B02.0 Charter of Academic Governance

The task of university governance must be apportioned and delegated among the board of trustees, administration, faculty, staff, and students of the university. The interdependence of these members of the university community and their delegated responsibilities establishes the basis for effective shared governance.

It is the faculty's responsibility to lead in the formulation of recommendations relating to academic matters. The academic governance of the university provides for the exercise of the faculty's role in academic decisions, the protection of legitimate faculty aspirations, the implementation and preservation of academic standards, and the promotion of the academic welfare of students. It is the obligation of each member of the faculty to participate in these governance activities to the fullest extent possible.

It is the faculty's responsibility to organize itself effectively to carry out its governance responsibilities in an efficient manner. This document establishes the framework for the academic governance of the Rochester Institute of Technology through the creation of a Faculty Senate, standing committees of the Senate, and a Faculty Assembly. It is intended that, in normal circumstances, matters will come before the Senate for discussion and recommendation after scrutiny by the standing committees. In exceptional circumstances, matters may come before the Senate from an individual college, another university governance body, an administrative officer, or a submission by ten percent of the voting members of the faculty.

At the same time, the faculty has the responsibility to collaborate with others who may be formulating recommendations of university-wide concern. This document seeks to articulate the faculty role in academic governance while fully recognizing the appropriate shared governance responsibilities which reside in other constituents and officers of the university and in the University Council.

2.1 The faculty consists of the president, provost and the vice presidents holding professorial appointments, the academic deans, and others defined as faculty in E06.0-Policies on Faculty Rank and Promotion (hereafter referred to as E06.0). The president is the presiding officer of the university.

2.2 Throughout this charter and all policies in which the word “college” is used, it will refer to all colleges and the degree-granting units of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability and the School of Individualized Study. All faculty except the president, provost and vice presidents holding professorial appointments at the university level shall have an appointment in or affiliation to a college for the purposes of academic governance.

2.3 The voting members of the faculty at the university, college, and department levels include tenure-track (both tenured and pre-tenured) members of the university and senior and principal lecturers who:

• serve full-time in their appointments at RIT; and
• devote at least half-time to teaching, research, academic administration, or other academically-related duties.
   

2.4 Those voting faculty with joint appointments vote in the college or department to which the majority of their time is assigned. A voting member who holds equal appointments in two or more colleges or departments shall designate in writing to their administrative supervisors one college or department in which to exercise all voting privileges.

2.5 Voting faculty, as defined above, shall only vote on matters that fall within the purview of their rank and title as defined by E06.0 or specified by policy.

3.1 Policies: The voting faculty has primary responsibility to formulate all educational policies subject to final approval by the president and where appropriate by the board of trustees. The faculty in accordance with their responsibilities as defined in E06.0 must identify issues of academic concern, discuss and formulate recommendations, and recommend approval for implementation. Academic issues include such matters as the establishment or dissolution of all degree programs; faculty hiring, retention, promotion, tenure, development, and dismissal; curriculum; admission standards; scholastic standards; examination and testing programs; the award of honors; the approval of candidates for earned degrees; and the establishment or dissolution of all colleges, departments, or independent centers or institutes. The process associated with certain educational policies may fall to non-faculty members of the RIT community for implementation and revision. In such cases, faculty will provide input as noted in section 3.2 of the charter.

3.2 Advice and Recommendations: In addition, the faculty in accordance with their responsibilities as defined in E 06.0 has a responsibility to advise and make recommendations to the appropriate persons or bodies concerning other policies and decisions affecting university development and welfare. The faculty's advice and recommendations in such matters are offered to the deans, vice presidents, provost, or president as appropriate or as specified in university policy, or to the University Council in those matters which appropriately come before the Council. The subjects of the advice and recommendations include, for example, the appointment, retention, promotion, and tenure of individual faculty; the appointment of administrative and academic officers; faculty personnel policies; student responsibilities and discipline; the academic calendar; the setting of fund-raising priorities; the formulation of priorities for and review of the annual operating budget of the university; the development and expansion of the campus; and the expression of university views on matters of public concern.

3.3 The provisions of this section are subject to Article XIV.

4.1 The Faculty Senate shall be the legislative and representative agency of the faculty.

4.2 The Senate is empowered to formulate legislation in areas of academic policy affecting more than one college of the university (cf. Article III, 3.1, above). The legislative decisions of the Senate are submitted to the provost for further action.

