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Constitution of King's University College Faculty Council

2.06 CONSTITUTION OF KING'S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE  FACULTY COUNCIL
Issued By: King's University College Faculty Council
Approved By: King's University College Faculty Council
Effective Date:
Revised: October 2011

1. There shall be a King's Faculty Council composed of Principal; Academic Dean; Associate Academic Dean; all full-time faculty; the Chaplain; Registrar; Chief Librarian; Associate Librarian and Head: Technical and Information Resources; Head: Research and Information Services; Dean of Students; Academic Counsellors; Communication Course Coordinator; Coordinator of Field Instruction, School of Social Work; two representatives of St. Peter's Seminary (appointed as the Seminary may determine); President of Students' Council; one student representative from each Department/School as chosen by Students' Council after consultation with the Department/School concerned. Part-time faculty will have voice, but no vote.

2. Observers may be present in such numbers as the King's Faculty Council may determine. Observers have neither voice nor vote, but may speak by leave of Council.

3. Subject to the provisions of any affiliation agreement entered into by the College, having regard for the provisions of the Conditions of Appointment for Faculty document; having regard for the maintenance of King's University College as a Catholic institution of higher learning; and having regard for the determinative power of the Board of Directors in non-academic matters.

            The King's Faculty Council shall have power to:

1. develop appropriate academic plans, policies and procedures;
2. review and approve modifications of academic programmes and courses;
3. take such action as may be necessary for the maintenance of academic standards;
4. approve procedures for the selection of new faculty appointments to the College;
5. take measures to provide for the evaluation of the teaching performance of faculty from time to time;
6. recommend through the Promotions and Tenure Committee the promotion of faculty, granting of tenure, and termination of contracts;
7. elect members of the faculty to the Board of Directors, in accordance with the practices of the Board;
8. develop proposals for the instructional sections of the College budget;
9. make recommendations to the College Council concerning the priorities of the overall budget; and
10. establish such by-laws and committees as may be necessary for the conduct of business.

4. With the exception of 3 (i), above, Faculty Council shall report to College Council for information purposes only.

5. The Chairperson of the King's Faculty Council shall ex officio be the Academic Dean.

6. The Council shall establish an Executive Committee composed of Chairperson, the Principal, two Vice-Chairpersons (faculty), Secretary (faculty), and one student, which shall act as an agenda and nominating committee and such other committees as it considers necessary.

7. The Principal and the Dean are ex officio members of all standing committees of King's Faculty Council and may appoint members of Council to represent them.

8. The constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the total membership of the King's Faculty Council in favour of proposed amendments, which must be tabled at the meeting preceding such vote at least seven (7) days. Amendments so adopted require ratification by the College Council.

PRACTICES OF FACULTY COUNCIL

1. The Council shall meet at least four times per year, and at such other times as the Council or the chairperson may prescribe. Twenty-two members of Council, with a minimum of eighteen being full-time members of faculty, shall constitute a quorum.

2. A quorum for committees and subcommittees, unless otherwise approved by Council, shall be fifty percent (50%) of the membership.

3. A special meeting of the Council shall be called on the written notice of ten (10) of its members, and shall be convened within seven (7) days thereafter, to consider matters set out in the notice of the meeting.

4. The Council may delegate authority to its committees but these shall be responsible to the Council. Unless otherwise approved by Council, subcommittees shall report to committees. All committees and subcommittees shall report in writing at least once each year.

5. The standing committees of the Council shall be such committees as the Council may from time to time determine. Unless otherwise specified, all members of committees and subcommittees shall be chosen from members of the Faculty Council from its own membership. The standing committees of the Faculty Council are:

A. APPOINTMENTS, PROMOTION AND TENURE COMMITTEE

Membership:

cf. Conditions of Appointment for Faculty.

Duties:

1. To recommend the promotion of faculty, granting of tenure, and termination of contracts in accord with the Conditions of Appointment for Faculty document; and
2. To make recommendations to the Principal concerning the rank of new full-time appointees to the College.

B. EDUCATIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE

Membership:

Academic Dean (ex officio, chairperson), Principal, Chaplain or his representative from faculty, Registrar, Librarian, Chairperson of each Department, Director of Social Work, President of Students' Council (or his/her representative).

Duties:

1. To recommend to Council new courses and modifications of academic programmes and courses;
2. To formulate and recommend to Council educational policy;
3. To make recommendations concerning teaching evaluations and the improvement of instructional methods at the College;
4. To make recommendations to the Academic Dean concerning the instructional sections of the College budget;
5. To recommend to Council the establishment of new academic positions; and
6. To recommend to the Dean policies concerning academic counselling.

C. LIBRARY COMMITTEE 

      (approved at Faculty Council meeting of February 11, 2009)

Membership:

• Five faculty members: two from the Social Sciences; two from Arts; and one from Social Work (one of whom will be elected chair by Faculty Council), and the St. Peter’s Seminary representative of Faculty Council;
• One undergraduate student representative (to be chosen by the student members of Faculty Council from among the student members on Faculty Council);
• One graduate student representative (to be elected from the SWSA);
• Chief Librarian (ex-officio);
• Principal (ex-officio);
• Academic Dean (ex-officio);
• Associate Librarian and Head: Technical and Information Resources (ex-officio);
• Head: Research and Information Services (ex-officio).

Duties:

1. To provide input and play an advocacy role with policy and resource matters which relate to the quality and utilization of library collections and services;
2. To provide input re academic priorities and programs which have an impact on library collections and services;
3. To be informed about the strategic direction, goals and objectives of the G. Emmett Cardinal Carter and the A.P. Mahoney Libraries;
4. To be kept informed about relevant library services and partnerships across the Western university community;
5. To make appropriate recommendations on major policy matters to Faculty Council; Chief Librarian to make recommendations specific to the A.P. Mahoney Library to the Seminary’s Faculty Council;
6. The Committee will meet at least twice a year.

D. RESEARCH GRANTS COMMITTEE

Membership:

• A faculty representative of each department designated by the department, one of whom shall be elected chairperson, Principal, Academic Dean.

Duties:

1. To make recommendations to the Academic Dean concerning the amount and allocation of research grants to faculty.

E. RESEARCH ETHICS REVIEW COMMITTEE

      (approved at Faculty Council meeting of September 16, 2009)

Membership:

The term for each newly constituted RERC shall commence on July 1 of each year. It is recommended that any applications still under consideration on that date be the responsibility of the outgoing chair and committee.

The RERC shall consist of at least seven members, reflecting the university community’s diversity, who have broad expertise in the methods or in the areas of research that are covered by the RERC with at least one member knowledgeable in ethics. One member must be recruited from the broader community. Within the seven members: 4 from faculty [two from Social Sciences (typically one from Psychology), one from Arts, and one from Social Work]; one student representative to be chosen by the student members of Faculty Council from among the student members of Faculty Council; one representative of the King's University College community (to be chosen after consultation with various bodies, for example, Staff Association and P.A.O.A.); Ex-officios: King's University College Principal and Academic Dean or Associate Academic Dean. A quorum will be three members including at least two faculty members. The Chairperson of the Committee will be elected by Faculty Council from among the tenured faculty members on the Committee, who have served at least one year on the Committee in the past five years.

Duties of the Research Ethics Review Committee:

