SOM Faculty Senate By-laws

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Appendix 8: Track Criteria
School of Medicine Faculty Senate Standing Rules

(AS PASSED BY SENATE ON DECEMBER 2, 2021).

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE FACULTY SENATE BY-LAWS.

This section and the following section of the Faculty Handbook contains the Bylaws and Standing

Rules of the Faculty Senate of St. George’s University School of Medicine Senate.

1. ARTICLE I-M: ORGANIZATION

This organization shall be known as the School of Medicine Faculty Senate.

2. ARTICLE II-M: RESPONSIBILITIES

The School of Medicine Faculty Senate is constituted in recognition of the right of the faculty to be involved in deliberations of all School of Medicine matters affecting the faculty.

The School of Medicine Faculty Senate is the organization through which the faculty of the School of Medicine formally and systematically participate in the governance of the School of Medicine on issues that impact on the School of Medicine. These issues include policies concerning admissions, financial planning and budgeting, academic procedures, student appeals, faculty employment practices, and the general educational, research, and service policies of the University. Deliberations on these matters occur in the sessions of the senate, its standing committees and its shared governance committees

3. ARTICLE III-M: MEMBERSHIP

3.1 Membership

The membership of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate shall be composed of all full-time and part-time faculty members of the School of Medicine.

3.2 Elected Officers

  1. All elected officers, including members of the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee, shall serve for terms as specified herein, or until their successors are elected. Only voting members are eligible to hold offices described in these by-laws.
  2. Any elected officer in the School of Medicine Faculty Senate, be removed from office by a properly moved and ratified motion to rescind, as detailed in the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised. 
  3. An elected member of a Standing Committee who fails to personally attend three consecutive scheduled meetings be replaced by the individual who received the next highest number of votes for that committee in the preceding election.
    In the event that no such individual exists, an interim committee member will be appointed by the President of the School of Medicine Senate.
  4. Notwithstanding their status as voting members, no one who holds a prefixed administrative post (Dean, Associate or Assistant Dean or Associate or Assistant Provost) at St. George’s University may serve in any elected position in the School of Medicine Senate

4. ARTICLE IV-M: VOTING

4.1 Voting Rights

All members of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate shall have equal voting rights on Senate issues (Article III-M:Section 3.1). However, regardless of faculty teaching positions, the following shall be considered ex-officio, non-voting members of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate and shall not count towards a quorum. This refers to the following: (i) Chancellor or Vice Chancellor (ii) (ii) Provost or Vice Provost (iii) Full Deans, Assistant or Associate Dean of the School of Medicine or the University.

4.2 Voting by Postal/Electronic Ballot.

School of Medicine Faculty Senate elections, or any other issues deemed appropriate by the School of Medicine Faculty Senate, or the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee (Article VII- M, section 5.7.4) shall be conducted by postal or electronic ballot, as prescribed by the School of Medicine Faculty Senate standing rules. Resolutions approved in this manner will be considered to take effect as soon as they are approved.

5. ARTICLE V-M: MEETINGS

5.1 School of Medicine Faculty Senate Meetings

  1. Regular: The School of Medicine Faculty Senate shall be held at least two times in each year.
    The time and place of the meeting shall be fixed by the President of the Senate, in consultation with the Vice-President, the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee, and the Dean, at least six months prior to the meeting date.
  2. Special: Special meetings may be called upon a petition signed by at least one third of the voting members; or upon the request of the Chancellor or Vice Chancellor, the Dean of the School of Medicine, the President of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate, or the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee.
  3. A minimum of 60 voting members will constitute a quorum.
  4. All School of Medicine Faculty Senate meetings and other School of Medicine Faculty Senate activities or standing committees, shall be governed by the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.  The School of Medicine Faculty Senate may, however, adopt such standing rules or operating procedures as it deems necessary to facilitate the orderly conduct of business.
  5. All School of Medicine Faculty Senate meetings and other School of Medicine Faculty Senate activities or standing committees (with the exception of those pertaining to promotions, grievances, shared governance or others held under executive session) shall be considered public meetings. Non-members are welcome to both attend and address the session (subject to approval of members)
  6. Changes to School of Medicine Faculty Senate Standing Rules require approval by the full School of Medicine Faculty Senate.
  7. Any proposed amendments to the School of Medicine Faculty Senate by-laws must appear in a published notice at least 14 days prior to the next meeting of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate. If the amendments are approved by resolution at that meeting, they will then be submitted for formal approval by a postal/electronic ballot as prescribed by the School of Medicine Faculty Senate standing rules.
  8. All the members of the University administration (regardless of their faculty appointment) will be able to attend the meetings officiated by the School of Medicine faculty senate and its subcommittees and standing committees, on invitation from the President of the Faculty senate only. This refers but not limited to the following: (i) Chancellor and Vice-chancellor (ii)President and Vice-President (iii) Provost, Vice-Provost and Associate Provost (iv) Dean of School of Medicine (v) Full Deans, Associate Deans and Assistant Deans of the SOM, SAS, SVM, DOS and Office of the Provost. The members of University administration may officially request the President, for an invitation to attend the meeting, at least 1 week before the scheduled meeting.

