assembly shall count as determining the department's position.

Section 2. Role of the chairperson

  1. The chairperson may be a voting member of any such committee.

  2. The chairperson is a non-voting member of every committee of which he or she is not voting member.

Section 3. Procedure

  1. When an ad hoc committee is formed, the Departmental Assembly shall, by majority vote, give that committee either the right to resolve an issue at stake or only the right to make recommendations to the Assembly.

  2. It is understood that all matters of departmental policy shall be resolved by majority vote of the Departmental Assembly.

Section 4. Student participation

Student participation on committees is governed by Article IV, Section 5, of the constitution of the College of Liberal Arts.

ARTICLE VI: The promotion and tenure committee

Section 1. Eligibility

  1. Only tenured members of the department are eligible to serve on this committee.

  2. Tenured department members on leave shall be eligible, but not obligated, to serve.

Section 2. Membership

  1. This committee shall be elected by majority vote of the department, but must consist of at least three members.

  2. At least three members of this committee shall also be members of the Salary Committee.

Section 3. Procedure for tenure

  1. The department chairperson shall serve as ex officio non-voting member of this committee.

  2. A two-thirds vote shall be required for a recommendation for the granting of tenure.

  3. The criteria for a recommendation of tenure shall be those specified in the union contract and clarified by the department tenure policy.

  4. At the request of either the committee or the candidate, any or all of the following may be used in the evaluation of a candidate for tenure: oral presentation by the candidate, letters from outside Wayne State University, statements of student opinion (beyond course evaluations), and letters from Wayne State University employees.

  5. The candidate shall be kept informed for the committee's procedures and final assessment.

  6. The committee's recommendations, together with assessments and supporting documents shall be forwarded to the chairperson.

Section 4. Procedure for promotion

The procedure for promotion recommendations shall be the same as those for tenure, except that no one shall vote on requests for promotion to a rank higher than his or her own.

Section 5. Annual review

The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall, in accordance with the union contract, be responsible for reviewing annually the work of each tenure- track member of the faculty and advising the chairperson of the result of that review.

ARTICLE VII: The personnel committee

Section 1. Eligibility

  1. Except for the provisions of Article VII, Section 1, sub-section c, all and only full-time members of the department are members of the Personnel Committee.

  2. Faculty on leave may, but are not obligated to, serve.

  3. When the renewal of the contract of a member of the faculty on a term contract is at issue, the non-tenured members of the faculty shall be excluded from the Personnel Committee.

Section 2. Functions

The Personnel Committee shall be responsible for the hiring of new faculty and for the renewal of the contracts of faculty members on term contracts.

ARTICLE VIII: The salary committee

Section 1. Eligibility

  1. All full-time members of the department shall be eligible for election to this committee.

  2. Faculty on leave shall be eligible but not obligated to serve.

Section 2. Membership

  1. The Salary Committee shall consist of all tenured members of the department, plus as many full-time, non-tenured members of the department as will permit this Committee to have a majority of tenured faculty members.

  2. If the number of non-tenured members of the department is greater than the number of tenured members, an election, held by the Departmental Assembly, shall be held to determine which of the non-tenured members of the department shall serve on the Salary Committee.

Section 3. Functions

The Salary Committee shall make recommendations regarding salary equity and merit awards of faculty members as provided by union contract to the chairperson.

ARTICLE IX: Budget advisory committee

Section 1. Eligibility

  1. All tenured members of the department shall be eligible for election to this committee (except the chair).

  2. Tenured faculty on leave shall be eligible but not obligated to serve.

Section 2. Membership

  1. The committee will consist of no more than three (3) tenured members of the faculty of the department.

  2. The composition of the committee is determined by majority vote of the tenured members of the faculty (the chair has no vote).

  3. Membership on the committee will be for a period of no more than one year (unless other arrangements are made). A member may be re-elected to the committee.

Section 3. Functions

The Budget Advisory Committee shall advise, and make recommendations to the chair regarding those budgetary matters it deems important.

ARTICLE X: Recruitment

Section 1. Publicity

  1. Whenever practicable, openings shall be advertised in Jobs for Philosophers.

  2. The chairperson (or his or her designee) shall present to the Departmental Assembly a list of candidates drawn from at least the following sources: recommendations by members of the department, replies to advertisements, recommendations from distinguished professionals or major department contacted by the chairperson (or other department members), and interviews conducted at professional meetings.

Section 2. Procedures

  1. After consideration of candidate's dossiers and chairperson's recommendation, the Departmental Assembly shall invite, if possible, a few promising candidates for interviews at Wayne State University.

  2. The department's final recommendation shall be decided by a two-thirds vote of the Personnel Committee.

  3. In case of last-minute openings, the procedures may be abbreviated in favor of action by the chairperson, who shall, however, consult informally with the faculty as far as possible.

ARTICLE XI: Amendments to these bylaws

Section 1

Proposed amendments to the bylaws shall be submitted in writing and signed by at least three members of the department and presented at a meeting of the Departmental Assembly.

Section 2

Copies of any proposed amendment shall then be distributed to all members of the Departmental Assembly for consideration at its next special or scheduled meeting.

Section 3

A two-thirds vote of the department shall be required for an amendment's adoption.

Section 4

Amendments governing the voting rights of non-tenured members of the department shall be approved by majority vote of the tenured members of the department.

Adopted by vote of the Faculty of the Department of Philosophy, 14 November 1996.

Revisions adopted by vote of the Faculty of the Department of Philosophy, 23 January 1997, 30 November 2000, and 12 March 2009.

Revised: October 1996

Amended: 14 November 1996

Amended: 23 January 1997

Amended: 30 November 2000

Amended: 12 March 2009