1. To review faculty research projects for consistency with TCPS2 prior to the research being done. This applies to all research projects involving the use of human participants (whether non-funded or funded either extramurally or intramurally) [see Conditions of Appointment for Faculty (January 2004), 4.7 - Appendix B, "Guide to the Proper Conduct of Research at King's University College."]
2. To ensure that in the case of research or other investigations involving the use of human participants undertaken by students as part of an academic requirement or where students themselves are conducting independent investigations under College auspices such research be conducted in accordance with a written policy consistent with the TCPS2 -Tri-Council Policy Statement. Course related assignments involving research with human participants, including research ethics guidelines, shall be submitted to the Committee for review and need be re-submitted only when changed. Individual assignments, except independent studies, will ordinarily be reviewed by the instructor. The RERC does not require that research for student theses (4th-year or Masters) be reviewed and approved by the RERC. These theses will be reviewed by the department, programme or school. The RERC would still welcome requests for a consultation initiated by a student or the Supervising Professor or the Chair/Director concerning a thesis project.
3. To review policies for ethics review of research involving human participants, which shall be devised and submitted to the Committee by each department/school/ interdisciplinary programme, and included in the respective statement of policies and procedures.
4. To ensure that up-to-date versions of the TCPS2 - Tri-Council Policy Statement be made available in the Library Reserve Collection and a link from the King's University College web site. A current statement of policy and instructions for submission shall be made available on the King's University College web site.
5. The Committee shall meet at regular intervals (at least thrice annually) to review submissions (insert link to meeting schedule). The Committee shall consider submissions from faculty or students of King's University College only. Failure to comply with research ethics guidelines shall be reported to the Academic Dean for appropriate consideration.

F. FACULTY CHAIR SELECTION COMMITTEE

Membership:

• The seven full-time Chairs of the Departments of King's University College, the President of Students' Council (or her/his representative), with the Committee Chair to be elected by the membership when it is called to function in the Chair Selection process.

Duties: See document on Departmental Structure.

G. FACULTY SEMINAR SERIES COMMITTEE

Membership:

Three faculty members.

Duties:

1. To organize an annual series of seminars/presentations by members of the King's community.

H. FACULTY ORIENTATION COMMITTEE

Membership:

One Department Chair (from among the Departments/School that have hired a new faculty member). Two faculty members.

Duties:

1. To organize in the summer an Orientation Day for early September; and to revise annually the Information Guide for all new faculty members.
2. The Chairperson shall rule on points of order during meetings, guided by Bourinot's Rules of Order, as well as special procedures agreed to by Faculty Council. The Chairperson's decision may be overruled by a seconded motion supported by a majority of those present.
3. Agendas must be circulated at least three (3) days prior to a meeting of Faculty Council. Items may be added to the agenda by leave of the majority of Faculty Council.
4. All reports to Faculty Council shall contain specific references to a recommended course of action. When the report is received, it will be understood that the recommendations of the report are motions put to Faculty Council for approval. This clause does not preclude a recommendation that no action be taken.
5. On all matters except elections, voting shall be by show of hands, unless Faculty Council adopts a motion to vote by secret ballot. All elections shall be conducted by secret ballot. Proxy voting is excluded.
6. These practices may be amended by a seconded motion approved by a majority vote of the members present after a notice of motion circulated seven (7) days prior.
7. The normal term of office of elected faculty members of Faculty Council committees and subcommittees, unless otherwise specified, shall be two years, the inability of a faculty member to serve for two years shall not preclude nomination for or election to a committee or subcommittee. Terms of office shall be staggered to create a turnover of approximately half the faculty members each year.
8. The term of office of faculty elected as chairpersons of committees or subcommittees shall be one year.
9. The Chaplain shall receive agendas and the minutes of all meetings of the standing committees and subcommittees of the Faculty Council, with the exception of the Appointments, Promotion and Tenure Committee.  

I. FACULTY RESEARCH ACTIVITY COMMITTEE

Membership: Academic Dean/Associate Academic Dean; 2 members of EPC; and one representative from each of the Academic units.

Duties: To address some of the ongoing issues related to implementing the College’s Research Plan.

The Committee will:

1. identify particular research ‘niches’ that are consistent with the College’s overall mission which should be highlighted and supported;
2. explore the possibility of a rotating research fellow position and/or endowed research chair at the College;
3. review the current teaching-research balance at the College and make recommendations to Faculty Council on how the research profile of the College might be enhanced in order to enrich the College’s undergraduate and graduate teaching obligations;
4. evaluate the feasibility of creating a Research Office at the College; and
5. make recommendations to Faculty Council concerning the College’s research plan.

Revised: October 2011