4.3 The Senate shall also offer advice and recommendation covering other matters of university welfare (cf. Article III, 3.2, above). Its advice and recommendations are submitted to the relevant vice president, the provost, the president, or the University Council.

4.4 The Senate shall act upon other resolutions, recommendations, or proposals submitted by the faculty of any college, department, or committee of the Senate and pertaining to the academic governance or the general welfare of the university.

4.5 The Senate may enact and amend its own bylaws.

5.1 The Senate shall be composed of:

• the voting members of the faculty who shall be elected by the voting members of the constituent faculties in accordance with their established voting procedures (cf. Article II),

• the provost or designee (ex-officio, non-voting),

• the chair of Staff Council or designee (ex-officio, non-voting),

• the president of Student Government or designee (ex-officio, non-voting)

5.2 The operations officer of the Senate shall validate the number of voting members in each college by January 15th of each academic year from a list provided by the provost and shall allocate a certain number of senators to each according to the following procedure. Each college shall have one representative for the first 29 full-time regular faculty (as defined in E06.0.1.A, Table 1). A second senator is added when the faculty count in a college reaches 30 and thereafter, a college will have one additional senator for each multiple of 30 regular faculty. No college shall have more than 20% of the total representatives or fewer than one representative.

5.3 Each college shall also elect an alternate or alternates who shall serve in place of an absent senator and shall enjoy all privileges of the senators during the period of service. Alternates are not eligible to serve as an officer of the Senate or considered as a candidate for the executive committee.

5.4 In order to avoid conflicts of interest, no faculty member serving in collegiate leadership as a dean, associate dean, or assistant dean, nor any faculty member serving in university leadership as an associate or assistant provost, shall serve as a senator or alternate senator during the period of such service, nor shall they be eligible to serve as a collegiate representative or at-large representative from the Senate to its standing committees (except for the Inter-College Curriculum Committee, its subcommittees, and Graduate Council) as defined below.

5.5 Senators shall be elected for three-year terms. Senators shall not be elected for more than two complete consecutive terms and shall not serve more than seven consecutive years.  Term-limited senators may only seek re-election as either a senator or an alternate senator during or after the third academic year following the academic year of completion of their second consecutive term.  

5.6 The election of senators from the voting faculty in each college shall be accomplished by March 1.

5.7 Terms of service for the senators begin after the last scheduled meeting of the academic year; however, incoming senators are expected to attend the final meeting of the Faculty Senate in the year of their election.

5.8 In the event of a resignation, change of duties, prolonged absence, removal from office, or other serious interruption of service, the chairperson of the Faculty Senate will request that the faculty of the unit concerned elect a new representative to fill out the unexpired term or temporary vacancy.

5.9 Responsibilities of senators shall include but not be limited to the following: serve each year on at least one of the following bodies - a standing committee of the Faculty Senate, the University Council, or a university-wide committee; represent all faculty within their college; seek input from constituents on matters before Senate; serve as a conduit of information from the senate to their constituents.

5.10 In the event of dispute as to the eligibility of a faculty member to serve or be represented, the Faculty Senate shall make the final determination.

5.11 The Faculty Senate recognizes the right of individual constituents to form caucuses to discuss matters of interest to the members of the respective caucuses.

6.1 The Senate shall annually elect, from among the faculty senators as identified in 5.2 above, an executive committee composed of a chair, a vice chair, a communications officer, an operations officer, and a treasurer. All officers will serve for a term of one year and take office at the end of the academic term in which they are elected. In the event of a resignation, change of duties, prolonged absence, removal from office, or other serious interruption of service, a new officer will be elected to complete the term from among the voting members of the faculty elected to the Senate.

6.2 The election of officers shall take place by formal written ballot. This election and the vote to approve at-large committee members will take place according to the following schedule:

1. By March 15th, the Nominations Committee will solicit nominations from the members of the Senate. These may be provided directly from the floor at the time of the meeting or submitted in writing to the Nominations Committee. It shall be the responsibility of the Nominations Committee to seek, after this meeting, the consent of each nominee (see Article 10.9 for further description of Nominations Committee and electoral process).

   At this time, the Nominations Committee will also seek candidates for any committee at-large position that will become available at the end of the academic session.  It is the responsibility of each college to have completed its own elections by March 15th, so the Nominations Committee will know the pool of eligible faculty from whom they can seek candidates.

