Department membership shall be in accordance with the contract between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Massachusetts Society of Professors.
At all committee or department meetings, procedural questions not explicitly specified in these bylaws shall default to Robert’s Rules of Order.
Union Mandated
Not Union Mandated
If an Associate Chair position is authorized by the University Administration, a tenured member of the Department shall be appointed to this role each year by the Department Chair and confirmed by majority vote of the Department faculty.
The Undergraduate Coordinator shall be a tenured member of the Department, appointed each year by the Department Chair and confirmed by majority vote of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, of which s/he will then be a voting ex-officio member.
Each year the Department Chair will recommend to the Dean a tenured member of the Department to serve as Graduate Coordinator for a one-year term beginning July 1. Upon approval of the Dean, the Graduate Coordinator shall then be confirmed by a majority vote of the Graduate Committee, of which s/he will then be a voting ex-officio member.
All full-time members of the Department shall be eligible for any committee position from which they are not explicitly barred by provisions of the contract between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Massachusetts Society of Professors. Membership in the Personnel Committee shall be restricted to tenured members of the Department.
Eligible candidates may be nominated for a committee position either by the Nominating Committee or from the floor.
All committee members (except those of the Nominating Committee) shall serve for a period of two years. All committee members are allowed to succeed themselves. One-half the membership of each committee shall be elected each year except that committees with an odd number of members shall have floor (one-half-membership) and ceiling (one-half-membership) elected on alternate years.
Department members who go on leave of any type for the duration of one or more semesters shall be considered as having resigned from the committees of which they were members. If a committee member is unable to participate in committee activities at an appropriate level, the member may be asked to resign either by the committee chair after consultation with the Department Chair, or by the Department Chair in consultation with committee members. The nominating committee, where appropriate, shall submit nominees for the vacant positions at the earliest possible department meeting.
The Department Chair may be recalled from office in accordance with the contract between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Massachusetts Society of Professors. Program coordinators and elected committee members shall be recalled from office according to the same procedures, except that the Department Chair shall administer the recall process, and the Massachusetts Society of Professors shall not be automatically notified. The nominating committee, where appropriate, shall submit nominees for the vacant positions at the earliest possible department meeting.
All committee meetings, except for Personnel Committee meetings, shall be open to all interested faculty members. Only committee members shall have the power to vote and to continue or terminate discussion on any given topic.
All committees, except for the Personnel Committee, shall forward all appropriate recommendations to the Department to be discussed and voted upon at a regular meeting of the Department. Upon acceptance by majority vote, the committee recommendation shall be forwarded as final or proposed departmental rule (depending on the existence and scope of appropriate University bodies) and shall be appropriately published.
All standing committees of the Department, and the Department itself, shall keep minutes of their meetings and, with the exception of the Personnel Committee, shall publish such minutes in a timely fashion. Agendas of upcoming meetings shall be published in a timely fashion prior to the meetings.
This committee shall have the responsibility to match interests and abilities to committee work. In particular, it will act as a facilitator to avoid both faculty overcommitment to administrative activities and undercommitment. It will not nominate candidates for Personnel Committee membership.
It will meet early enough during the Fall Semester to have appropriate slates of candidates ready for departmental consideration by the first Fall department meeting. These slates will cover both full committees and replacements for members that have resigned a committee position.
Membership: Five members.
Turnover: Every year, nominated from the floor and elected at a department meeting during the last month of the Spring semester.
Chair: Elected from within.
This committee shall have the responsibility to manage the departmental resources and to maintain contact with the relevant university resources (computing center, library, publications, equipment, public relations, etc.). It can appoint or recommend the formation of more specialized subcommittees to deal with special topics. Since occasional decisions may be required that would not allow for the normal departmental process to take its course, any committee recommendation that needs to be carried out before the next regularly scheduled department meeting shall be broadcast to the Department for comment and response at least forty-eight hours before being acted upon. The action shall not be taken if a majority of the Department responds negatively.
Membership: At least six members.
Chair: Elected from within.
This committee will exercise responsibility for the course content and coordination of undergraduate instructional activities.
Membership: Five elected members plus the Undergraduate Coordinator.
Chair: Elected from within.
This committee will exercise responsibility for graduate course content, coordination and supervision of graduate instructional and thesis activities, admission and retention policies, and the administration of Teaching Assistantships. It will further fulfill all those duties specifically entrusted to it by the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Lowell as specified in the most current Graduate Bulletin.
Membership: Five elected members plus the Graduate Coordinator.
Chair: Elected from within.
The make-up and duties of this committee shall be as specified in the contract between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Massachusetts Society of Professors.
These by-laws can be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of the full-time members of the Department at a meeting called not earlier than two weeks following the introduction of the amendment.