5.2 School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee Meetings.

  1. School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee meetings shall be held at least six times in a year and conform to the rules of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate (Article V Section 5.1d).
  2. A quorum for the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee shall be a simple majority of the elected members.
  3. The Executive Committee shall meet on call by the Chair of the committee (Faculty Senate President) or at the written request of at least half the members of the committee.
  4. The agenda for the meetings will be prepared by the Executive Committee Chair, ordinarily in consultation with the Committee. The agenda will be distributed by the Secretary to the members at least one month in advance of the scheduled meeting, together with the minutes of the last meeting and summary of any actions taken by the committee since the last SOM Senate meeting.
  5. The Executive committee shall have the power to act on behalf of the SOM Senate in matters and business that are relevant to that SOM, and require immediate action between regular meetings, and which, in its judgement, cannot await the next meeting. Items acted upon in this fashion will be ratified at the next meeting.
  6. The Executive Committee shall oversee the operations of the SOM Faculty Senate, its standing committees and its sub-committees (shared governance committees are excluded)
  7. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for providing a slate of candidates for election to the following positions: Chair (Article VIII-M, section 5.8.1) and members to be elected to the Executive Committee (Article VIII-M, Section 5.8.3). The committee shall also present to the SOM Faculty Senate, a slate of candidates for election to the Standing Committees (Article XI-M, section 5.11).
  8. The Executive Committee shall conduct postal or electronic ballots of all members (as prescribed by the School of Medicine Faculty Senate standing rules) on specific issues when the Executive Committee regards a postal or electronic ballot as being urgent and cannot wait until the next Senate meeting. Resolutions approved in this manner will be considered to take effect as soon as they are approved.

6. ARTICLE VI-M: FACULTY SENATE OFFICER

6.1 President.

  1. The Chair of the School of Medicine Senate Executive committee by virtue of office will serve as President of the School of Medicine Senate with the following stipulations:
    1. The President, following his/her term of office, shall hold a voting member’s position as past President on the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee for a period of 3 years.
    2. Only voting members of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate are entitled to hold the position of President.
    3. The term of office of the President will be three (3) years.

6.2 Vice President

  1. The School of Medicine Faculty Senate Vice-President shall be elected from, and by, the membership of the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee, according to the following stipulations.
    1. The School of Medicine Faculty Senate Vice President shall also serve as Deputy-Chair to theSchool of Medicine Senate Executive Committee
    2. The term of office shall be three (3) years.

6.3 Secretary

  1. The School of Medicine Faculty Senate Secretary shall be elected from, and by, the membership of the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee, according to the following stipulations.
    1. The School of Medicine Faculty Senate Secretary shall also serve as Secretary to the School ofMedicine Senate Executive Committee
    2. The term of office shall be one year.
    3. The secretary shall be eligible for re-election for one consecutive term.
    4. Then the secretary shall not be eligible until a one-year interval has passed.

