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COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL MEMBERS

2007-2008

Leadership Council

Faculty Council

Staff Council

Graduate Academic Affairs Committee

Faculty, Staff & Student Human Resources Committee

Promotion & Tenure & Posttenure Review Committee

Research Committee

Teacher Certification and Undergraduate Academic Affairs Committee

Note 1:  Some additional student members may be added to the committees.

Note 2:  The ex-officio is the convener of the first meeting.  Chairs to be elected at the first meeting.

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS

Leadership Council 

Rationale

The Leadership Council (LC) is a college-wide forum for collaborative dialogue among faculty, staff, and administrative leaders. It provides a means for shared governance leading to creative solutions to challenging issues. It also serves as a necessary clearinghouse for delegating issues to appropriate individuals and groups for further study and action.

While this body makes recommendations to the dean, the LC is not intended to supplant legitimate authority or responsibility delegated to the representative council members, but rather to enhance the quality of their decision-making.  

Purposes of the Leadership Council (LC)

The Leadership Council serves to:

  •   Provide a forum for the presentation of new proposals and initiatives;

  •   Recommend needed actions to the dean to improve informed decision-making as it relates to college teaching, research, service, development, public relations, technology use, diversity, day-to-day operations and the strategic plan;

             • Of these, the three primary considerations are:

          a. Will the recommendation improve teaching?

          b. Will the recommendation improve research?

          c. Will the recommendation advance our strategic plan?

Membership

Members to the council are appointed at the beginning of each year; however, the meetings are open to all faculty and staff. For the sake of representation and cohesion, each year representatives will formally be appointed, expected to attend and participate. Members are expected to be the voice and reflect the interest of the unit they represent. LC members will receive a letter to their personnel file documenting the quality of their service to the College.

Members include:

Administrative Assistant to the Dean, Recorder

Assessment Director

Assistant Dean for Resource Development

Associate Chair, C&I

Certification Officer

COE Staff Council Representative

Dean and Associate Deans

Department Chairs

Director of K-12 International Education Outreach

Director of Public Relations

Faculty Council Chair and Chair-elect

Finance Manager

Graduate Council Representative

NCATE Coordinator

Program Coordinators

Special Assistant to the President for Diversity

Staff Council Chair

Standing Committee Chairs

Technology Representative

TTU Faculty Senate Representative

TTU Staff Senate Representative

Others as suggested

Meetings

Meetings are generally held once a month with dates and times determined at the beginning of each semester. Additional meetings may be called as needed. The Administrative Assistant to the Dean will be the recorder and responsible for dissemination and repository of minutes.

Procedures

Faculty Council

The Faculty Council is a nine-member elected body of the faculty.  Eight of the members are tenure-track faculty including:  a chair, a chair-elect, and three faculty members from each of the two departments in the College.  The final faculty member is elected from the non-tenure track faculty for a one-year term of appointment.  The chair elect is elected by the voting members of the faculty in their respective department for a two-year term, one as chair-elect and the other as chair.  The position of chair-elect will rotate each year between departments.  If the Chair-elect position is vacated, then someone from the same department to which the former chair-elect is/was assigned will fill the position.  If the Chair position is vacated, then that position will be filled by the current Chair-elect and, in turn, a new Chair-elect will be selected from among the faculty in the former Chair's department.  Department representatives are elected by the voting members of their respective departments for staggered three-year terms.  The College's Faculty Senators elect a representative to serve as an ex-officio member, and all Faculty Senators receive notification of meetings and information distributed at meetings.  The Faculty Council usually meets once a month.  The chair and chair-elect attend monthly Leadership Council meetings.

The Faculty Council is a vehicle for faculty governance, the empowerment of faculty to recommend policy directly related to the conduct and quality of faculty life in the College of Education.  The Faculty Council facilitates processes by which faculty may be fully involved in deliberation and recommendation.

In response to faculty concerns or requests from the Dean and Leadership Council, the Faculty Council:

Staff Council

The Staff Council is made up of six voting staff members, a chair, a chair-elect, a secretary and three staff members, with each member being a representative from one of the six areas of service:  the Departments, Administration, Centers and Institutes, Certification, Community Liaison, and Technology/Resources.  If an area cannot be represented, the COE staff will elect a member at large from the entire staff.  The COE staff elects each member for a staggered two-year term.  The Staff Council chair is a member of the COE Leadership Council.  A Staff Council officer will serve on the COE Human Resources Committee.

The Staff Council is a vehicle to promote programs, policies and activities that validate the importance of the College of Education staff and promote teamwork.  With the support of the Dean and the Leadership Council, the Staff Council's purpose is to:

In response to staff concerns or requests from the Dean and the Leadership Council, the Staff Council:

Procedures for COE Standing Committees

During May or June, faculty members are requested to identify committee assignments of interest and submit this information to the Chair of the Faculty Council.  The Faculty Council considers all submissions and appoints faculty to membership on committees in early August.  Membership is for three-year terms and begins on the first day faculty are back on duty in the Fall semester.  Appointments for vacated positions are sought within one month after the vacancy occurs. Faculty appointed to the vacated position, take membership immediately and serve out the term of the original position.

