8/1/2018: July 2018: Proposal to Amend the Kettering University Faculty Bylaws

Some of the presently listed committees of the faculty senate listed in the Bylaws of the Governing Faculty of Kettering University have not been reviewed in quite a while. In April 2018, a review of all the faculty committees reporting to the senate was conducted by surveying the present committee chairs soliciting their feedback and recommendations. It was found that several of the committees may be disbanded or modified in purpose. For background, three faculty committees either have elected representatives from each department. No change is recommended for the representative committees. Additionally, six committees have six members each elected at large by the faculty. Committee membership, at present is three years. The last General Committee election was in 2014 and all general committees ran unopposed, and some committees had less than six faculty members running for election. It is the intent of this proposal to amend the bylaws to reflect the current practices and needs of the Senate committees and the university. The intent of this proposal is not to relinquish any authority invested in the senate, the senate can always create new task forces and committees. The intent of this proposal is to have the governing documents of the senate reflect current practice. Furthermore, the intent of the proposal is to avoid having elections for committees that no longer serve a function, which can contribute to a sense of apathy towards faculty governance. It can be demotivating for some faculty. At present, completely staffing the senate and the senate committees requires 78 faculty members, assuming a faculty member only performs one function for the senate. It is furthermore the intent of this proposal to amend the bylaws to reduce the number of members of the at-large committees from six to four. In the case of the Policy Review Committee, it may be useful for the senate to appoint the committee with members knowledgeable of senate operations, given the responsibilities of the Policy Review Committee