2. By April 15th, the Senate will conduct a nomination meeting for presentation of officer candidates and committee candidates by the Nominations Committee. At this time, the candidates for the executive committee shall have a CV, and vision/mission statement available for review. All candidates must give prior consent to the nomination.

3. By April 30th, the Senate will conduct an election meeting for the purpose of carrying out the election of candidates for officer positions and committee positions.

6.3 The chair shall preside at all meetings of the Senate and shall sign the official copies of all Senate actions. The chair and vice chair shall represent the faculty at all meetings of the full board of trustees.

6.4 The vice chair shall preside at meetings of the Senate and of the executive committee in the absence of the chair. Each year, the vice chair will record and date all policy-related actions taken by the Faculty Senate, including changes to policy and senate-approved recommendations of no change. The vice chair shall ensure that the final approved wording for any policy approved at Faculty Senate is forwarded to the Office of the Provost for approval and to officially post on-line. The vice chair will perform the tasks defined in E24.0 - Faculty Grievance, section III.C.1 Informal Resolution (b to d). 

6.5 The operations officer shall preside at the meetings of the Senate in the absence of the chair and vice chair and serve as the coordinating officer for standing committees of the Faculty Senate. During meetings of the Senate, the operations officer will serve as parliamentarian, using Robert's Rules of Order (latest edition), and time-keeper of discussion.  In addition, the operations officer shall validate the number of voting members in each college in January  of each academic year from a list provided by the provost and shall allocate a certain number of senators to each.

6.6 The communications officer shall preside at the meetings of the Senate in the absence of the chair, vice chair, and operations officer. The communications officer shall prepare all ballots, keep all records of the Senate, and shall prepare and distribute all minutes and materials for Senate elections and for referenda of the faculty. The communications officer shall record the results of all such elections and referenda.

6.7 The treasurer shall be the receiving and disbursing agent for any and all funds under the control of the Faculty Senate. The treasurer will keep appropriate records, report on these matters upon request of the chairperson, and prepare a proposed budget at the end of each academic year for the following year. At the end of the term of office, the treasurer will submit to the Senate an annual report of receipts and disbursements together with a statement of assets and liabilities and hand over all financial records to the newly elected treasurer for the next academic year.

6.8 The immediate past chair of the Faculty Senate all serve as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Nominations Committee.

7.1 The president or the provost may address the Senate at any senate meeting and present such reports and information as may concern the faculty.

7.2 The Senate shall meet at least once monthly during the academic year. The chair, in consultation with the executive committee, may call other or alternate meetings as deemed necessary. A quorum of the Senate shall consist of a majority of its members. An action of the Senate is approved only if passed by a majority of its members present and voting. Meetings shall otherwise be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order (latest edition).

7.3 Meetings of the Senate shall be open to the faculty, members of the administration, students, staff, and interested members of the public. Agendas and minutes of such meetings shall be distributed to all members of the Faculty Assembly (see Article XI, below) and made available to the entire university community.

7.4 In the areas in which the faculty has primary responsibility to formulate or amend academic policies and practices, the actions of the Faculty Senate shall require the approval of the provost and the concurrence of the president. The chair shall transmit to the provost all such actions within ten working days of its passage.

8.1 The executive committee shall be composed of the officers of the Senate (chair, vice chair, operations officer, communications officer, and treasurer).

8.2 The executive committee shall be responsible for preparing the agenda of the Senate in consultation with the chairs of the standing committees of the Senate. It shall also be the committee of reference for the establishment of new academic-related university committees, task forces, and ad hoc committees and shall forward such matters to the appropriate Senate committee or committees. The executive committee shall further be responsible for the coordination of the proposals and actions of the Senate's various standing and ad hoc committees. It shall forward the recommendations of these committees to the Faculty Senate for approval, and shall serve as an information clearing house for the constituent collegial faculties. The actions of the executive committee shall not limit the ability of the administration to establish other committees and task forces to address university affairs; however, the executive committee shall normally be consulted as these groups are established.

8.3 The executive committee shall include in the agenda for Senate meetings any recommendations or resolutions within the purview of the Faculty Senate submitted by (1) the standing committees and other committees of the Senate; (2) ten percent of the voting members of the faculty; (3) the various collegial assemblies; (4) the duly constituted governance bodies of the university; and (5) the administrative officers of the university. The executive committee may, at its discretion, invite formal or informal presentation of such recommendations or resolutions prior to the establishment of the Senate agenda. All matters coming before the Senate shall normally be reviewed by a standing committee or ad hoc committee of the Senate prior to their placement on the Senate agenda.

