CNSM Constitution
Last revised: February 23, 2024
This constitution specifies the rules by which the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics shall operate in conformity to university policy and the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Article I - The Voting Faculty of the College
Section 1.100 Name and Membership
1.101 The name of this body shall be the Faculty of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, henceforth referred to as the Faculty of the College.
1.102 Membership in this body shall comprise all those who hold tenured/probationary appointments, except as noted in Section 1.104, in any of the departments of the college with the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, professor, lecturers with three year appointments who have at least 50% teaching assignment during the semester in question, and such others as the members shall, by majority vote, admit to membership.
1.103 Membership in this body shall not lapse because of leave of absence or administrative assignment.
1.104 Participants in the Faculty Early Retirement Program and in the Preretirement Reduction in Time Base Program shall have full voting rights only in the semester(s) of employment.
1.105 Membership in the Faculty of the College as described in this document does not automatically grant individuals voting membership within departments in the college; departmental constitutions and bylaws describe those membership and voting policies.
Section 1.200 Officers of the Faculty of the College for the Purpose of Meetings of the Faculty of the College
1.201 The Richard D. Green Dean of the college shall be the presiding officer of the faculty.
1.202 The other officers shall include, but shall not be restricted to, a vice-chair, who is the chair of the College Council, and a secretary, who is the secretary of the College Council, none of whom shall hold simultaneous administrative appointments in the college as Richard D. Green Dean, associate dean, or department chair.
Section 1.300 Powers of the Faculty of the College
1.301 The Faculty of the College shall take no action that abridges the autonomy of any department.
1.302 The Faculty of the College may present to the Academic Senate, vice presidents, or the president of the university, all matters regarded as of general concern to the welfare of the college or of the university, after notifying the Richard D. Green Dean.
1.303 The Faculty of the College shall establish committees and define their duties.
1.304 The Faculty of the College shall meet at the call of the Richard D. Green Dean, the Council, or at the written request of at least ten percent of the Faculty of the College to the Richard D. Green Dean. Twenty-five percent of the Faculty of the College shall constitute a quorum for college meetings, except for the meeting called to receive additional nominations from the floor for college or university-wide committees (Section 3.112), for which no quorum is required.
Article II - The Office of the Richard D. Green Dean of the College
Section 2.100 The office of the Richard D. Green Dean shall consist of the Richard D. Green Dean and associate deans, each of whom shall hold retreat rights in one of the academic departments of the college. The Richard D. Green Dean and associate deans shall serve at the pleasure of the President (or designee).
2.101 The Richard D. Green Dean is the chief administrative officer of the college. The Richard D. Green Dean's legal authority for meeting responsibilities of the office shall be that delegated by the president of the university.
2.102 The Richard D. Green Dean shall be responsible for developing and maintaining an academic and administrative environment conducive to the achievement of the highest standards of student scholarship and the professional growth of the faculty.
2.103 The Richard D. Green Dean shall represent the college in the council of deans and shall advise the office of the provost of the university concerning the interests of the college.
2.104 The Richard D. Green Dean may establish advisory groups.
2.105 The Richard D. Green Dean shall appoint a replacement, with the advice of the College Council, to fill any vacancy on an elected committee if an alternate is not available. The appointed person shall serve until an election can be held.
2.106 The Richard D. Green Dean shall facilitate communication among the college representatives on the É«ÖÐÉ« Academic Senate, college representatives on the university councils, and members of the College Council, by providing assistance with such activities as arrangements for caucuses or other such meetings as may be deemed useful.
Article III - Natural Sciences and Mathematics College Council
Section 3.100 This council shall be the elected representative body when the Faculty of the College is not meeting.
3.101 Each of the separate departments shall elect at least one council member from among its tenured and probationary faculty members who have served at least four years at É«ÖÐÉ« and who are not currently serving as department chair. The departmental election of council members shall be by secret ballot. Each department shall be entitled to at least one council member and shall elect an alternate to serve in the absence of an elected representative. Those departments with at least 27 tenured and probationary faculty members shall elect two council members and alternates. The election shall be held in the spring semester for the council term beginning the following fall semester.
3.102 Members of the council shall be elected to two-year terms.
3.103 The council will coordinate elections of individuals so that council members shall serve staggered two-year terms.
3.104 Any department, by secret ballot, may recall its representative(s) on the council for cause. Two-thirds of the eligible voters of the department must vote in favor of recall.
