Constitution of the Senate of the Faculty
ARTICLE I: TITLE
This organization shall be entitled “The Senate of the Faculty of the University of Mississippi.”
ARTICLE II: PURPOSE
The Senate of the Faculty shall be empowered to make recommendations to the Chancellor and Academic Council on policies affecting the University and to advise on such matters as the Chancellor shall lay before it. It shall also keep the General Faculty fully informed of its recommendations. The Chair of the Senate of the Faculty, or a representative, shall represent the Faculty as a voting member of the Academic Council. The Chair and other members of the Senate as directed by the Senate shall be among the representatives of the Faculty at meetings of any administrative council or other such body established, or to be established, by the Chancellor to act as advisor in administering the affairs of the University. The Senate of the Faculty shall recommend the membership of Standing University Committees to the Chancellor.
ARTICLE III: ORGANIZATION
Section 1.
The Senate of the Faculty membership shall be limited to faculty who qualify as Eligible Faculty. Eligible Faculty as used in this Constitution shall mean budget-listed, full-time, tenured or tenure-track employees of the University of Mississippi (Oxford campus) who hold the rank of Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor, except for assistant or associate deans, deans, the Library Director, vice chancellors, the Chancellor, or those holding other administrative positions outside of the academic departments or the libraries.
Section 2.
The membership quota of the Senate of the Faculty shall consist of a minimum of one senator elected by each of the Departments in the College of Liberal Arts, the School of Accountancy, the School of Applied Sciences, the School of Business Administration, the School of Education, the School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Pharmacy, the School of Journalism and New Media and the faculty of the University Libraries. To account for significant variation in size of departments, additional Senate seats will be allocated based on deviations from the mean size of all departments.
Departments that are larger than or equal to one standard deviation from this mean will receive one extra senate seat; departments that are larger than or equal to two standard deviations from this mean will receive two extra senate seats.
Section 3.
The term of office for senators shall be one year. At any given election, a senator who has served in the four previous consecutive terms or portions thereof shall be ineligible. The immediate past Chair will serve as an ex-officio voting member of the Senate during the
following legislative year, independent of the number of previous consecutive terms served. Any senator who has been absent for a total of four meetings during a legislative year (August through August) shall be removed from the Senate.
Section 4.
If a senator becomes ineligible to serve in the Senate, the term of that senator shall be filled by a candidate elected from the same Department. The alternate will be assigned to the same Senate committees as the senator that is being replaced.
Section 5.
The organizational meeting of the new Senate shall be called by the Chair of the previous year during the month of August following completion of the election, at which meeting the Senate shall elect a Chair, a Vice Chair, and a Secretary. The immediate past chair may be eligible for an elected office during the year following incumbency. No officer who has served in that office for the four previous consecutive terms or portions thereof shall be eligible for reelection to that office.
Chair.
The Chair’s term shall be one year.
Past Chair.
The outgoing Chair shall be the Past Chair. In the event of a vacancy in the Past Chair position, the most recent Past Chair willing to serve shall assume that office.
Vice Chair.
The Vice Chair’s term shall be one year.
Secretary.
The Secretary’s term shall be one year.
The officers of the Senate shall be the Chair, the Vice Chair, the Secretary, and the immediate Past Chair. These officers along with the elected Chairs of the following five standing committees: General Academic Affairs, Academic Support Affairs, Finance, University Services, and Faculty Governance of Academic Policy shall serve as the executive Committee of the Senate. Election of the Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary shall be by ballot of the entire Senate. Each Senate standing committee shall elect its own chair. Senate committee membership shall be determined by the aforementioned four Senate officers, but continuing Senate members shall retain their previous committee membership if they so desire.
Section 6.
The Senate of the Faculty shall be considered a continuing body, and the Senate of the Faculty shall have the authority to create standing committees to make continuing studies of significant issues.
Section 7.
The regular meetings of the Senate of the Faculty shall be held as provided in the bylaws. An extraordinary meeting of the Senate of the Faculty shall be called by the Chair under either of the following conditions:
- Upon majority vote of the officers of the Senate of the Faculty.
- Upon written petition to the Chair by five members of the Senate of the Faculty.
When an extraordinary meeting is indicated by either of the methods above, the Chair must issue, within twenty-four hours, a notice of the meeting including the time and place; the meeting must be held between twenty-four and seventy-two hours (Sundays excepted) from the time at which the notice is issued; extraordinary meetings shall not be called during scheduled University vacation periods; the purpose of the meeting must be stated in the notice issued by the Chair.
Section 8.
The Senate of the Faculty shall abide by Robert’s Rules of Order in conducting its business.
Section 9.
A quorum shall be defined by the bylaws of the Senate.
Section 10.
Agenda procedures shall be defined by the bylaws of the Senate.
ARTICLE IV: AMENDMENTS
This Constitution may be amended by a majority of those voting at a meeting of the Faculty. Amendments may be submitted by vote of the Senate of the Faculty or by petition of any ten faculty members of professorial rank, and they must be circulated to the faculty at least seven-ten days in advance of the meeting at which they are to be considered.
MOTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL FACULTY, JANUARY1971
Recommendations of the Senate of the Faculty which are intended to be brought before the general faculty shall be automatically presented to the general faculty at the first general faculty meeting after such recommendations are made.
Amended: May 1989, August 1990, August 1995, May 2000, April 2001, November
2002, October 2004, November 2007, November 2009