Faculty Committee Service Policies and Guidelines

General Guidelines

• Except for personnel committees, departmental votes for committee membership are advisory to the chair only. Committee membership is assignment of work duties and is the purview of the chair.

• CBA Article 20: Workload states that “Faculty members have additional professional responsibilities such as: advising students, participation in campus and systemwide committees.”

• Many, but not all of our committees currently meet via Zoom. This is determined by the committee chair.

• Faculty location of residence or mode of teaching should not influence their ability to complete service.

• Faculty who are on sabbatical or leave for one semester could be appointed to committees for which work falls within their semester of duty.

Consideration of Equitable Service Loads

It is important that work is assigned to faculty with an eye towards fairness, not only in terms of the amount of time and effort required by a committee assignment, but also in terms of the perceived esteem of membership on a committee. One approach is to make service visible to everyone, noting which faculty did not receive assigned time in the previous academic year(s).  

College Committees

College Assessment Committee 

• Meets on the last Wednesday of each month from 3:00 - 4:30 PM

• Chaired by Associate Dean for Academics and College Assessment Facilitator(s)

• Provides support to departments regarding assessment policy and practice. 

• Reviews and improves college assessment practices, including around equity gaps. 

College Curriculum Committee

• Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 3:00 - 4:30 PM

• Chaired by Associate Dean for Academics

• Review course proposals and curriculum changes.

• Reviews and improves college curriculum process

• Hosts Curriculum Open House sessions once a semester

RSCA Advisory Committee

• Meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 3:00 - 4:30 PM

• Chaired by Associate Dean for Research

• Assists with Dean's Student and Faculty Research Symposia

• Reviews Student RSCA Grant applications

College Scholarship Committee

• Meets in Spring semester, between April 1 & April 15 (to meet Financial Aid & Scholarship Office deadlines)

• Reviews scholarships online.

Personnel Committees

• Elected and staffed per the Senate policies  S15-7, S21-2, S17-6, and  CBA Article 15

• Committees have membership by formal vote of department probationary and tenured faculty.

General Guidelines for RTP Committees

• Only faculty who will be on academic assignment for both semesters are eligible to serve on RTP committees.

• FERP faculty who have an academic assignment for both semesters may serve.

• Everyone who is eligible for an RTP committee must appear on the ballot.

Department RTP Committee Membership

• Departments should submit the names of committee members to CoSS Dean’s Office (Terri Ramirez) AND to UP-FS using this election report.

• Department RTP Committees complete reviews in October.

Faculty Rank

Faculty cannot review anyone at or above their rank. However, a department could establish one committee of Professors for reviewing promotions to Professor, and a committee of Associates and Professors for reviewing tenure and promotion to Associate.

Size of Committee

Committees must have at least three members. If the department is of sufficient size, committees shall have at least five members. If the department has fewer than 3 full-time, tenured members, additional tenured full-time faculty members from related academic disciplines outside the department shall be selected to serve on departmental personnel committees. A mutually acceptable list of nominees shall be selected by the college Dean and probationary and tenured faculty of the department; the probationary and tenured faculty shall elect the additional committee members from that list.

Department Chair Service

A Department Chair is eligible to serve on the department committee, and if elected to the committee the Chair of the Department shall not write a separate Chair’s recommendation. If the Chair is not elected to the department committee or if the Chair declines to serve on the committee then the Chair may write a separate recommendation.

College RTP Membership

• College RTP - Representative must be a tenured full professor who is not serving on the Department RTP committee.

• The College RTP traditionally meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, however, this may be rescheduled to meet the needs of the committee members.

• All departments with four or more active full Professors are expected to provide members/nominees to higher level committees. 

  • Departments with three or fewer active Professors may provide members/nominees to higher level committees by supplementing their department level committee with external faculty (if needed). 

  • A department with insufficient faculty to provide a representative to a College level committee may elect a representative from outside its department in a related discipline, or it may elect another department's elected representative as a designee to explain the department's criteria and context to the College committee.

• College committee service is a prerequisite for serving on the University RTP, which comes with 0.2 Assigned Time in the Spring semester.

• The College Committee completes their review in November.

• Departments should submit the names of their elected members to CoSS Dean’s Office (Richard Hernandez).

Department Committees for Lecturer Evaluations

Cumulative Evaluations

Full-time lecturer faculty and lecturer faculty undergoing a three-year cumulative review shall be evaluated by a department committee of tenured faculty.  Cumulative reviews occur in early Spring.

Range Elevations

Range elevation requests shall be evaluated by an elected personnel committee composed of tenured faculty. The Department Chair may provide a separate review if he or she did not serve on the personnel committee. The committee shall write an evaluation and make a written recommendation to the Dean. Range elevation requests are processed in early October. The Dean's office/UP can provide a list of eligible faculty as not all departments will have applications.

Annual Evaluations

All other lecturer faculty shall be evaluated by the Department Chair, who may choose to consult with a department committee of tenured faculty. If the Department Chair suspects that a rating of “needs improvement” or “unsatisfactory” may be indicated, the Chair is advised to consult with a department personnel committee before concluding the evaluation.

College Sabbatical and Professional Leaves

• Representative must be a tenured full professor from the college.

• Faculty applying for sabbatical leave are not eligible to serve on the college professional leaves committee. 

• Least amount of workload of any personnel committee.   

• The committee completes its work in early October.