8.4 The executive committee shall not alter proposals or presentations forwarded for Senate action without the authorization and consent of the originating bodies. The executive committee may, however, transmit to the Senate such proposals and presentations with a positive or negative recommendation, or with an alternate proposal.

9.1 All committees of the Faculty Senate, unless otherwise specified, shall be established by the Senate, and committee membership shall be ratified by the Senate. The chair of the Senate shall appoint a chair pro tem for each committee, whose function shall be to convene the committee's first meeting. The committee shall then elect a chair from among its collegiate representatives and at-large members elected by the Senate. In the event that the committee chair cannot fulfill their duties, the representative appointed by that chair shall be selected from the collegiate representatives and at-large members.  The chair shall communicate their selection to the chair of the Faculty Senate.

9.2 The annual cycle of charges to and proceedings of the standing committees shall be conducted as described below.

9.2.1 The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate shall solicit proposed charges.  Charges may be proposed by faculty, staff, administrators, and students.

9.2.2 From the collection of proposed charges, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate shall select charges for consideration by the Faculty Senate.  The Executive Committee shall consider each policy's review history in its selection process, and any charge that includes a possible revision of a policy in advance of its normally-scheduled review (B05.IV.C) shall be accompanied by a compelling justification.

9.2.3 The Faculty Senate shall approve at least one charge for each standing committee, and said charges shall be disseminated to the standing committees by the Executive Committee.  A standing committee may consider additional matters within its purview.

9.2.4 Each standing committee shall submit a report to the Faculty Senate that includes recommendations regarding its charges from the Faculty Senate.  It is acceptable to recommend the continuation of a policy without a change, in which case the Faculty Senate shall vote whether to endorse the recommendation.  

9.2.5 The Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate will record and date all policy-related actions taken by the Faculty Senate, including endorsed recommendations to continue policy without change.

9.3 Elections to all standing committees of the Faculty Senate except the Inter-College Curriculum Committee (ICC), Graduate Council (GC), and the Global Education Committee (GLEC) shall be for a period of two academic years, except that at the first election one-half of the collegial representatives to each standing committee shall be elected for one year and one-half for two years, so that there will be a turnover of 50% of the standing committee members each year.

9.3.1 Collegial representatives to the ICC, GC, and GLEC shall be elected for a term of three years, with an annual turnover of 33% of the members of the committee.

9.3.2 Committee members from a given constituent group shall not be elected or appointed for more than two complete consecutive terms on a given committee and shall not serve more than five consecutive years for a 2- year term or seven consecutive years for a 3-year term.  Term-limited committee members may only seek re-election as committee members during or after the second academic year following the academic year of completion of their second consecutive term.

9.3.3 All elections shall be conducted by formal ballot.

9.3.4 As circumstances may require, the Senate may add to or alter the composition of any committee, except the ICC Committee or Graduate Council, in order to assist it in the accomplishment of its charge. To assist with the accomplishment of its charge, the ICC shall request the Senate to conduct college elections for members of a sub-committee(s) as needed; however, the membership of the subcommittees shall reflect the composition of college representation on the ICC.

9.4 The authority of the Senate to appoint the committees shall not be construed to circumscribe the appropriate authority of the president, provost, and the vice presidents to appoint such committees, whether of the faculty, the administration, or jointly of both, as they shall deem necessary to the administration of the university. The president, provost, and the vice presidents shall consult with the Senate in the formation of such committees and shall receive such nominations of members from the Faculty Senate or from the executive committee acting on behalf of the Senate.

The following standing committees of the Faculty Senate are hereby established. The responsibilities of each committee, as listed below, are illustrative not exhaustive. Voting membership on some of these committees may, in view of the respective purviews of the committees, appropriately include a vice president, dean, staff member, student, and/or other faculty member as selected by the Senate as at-large members. The standing committees shall report directly to the Faculty Senate, and shall otherwise serve as directed by the Senate.

