Ethnic Studies By-Laws

Revised May 1, 2007

 

I. Governance Structure

 

Faculty associated with Ethnic Studies (ES) are comprised of two main groups:

 

(1) Core Faculty include the Director, Associate Director, and tenured or tenure-track faculty members who have dedicated responsibilities and full voting rights within ES. The core faculty must always include at least two members at the rank of Full Professor. The core faculty includes two kinds of appointments: Core₁ faculty members have full or partial FTE appointments in ES. Core₂ faculty members do not have FTE appointments in ES. Responsibilities to ES may be different for each member of the core faculty. For core₂ faculty members, ES, their home department, and appropriate dean will jointly agree upon their responsibilities.

 

(2) Participating Faculty include other tenured or tenure-track faculty members who serve on ES committees on a voluntary basis and/or teach courses within their own departments that are of particular interest to students in Ethnic Studies.

 

I.A. Core Faculty

 

All tenure-related faculty members with part of their official university appointment (full or partial FTE) in Ethnic Studies are core₁ faculty members. In addition, a limited number of faculty members whose lines are entirely in other departments or schools serve as core₂ faculty. Typically, there are at least three but not more than seven core₂ faculty members at any time, depending on availability of potential faculty members and program needs, as determined by the core faculty. These numbers may change with time, subject to approval by Ethnic Studies and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Core₂ faculty appointments are three-year, renewable, staggered terms. To ensure continuity of vision within ES, core₂ appointments require approval of the CAS Dean and three-fourths of the core faculty. Core₂ faculty have full voting rights within ES, and have the right to use “Ethnic Studies” in their title (e.g., Professor of English and Ethnic Studies) during the period of their appointment. The University Catalog and the ES web page will list all core faculty members.

 

Selection for membership in the core₂ faculty depends on several factors, including excellent relevant scholarship and teaching in harmony with the mission statement of ES, service to ES, desirability of diverse ranks and scholarly interests on the core faculty, and the willingness of home departments or schools to enter into agreements related to faculty workload and service expectations. Selection of core₂ faculty will depend on mutual agreement of the home department or school, ES, the faculty member, and the appropriate dean(s).

 

Expectations will vary, but core₂ faculty members are normally expected to have part of their normal teaching load directly pertinent to ES, whether a cross-listing from a home department or an ES-prefix course, and to regularly attend core faculty meetings. A memorandum of understanding between ES, the core₂ faculty member, and the home department or school, detailing service expectations in ES, and signed by all relevant parties will go on file in both units. The home unit should reduce service and/or teaching expectations to compensate for service to ES. It should also consider service to ES both as counting toward service expectations for tenure and/or promotion and in merit reviews in the home unit.

 

The core faculty members are the voting members of the ES faculty. Each core faculty member has an equal vote and voice in governance, regardless of level of appointment. The core faculty members are the primary decision-making body for ES. All core faculty members will participate in faculty meetings and help make decisions regarding curriculum, personnel, governance structure, and other major issues. With regard to core₂ faculty members, ES will normally provide input to tenure-home departments and the appropriate Dean on merit review, promotion, and tenure cases, and may contribute to tenure and promotion committees, in a manner consistent with individual hiring agreements, contracts, and the faculty member’s memorandum of understanding with ES. For core₁ faculty members, the ES core faculty will serve as members of personnel committees and provide input and recommendations to the ES Director and the appropriate Dean regarding merit review, promotion, and tenure. ES committees will primarily be comprised of members of the core faculty, with the occasional substitution of participating faculty when necessary and appropriate.

 

I.B. Participating Faculty

 

Ethnic Studies draws on the large and diverse group of faculty whose scholarship touches on issues of race and ethnicity, both within the United States and internationally. These faculty members teach courses that are important for our students and may serve on ES committees.

 

Although participating faculty members have no designated assignments within ES, their voluntary involvement is important for its success. Likewise, it is important for ES majors and minors to be able to identify faculty whose interests may match their own. Consequently, the University Catalog and ES web page and brochures will list these faculty members, and they are included on a participating faculty list server.

 

Any University of Oregon faculty member may request to be a member of the participating faculty. The ES core faculty reviews requests, which three-fourths of the core faculty must approve. ES core faculty may also solicit faculty members for inclusion among the participating faculty. At least every five years the core faculty reviews the entire list, requesting from participating faculty members a one-page summary of their activities.

 

I.C. Director

 

The Dean of CAS appoints the ES Director. If possible, directors should have experience serving on the core faculty and should be current core faculty or affiliated faculty members of ES. The Director and Associate Director should always be tenured full or associate professors. The “Duties of Director” memo, approved in summer 2006, elaborates the duties and responsibilities of the Director.

 

To assist in the selection process, the core faculty will make a recommendation to the Dean during the final year of the outgoing Director’s three-year term. No director should serve more than two terms consecutively. If possible, the core faculty recommendation should be unanimous. If a unanimous recommendation is not possible, then the recommendation to the Dean should reflect multiple candidates and the level of support among the core faculty for each. The out-going Director is responsible for conveying the recommendation to the Dean.

 

I.D. Associate Director

The “Duties of Associate Director” memo, approved in summer 2006, elaborates the duties and responsibilities of the Associate Director. The Director appoints the Associate Director in consultation with the core faculty. If possible, associate directors should have experience serving on the core faculty and should be current core faculty or affiliated faculty members of ES.

