Faculty Senate
Tennessee Tech Faculty Senate Procedures
I. Name
The name of this organization shall be the Faculty Senate of Tennessee Technological University.
II. Purpose
The Faculty Senate shall serve as a representative voice of all the teaching and research faculty of Tennessee Technological University. It shall provide a forum for the free discussion of any issue of interest or of concern to members of the faculty. Results of Faculty Senate business meetings, through the approved minutes and meetings with the University President and/or other administrators through the approved notes are posted for public viewing on the Faculty Senate website. The Senate shall serve in an advisory capacity – expressing the interests and the concerns of the teaching and research faculty.
III. Composition
The Faculty Senate shall consist of faculty representatives from each College and at-large faculty representatives, all of whom are members of either the Academic Council or the Administrative Council, with voting rights, as appropriate, on the respective Council. Faculty representatives on the University Assembly shall be full members of the Faculty Senate, with one vote each. The University Assembly consists of the Academic Council and the Administrative Council meeting together as one body. The chairperson of the University Assembly is the President of the University.
IV. Officers
A. The Faculty Senate shall have as its leadership team a president-elect, president, past president, and secretary.
B. The Faculty Senate shall elect a secretary to perform duties as outlined in the approved job description. The secretary may be re-elected.
C. The president-elect, president, and past president shall serve a term of one year in each of the assigned roles, performing duties as outlined in the approved job description. In case the term of any member of the leadership team expires while in a leadership role, the individual shall remain a member of the Faculty Senate at least until the leadership duties are fulfilled. In case the past president cannot fulfill the duties of the past president, the most recently former past president shall be appointed. In case the president cannot fulfill the duties of president, the president-elect shall move into the role of president and a president-elect shall be chosen by vote of the Faculty Senate at the next business meeting. In case the president-elect cannot fulfill the duties of the president-elect, a president-elect shall be chosen by vote of the Faculty Senate at the next business meeting.
D. The Faculty Senate shall select a faculty member to a two-year term on the Tennessee Tech Board of Trustees, who shall take office on July 1 of the year in which selected.
E. The president-elect, president, past president, and secretary shall take office on June 1.
V. Meetings
A. The Faculty Senate shall conduct business meetings during the regular academic year.
Business meetings shall be open to current members of the faculty. Any other parties must request permission to attend the business meeting at least 1 business day prior to the meeting by contacting the president-elect. Permission will be granted or denied by the Faculty Senate leadership team, through the president-elect. Persons who have not followed protocol for approval may be asked to leave the meeting.
B. Guests may only speak during the business meeting if recognized by the Faculty Senate president. Only members of Faculty Senate shall have a vote.
C. No quorum shall be necessary for discussions or hearings on matters of interest to the faculty; however, should the Faculty Senate wish to adopt a resolution purporting to represent the views of the general faculty, a favorable vote of a majority of the total membership of the Faculty Senate shall be required.
D. The members of the Faculty Senate shall also meet during the regular academic year with the president of the University. At these meetings, no quorum shall be required and no vote shall be taken.
E. Any guest(s) desiring to address the Faculty Senate must seek approval from the leadership team as outlined in section V.A.
F. The president of the Faculty Senate may call such additional meetings of the Faculty Senate as may from time to time be appropriate. The Senate shall conduct business meetings during the regular academic year. Business meetings shall be open to all interested parties and all members of the faculty are encouraged to participate, but only members of the Senate shall have a vote.
VI. Selection of Officers
A. The president of the Faculty Senate shall form a nominating committee consisting of at least three senators.
B. The nominating committee shall present the names of candidates for the offices of president-elect, and secretary to the members of the Faculty Senate prior to the last Faculty Senate business meeting in the spring semester. The election of Faculty Senate officers for the next academic year shall take place at the last Faculty Senate business meeting in the spring semester or, if needed, at a special called meeting by the current president. A quorum shall be required to transact business. Newly elected officers shall take office on June 1 of the election year.
VII. Other Functions of the Senate
A. The Faculty Senate leadership team, through the sitting president, shall have the authority to nominate to the president of the University, in accordance with the appropriate committee procedures, faculty representatives to all standing university committees other than the Curriculum Committee and those committees whereon faculty representatives are elected by the faculty. Other committees may include, but are not limited to, the Faculty Grievance Pool, Disability Services ADA Advisory Committee and the University Safety & Environmental Committee.
B. Two Faculty Senate representatives, one of whom is the Faculty Senate President or designee, shall serve on the Budget Advisory Committee of the University. At the next business meeting of the Faculty Senate, after the Budget Advisory Committee meeting, the Faculty Senate representatives shall give a budget report to the Faculty Senate members.
C. The Faculty Senate shall have the authority to nominate to the president of the University one or more of its members to serve on standing committees of the TTU Board of Trustees.
D. Committees of the Faculty Senate and representatives of the faculty may be appointed by the president of the Faculty Senate as needed.
E. The Faculty Senate shall have a standing committee known as the Faculty Affairs Committee. This committee serves to resolve matters of concern and conflicts, as provided in the procedures of the Faculty Affairs Committee.
F. The Faculty Senate shall have a standing committee known as the Faculty Senate Cabinet. This committee can serve as needed in the capacity of an advisory group to the Executive Team when urgent matters arise outside of the normally scheduled Business meetings. This committee does not negate the President's ability to call Special Meetings as necessary. The composition of the Faculty Senate Cabinet includes: the Executive Team (President, Past President, President-elect, and Secretary), the Chair of Academic Council, the Chair of Administrative Council, the Faculty BOT Representative, any active Past Presidents of the Faculty Senate, and any others as the Faculty Senate President deems appropriate. Cabinet meetings will occur at the request of the Faculty Senate President.
G. Tennessee Tech’s Faculty Senate is a member of TUFS (Tennessee University Faculty Senates). The Faculty Senate president plus one member of the leadership team shall represent Tennessee Tech at both the fall and spring TUFS meetings and report back to Faculty Senate items of interest at the next business meeting. A report of Tennessee Tech’s Faculty Senate activities will be prepared by the Faculty Senate president for both the fall and spring TUFS meetings. The Faculty Senate president shall be the voting member from Tennessee Tech at the TUFS meetings unless a designee is assigned and reported to the TUFS secretary before the TUFS meeting.
VIII. Rules of Order
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall apply to business meetings, except where such rules are inconsistent with this document. Order will be enforced by the president-elect, who also serves as the parliamentarian. In case the president-elect is not present at a business meeting, the past president will serve as the parliamentarian.
IX. Review
These procedures will be reviewed by a committee appointed by the Faculty Senate President every two years, or whenever circumstances require review, whichever is earlier. A report to the Faculty Senate with recommendations for revision will be presented to the Faculty Senate for vote. Upon Faculty Senate approval, the Faculty Senate president will recommend revisions to the University Assembly.
X. Amendments
This document may be amended at any business meeting of the Faculty Senate by a two-thirds vote of the total membership, provided that the proposed amendment has been previously submitted in writing to each member. Amendments to this document are subject to final approval by the University Assembly.
[Approved by the University Assembly Spring, 1982]
[Amended by the University Assembly Fall, 1991]
[Amended by the University Assembly Spring, 1994]
[Amended by the University Assembly, April 16, 2008]
[Approved by the Faculty Senate, April 10, 2017]
[Approved by the University Assembly, April 19, 2017]
[Approved by the Faculty Senate, April 2, 2018]
[Approved by the University Assembly, April 18, 2018]