10.1 The Academic Affairs Committee (AAC).  The Academic Affairs Committee shall be the educational policy committee of the Senate and shall formulate and review all matters related to educational policies and procedures, with the exception of policies that are in the purview of the ICC and Graduate Council. The committee shall also serve as liaison with appropriate administrators and administrative bodies of the university. The Academic Affairs Committee shall consist of the following: one faculty member per college, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; three members at large elected by the Faculty Senate; and the provost or their delegate (ex officio, voting).

10.2 Committee on Academic Support and Student Affairs (ASSA). The Committee on Academic Support and Student Affairs shall have the responsibility to monitor and review the aspects of the university that support education and teaching. Examples of areas of academic support include the following:  academic services; computer services; cultural programs; and museum and library services of the university. The committee shall also be responsible for policy recommendations relating to the academic aspects of student life and to review questions and policies related to the quality of student life.  Faculty members from the committee shall also serve as liaison for the Senate with appropriate administrative officers, committees, and councils of the university, and, when appropriate, shall act in conjunction with the Academic Affairs Committee in the formulation of policies and proposals to be submitted to the Faculty Senate. The committee shall consist of the following: one faculty member per college, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; three members at large elected by the Faculty Senate; four student representatives, including the president of Student Government or their delegate (ex-officio, voting); the provost or their delegate (ex-officio, voting) and the vice president for Student Affairs or their delegate (ex-officio, voting).

10.3 Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion shall be responsible for reviewing and, where needed, making policy recommendations concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially regarding the importance of such policies for academic affairs; it shall serve as a clearing house and sponsor for recommendations that can enhance RIT’s success at addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels; it shall consider ways in which Faculty Senate’s other standing committees, especially its curricular bodies, can more successfully include and implement diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; it shall work closely with the division of Diversity and Inclusion to foster a coordinated and collaborative connection between the work of that division and the work and support of academic governance. The committee shall consist of one faculty member per college, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; one representative (and one alternate) from Student Government (non-voting); one representative from Staff Council (non-voting); the NTID Director of Diversity and Inclusion or their delegate (ex-officio, non-voting); and the RIT Vice President & Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion or their delegate (ex-officio, non-voting); the Director of AdvanceRIT or their delegate (ex-officio, non-voting) and an at-large representative of the Senate.

10.4 The Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC). The Faculty Affairs Committee shall be responsible for policy recommendations concerning faculty tenure, rank, welfare, leave, and professional conduct and shall review all policies and procedures concerning the extended part-time and adjunct faculty of the university.  The committee will also oversee the needs related to the professional development of quality teaching and serve to foster collegiality and mentorship among faculty. The Faculty Affairs Committee shall consist of the following: one faculty member per college, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; one dean elected by the Deans Council; three members at large elected by the Faculty Senate; and the provost or their delegate (ex-officio, voting).

10.5 Global Education Committee (GLEC). The Global Education Committee will serve as the university level liaison between the Rochester campus and global RIT locations and will advise Senate on governance issues as they affect RIT global locations.  The committee will also work with relevant administrative entities to facilitate and encourage international activities by RIT faculty and students, including research and study abroad.  The committee shall consist of one faculty member per college, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; one faculty member from each global campus, elected by their local faculty; the associate provost of International Education and Global Programs (non-voting).  Elected members will serve three-year terms, with at most two consecutive terms.

10.6 Graduate Council (GC). Graduate work at the university shall be governed by the Graduate Council of the Faculty Senate. The primary function of the Graduate Council, along with the academic deans, shall be to promote the development and maintenance of high quality educational programs at the graduate level at RIT and to see that the policies and procedures of the university as they relate to graduate programs are carried out effectively. The Graduate Council shall study graduate curricular proposals from a university-wide perspective, maintain appropriate intercollege relationships with regard to curriculum, define the essential character of graduate study at the university, and continuously review existing graduate programs. The Graduate Council shall consist of the following representatives: one faculty member per college or degree-granting unit not residing within a college which offers a graduate program, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; three members at large elected by the Faculty Senate and who are members of a college offering a graduate program; the associate provost and dean of Graduate Education (ex-officio, voting); the provost or their delegate (ex-officio, voting); and a graduate senator from Student Government serving as a graduate student representative. Each college representative shall be a voting member of the curriculum committee or committees of that college. The graduate student representative shall serve for a term of no longer than one year.

10.7 Inter-College Curriculum Committee (ICC). The Inter-College Curriculum Committee (ICC) shall have the following responsibilities: study undergraduate curricular proposals from a university-wide perspective;  maintain appropriate inter-college relationships with regards to courses and curriculum; assure that existing undergraduate program curricula and any university-wide curricular requirements e.g. general education (liberal arts and sciences) and writing curricula are periodically reviewed; and  make proposals to the Faculty Senate for undergraduate curriculum approval or discontinuance. The ICC shall call upon the Senate to initiate college elections to fill positions on subcommittees it may form to oversee general education and university writing. The college representation on the General Education or University Writing subcommittees shall reflect the college representation on the ICC. The College representation on the Honors Curriculum Committee shall be either appointed or elected by the voting faculty of the college according to college policy. The membership of the ICC shall consist of the following: one faculty member per college which offers an undergraduate degree program, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; one representative elected at large by the Faculty Senate and who is a member of a college offering an undergraduate program; one representative from the academic deans or designee; one representative from Student Government; and the provost or their delegate (ex-officio, voting).The membership of the subcommittee for General Education (GEC) shall include representation from the same units as ICC and will also include the director of the Office of Educational Effectiveness Assessment, Academic Affairs or designee (ex-officio, non-voting). The membership of the sub-committee for University Writing (UWC) shall include representation from the same units as ICC and will also include the First-Year Writing Coordinator, the University Writing Program director, one representative from the Academic Success Center, and one representative from the English Language Center. The membership of the sub-committee for the Honors Program Curriculum (HCC) shall include the following: one faculty member from each college, one representative from the academic deans or designee; the provost or designee; the director of the Honors Program. The chairs of GEC and UWC, or their designee, shall serve as an ex-officio non-voting member of the ICC. The chair of ICC, or designee, shall serve as an ex-officio non-voting member on each of the ICC subcommittees.

10.8 The Long Range Planning and Environment Committee (LRPEC). The Long Range Planning and Environment Committee shall prepare and review strategic planning initiatives of the university and review progress in achieving those goals. It shall take into consideration the sustainability and the physical state of the university as it influences the academic mission and include any deficiencies and proposed initiatives in a report to the Senate. The Long Range Planning and Environment Committee shall consist of one faculty member per college, each to be elected by their college; and three members at large elected by the Faculty Senate.

10.9 The Nominations Committee (NC). The Nominations Committee shall consist initially of all college representatives on the Faculty Senate who also serve on University Council for their college and the immediate past chair of the Faculty Senate (ex officio, non-voting). Any University Council representative seeking candidacy for election to the Senate's executive committee shall recuse themselves from the Nominations Committee. The remaining University Council representatives shall then designate four of their number to serve as the Nominations Committee with the immediate past chair of the Faculty Senate and elect its own chair. The committee shall be responsible for actively soliciting and receiving oral and/or written nominations for:

• the executive committee as noted in Article VI of this charter.

• open at-large positions on the Senate standing committees and the University Faculty Grievance Committee.

The election schedule will follow the dates provided in section 6.2 of this charter which will result in an election conducted at Faculty Senate by the end of week twelve of spring term.

10.10 Research and Scholarship Committee (RSC). The Research and Scholarship Committee shall formulate, monitor, and review policies and procedures pertaining to research operations and facilities, research regulation and compliance, and infrastructure in support of scholarly activities.  The committee shall also serve as liaison for the Senate with the vice president of Research and with other appropriate administrators and administrative policy bodies of the university.  The committee shall consist of one faculty member per college, each to be elected by their collegial faculty; three members at large elected by the Faculty Senate; one associate dean for Research (or equivalent) selected by the Deans Council; and the vice president for Research or their delegate (ex-officio, voting).

10.11 The Resource Allocation and Budget Committee (RABC). The Resource Allocation and Budget Committee shall be the faculty committee on all matters pertaining to university budget and finances. It shall also submit to the Faculty Senate for review and approval academic priorities related to external academic funding. The committee shall be responsible for presenting an analysis of the budget and other financial matters to the Senate for its review and the executive committee shall forward that review in writing, as adopted by the Senate, to the president and to the University Council. The committee shall serve as liaison for the Senate with the vice president for Finance and Administration and with other appropriate administrators and administrative policy bodies of the university. The committee shall consist of one tenured faculty member per college, each elected by their collegial faculty; three tenured faculty members at-large elected by the Faculty Senate; and the vice president for Finance and Administration or their delegate (ex-officio, voting).

10.11 Other Committees as Needed. The Faculty Senate may establish by a majority vote other standing committees or ad hoc committees as it deems necessary.