 

No associate director should serve more than two terms consecutively.

 

An associate director is highly desirable for ES, but should it not be possible to fill the position of associate director, the Director will assume the associate director’s duties and responsibilities.

 

I.E. Subcommittees

 

Subcommittees of the core faculty include the following: (1) the curriculum committee, (2) the merit-review committee, (3) personnel committees (hiring, review, tenure, and promotion), and (4) any additional ad-hoc committees required, as necessary.

 

1. The curriculum committee consists of the Director, the Associate Director, and all core₁ faculty members. In addition, the Director may invite full-time, non-tenure-related faculty members to join the committee. This committee evaluates curricular needs, class sizes, and the content of the major and minor. Any major changes to the curriculum (e.g., changes to major requirements or new course proposals) developed within the curriculum committee are subject to approval by the core faculty. The curriculum committee is also responsible for administration of undergraduate scholarships and awards in Ethnic Studies.

 

2. Merit review and scholarships and awards committees are made up of three members, including (1) either the Director or Associate Director and (2) two additional members of the core faculty, selected by the Director in a manner consistent with other policies (e.g., the ES merit review policy).

 

3. Personnel committees include three members chosen by the Director in consultation with the core faculty and subject to the Dean’s approval when necessary (e.g., as in hiring committees). Tenure and promotion committees include only faculty members of rank above the candidate for promotion and/or tenure. Members of hiring and personnel committees may be chosen from outside the core faculty, when appropriate, but non-core members should come from the affiliated faculty whenever possible.

 

4. The Director and core faculty will determine the composition of other ad hoc committees as needed.

 

II. Ethnic Studies Policy for Faculty Searches and Hiring

 

All hiring for the Program will comply with College and University policies and regulations and with state and federal laws. Nothing in the ES bylaws should contravene those policies, regulations, and laws.

 

II.A. Tenure-Related Positions

 

The core faculty is an essential body in determining how best to fill open core₁ faculty lines. Recommendations to the Dean about what fields to hire in and what kinds of scholarship are most needed in ES and are most current in the field are best made by scholars who are active ES researchers in their own right. ES core faculty should approve recommendations to the Dean regarding advertisements for tenure-related faculty positions and the composition of hiring committees (in cases of joint hires, the ES recommendation only applies to the portion of the search committee reflecting ES representatives). In the course of a tenure-related faculty search, candidates must receive the support of at least three fourths of the core faculty to be acceptable for an on-campus interview, although the Dean makes the final decision to invite a candidate.

 

The decision to extend an offer for a core₁ appointment takes place at the conclusion of a normal faculty search and on-campus interview process. Members of the ES core faculty will deliberate the merits of the candidates’ research and teaching and appropriateness to the interdisciplinary and scholarly mission of ES. After an attempt at reaching consensus on the candidates, the core faculty will vote on the acceptability of candidates and determine a ranked order of those candidates who are acceptable. Given our small size, it is important that hiring processes go forward with the consent of as many members as possible. Therefore, to go forward as a recommendation to the Dean, a candidate should receive the support of at least three-fourths of the core faculty.

 

II.B. Full-Time, Non-Tenure-Related Positions

 

Full-time, non-tenure-related faculty searches do not require an extensive involvement of the core faculty, although relevant search committees should include three faculty members: one core member and two additional members from either the core or participating faculty. For non-tenure-related lines, the Director will recommend hiring committees to the Dean, and the Director and hiring committee will make the recommendations to the Dean for advertisements and hiring decisions without the participation of the core faculty.

 

II.C. Other Teaching Positions

 

Hiring of adjunct faculty, part-time faculty, and GTFs will take place as needed and at the discretion of the Director and Associate Director to meet ongoing curricular needs, in consultation with the Curriculum Committee, as necessary

 

III. ES Meeting Protocol

 

Meetings of the ES core faculty and meetings of ES committees do not run according to Robert’s Rules of Order unless specified at the start of the meeting. The ES Director or committee chair will facilitate meetings with the aim of building consensus around the issue or decision under deliberation. When consensus is not possible, approval of an issue requires a two-thirds majority of votes cast, excluding abstentions (unless otherwise stated in the ES bylaws), rather than a simple majority. As a rule, the core faculty and the Curriculum Committee should each meet at least once per term (although normal business will usually require more frequent meetings).

 

III.A. Quorum for Meetings

Quorum for a vote of the core faculty is 3/5 of the core faculty not on leave, although absentee votes can count toward meeting quorum. Absentee votes must be cast before the start of the meeting. Abstentions do not count as either yes or no votes, but do count toward meeting quorum.

 

Minutes of all committee and core faculty meetings remain on file in the ES office. When the ES Office Manager is not available to take minutes, responsibility for minutes will rotate among the committee members and/or core faculty. The minutes-taker will distribute the minutes to committee members and/or core faculty before the subsequent meeting and will submit a copy to the ES Office Manager for filing.

 

III.B. Faculty Members on Leave or Not Voting

Numbers for consensus and percentage votes typically include only core faculty members who are not on leave. Faculty members on leave retain voting privileges; however, should they not vote, they are not counted toward consensus or a percentage vote.

 

Faculty members not on leave but neither voting nor abstaining do not figure into percentage counts, but do count for or against meeting quorum.