Each standing committee includes three representatives from each department, ex-officio member(s), COE student representatives, and other members as appropriate.  Terms are staggered to allow for a rotation in membership.  Each newly empanelled committee holds its initial meeting within ten days after the beginning of the Fall semester.  Administrators are not eligible for standing committees, but do serve in ex-officio positions.

Unless otherwise specified, the chairperson of the committee is elected by the committee and serves for one year in that role.  The chairperson sets the committee agenda, chairs meetings, reports committee actions to the faculty, provides minutes of each meeting to the Dean, and represents the committee to the Dean and Leadership Coucil in matters of mutual concern. 

All actions and decisions of College committees and College faculty are advisory to the Dean.  Recommendations from committees or general meetings of the faculty, including the Graduate Faculty, submitted to the Dean, are taken under advisement and careful deliberation is given before any actions or decisions are made.  Program faculty will be consulted first before any actions or decisions that directly affect the program(s) are made.  Minutes of College committees and faculty meetings are posted for the faculty.

COE Standing Committees include Graduate Academic Affairs, Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Research, and Faculty, Staff, and Student Human Resources.

Students Serving on Standing Committees of the College of Education

In an effort to promote representation of students on the Standing Committees of the College of Education, the following are proposed guidelines for choosing students for committee assignments.

Undergraduate Students : The College of Education student membership of Texas State Teachers Association –Student Program (TSTA-SP) will solicit a group of students who wish to serve on the standing committees. Then the student TSTA-SP membership will vote on those for each committee each year.

Graduate Students : The College of Education's Graduate Student Association will solicit a group of students who wish to be on the committees. Then the graduate students will vote on those for each committee each year.

Graduate Academic Affairs Committee

This committee is composed of three members of the faculty from each of the two academic departments with the Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Research and Administration serving as an ex officio member, and one graduate student member.  The committee has the responsibility of maintaining oversight of all matters related to the quality of graduate education, in both masters and doctoral programs and in advanced certification programs.  The committee shall recommend to the Dean policies and procedures necessary to strengthen all areas of graduate education.  Committee responsibilities include the following:

Teacher Certification and Undergraduate Academic Affairs Committee 

This committee is composed of three members from each of the two academic departments with the Associate Dean for Teacher Education serving as ex officio member, and one undergraduate student member.  The committee has the responsibility of maintaining oversight of all matters related to the quality of undergraduate educations, including certification, courses, and programs.  The committee shall recommend to the Dean policies and procedures necessary to strengthen all areas of undergraduate education. Committee responsibilities include the following: 

Faculty, Staff, and Student Human Resources Committee

This committee is composed of three faculty members from each of the two academic departments, a representative of the Staff Council, and two student members, with the Director of Public Relations and the Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Research, and Administration serving as ex-officio members.  Specific responsibilities of the committee include:

Research Committee

This committee is composed of three faculty members from each of the two academic departments with the Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Research and Administration serving as an ex-officio member, and one student member.  The Research Committee recommends policies and procedures necessary to strengthen all research endeavors in the College of Education including, but not limited to, the following:

Promotion and Tenure and Posttenure Review Committee

This committee is composed of six, tenured, faculty members holding the rank of associate or full.  In consultation with the department chairs, from the two academic departments, with the Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Research and Administration serving as an ex officio member, the committee reviews all applications for promotion and tenure within the College of Education and makes recommendations to the Dean. Efforts will be made to insure that the committee includes individuals who represent multiple diversity factors. 

The members of the P&T Committee will meet during the spring semester, elect a chair, establish the procedures governing their deliberations, and plan their activities for the coming year. All proceedings by this committee are strictly confidential in nature. All members of the committee will independently review the candidates' dossiers. Following the review, the committee will meet to deliberate and vote. After recording the vote, the Chair of the P&T Committee will give the marked, signed ballots to the Associate Dean, who will retain custody of the ballots.

Each year two of the members will rotate off the committee since all are in staggered three-year terms. The election of faculty members to the P&T Committee will occur on or before the third Monday in March, during the spring semester . The chair of the Faculty Council, or the chair's designate will ask the faculty to make nominations or self-nominations for the open P&T committee slots. These names will be reviewed and considered by both the Faculty Council and the college administrators (e.g., Dean, Associate Dean, two Department Chairs). They will complete a slate for the election with two persons per open slot unless this is not possible as in the case of a slot for a full professor with only one person eligible. After the election is held, the Dean and the Faculty Council Chair will count the votes and inform the faculty of the results by April 1 st .

The committee will act in accordance with written procedures as specified in the College of Education Handbook, as developed by the College in agreement with University policies as stated in OP 32.01.  This committee's responsibilities include: