Bylaws of the University Faculty Council of Indiana University

Policy Statement

1. Rules of Order. The current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the conduct of the meetings of the Council except insofar as the bylaws make express provision to the contrary.

2. Meetings. Meetings of the Council shall begin at 1:30 P.M. and adjourn at 4:30 P.M. unless a later adjournment is agreed to unanimously. The Executive Committee may also fix a different time for a regular meeting or call a special meeting--providing due notice to the faculty.

3. Quorum. The presence of a majority of voting members of the Council shall constitute a quorum. In the absence of a quorum, the meeting may continue under the terms of subsections 2 and 3 of Bylaw 11.C.

4. Elected UFC Members.The University Faculty Council Office shall determine for each IU administered campus the number of elected representatives to which it is entitled from the lists submitted by campus officers, as required in Section 1.3 of the Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty. The Faculty Council Office shall forward this determination to the faculty head of each such campus legislative body by December 31. The faculty head on each campus shall certify to the University Faculty Council Office no later than August 1st the names of the elected and ex-officio faculty members who will represent the campus on the University Faculty Council for the ensuing year. It shall be the responsibility of the faculty head of each campus legislative body to select campus representatives sufficiently early in the year that the deadline can be met.

5. Ex Officio UFC Members. Pursuant to Sections 4.1.C.1 and 4.1.C.2 of the Constitution of the Indiana Faculty, The President of the University and “the faculty chairs of the Agenda or Executive Committee of the campus-wide institution of faculty governance on every campus” are voting ex-officio members of the UFC. The faculty head on each campus shall certify to the Co-Chairs of the University Faculty Council no later than April 15th the names of heads of faculty governance on their campus who shall so serve on the UFC in the coming year. Pursuant to Section 4.1.E of the Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty, the Executive Vice Presidents of the university are ex-officio, non-voting members of the University Faculty Council.

6. Attendance at Meetings / Alternates. Elected and voting ex-officio Council members and student representatives may appoint alternates to serve in their place at any meeting. Any member of the Council who must be absent for a semester or longer or becomes unable to perform the duties of UFC members shall be replaced during that period in accordance with procedures specified by the unit of the University from which the absent member came.

7. Terms of Office: The term of office of newly elected members of the University Faculty Council shall begin July 1st and end July 30th of the following year.

8. Officers of the UFC: The three Co-Chairs of the UFC shall be selected, by July 1st of each year, as follows:

A. The Presidents of the Bloomington Faculty and the IUPUI Faculty Council serve as the Co-Chairs of the UFC from IU Bloomington and IUPUI.

B. The Regional Campus Co-Chair shall be chosen by the members of the Regional Faculty Caucus. The RFC Co-Chair must be the faculty head of a regional campus legislative body. In case of a vacancy, the RFC shall immediately elect a new Co-Chair to complete the term.

C. The BFC, IFC and RFC shall inform the University Faculty Council of the results of their elections not later than July 1st of each year.

9. Executive Committee of the UFC: The executive committee shall comprise:

A. The three Co-Chairs of the UFC, who shall serve as co-chairs of the Executive Committee.

B. The heads of the faculty governance legislative bodies at all campuses from which a Co-Chair does not come.

C.Two additional members elected by the Bloomington Faculty Council, two additional members elected by the IUPUI Faculty Council, and one additional member elected by the Regional Faculty Caucus, all of whom must be members of the UFC.

10. Duties and functions of the Co-Chairs: The duties and functions of the Co-Chairs, with support from the Faculty Council Office where appropriate, shall be as follows:

A. To serve as Co-Chairs of the Executive Committee.

B. To serve as Co-Chairs of the Indiana University Faculty (Section 3.1, Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty).

C. To call meetings of the faculty (Section 3.3, Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty).

D. To represent the Indiana University faculty in meetings with the Trustees, the President, other officers of Indiana University, and their administrative committees, including any academic and administrative cabinets or subgroupings.

E. To convene, together with the appointing officer (normally the President), review committees for Indiana University administrators.

F. To appoint a member of the Council as Secretary who shall prepare minutes of each meeting of the Council and a summary of the activities of the Council each year and distribute it to the general faculty.

10.1. Duties and functions of the Faculty Council Office. The Faculty Council Office and its Director shall:

A. Serve as the administrative office of the University Faculty Council.

B. Arrange for comprehensive transcripts and an audio or video (with audio) recording of each UFC meeting, which must be retained for 12 months by the Faculty Council Office for reference by any interested member of the faculty.

