These rules were endorsed by a vote of the Faculty at a regular meeting on December 7, 2010, and approved by an electronic ballot of all members of the Faculty conducted from December 8, 2010, to December 21, 2010. Rule 4 was amended by vote of the Faculty on March 27, 2012. Rule 1 was amended by an electronic ballot of all members of the Faculty conducted from November 9, 2015, to November 18, 2015. Rule 4 and Rule 6 were amended by vote of the Faculty on December 5, 2017. Rules 1, 3, 17, and 21 were amended by vote of the Faculty on April 5, 2022. Rule 1 was amended by an electronic ballot of all members of the Faculty conducted from December 10, 2024, to December 17, 2024.

Faculty Council

1. The Faculty Council shall consist of the Dean of the Faculty, who serves as chair, and eighteen elected members of the Faculty. Twelve of the members shall be elected to divisional seats, chosen from each of four areas: Arts and Humanities, Science, Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Social Science. Six shall be elected to at-large seats. The elected members of the Council shall serve three-year terms starting July 1 of the year they are elected. The terms of service shall be staggered so that, ordinarily, six new members – two at-large members and a divisional member from each of the four areas – will be elected each year.

Docket Committee

2. There shall be a Docket Committee composed of three voting members of the Faculty elected by and from the Faculty Council. The Dean of the Faculty shall be the chair of the Docket Committee, ex officio, and each year the Docket Committee shall choose one of its elected members to serve as vice-chair. The vice-chair of the Docket Committee shall also serve as vice-chair of the Faculty Council. The Docket Committee shall have, subject to the vote of the Faculty, general supervision of the order in which business is taken up at Faculty meetings and the procedural rules under which each item of business is considered.

Voting Members of the Faculty and Guests 

3. All voting members of the Faculty shall be eligible to attend all meetings of the Faculty and are strongly encouraged to do so. Chairs, Directors of Graduate Studies, and Head Tutors/Directors of Undergraduate Studies of departments and curricular committees, Area Deans of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Faculty Deans, and the members of the Administrative Boards of the College and of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, as well as the members of the Faculty Council, are expected to attend all meetings of the Faculty.

The Dean of the Faculty, in consultation with the elected members of the Docket Committee, may invite guests to attend meetings of the Faculty as observers. Special permission of the Dean, in consultation with the Docket Committee, is required before guests may be invited to speak.

The student members of certain committees, as authorized by the Faculty, shall ordinarily be permitted to attend meetings of the Faculty and will be invited to take part in discussions on matters relevant to the interests of these committees.  

 
No one shall vote at any meeting of the Faculty, however, except members of the Faculty as defined in the Fifth Statute of the University.  

 
The Dean, in consultation with the Faculty Council, reserves the right to meet in camera with only voting members present on matters concerned with degrees, prizes, or other business as deemed necessary.

Faculty Meeting Schedule

4. Regular meetings of the Faculty shall be held on the first Tuesdays of October, November, December, February, March, April, and May. Regular meetings will normally convene at 3:00 p.m.

A degree meeting shall be held at 4:30 p.m. on the Monday preceding Commencement, except in years when Commencement occurs the same week as Memorial Day, in which case a degree meeting shall be held at 4:30 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding Commencement. Degree meetings shall also be held at other times as requested by the Administrative Boards.

The schedule of regular meetings may be modified by the Dean of the Faculty with the agreement of the Faculty Council, provided that notice of any such change is sent to every voting member of the Faculty well in advance, whenever possible before the end of the previous term.

Cancellation of Faculty Meetings

5. In case no business is in need of immediate action, the Dean of the Faculty, with the approval of the Faculty Council, may omit any regular meeting.

Faculty Meeting Time Reserved

6. No class meeting, tutorial conference, examination, or other academic activity under the control of this Faculty and involving the presence of a voting member of this Faculty, and no meeting of any committee of this Faculty or of any of its subdivisions, shall be scheduled from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m., or any part of that period, on any of the days designated for regular Faculty meetings in Rule 4 or any amendment thereof.

Special Meetings of the Faculty

7. Special meetings of the Faculty or meetings of extraordinary length may be called by the President, by the Dean of the Faculty, by the Docket Committee with the voted approval of the Faculty Council, by vote of the Faculty, or by petition signed by the smallest whole number not less than one-tenth of the number of voting members of the Faculty. The authority calling a special meeting shall state the general nature of the business to be considered. If practicable, the Faculty shall be notified of a forthcoming special meeting sufficiently far in advance that any voting member may propose relevant items for the agenda.

Chairing Faculty Meetings

8. At each meeting of the Faculty the President, or, in his or her absence, the Dean of the Faculty, shall preside. If both of these officials are absent, the vice-chair of the Docket Committee shall preside.