6.4 School of Medicine (SOM) Senate Executive Committee.

  1. The SOM Senate Executive Committee shall be comprised of the President of the SOM Faculty senate and 10 other elected members. The Vice-President of the Senate and the Secretary for the Executive Committee will be elected, from and by, this committee.
  2. Of the 10 elected members, 6 members will be elected from and by, all the members of the SOM faculty senate. The remaining 4 members will be elected from and by, each of the Clinical faculty from USA, Clinical Faculty from UK, Basic Science Faculty from UK and Basic Science faculty from Grenada.
  3. The members of the Clinical Faculty from USA and UK will elect, by postal or electronic ballot, one representative each to serve on the SOM Senate Executive Committee, and on other SOM Faculty Senate committees.
  4. The members of the Basic Sciences faculty from UK and the Basic Sciences Faculty from Grenada will elect, by postal or electronic ballot, one representative each to serve on the SOM Senate Executive Committee, and on other SOM Faculty Senate committees.
  5. The term of office for each member of the Executive Committee shall be three years with eligibility for re-election for one consecutive term. Thereafter, these members shall not be eligible for re-election until after a one-year interval.

  6. Only voting members are entitled to be members of the Executive Committee

7. ARTICLE VII-M: FACULTY SENATE OFFICERS DUTIES

7.1 President.

The President shall:

  1. preside over all plenary sessions of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate;
  2. ordinarily not vote in School of Medicine Faculty Senate meetings, except in cases of tie votes, when he/she may, at his/her discretion, vote to break the tie;
  3. act as Chair, of the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee.
  4. ordinarily not vote in the Senate meetings, nor in Executive Committee meetings, except in case of tie votes, when he/she may at his/her discretion vote to break the tie;
  5. be ex-officio, non-voting member of all standing committees of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate, exclusive of the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee, and he/she shall not count towards committee quorums, except that he/she may be an elected, voting member of one standing committee and may serve as a voting member on any ad hoc committee or subcommittee to which he/she is elected/appointed, or on any committee of which he/she is a member by administrative decree;
  6. in conjunction with and the advice of the Vice President, the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee and the Dean, set the date and place for plenary sessions of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate, and draw up the agenda for the meetings, and he/she shall also bear direct responsibility for coordinating the activities of the subcommittees, standing committees and determinative bodies;
  7. conduct all business, at all School of Medicine Faculty Senate meetings, as presented in the agenda, which will ordinarily include presentations of committee reports;
  8. be in contact with the committees of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate in order to coordinate and expedite their work and shall require regular reports from the subcommittees, standing committees and determinative bodies;
  9. be responsible for presenting School of Medicine Faculty Senate proposals to the appropriate administrative section of the School of Medicine including the Board of School of Medicine, Vice Chancellor, the Dean of the School of Medicine,  or any other board, committee, or individual that the School of Medicine Faculty Senate deems appropriate. The President shall report promptly any responses obtained;
  10. invite, if deemed necessary, administrators, staff or visiting professors to offer an opinion, clarify an issue or make a presentation to the School of Medicine Faculty Senate; however, these guests shall not be entitled to take part in deliberations nor shall they be entitled to vote. (Article V-M, Section 5.1(h)

7.2 Vice President

The Vice President shall:

  1. in the absence of the President, assume the duties of the President;
  2. preside over, and act as Vice-Chair of the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee and shall chair the Executive Committee in the absence of the Chair;
  3. be a full voting member of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate meetings;
  4. be responsible for presenting School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee proposals to the appropriate administrative section of the School of Medicine as described in Article VII-M, section 7.1i.

7.3 Secretary.

The Secretary shall:

  1. be a full voting member of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate;
  2. be responsible for recording minutes and distributing minutes of the previous meeting no later than one month after the meeting;
  3. be responsible for distribution and tabulation of voting ballots in accordance with the School of Medicine Faculty Senate Standing rules;
  4. be responsible for maintaining the archives, including correspondence,  and keeping School of Medicine Faculty Senate documents properly indexed and filed.