C. Report in the transcripts the names of those present at a Council meeting. In addition to absences, names of alternates present shall be reported.

D. Make available, in a timely fashion, to all Council members, members of the faculty and librarians who request them, the President and Vice Presidents of the University, the Chancellor of campuses not headed by a Vice President of the University, the main library on each campus, IU Communications (or any successor organization in charge of University press relations) and the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, all council documents and circulars including agendas announcing the time, place, and intended business of UFC meetings and minutes and transcripts of completed meetings, including meetings of the Executive Committee acting on behalf of the UFC as is allowed under Section 11.C of these bylaws. All University Faculty Council minutes, documents, and circulars shall be made electronically available to the University community in a timely manner for at least three years.

11. Duties and functions of the UFC Executive Committee: The duties and functions of the Executive Committee, with support from the Faculty Council Office where appropriate, shall be as follows:

A. The Executive Committee shall determine the Council's agenda and communicate the agenda to all Council members not less than two weeks prior to a Council meeting. All communications--including those from individual faculty members-- requesting Council action, study, or advice shall be placed on the agenda or referred to an appropriate body or committee for consideration. In the latter case, the Executive Committee shall report its action to the Council which may--with the concurrence of a simple majority vote--request the Executive Committee to place a referred item on the agenda.

B. The Executive Committee shall prepare the final draft of any new legislation approved by the Council.

C. The Executive Committee may take any action that falls within the authority of the UFC on behalf of the full Council, and the action shall have the same authority as an action approved by the UFC itself; provided that:

1. Notice of the action that the Executive Committee proposes to take on behalf of the Council shall have been given to Council members at least seven calendar days before the Executive Committee acts;

2. There is unanimous consent of the Executive Committee and agreement of the President to the proposed action;

3. The Executive Committee action is communicated to the Council and no more than four members of the Council notify the Co-Chairs of their objection to the action within seven calendar days of such notice being sent and;

4. The action is not subject to section 2.4.C.4 of the Constitution and does not amend the Faculty Constitution or the Bylaws of the UFC.

D. Emergency items should be referred to the Executive Committee before being given precedence on the agenda.

E. The Executive Committee at any time may request the Council to determine the implementation and the effect of any past legislation or action or to reconsider any past legislation.

F.  Any faculty member on request prior to a meeting shall be invited by the Executive Committee to participate without vote in the meeting, subject-- however--to the exercise by the Executive Committee of its responsibility for taking varied points of view into account and for the efficient management of the Council's time. On its own initiative, the Executive Committee may invite any non-member to participate in the discussion of matters of particular interest. Faculty members, students, members of the university staff, and members of the press are welcome to attend meetings of the Council--subject to the adequacy of available space. The Executive Committee may invite the general faculty to participate in special meetings of the Council to be governed by ad hoc rules adopted by the Executive Committee.

G. The Executive Committee shall serve as the University Faculty Council’s Nomination Committee.

H. At the request of the President or by action of the Executive Committee on its own motion, the Council may meet in Executive Session. Only voting members of the Council, the Director of the Faculty Council Office, and others agreed to by vote of the Council may be present.

12. Committees:The UFC shall have the following committees:

A.  Honorary Degrees Committee:

The Honorary Degrees Committee and the standards and procedures for awarding honorary degrees are governed by Indiana University Honorary Degree Policy adopted by the University Faculty Council on November 10, 1992 (with duly adopted amendments, if any).

B. UFC-Budgetary Advisory Committee:

This shall be a standing committee for the purpose of consulting with University administration about financial issues, including but not limited to university tax (or other system-wide fees and charges), the university-wide budget, allocation of resources to campuses, and university strategic planning. Ex officio member shall be the IU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The executive committees of Faculty Councils on IU campuses shall nominate faculty members of this committee to number 11: 3 members from IU-Bloomington, 3 members from IUPUI of which one shall be from the School of Medicine, and 1 member each from IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Southeast. IUPUC and IU Fort Wayne will be represented via the IUPUI members. Members must have experience in school or campus budgetary affairs governance. Terms will be for 2 years.