Quorum

9. The quorum at any regular or special meeting of the Faculty shall be the smallest whole number not less than one-eighth the number of voting members of the Faculty on September 1 of the academic year. A request to determine the presence or absence of a quorum shall be in order at any time, but once the presence of a quorum has been ascertained, either by a count or by an unchallenged ruling of the Chair, it will be presumed to continue unless another count is requested and it is determined that a quorum is not present. No binding votes concerning a matter of substance shall be taken in the absence of a quorum.

Degree Meetings

10. At a degree meeting, no quorum shall be necessary; but it is expected that members of the Administrative Boards recommending candidates for degrees, the chairs of all departments and curricular committees, all Head Tutors or Directors of Undergraduate Studies, and all Directors of Graduate Studies will attend the degree meeting. The provisions of Rule 18 shall not apply at the degree meeting, but no business shall be transacted except that pertaining to the awarding of degrees, honors, and prizes; to Commencement; or to Courses of Instruction.

Faculty Meeting Agendas

11. The Docket Committee shall prepare an agenda for each regular or special meeting of the Faculty and shall circulate it at least four days in advance of the meeting. The agenda shall include a description of all business expected to be taken up, the texts of all motions to be debated, and explanatory notes as appropriate. Proposed amendments to motions submitted to the Secretary of the Faculty by voting members of the Faculty by noon the day before a meeting shall be distributed in print at the meeting. Any matter deemed substantive by the Docket Committee shall be so designated on the agenda of the meeting at which it is introduced and discussed, and shall be voted on only at a subsequent meeting. Insofar as practicable, all reports and other information to be presented at a meeting shall be distributed to voting members of the Faculty in advance of the meeting to maximize the opportunity for discussion of the materials. Guests will also receive any of the materials that are not confidential.

If a meeting of the Faculty is adjourned to a definite time, the Docket Committee shall prepare a supplementary agenda, if necessary, which shall supersede the original agenda.

Each meeting of the Faculty from the time it is called to order through any recesses or temporary adjournments until final adjournment shall be considered a single session for parliamentary purposes.

Order of Business

12. At a regular meeting of the Faculty, the general order of business shall be as follows:

a) Secretary’s Business, including the approval of the minutes of the last meeting
b) The reading of Memorial Minutes
c) Communications and business introduced by the Dean of the Faculty (Dean’s Business)
d) Communications and business introduced by the President (President’s Business)
e) Question Period
f) New Business introduced by any voting member of the Faculty
g) Report of the Docket Committee
h) Agenda items from the docket

Question Period

13. During Question Period, any voting member of the Faculty may ask any question concerning any aspect of University policy or administration. The students authorized to attend Faculty meetings under Rule 3 may ask questions concerning matters relevant to the interests of their committees. Questions shall be answered immediately, if possible. Question Period is for information only; no motions shall be made and no legislative action shall be taken during Question Period.

Prepared questions may be filed with the Secretary of the Faculty by noon on the day before a meeting of the Faculty. The Docket Committee will attempt to arrange that an answer be forthcoming. Prepared questions shall be heard first, but, if questioners are asking to be recognized, the Chair shall not terminate Question Period until at least two extemporaneous questions have been asked. The decision to terminate Question Period shall be subject to challenge from the floor.

Questions raised at a meeting but not answered shall be treated as prepared questions at the next regular meeting of the Faculty.

New Business

14. When new business is called for, any voting member of the Faculty may introduce any item of business as follows:

a) The member shall state briefly the substance of his or her business and the reason for bringing it to the Faculty directly and not through the normal procedure.
b) A member of the Docket Committee may reply briefly.
c) The Faculty will then vote without further debate whether or not to take up the matter. If the number voting in favor is greater than or equal to four-fifths of the number voting, the business shall be taken up immediately. If consent is refused, the item shall be sent to the Docket Committee for further consideration.
d) If new business is taken up, debate shall ordinarily be limited to thirty minutes. If the matter is not disposed of within thirty minutes, a vote shall be taken as to whether it shall be sent to the Docket Committee or debate shall continue.

Docketing Items

15. It shall be the duty of the Docket Committee to keep a docket of business awaiting action. Every voting member of the Faculty as well as each department and committee of the Faculty shall have the right to introduce items of business onto the docket. The Docket Committee shall place on an agenda for action or discussion all items it receives. Normally, the Docket Committee will satisfy itself that every item of business brought to the floor of the Faculty has been considered by all the appropriate officials and committees. Any voting member of the Faculty, however, may require that any item appear on the agenda for any regular or special meeting by submitting the item to the Secretary of the Faculty by noon eight days before the meeting of the Faculty Council preceding the meeting of the Faculty in question. It is the duty of the Docket Committee to determine the order of the items on the agenda for meetings of the Faculty.

