GENERAL FACULTY STANDING COMMITTEES PRIMER

General Faculty Standing Committees: Faculty Council’s Participation

There are three types of General Faculty Standing Committees:

Type A: Faculty Affairs Committees

A-1: Committee of Counsel on Academic Freedom and Responsibility

A-2: Faculty Advisory Committee on Budgets

A-3: Faculty Committee on Committees

A-4: Faculty Grievance Committee

A-5: Faculty Welfare Committee

A-6: General Faculty Rules and Governance Committee

A-7: University of Texas Press Advisory Committee.

Type B: Student Services and Activities

B-1: Committee on Financial Aid to Students

B-2: Recreational Sports Committee

B-3: Student Life Committee

B-4: Student Athletes and Activities Committee

Type C: Institutional Policy or Governance

C-1: Admissions and Registration Committee

C-2: University Academic Calendar Committee

C-4: Educational Policy Committee

C-5: Faculty Building Advisory Committee

C-6: International Programs and Studies Committee

C-7: University of Texas Libraries Committee

C-8: Parking and Traffic Appeals Panel

C-9: Parking and Traffic Policies Committee

C-10: Recruitment and Retention Committee

C-11: Research Policy Committee

C-12: Responsibilities, Rights, and Welfare of Graduate Student Academic Employees Committee

C-13: Information Technology Committee

C-14: Technology-Enhanced Education Oversight Committee

General Information

Standing Committee service is extremely important for the life of the institution, since it is one of the principal means by which faculty influence the University’s policies and decisions. As appropriate, committees may initiate business themselves or may be charged by other relevant entities or the incoming Faculty Council chair to consider an issue. The president, Graduate Assembly, Deans Council, Student Government, Senate of College Councils, and Graduate Student Assembly may refer any matter to an appropriate committee or to a college or school faculty or administrator for consideration. Committees may at times call on other University entities (administrators, etc.) for input. Some committees may have staff and/or student representation as well as administrative advisors. Administrative advisers shall not have a vote unless otherwise indicated in the committee’s composition.

Descriptions of the Standing Committees of the General Faculty can be accessed from the main web page of the Office of the General Faculty and Faculty Council. Each standing committee’s web page lists its chair, vice chair, and chair elect, as well as all members of that committee, their terms of service, their titles, and their academic units.

The web page has individual email addresses (linked from the person’s name) and a group email list of all members. This list is updated whenever a change is reported to the Office of the General Faculty (OGF). It is therefore recommended to use that link for any communication with the committee. Any changes should be reported to OGF via email.

All committees have different functions and compositions.[1] The committee chairs should familiarize themselves with both and be aware of term limits, membership, etc. to ensure that all rules are followed. Committee functions and compositions can be found on each committee’s web page.

Terms of Service

Terms of service for voting faculty members on standing committees shall be three years,[2] commencing on the first class day of the fall semester; with one-third of the faculty appointed or elected each year. Faculty members are eligible for immediate reappointment or re-election to a new term, unless they have just served six or more consecutive years,² in which case they must be off the committee for at least one year before serving on that same committee again.

OGF coordinates the initial meeting of the academic year for all standing committees to be held at the beginning of the fall semester (usually the second Monday in September).[3] The committee chair may choose to arrange for a different time and place to meet, which should, however, be within three weeks of the statutory time set by OGF. At the first meeting, each committee will elect a chair (if one was not elected the previous academic year), a chair elect, or a vice chair.¹ If the committee opts for a vice chair, then the chair elect shall be elected in the spring semester, no later than the last Friday in February. Election results should be reported to OGF, so the web pages and office records can be updated. Also, chairs shall submit minutes of their committee’s meetings to OGF to be posted on their respective web pages.[4]

Faculty members whose terms of service extend through the following year or who are eligible for reappointment to the committee are eligible to be elected as chair elect. A chair elect whose term of service would not otherwise extend through the following academic year will be reappointed for an additional year. A faculty member shall serve no more than three consecutive years as chair on committees with three-year terms and no more than five consecutive years on committees with five-year terms. Individuals on phased retirement or modified service shall not be eligible to serve on standing committees.¹

The president shall serve as an ex officio member of all standing committees. In addition, the Regents’ Rules and Regulations may specify other administrative officials to serve as voting members of specific committees.¹

Reporting

At its first meeting, each committee shall plan a schedule for future meetings. The committee will begin its work by having each member receive a copy of the committee’s function and the annual report from the previous year, which is posted on the committee’s web page.

Reports, proposals, and/or issues any committee would like considered by the Faculty Council during the academic year should be forwarded to OGF with a clear request and rationale. OGF will then prepare the proper paperwork to go forward. Each committee shall keep the Faculty Council informed of its ongoing activities by including the Office of the Faculty Council on its mailing list. These documents may be made available for examination by members of the Faculty Council.

Toward the end of the academic year, the Office of the General Faculty will request an annual report from each committee chair to be completed before the end of the spring session. The chair and chair elect of the Faculty Council will review the annual reports and forward any action items to the respective incoming committee chairs and to the Faculty Council Executive Committee (FCEC) for consideration. Resulting proposals from the standing committees will be reviewed by the FCEC and, upon its recommendation, considered by the Faculty Council at-large.

The General Faculty Rules and Governance Committee shall be responsible to the General Faculty.⁴

Timeline