BY-LAWS OF THE FACULTY OF WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Approved by Faculty Senate February 11, 2005

The purpose of these by-laws is to provide the mechanism by which the faculty of the School of Medicine exercises its responsibilities as delineated in Article II, Section I, toward the goal of achieving excellence in all its programs.

Nothing in these by-laws is intended to be inconsistent with present or future Board of Governors Statutes, or Executive Orders, or other University policies or regulations that have been duly issued, or any applicable collective bargaining agreement.

Where there may be an inconsistency between these by-laws and present or future Board of Governors Statutes, Executive Orders, other University policies or regulations or policies that have been duly issued, or any applicable collective bargaining agreement, the latter shall prevail.

SECTION I.

The Senate will be the principal deliberative body of the faculty of the School of Medicine. Its purpose will be to advise the Dean on matters of policy. Policies concerning the School of Medicine, curriculum, education and research programs, admissions and promotions of students, appointments and promotions of faculty are among matters of faculty concern and participation. The Dean will regularly request the advice of the faculty through its Executive Committee as well as the Council of Chairs. The Senate, Executive Committee or Council of Department Chairs may communicate by letter or resolution directly with the President of the University after due notification to the Dean.

SECTION II.

The Senate will be composed of all department chairs, all full-time* and full-time affiliated professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors. The Chiefs of Staff from the Medical Center Hospitals will hold membership in the Faculty Senate during their tenure of office. Each department may elect one member of its clinical voluntary faculty with the rank of assistant professor or above for membership. The clinical voluntary faculty will serve for a term of two years and may be re-elected for one additional term.

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*For determination of membership on the Faculty Senate, full-time is defined as 50% or greater employment.

SECTION III.

The officers of the Faculty Senate shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer will be elected by mail ballot of the Faculty Senate. At the end of one term, the Vice President will become President of the Senate. The term of office for each officer of the Senate will be two years and no officer may serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office. The Vice President will act in the temporary absence of the President. Should the presidency become vacant permanently for any reason, the Vice President will complete the President's term and the succeeding term for which elected. An interim Vice President will be appointed by the Executive Committee to complete the term of the Vice President. A permanent Vice President will be elected at the next regularly scheduled election of officers of the Faculty Senate. In the case of a vacancy in the office of Secretary or Treasurer, the Executive Committee will appoint a replacement to serve out the term.

Meetings of the Senate will be held at least three times per year (September/October, March, May) at the call of the President of the Senate or upon petition by twenty of the members. Notice of the meetings of the Senate must be sent to all members no later than one week prior to the meeting. A quorum will consist of twenty members. In the absence of a quorum, those present will act as a committee of the whole. Actions of the committee of the whole must be approved at the next full meeting of the Senate. The President of the Student Council will be invited to send two students to attend meetings of the Senate. These student representatives may take part in discussion of the Senate but may not vote.

Annual dues (to be specified by the Senate) will be due and payable from each member by November of each academic year. These monies are to be used for the "good and welfare" of members of the faculty, staff and their families. Use of Senate funds for other purposes must have specific approval of the Executive Committee. The Treasurer will be responsible for all monies so entrusted. The treasurer will collect and record all dues and have direct authority to make all disbursements up to $150.00. Disbursements of monies over $150.00 must have prior authorization of the Executive Committee. The Treasurer will submit a written report of receipts, expenditures and balance at the final meeting of the Faculty Senate before the end of each academic year (June 30). The Treasurer's account will be audited by a committee of two who are to be appointed by the President.

ARTICLE III. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The purpose of the Executive Committee is to expedite actions for the Senate, and it shall act by virtue of authority delegated by the Senate. The Executive Committee shall review all academic appointments and shall serve as the School's promotions and tenure committee as required by the "Agreement Between Wayne State University And The WSU Chapter of the AAUP." It will review any other matters which may be referred to it by the Dean or members of the Senate. It shall refer all matters of policy to the Senate for ratification.

The Executive Committee shall be composed of the Dean, the President who shall chair its meetings, the Vice-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer of the Senate, and six tenured and five Clinician-Educator at-large  members elected by and from the Senate.

Tenured Members

Two members shall be elected each year for terms of three years. No elected member shall serve more than two consecutive terms. In the event of a vacancy on the Executive Committee due to the temporary absence of an elected member, the Executive Committee will appoint a replacement to serve until the return of that member. In the event of a vacancy on the Executive Committee due to the permanent absence of an elected member, the Executive Committee will appoint a replacement to serve out the term. The Dean may designate that an Assistant or Associate Dean attend in the Dean's absence. The Secretary of the Senate will act as Secretary of the Executive Committee.

Clinician-Educator Members

In addition to the existing provisions for election of tenured faculty members, five AAUP/AFT-represented Clinician-Educator faculty members with a rank of Associate Professor or Professor will be elected to serve a two-year term as at-large members on the Executive Committee. These Executive Committee members will participate in all discussions within the Committee and all votes on appointments, Salary Committee decisions, promotions of Clinician-Educator faculty to their rank or below, and all other issues except promotion and tenure decisions for Research-Educator faculty.   

Recommendations of eligible Clinician-Educator faculty members who are willing to serve on the Executive Committee will be solicited from each of the Chairs of the clinical departments.    