Reordering Agenda Items

16. Docketed agenda items shall normally be taken up in the order in which they are printed in the agenda. Before each item is taken up, however, if more than one item remains, it shall be in order to move that consideration be given to an item different from the one next on the agenda. If such a motion is made and seconded, it shall be voted on with no debate beyond the remarks of the mover and a reply from the Docket Committee. Such a motion may also be made by the Docket Committee.

Special Procedural Rules

17. The Docket Committee may recommend special procedural rules, which shall be printed in the agenda. These procedures could include recommended timing for agenda items or voting methods such as a ballot to be sent to all voting members of the Faculty. When an agenda item for which the Docket Committee has proposed a special procedural rule reaches the floor, the rule must be accepted or rejected before any debate on the item itself. The procedural rule may be debated or amended, but any amendments moved and seconded will be voted on with no debate beyond the remarks of the mover and a reply from the Docket Committee. If the procedural rule, or the procedural rule as amended, is accepted by the Faculty, consideration of the agenda item shall commence forthwith under the rules accepted. If the procedural rule is rejected, another vote shall immediately be taken as to whether the agenda item shall be taken up immediately without special rules or returned to the docket.

Finalizing Amendments

18. If at any regular or special meeting an item of legislation is passed by the Faculty in a form substantively different from that printed and circulated in the agenda for that meeting, it shall be laid over to another meeting for a confirmatory vote before becoming final. When a motion is brought up for confirmation, debate shall be limited to one speech against and one speech for the motion, unless the Faculty votes otherwise.

Methods of Voting

19. Unless otherwise stated, votes will carry with a simple majority of members present and voting. Except when another method of voting has already been agreed on, votes on any question will be taken by voice vote, the outcome of which will be determined by the Chair; but any member may require that a hand count be made. Moreover, any member may move, either before or after a vote has been taken by voice vote or by hand count, that a vote be taken by paper ballot. If this proposal is supported by a majority of those present and voting, it shall be so taken.

Ballots

20. At any time prior to the taking of a final vote at a Faculty meeting on items relating to the basic procedures or organization of the Faculty, any voting member of the Faculty may propose that the vote be taken by a ballot to be sent to all voting members of the Faculty. A motion for such a ballot shall be debatable and will prevail if approved by majority vote.

If a ballot to be sent to all voting members of the Faculty is authorized, the Secretary, under the supervision of the Docket Committee, will prepare the ballot and an accompanying statement giving, in addition to the original explanatory notes, a summary of the discussion.

On an item relating to the basic procedures or organization of the Faculty, the Docket Committee, in a special procedural rule, may call for a decision by a ballot to be sent to all voting members of the Faculty. Such a procedural rule shall include an explicit statement concerning how amendments, if any, shall be handled. If the proposed procedural rule is rejected by the Faculty, then no final action can be taken on the item at that meeting; it shall be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the Faculty. The Docket Committee may not again propose a ballot in connection with that item.

Adjournment

21. Regular meetings of the Faculty will normally adjourn at 5:00 p.m. and special meetings at the hour stated in the agenda of the meeting. If it appears that the agenda will not be completed, the Chair shall recognize the elected members of the Docket Committee for a motion on adjournment. The Docket Committee may then move to continue the meeting to a later hour, to recess until a later hour in the evening, to adjourn to a fixed time prior to the next regular meeting, or to adjourn. A vote on this motion shall be taken after not more than five minutes of debate. If the Docket Committee's motion should fail to be approved, the meeting will continue and other motions on adjournment will be in order.

Procedural Questions

22. These rules supersede all previously voted rules of Faculty procedure. On all questions of procedure not otherwise covered by these rules, the Faculty shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order. The Chair has ultimate authority in instances where neither the Rules of Faculty Procedure nor Robert’s Rules of Order provide clear guidance.

Parliamentarian

23. At the first meeting of the Faculty each year, the Faculty Council shall propose, for confirmation by the Faculty, a Parliamentarian, who shall not be a member of the Faculty Council. The Parliamentarian will advise the Chair concerning the interpretation of these rules and all other matters of parliamentary procedure.

Duties of the Secretary of the Faculty

24. The Secretary shall maintain the list of the voting members of the Faculty and the list of the guests to meetings of the Faculty. The Secretary shall also keep a careful record of all proceedings before the Faculty, including the number of voting members of the Faculty attending, a summary of all oral reports presented and all questions asked and their answers, the full text of all written reports and of all motions and amendments considered, and a summary of the debate. Promptly after each meeting, he or she shall make available to the voting members of the Faculty the final text of all motions passed. As soon as practicable after each meeting, he or she shall make available to the voting members of the Faculty the minutes of the meeting.

Distribution of the Rules of Faculty Procedure

25. The Rules of Faculty Procedure, in the form currently valid, shall be distributed to all voting members of the Faculty at the time of their appointment and annually thereafter.