3.105 The Richard D. Green Dean of the college or designee shall be a voting member of the council.
3.106 The council shall elect its own chair and secretary and other officers as deemed necessary from among its elected representatives. These officers shall constitute the Rules Committee which will be responsible for formulating the agenda for council and college meetings.
3.107 The council shall determine the time and place of its meetings and shall make available the agenda and the approved minutes of its meetings to the Faculty of the College.
3.108 The council may request from the office of the Richard D. Green Dean any materials relevant to a matter before the council.
3.109 The council may establish such special committees as are necessary for the operation of the college.
3.110 The council shall serve as the nominating committee for elected college representatives to university committees, councils and the Academic Senate. Additional nominations may be made from the floor at a meeting of the Faculty of the College called for that purpose.
3.111 The chair of the council shall appoint convening chairs for all elected college committees.
3.112 At the last meeting of the academic year, the council for the next year shall elect its chair and secretary for the next academic year.
Article IV - CNSM Council of Department Chairs (CDC)
Section 4.100 The CNSM Council of Department Chairs shall consist of the chair of each department and the Richard D. Green Dean of the college.
4.101 The Richard D. Green Dean shall chair the council. The associate deans shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the council.
4.102 The council shall have primary responsibility for coordination of matters between departments of the college and the office of the Richard D. Green Dean.
4.103 The meetings of the council shall be open to all members of the Faculty of the College. Minutes of the meetings shall be distributed to the faculty of the College.
4.104 The CNSM Council of Department Chairs shall act on all budgetary matters of the college and shall function in accord to the budget procedure defined in Section 4.105.
4.105 The CNSM Council of Department Chairs shall establish guidelines for allocation of funds, subject to approval by the Richard D. Green Dean.
4.106 Budget guidelines and final allocations of all resources approved by the Richard D. Green Dean shall be distributed to the department chairs and other budget-reporting units.
Article V - Standing Committees of the College
Section 5.100 There shall be at least the following standing committees:
- Curriculum
- Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion
- Professional Leave
- Grade Appeals
- Proposal Review
- Awards
5.101 These committees shall work in accord with college, university, and system policies. The college policies and procedures for these committees, and others created by the college, are described in the CNSM Bylaws.
Article VI - Voting and Election Procedures
Section 6.100 The following procedures shall govern all college-level votes or elections except amendments to the constitution.
6.101 The College Council shall oversee the preparation of ballots, their distribution to the Faculty of the College, and certify votes or elections.
6.102 The ballots shall list the nominees in no particular order with departmental designation.
6.103 At least five (5) instructional days shall elapse between the time the ballot is issued and the deadline for its return.
6.104 The candidate receiving the most votes cast in an election is the winner. If multiple winners (say N) are needed, then the candidates receiving the top N number of votes are selected. If there is a tie between candidates, then a run-off ballot is required.
6.105 In the event that a run-off ballot is required, the run-off will be between the tied candidates for the remaining positions. If the resulting run-off ballot would contain the same names as the previous ballot, then ties are broken by drawing lots.
6.106 In the case of an election where members are to be elected for varying terms of office, the person(s) getting the higher number of votes shall be declared elected for the longer term(s).
6.107 If there is a tie vote among the elected members, the decision for a longer term will be made by drawing lots.
6.108 Each department shall elect an alternate member to serve in the absence of a regular member on the College Council. The alternate shall be the runner-up in the election of a regular member. The alternate for each university council and the academic senate shall be the runner-up for that position in the most recent college election. If the vacancy is temporary, the alternate shall serve until the elected member is able to resume her/his position. If the vacancy is permanent, the alternate shall serve until the next regular college election. (See Section 2.105 for procedures if no alternate is available.)
6.109 All ballots will be retained by the college office for 30 instructional days.
6.110 Any challenge to the outcome of a vote must be lodged with the council chair within ten instructional days after the publication of the results.
Article VII - Changes to Existing College Policy
Section 7.100 Proposals for new college policy and amendments to existing college policy, other than the RTP policy and the Constitution, may be proposed by the Richard D. Green Dean, College Council, any faculty committee, or any member of the Faculty of the College.
7.101 All such proposals shall be deliberated first by the College Council, which may refer any proposal to an appropriate committee. The recommendation of the council will be forwarded to the Richard D. Green Dean for action.
