ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE1
PREAMBLE
The Constitution of the State of Michigan confers on the Board of Trustees the responsibility to develop a free and distinguished university and to promote the welfare of mankind through teaching, research and public service. The Board of Trustees exercises final authority and responsibility for University governance within the bounds fixed by the State Constitution.
In exercising its responsibility the Board delegates to the president, and through that person to the faculty, appropriate authority and jurisdiction over matters for which they are accountable to the Board. In other cases, for example, appointment, reappointment or promotion which involve the award of tenure, the Board does not delegate but instead looks to the faculty for recommendations. The specific powers delegated to the faculty are detailed in the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees.
The Board also has declared its intention to give due consideration to the opinions of students on matters directly related to their interest when they are expressed in a responsible manner.
It is important to specify the manner and process by which the faculty and students develop and communicate their views to the President and the Board. The Bylaws for Academic Governance are designed to provide an effective system for the participation of faculty and students in the development of policy on academic matters.
THE FACULTY
The faculty of the University is defined in the Bylaws of Academic Governance as follows:
The "regular faculty" of Michigan State University shall consist of all persons appointed under the rules of tenure and holding the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or instructor, and persons appointed as librarians. In addition, the principal administrative officer of each major educational and research unit of the University shall be a member of the "regular faculty".
The "fixed term faculty" of Michigan State University shall consist of all persons holding the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or instructor, but not appointed under the rules of tenure.
The faculty of the University is organized into units -- most commonly departments but also schools, institutes, etc. Each department and unit is attached organizationally to at least one college; however, organizational attachment of units to two or more colleges is very common at MSU. The faculty of each college and unit has jurisdiction over its own internal academic affairs within University policy. Each college has an elective Advisory Council and each unit has an advisory committee. "Regular" faculty members holding appointments with the academic rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or instructor constitute the voting faculty on internal matters in both the college and the department, and voting rights may be extended by unit bylaws to include temporary faculty, honorary faculty, specialists, lecturers, research associates, assistant instructors or adjunct faculty. Non-college faculty also participate in the governance system with a similar set of rights and responsibilities.
STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE
The Bylaws of the Faculty, 1968 provided for both undergraduate and graduate student participation in the Academic Council and certain faculty standing committees. In September, 1978, the Board of Trustees approved the Bylaws for Academic Governance, 1978, to replace the Bylaws of the Faculty,1968 and the Bylaws for Academic Governance, 1975. The 1978 Bylaws provided for student participation in academic governance and this involvement continues in the current Bylaws.
Each department, school, center, and institute that has academic responsibilities or whose work concerns either undergraduate or graduate students, and all colleges are charged to develop patterns for the significant involvement of its students in the decision making processes by which policy is formed. Each group is also required to define the extent of its student constituency. The students of such a constituency are responsible for selecting, according to patterns of their own choice, their representatives in the councils and committees to which they are party.
ACADEMIC SENATE
The voting membership of the Academic Senate is composed of the regular faculty except for the president and the provost. Honorary faculty (visiting professors and emeriti professors) are members with voice but without vote. The Academic Senate acts on revisions to the Bylaws for Academic Governance, issues raised by the Academic Council, issues raised by the faculty, or other significantly important educational issues the Senate itself wishes to consider. The Academic Senate also serves as a forum for dissemination of ideas and information between the faculty and the administration. The Academic Senate meets by call of the president or by call of the faculty members of the Executive Committee. The agenda for Senate meetings is prepared by the faculty members of the Executive Committee, or a subcommittee designated for matters of agenda, in consultation with the president and the provost.
Additionally, a convocation of University faculty is held each winter term on a date announced annually, to receive from the president a message on the state of the University.
ACADEMIC COUNCIL
The Academic Council is composed of the Faculty Council, the Appointed Council, designated members of the Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU), designated members of the Council of Graduate Students (COGS), designated members of the Academic Council standing committees, the Executive Committee, the President, the Provost, and designated ex-officio members. Ex-officio members are the Senior Associate Provost, Vice President for Student Affairs and Services, the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Academic Services, the Associate Provost for Academic Student Services and Multicultural Issues, the Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Human Resources, the Vice Provost for Libraries, Computing and Technology, the Associate Provost for Graduate Education, the Associate Provost for University Outreach, the Faculty Grievance Official, and the Ombudsman.
There are four sub-groups in the Academic Council. The Faculty Council is composed of the faculty representatives from the colleges, faculty representatives from the non-college faculty, the at-large faculty members of the Executive Committee, faculty chairpersons of Academic Council standing committees, the president and the provost. The Appointed Council is composed of all deans of academic programs, the directors of the Honors College and Library, the director of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the president and the provost. The Associated Students of Michigan State University and the Council of Graduate Students are composed of student, faculty and administrative representatives according to their respective constitutions.
The functions of the Academic Council are to consider and act upon all matters brought before the group by the Executive Committee, the president, and the provost, and to provide a forum for the dissemination of information and exchange of views regarding University policy. Consultation upon matters related to the general welfare of the University is provided by the Academic Council. The president, or in the president's absence, the provost, presides at meetings of the Academic Council. The Secretary for Academic Governance is the secretary of the Academic Council. The Academic Council must meet at least once each month during the academic year and more often at the call of the president or Executive Committee. The agenda is prepared by the Executive Committee, in consultation with the president or the provost. Before each regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate or the Academic Council, the Executive Committee holds a public meeting open to any member of the faculty or student body at which suggestions for agenda items are heard, thereby providing the vehicle through which individual faculty members, students or faculty-student groups and other organizations may initiate action. The Executive Committee announces this meeting in the State News and the MSU News-Bulletin.
Most of the issues debated by the Academic Council are considered by its various standing committees: The University Committees on Academic Governance, Academic Policy, Curriculum, Faculty Affairs, Faculty Tenure, Student Affairs and the University Graduate Council. For information about composition, procedures and functions of the various standing committees see Section 4 of the Bylaws for Academic Governance. Faculty and student members of the standing committees of the Academic Council are selected in accordance with the procedures specified in the Bylaws for Academic Governance.
Bylaws are an integral component of the governance system adopted in each academic unit. These documents describe faculty consultation and advisement in the units and normally describe reappointment, tenure and promotion procedures.
1 The Secretary for Academic Governance is secretary to the Academic Senate, the Academic Council, the Faculty Council and the Academic Assembly of ASMSU. The Office of the Secretary provides staff support to the Academic Council and its committees, supervises elections to the Academic Council and its committees, and provides assistance to colleges and departments in the preparation and interpretation of unit bylaws for academic governance. The Office of the Secretary is located in Room 308 Olds Hall (355-2337).