11.1 The chair of the Faculty Senate shall be one of the representatives from the Faculty Senate on the University Council. The senators and alternates from each college shall select one representative to University Council from among their members.

11.2 The Senate chair, or their designee, shall represent the Senate on Staff Council and Student Government.

The Faculty Assembly is the assembled body of the faculty. The president of the university is the presiding officer of the Assembly. The president shall preside at all meetings of the Faculty Assembly. In the absence of the president, the provost shall preside. The president shall plan and arrange the agenda for the Faculty Assembly meeting in collaboration with the Senate chair. The Assembly normally will be convened by the president at the beginning of the academic year to hear the president's report on the state of the university and plans for university development. The president shall also convene the Assembly on matters of university-wide concern at the request of the Senate, the executive committee acting in the Senate's behalf, or ten percent of the voting members of the faculty. At each meeting of the Assembly, the chair of the Senate shall give account to the Assembly of matters referred to the Senate. The meetings shall normally be open to all members of the RIT community.

13.1 All members of the faculty at the Rochester Institute of Technology are entitled to full freedom in their teaching, studies, creative activities, and research, and in the publication of the results of their research. Likewise, they are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects and material relating to them. It is expected that the aforementioned teaching will be aimed toward achieving the educational objectives agreed upon by the faculty, administration, and the board of trustees.

As teachers and persons of learning, the faculty are aware that the public may judge their profession and the university by their utterances. They shall, therefore, strive to be accurate and to exhibit appropriate professional conduct. They shall respect the views, opinions and sensibilities of others, give appropriate professional consideration to the body of belief held by their audience, and clearly indicate when they are not speaking on behalf of the university.

13.2 Academic due process means that all faculty evaluations shall be carried out according to the norms, criteria, and standards expressed in university policies, and that their application shall be substantive at each stage of the evaluation process.

Amendments to the Charter of Academic Governance shall require approval by the Senate and a two-thirds majority of the voting members of the faculty who cast a vote. Voting will be carried out by electronic or paper ballot. Concurrence of the president is also required.

No provisions herein shall, nor shall be deemed to, derogate from or supersede any rights, powers or duties of the board of trustees under the charter or by-laws of the university, it being understood that such rights, powers, and duties are expressly and fully reserved hereby.

Responsible Party:
Faculty Senate.  Inquiries can to be directed to fsenate@rit.edu.

Effective Date:
Approved November 15, 1995

Policy History:
Amended September 17, 1996
Edited February 4, 1997
Amended October 20, 1998
Amended October 2, 2000
Edited July 2001
Amended April 15, 2002
Edited March 2004
Amended November 4, 2004
Amended April 5, 2007
Amended January 7, 2010
Amended May 20, 2010
Edited August 2010
Amended by Academic Senate March 21, 2013, and approved by faculty April 22, 2013
Amended by Academic Senate and approved by faculty May 2019 to include:

• Section 5. Composition of the Faculty Senate, paragraph 5.4 to clarify terms of service
• Section 6. Officers of the Faculty Senate, paragraph 6.4 to clarify the role of the vice chair
• Section 9. Committees of the Faculty Senate, paragraph 9.1 to clarify election of chairs of subcommittees and the replacement of a chair in the event the chair cannot fulfill chair responsibilities
• Section 9. Committees of the Faculty Senate, paragraphs 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2 to add the Global Education Committee as a standing committee of the Senate and to clarify terms of service
• Section 10. Standing Committees of the Faculty Senate – editorial changes in the introductory paragraph  to eliminate reference to election of the chair, adding acronyms for the committees and gender-neutral language throughout the sections; adding section 10.4 – Global Education Committee, and adding section 10.9 – Research and Scholarship Committee.
   

Amended by Faculty Senate and approved by faculty April 29, 2021 to include:

• Change in name from Academic Senate to Faculty Senate and modify membership (see Article V.)
• Article II.2 - Added the School of Individualized Study as a "college."
• Article 10.3 - Added a standing committee - Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Article 10.7 - Clarified membership of subcommittees of the ICC
• Added Article XI - Representation on other Governance Groups

Amended by Faculty Senate and approved by faculty April 2022 to include:

• Article VI 6.4 - Revisions to role of the vice chair
• Article IX 9.2 - Revision of annual cycle of charges to and proceedings of the standing committees