Faculty Role

Membership:

The voting faculty consists of all full-time lecturers, instructors, assistant professors, associate professors, professors (including professional librarians in any of these ranks), and the Provost.  Ex-officio non-voting members include the President, Vice President of Finance and Administration, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Vice President of Enrollment Management, Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics, Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Success, Associate Vice President of Online and Graduate Programs, and the Registrar.

Visiting full-time teaching faculty may be appointed as lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor.  Visiting full-time faculty with the rank of lecturer or above will share all faculty responsibilities, except for voting rights at faculty meetings.

Lecturers are full-time, non-tenure track teaching faculty.  As such, they are expected to attend and participate in faculty meetings.

Governance Duties of the Faculty:

The faculty shall govern and control the educational affairs of the institution in consultation with the Provost and the President, subject to approval by the Board of Trustees.  The faculty, in a properly called meeting, is the primary decision-making body of Limestone University in areas of academic concern.  Faculty committees derive their authority from the faculty and are accountable to it for all actions.  A majority vote of the faculty may supersede the action of any faculty committee.  Every faculty committee shall report at least once a term to the faculty at a faculty meeting.  The faculty’s responsibility shall include the following areas:

a. Curriculum: The faculty will have primary responsibility for determining the curricular content of the academic program of the University, including:

1. the educational objectives of the University;
2. the structure of the curriculum, courses, and course descriptions;
3. the requirements for graduation;
4. the establishment and continuation or discontinuation of majors and programs;
5. the structure and content of the Honors Program;
6. the determination of which disciplines make up which schools.

Faculty will recommend changes in the academic program to the Provost and the President for their approval.

Significant changes in the above areas will be subject to the final approval of the Board of Trustees.  The President shall determine which faculty actions require the Board of Trustees' approval.  The President is requested to communicate to the faculty the Board’s disposal of an issue and, if the action of the faculty has not been sustained, the reasons for the decision by the Board of Trustees.

b. Academic Policies:

The faculty will have primary responsibility for determining academic policies of the University, including:

1. policies relating to academic standards and expectations, including the grading system, examinations, class attendance, academic probation, suspension, and expulsion;
2. advising;
3. use of the library;
4. admissions and scholarship;
5. teacher education;
6. foreign study and travel programs.

Faculty will recommend changes in the academic policies to the Provost and the President for their approval.

Significant changes in the above areas will be subject to the final approval of the Board of Trustees.  The President shall determine which actions of the faculty require the Board of Trustees’ approval.  The President is requested to communicate to the faculty the Board’s disposal of an issue and, if the action of the faculty has not been sustained, the reasons for the decision by the Board of Trustees.

c. Student Life:

The faculty may make recommendations to the President, the Provost and Associate Provost of Student Success, and the Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics regarding policies and procedures, including the following areas:

1. campus life and student behavior;
2. student publications;
3. campus lectures, concerts and convocations;
4. campus recreation;
5. athletic life;
6. religious life.

Significant changes in the above areas will be subject to the final approval of the Board of Trustees.  The President shall determine which faculty actions require the Board of Trustees' approval.  The President is requested to communicate to the faculty the Board’s disposal of an issue and, if the action of the faculty has not been sustained, the reasons for the decision by the Board of Trustees.

d. Personnel Policies:

The faculty may recommend to the President or the Provost changes in the personnel policies and practices of the University as they relate to faculty members, including:

1. evaluation systems for personnel decisions,
2. leaves of absence, sabbatical leaves, Hopper Fund awards, and faculty development grants,
3. promotion, tenure, contract renewal and non-renewal,
4. grievances and appeals procedures,
5. salaries and fringe benefits,
6. selection of deans of schools and department chairs.

Significant changes in the above areas will be subject to the final approval of the Board of Trustees.  The President shall determine which faculty actions require Board of Trustees’ approval.  The President is requested to communicate to the faculty the Board’s disposal of an issue and, if the actions of the faculty have not been sustained, the reasons for the decision by the Board of Trustees.

e. Faculty Organization and Governance

The faculty has responsibility for making changes in the faculty governance system, except in instances in which the change would involve an alteration of either the charter or bylaws of Limestone University.  In such cases, the faculty may recommend changes to one of the College Deans or the Provost, who will give them with his/her recommendations to the President, who in turn will give them, together with his/her recommendations, to the Board of Trustees.  The President is requested to communicate to the faculty the Board’s disposal of an issue and, if the action of the faculty has not been sustained, the reasons for the decision by the Board of Trustees.

The faculty governance system includes the following specific responsibilities:

1. election of faculty officers,
2. definition of the faculty
3. organization of faculty meetings
4. faculty committee structure and charges.

The Faculty and the Board of Trustees

The faculty shall elect one of its members to represent it, without vote, at all meetings of the Board of Trustees and one member to represent it, without vote, at all meetings of each of the following committees of the Board of Trustees:

1. Committee on Academics
2. Committee on Finance
3. Committee on Institutional Advancement
4. Committee on Student Life
5. Committee on Buildings and Grounds
6. Committee on Investments
7. Committee on Athletics
8. Committee on Enrollment and Student Success
9. Committee on Communications and Marketing

These representatives shall be elected at large to two-year terms by vote of the faculty in a properly called faculty meeting after nominations from the floor.