7.102 The Richard D. Green Dean may implement the recommendation or return the proposal to the College Council for further consideration.
7.103 If the action of the College Council or the Richard D. Green Dean is deemed unsatisfactory by the proposer, proposals to amend an existing college policy or to create a new college policy may be brought directly to the Faculty of the College by petition provided the petition is signed and dated by 10% of the Faculty of the College as defined in Section 1.100 and is completed and delivered to the Richard D. Green Dean within the academic year in which it was started.
7.104 When such a petition is presented to the Richard D. Green Dean, the Richard D. Green Dean or the dean’s designee shall call a meeting of the Faculty of the College for the purpose of discussing the proposal. The faculty meeting shall be held within ten working days of the receipt of the petition. The proposal shall be distributed to the Faculty of the College at least five working days prior to the meeting.
7.105 Upon the recommendation of the members of the Faculty of the College present at a meeting at which a quorum is present and within ten working days of the conclusion of said meeting a ballot shall be issued on the proposal. Faculty members shall be given the opportunity to submit written ballot arguments before issuance of the ballot. The ballot shall be accompanied by a full statement of the proposal and the ballot arguments, if any.
7.106 Processing of the petition and voting may proceed into the subsequent academic year, if necessary.
7.107 The proposal shall become college policy if it receives a favorable vote of two-thirds of the votes cast and shall be effective immediately unless another effective date is explicitly stated within the ballot.
Article VIII - Curriculum Development Process
Section 8.100 All curriculum proposals, changes in present offerings, new courses, and new interdisciplinary programs shall originate with the departments involved or the college as appropriate.
8.101 Curriculum proposals must be prepared using the format developed by the university.
8.102 Departments shall forward curriculum proposals to the CNSM Curriculum Committee.
8.103 The CNSM Curriculum Committee shall review and approve or disapprove curriculum proposals.
8.104 The associate dean responsible for curriculum shall forward approved curriculum proposals to the appropriate university office.
Article IV - Amendment and Interpretation of this Document
Section 9.100 The College Council shall have the authority to propose amendments to this document.
9.101 Amendments may also be proposed by a petition of 10% of the Faculty of the College presented to the chair of the College Council.
9.102 All amendments proposed under Section 8.100 or 8.101 shall be distributed in writing to the Faculty of the College at least ten instructional days prior to a meeting of the Faculty of the College called for the discussion of these amendments.
9.103 Any amendment proposed under Sections 8.100 or 8.101 may be amended at the meeting of the Faculty of the College at which the initial discussion of the amendment is held, provided that such an amendment to the originally proposed amendment is in writing and copies are distributed to the Faculty of the College at least five instructional days prior to the meeting.
9.104 All amendments to this constitution in their final form as approved at the meeting by majority vote shall be submitted to the Faculty of the College for approval by secret ballot.
9.105 An amendment to this document shall become effective when it has received two-thirds affirmative votes cast by the Faculty of the College by secret ballot, is found to conform to university policy and the collective bargaining agreement, and is approved by the Richard D. Green Dean and provost.
9.106 Questions regarding the interpretation of this document and its appendices shall be resolved by the College Council subject to approval by the Richard D. Green Dean.
Constitution History
- February 21, 1978: Original document approved by the School of Natural Sciences Faculty.
- April 29, 1981: Amendments to the original document approved by vote of the Faculty of the School of Natural Sciences.
- December 17, 1993: Amended by vote of the Faculty of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- October 16, 1995: Amended by vote of the Faculty of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- November 5, 1997: Article V, Section 5.031 revised by vote of the Faculty of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- February 19, 2004: Comprehensive revision approved by vote of the Faculty of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- March 14, 2012: Comprehensive revision approved by vote of the Faculty of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- September 28 2012: Editorial changes approved by the College Council.
- May 12, 2020: Article V, Section 5.201 revised by vote of the Faculty of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- February 23, 2024: Comprehensive revision approved by vote of the Faculty of the College Natural Sciences and Mathematics to: separate the CNSM Constitution into two documents, CNSM Constitution and CNSM Bylaws; amend Section 1.102 to include qualified lecturers as members in the voting faculty; eliminate the Elections Committee (rendered obsolete by electronic voting); assign College Council responsibility for the former Elections Committee duty of vote and election certification; add "Article VIII - Amendment and Interpretation of this Document" to the CNSM Bylaws; align text and paragraphs for consistency and accuracy in reading and interpreting.