 Because of the great range in numbers of eligible Clinician-Educator faculty members in the various clinical departments, the Chair of each department will be asked to recommend faculty members in numbers roughly proportional to the numbers of eligible faculty members in his/her department.   Each of these recommended faculty members will be asked to submit a brief biosketch, in which his/her principal academic interests and accomplishments at Wayne State University and in the broader academic community will be highlighted.  The Executive Committee, sitting as a Nominating Committee, will select a slate of candidates equal to twice the number of available positions (10 total candidates for the first election).  The ballot for election of members of the Executive Committee will present these Clinician-Educator candidates and their biosketches.  It will be sent to all the members of the SOM Faculty Senate, with instructions to vote for a maximum number of candidates equal to the number of open Clinician-Educator positions.  This category will complement the nominees for the open positions for tenured faculty members from basic science or clinical departments.  The top half of Clinician-Educator candidates by vote count will fill the available positions.  For the first election of five members, in order to stagger the terms, the first three with the highest vote counts will serve a two-year term, and the fourth and fifth will each serve a one-year term.  Thereafter, all terms will be two years.

The Executive Committee shall meet at least once a month. Eight members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum.

Minutes of each meeting of the Executive Committee shall be mailed promptly to each member of the Executive Committee and displayed for review by the faculty. Members of the Senate who object to any action taken by the Executive Committee may communicate directly with the Secretary of the Executive Committee. If objections to any specific action are received from any six members of the Senate, that action will be held in abeyance and resolved at the next meeting of the Senate. In the absence of objections by members of the Senate, all actions of the Executive Committee shall become effective one week from the date on which minutes covering such actions are posted.

ARTICLE IV - COMMITTEES

SECTION I. Nominating Committee:

This Committee shall be composed of five Senate members appointed by the President with the concurrence of the Executive Committee. Its function shall be to submit nominations for all officers and other elected positions as provided for in the articles on elections (Article VIII). In considering nominees for officers of the Senate and for the elected members of the Executive Committee, these By-Laws mandate the following:

1. When the President of the Senate is a member of a clinical department, the nominees for Vice President shall be members of non-clinical departments.
   
   
2. Similarly, when the nominees for Secretary are members of non-clinical departments, the nominees for Treasurer shall be members of clinical departments, or vice versa. Nominees for either office shall not be split between representatives of clinical and non-clinical departments.
   
   
3. Of the two members of the Executive Committee to be elected each year, one shall be from a clinical department and the other from a non-clinical department.
   
   
4. Every effort shall be made to maintain a balance between surgical and medical specialties and their sup-specialties and to support affirmative action policies.
   
   
5. Membership to the Executive Committee shall be limited to no more than two members from the same department.
   
   
6. At least two nominees shall be presented for each vacancy.

Ordinarily, members of the Nominating Committee shall not be candidates.

In addition, this committee shall be responsible for developing a slate of four candidates to replace the two members rotating off the University's Hearing Panel standing committee (Section II) and another slate for membership on the University's Academic Senate and Graduate Council. Election shall be held in accordance with ARTICLE VIII.

SECTION II. Standing Committees:

These committees will be the following:  Budget Committee, Faculty Information Technology, Curriculum, Graduate Affairs, Library, Promotions, and Research Development. Members of each committee will be appointed by the President of the Faculty Senate with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. Each committee shall develop a set of operating procedures, subject to approval by the Executive Committee, which will govern its activities.

The Admissions Committee serves as a joint administrative committee. The Executive Committee makes recommendations to the Dean for this committee.

In accordance with Board of Governors Statute 2.51.01.280, a six-member panel will serve as a standing committee for the University's Hearing Panel, from which three members will be picked by lot when needed. The six members will consist of tenured associate or full professors elected from the Senate to serve an overlapping three-year term, with two members replaced by election each year. Temporary or permanent absence will be subject to the same rule as for Executive Committee members.

SECTION III. Other Committees:

Other committees may be appointed at the discretion of the President with the concurrence of the Executive Committee. A full list of committees and members shall be provided by the President to the Senate members.

The General Faculty Assembly shall be composed of all members of the faculty. It shall meet annually in joint session with the annual meeting of the Faculty Senate. Its purpose shall be to foster a close relationship between all members of the faculty and those charged with administrative responsibility.

This Council is for the purpose of considering special and long-range educational and administrative problems as they affect the operation of departments and their integration with each other, and to provide a pathway of communication between such a formal body and the Dean. The Council shall be composed of all department chairs and the Dean, and shall be chaired by the Dean.

Section I.

The annual meeting of the General Faculty Assembly shall be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Faculty Senate.

Section II.

The regularly scheduled May meeting shall be considered the Annual Meeting of the Faculty Senate at which time the results of the elections shall be presented, annual Committee reports given, and the Dean shall give his annual report to the joint meeting of the Faculty Senate and the General Faculty Assembly.

The election of all officers, members of the Executive Committee, and all others whose election is dictated by these by-laws shall take place prior to the annual meeting of the Senate by secret mail ballot. The term of office of these positions shall begin July 1.

Section II.

The Nominating Committee shall submit a list of candidates to the Secretary of the Senate no later than the first Executive Committee meeting in February. This list shall then be mailed to all Senate members on or before March 1.

Additional nominations may be made by petition of 10 members of the Senate, such nominations to be submitted to the Secretary of the Senate no later than ten days prior to the March Faculty Senate meeting. Additional nominations may be made from the floor at the next Faculty Senate meeting. Such nominations are subject to mandates described in ARTICLE IV, SECTION I. All nominations shall be approved by a simple majority of Senate members present at that meeting. The Secretary shall prepare the ballot with the enclosure of a short biographical sketch of each nominee for mail distribution no later than April 10.

These by-laws may be amended by a majority of those members voting by mail ballot, provided that the proposed amendment is submitted in writing to all members of the Senate at least thirty days prior to deadline for receipt of the mail ballot. Amendments may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by petition of 10 members of the Senate.

These by-laws will be reviewed and readopted not later than five years from the date of issue. The method for re-adoption will be a simple majority of those voting by a mail ballot.

The current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall be the guide in all parliamentary matters.

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