An executive committee of the BAC (BAC-EC) consisting of 6 members, 2 from Bloomington, 2 from IUPUI, and 2 from regional campus representatives shall be elected from among the BAC membership, and one shall be elected overall chair for a term of 2 years. The UFC-BAC-EC is responsible for organizing communicating with the UFC Co-Chairs, Indianapolis Faculty Council, Bloomington Faculty Council and Regional Faculty Council Executive Committees, determining agendas for full UFC-BAC meetings, and presenting reports at full UFC meetings.

C. Policy Review Committee

This shall be a standing committee for the purpose of consulting with the Office of the Executive Vice President for University Academic Affairs and other administrators about existing and proposed policies that affect the academic mission of the University and the working conditions of the faculty, and to bring to the UFC for a vote those policies that fall within the faculty’s legislative authority. The executive committee of the UFC shall appoint six faculty members to this committee, two from IU-Bloomington, two from IUPUI, and two from regional campuses. Terms will be for 2 years, staggered. The Chief Policy Officer of the University shall be an ex officio member. The committee shall select its own chair, who shall sit ex officio on the University Policy Advisory Council along with the Director of the Faculty Council Office.

D.  Other Committees:

The Executive Committee may create and appoint ad hoc committees and task forces and may make recommendations of faculty members to serve on administratively appointed committees.

13. Retention and disposition of Faculty Council files:

A. Definition and principles:

1. All records and files created or received by the Co-Chairs of the UFC as administrator of the Council and relating to Faculty Council business are defined as the official records of the UFC.

2. Records and files created or received by the chairpersons of UFC committees are defined as UFC committee files and are therefore excluded from the provisions of these rules.

3. The maintenance of official UFC records and files shall be in accordance with general Indiana University rules for maintenance of official records of the University.

4. For records or files created or received by June 30, the period of maintenance shall commence on the following first of July.

B. Maintenance of UFC records and files: Official UFC records and files shall be maintained in the Faculty Council Office for the minimum periods specified:

1. Incoming and outgoing correspondence relating to UFC business and incoming correspondence log: three years.

2. Audio or video recordings of UFC meetings: one year.

3. Election ballots or other data relating to elections and committee assignments: one year.

4. Tabulations by name of votes in Council meetings: one year.

5. File copies of agendas, minutes, circulars, and each year's Summary of the Year: indefinitely.

C. Disposition of UFC records and files:

1. Subject to space limitations, official UFC records and files may be retained in the UFC office for longer periods than those specified in Bylaw 12.B, at the discretion of the Co-Chairs.

2. Audio or video recordings of minutes, ballots, and other election materials relating to elections and committee assignments may be erased / discarded after one year, at the discretion of the Co-Chairs.

3. Other official UFC records and files shall be offered to the University Archives upon expiration of the period specified in Bylaw 12.B.

4. Surplus copies of items listed under Bylaw 12.B.5 shall be offered to the University Archives at the end of the Council year in which they have been created.

D. Exceptions:

1. The records and files of UFC committees, while not subject to these rules, are an important resource for the efficient administration of Council activities and a potentially valuable historical record. Chairpersons are encouraged to pass UFC committee records and files on to their successors at the conclusion of the Council year and/or to offer them to the University Archives at an appropriate time.

2. Files maintained by the UFC staff for their own use and containing unofficial materials shall not be subject to the provisions of these rules.

E. Files maintained by the UFC staff for their own use and containing unofficial materials shall not be subject to the provisions of these rules

14. Amendments:

A. These bylaws may be amended at any meeting of the Council, by two-thirds vote of the voting members present, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing to all voting members at least one week before the meeting.

B. Amendments are effective as of the date of their adoption by the UFC.

C. As amendments are adopted, the Faculty Council Office shall promptly revise the published versions of the Council's bylaws to incorporate amendments and shall notify the Office of Policy Administration.

D. The Executive Committee may update these bylaws at any time to reflect changes in the names and titles of university offices, officers or programs.

Back to top

History

Adopted by the University Faculty Council:
April 16, 1974;

Amended by the University Faculty Council:
February 8, 1977;
April 26, 1977;
October 14, 1980;
December 8, 1981;
November 30, 1982;
March 8, 1983;
November 27, 1984;
March 26, 1985;
April 23, 1991;
February 9, 1993;
November 12, 1996;
October 14, 2003; 
March 27, 2012;
February 24, 2015;
November 27th, 2018.

Previous Versions: 

Effective Dates:

03/27/2012 - 02/24/2015

02/24/2015 - 02/27/2018

Back to top