In order to exercise the powers granted under the Faculty Code, Section 23-43, and to advise the Dean as required in Section 23-43B in an orderly and expeditious manner, the faculty of the College of the Environment by vote establishes herewith, under Faculty Code, Section 23-45A, its organization and rules of procedures.

Article I: Purpose and Function

Section 1

The purpose of the College of the Environment shall be to provide programs within the larger context of the University of Washington, whose mission is to advance our understanding of earth and planetary environments and our interactions with them. The College combines perspectives from the natural sciences to understand the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, land and water systems, and the solar system from cellular to planetary scales. Social science programs within the College explore the human dimensions of the environment in part to develop innovative approaches to address pressing environmental issues.

Section 2

The faculty of the College of Environment, University of Washington, is the College’s governing body, under the Faculty Code, Section 23-41. Under Section 13-23 of the Faculty Code, the College faculty shares with its Dean the responsibility for such matters as:

  1. Educational policy and general welfare
  2. Policy for the regulation of student conduct and activities
  3. Scholastic policy, including requirements for admission, graduation, and honors
  4. Approval of candidates for degrees
  5. Criteria for faculty tenure, appointment, and promotion
  6. Recommendations concerning campus and University budgets
  7. Formulation of procedures to carry out the policies and regulation thus established

Upon request, the Dean of the College shall provide any member of his or her faculty with information concerning salaries, teaching schedules, salary and operations budget requests, appropriations, allotments, disbursements, and similar data pertaining to the College, Section 23-46H.

Section 3

Pursuant to Section 23-43 of the Faculty Code, the faculty of the College of the Environment

A. shall, with respect to academic matters

  1. determine its requirements for admission and graduation;
  2. determine its curriculum and academic programs;
  3. determine the scholastic standards required of its students;
  4. recommend to the Board of Regents those of its students who qualify for University degrees;
  5. exercise the additional powers necessary to provide adequate instruction and supervision of its students.

B. shall, with respect to personnel matters, make recommendations to its dean in accord with the provisions of Chapter 24 and of Section 25-41.

C. may delegate to the faculties of its several departments any of the powers and duties specified in paragraphs A and B of this Section.

Article II: Membership and Voting

Faculties of the departments and schools of the College are the members of the College faculty. Members of the College faculty who are voting members of the University faculty shall be voting members of the College faculty, in accordance with the Faculty Code, Section 21-32:

A. Voting members of the University faculty are those faculty members holding ranks specified in Section 21-32A of the Faculty Code.

B. Notwithstanding the rank held, faculty not eligible to vote are specified in Section 21-32B of the Faculty Code.

C. Research faculty may vote on all personnel matters as described in the Faculty Code except those relating to the promotion to and/or tenure of faculty holding ranks specified in Section 21-32C of the Faculty Code.

D. Voting Membership in Relation to Joint Appointment:

A faculty member who has the privilege of participation in governance and voting in the primary department may arrange with the secondary department(s) either to participate or not to participate in governance and voting in the secondary department(s). This agreement must be in writing and will be used for determining the quorum for faculty votes (Faculty Code, Sec. 24-34 B.9.)

Article II: Vacancy in Office

Definition. A vacancy in either elected office or appointed committee membership can occur through such processes as resignation, termination of employment, professional leave, or lack of attendance. In the latter case, elected members shall be deemed to have vacated their seats when they have been absent from three meetings in an academic year. Members are considered absent only if they fail, prior to a meeting, to inform the committee chair of their inability to attend.

Article IV: Quorum

A quorum for any meeting of the College of the Environment faculty shall consist of at least half the voting members of the faculty.

Article V: Voting

A proposed action of the College of the Environment faculty under the authority of the Faculty Code, Sections 23-43 and 23-44, is effective if passed by a quorum majority of its voting members (as defined in Faculty Code, Section 23-46). The act of the majority of voting members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the College of the Environment faculty. Voting may occur in a meeting orally, by show of hands, or by paper ballot. If authorized by the faculty, voting may also occur, following discussion, by electronic ballot sent to all eligible voting faculty.

Article VI: Faculty Meetings, Order of Business and Agenda

Meetings

Faculty meetings shall be held when called by the College Council, when requested by the Dean, or when requested in a petition to the College Council signed by ten percent of the voting members of the College faculty. Unless otherwise requested by the body calling the meeting, the Chair of the College Council presides.

Order of Business

The College Council determines the order of business.

Agenda

The agenda shall be developed by the College Council with input from individual faculty members, councils, committees, and the Dean. Agenda items shall be distributed to faculty prior to each meeting.

Article VII: Councils and Standing Committees

The College of the Environment has an elected College Council and ad hoc committees that are formed and appointed by the Dean of the College and/or the College Council when necessary.

Elected Committees of the Faculty

College Council

In order to exercise the powers granted under the Faculty Code, Section 23-45, the College Council is established with its structure, function, and rules of procedures.

A. Structure, Election, and Function of the College Council (CC), College of the Environment

The College Council shall be composed of members elected from the College faculty as described below.