7.4 School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee.

The School of Medicine Executive Committee shall:

  1. oversee the operations of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate and assist the President in maintaining a timely, efficient, and effective performance of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate;
  2. have the power to act on behalf of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate in matters that require immediate action, between regular meetings of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate, and in business that, in its judgment, cannot await the next School of Medicine Faculty Senate meeting; however, resolutions must be ratified by the School of Medicine Faculty Senate at their next meeting;
  3. have the power to call the School of Medicine Faculty Senate into special session;
  4. meet on call by the Chair of a standing committee, after consultation with the President, or by written request of at least four members of the School of Medicine Senate Executive committee. The agenda for the meetings shall be prepared by the Chair.
  5. The School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee Chair shall provide the Secretary with the agenda for distribution to all School of Medicine Faculty Senate members at least one month in advance of the scheduled meeting, together with the minutes of the previous School of Medicine Faculty Senate meeting, as well as a summary of any actions taken by the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee since the previous School of Medicine Faculty Senate meeting.
  6. The School of Medicine Executive Committee shall be responsible for maintaining all School of Medicine Faculty Senate archives, including but not limited to School of Medicine Faculty Senate minutes, operating rules, minutes of all committee meetings, and communications (letters, memoranda, legal documents, etc. The School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee is also responsible for the prompt distribution of pertinent documents to School of Medicine Faculty Senate members.

8. ARTICLE VIII-M: SENATE COMMITTEES, DETERMINATIVE BODIES AND SHARED GOVERNANCE COMMITTEES

8.1 General.  

The School of Medicine Faculty Senate shall establish such committees as it deems necessary to facilitate the orderly operation of the School of Medicine. These will usually take the form of standing committees, determinative bodies or Shared Governance Committees.

8.2 Standing Committees.  

Standing committees are committees formed to work on issues that will be brought to the general assembly. Standing committees will compile a set of operating procedures, which must be approved by the School of Medicine Faculty Senate. These committees are: Faculty Affairs and Students Affairs

8.3 Determinative Bodies.

Determinative bodies are bodies or panels that exist to provide designated services to the Senate. They are responsible in matters of policy to their designated parent committee, but they report their findings directly to the appropriate academic officers. Determinative bodies will compile a set of operating procedures, which must be approved by the School of Medicine Faculty Senate. These committees are: Faculty Affairs Promotions Subcommittee.

8.4 Shared Governance Committees:

The Shared Governance Committees are committees, which exist to increase participation of faculty in administrative processes. They are responsible in matters of developing policies, planning and executing administrative processes and procedures, and report directly to the Dean of the School of medicine. These committees are: Curriculum committee (and its subcommittees), Faculty Student Selection Committee (FSSC), Committee for Satisfactory Academic Progress and Professional Standards (CAPPS), Graduation Assessment Board (GAB).

9. ARTICLE IX-M: STANDING COMMITTEES

9.1 General.

School of Medicine Faculty Senate shall establish such committees as it deems necessary to facilitate the orderly operation of the School of Medicine. As opposed to other types of committees, the primary purpose of a standing committee is to address issues of general and continuing interest and forward resolutions as appropriate. While establishing a new standing committee can be undertaken by a regular resolution, the dissolution of an existing standing committee requires a properly moved and ratified motion to rescind.

9.2 Members.

Membership of standing committees is by election only (Article VII-M, Section 5.7.4). Senate members shall serve on only one committee, exclusive of the School of Medicine Senate Executive Committee, but there shall be no restrictions concerning service on subcommittees, ad hoc committees or determinative bodies.

9.3 Operating Rules.

Standing committees are responsible for developing their own operating rules as necessary, which must be approved by the Faculty Senate and listed in the School of Medicine Faculty Senate Standing Rules.

10. ARTICLE X_M: SHARED GOVERNANCE COMMITTEES:

10.1 General:

The School of Medicine Faculty senate will establish following Shared Governance Committees (5.8.4) that provide designated services to the Dean of School of Medicine regarding administrative processes and procedures.

10.2 Members:

Shared governance committees comprise of members from Faculty Senate as nominated by the SOM Senate executive committee and members appointed by the School of Medicine administration. The membership of the shared governance committee is subject to final approval from the Dean of School of Medicine. Shared governance committees assume administrative responsibilities and work to plan and develop various administrative policies and procedures. The Shared Governance Committees will report directly to the Dean of School of Medicine

10.3 Operating Rules:

Each Shared governance committee will compile and approve their own bylaws, which must be approved by the Dean of the School of Medicine.

Appendix 8: Track Criteria
School of Medicine Faculty Senate Standing Rules