  1. Structure of the College Council
    The College Council shall consist of one member elected by the voting faculty members in each of the Schools and Departments in the college and two members elected at large as described in section 2 below. A quorum shall consist of a majority of the members of the Council.
  2. Election of College Council Members
    Each School or Department shall elect one member by ballot elections conducted within their respective units. At least two nominations shall be on the ballot, and the nominee that receives the highest votes is elected to serve on the College Council. Each School or Department will also elect an alternative member, who will sit on the council when the regular member cannot.To elect the at-large representatives, the process will be as follows. The College Council shall nominate at least two candidates for each open at-large position. The nominations will be guided by the need to establish the necessary disciplinary breadth on the College Council to deal with promotion and tenure decisions, and to provide the Council with the breadth of expertise that is most needed during the term of the council member when elected. The at-large members of the College Council shall be elected by a vote of all eligible faculty in the College.Members of the College Council shall have attained the rank of Associate or Full Professor (including WOT Associate and Full Professors) who do not hold the following administrative positions within their Departments or Schools: Associate/Assistant Deans, School Directors, Department Chairs, Associate/Assistant School Directors, and Associate/Assistant Department Chairs. Research faculty may sit on the College Council but because these faculty are not eligible to vote on Promotion/Tenue (PT) matters, their represented faculty groups shall elect an alternate member that is able to vote on PT matters.Elected members shall serve three-year terms, which begin on September 16 of the first year and end on September 15 of the third year. The College Council shall establish the terms for each member such that approximately one third of the members complete their terms in a given year. When members’ terms are expiring an election for that position shall be held during the prior Spring Quarter. In the Spring Quarter, the College Council may elect a continuing member to serve the next year as chair and a continuing member to serve the next year as vice-chair. A member may serve a maximum of two full terms consecutively. Being an alternate does not count toward this term limit.
  3. Function of the College Council
    The College Council shall:

    1. Review and make recommendations on faculty personnel actions for tenure and promotion and new appointments in the tenured track, in accord with the provisions of Chapter 24 and of Section 25-41 of the Faculty Code;
    2. Advise the Dean on budgetary matters;
    3. Upon the request of the Dean or as requested by members of the faculty, advise on matters involving academic policy and practices;
    4. Serve as part of any committee formed to evaluate Reorganization, Consolidation, or Elimination of Programs within the College;
    5. Draft and periodically review the By-Laws of the College for discussion and consideration by the College faculty;
    6. Broaden communication among Council and College units, the Dean’s Office, and faculty on College-related academic and policy matters. This communication may include requests to College Schools and Departments, in coordination with the Dean’s office when appropriate, for information pertinent to such matters;
    7. Organize college-wide informational and discussion sessions, workshops or presentations regarding College-related academic and policy topics of interest;
    8. Provide input to and respond to questions from the Faculty Senate;
    9. Propose College-related policies and practices to the Dean, the College Executive Committee, and the College faculty.
  4. Vacancy in Office
    If for any reason a Council member is temporarily (less than one year) unable to perform the duties of office, their position will be filled by their alternate member until an eligible member of their represented faculty group is appointed. Such an appointment will be made by their represented faculty group’s Chair or Director, except in the case of at-large members whose replacements will be appointed by the Chair of the College Council. Replacement members shall serve until the Council member they replace is able to continue in their term of office. If an elected Council member becomes unavailable for Council service for longer than a year, the remainder of the vacating member’s term shall be filled at the next Council election. Prior to assumption of office by the elected successor, the position may be filled by appointment as set forth previously in this Section.

Article VIII: Parliamentary Authority

The most recent version of Roberts’s Rules of Order shall be the parliamentary authority. The rules contained in College of the Environment By-Laws shall govern the faculty in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the Faculty Code, Executive Orders and other rules and regulations of the University of Washington.

Article IX: Delegation of Power to Department and School Faculties

Section 1

Pursuant to Section 23-43 of the Faculty Code, the College faculty delegates certain powers to each of its departments and schools. Subject to the limitations set forth in Sections 2, 3, and 4 below, the faculty of each department may:

  1. determine its requirements for admission and graduation;
  2. determine its curriculum and academic programs;
  3. determine the scholastic standards required of its students;
  4. recommend to the College faculty those of its students who qualify for the University degrees;
  5. exercise the additional powers necessary to provide adequate instruction and supervision of its students.

Section 2

In exercising the powers conferred in Article IX Section 1, no Department or School faculty may prescribe standards that fall below those of the College, nor may a Department or School take action that is contrary to policies adopted by the College. The College faculty reserves the right to reject or modify departmental or school action taken under Article IX, Section 1.

Section 3

In exercising powers delegated by the College faculty, Department and School faculties shall note that they are bound by the provisions of the Faculty Code, and that their actions must conform with all applicable rules set forth in the Faculty Code.

Section 4

The faculty of each department and school shall, with respect to personnel matters, make recommendations to the Dean of the College in accord with the provisions of Faculty Code Chapter 24 and of Section 25-41.

Article X: Amendments

These By-Laws may be amended at any College faculty meeting where a quorum is present by two-thirds vote of those present provided notice of intent is submitted in writing to all faculty at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which action is taken. The By-Laws may be amended by mail ballot or by electronic ballot by two-thirds of those voting providing that the requirements for a quorum established in Article IV have been met in the ballots returned and that the proposed changes and rationale have been circulated to all voting faculty at least two weeks prior to the date on which the ballots will be tallied.


Approved by the Faculty on June 5, 2018.