Appendix: Rules of Procedure of the Faculty Senate

(Faculty Senate, adopted April 3, 1997; revised April 17, 2002; revised February 15, 2006; revised January 1, 2019; most recently revised on March 9, 2022)

The Faculty Senate has adopted its own rules of procedure to supplement the Board of Trustees policy 810.1 which establishes the Senate and its authority and organizational structure. The text is provided below.

I. Parliamentary procedure: The Faculty Senate shall be governed by the current edition of The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure by Alice Sturgis.

II. Campus-wide elections:

A. During the spring semester of each year, the Faculty Chair, Faculty Vice Chair, and the campus-wide representatives on the Faculty Senate shall be elected by all tenured and tenure track faculty holding a halftime (or greater) faculty appointment, and by all non-tenure track faculty in their third (or greater) consecutive year of full-time appointment. 

B. During the spring semester of each year, the members of the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure shall be elected by tenured and tenure-track members of the faculty.

C. The elections described in Sections A and B hereof shall be conducted by the Nominating and Election Coordinating Committee (“The Committee” herein) pursuant to these rules and any additional rules adopted by the Committee that are consistent with these rules. The Committee is hereby given the authority to resolve any questions concerning the elections or elective procedures. By the end of the first week of classes in the spring term, the Committee shall distribute a call for nominations for the following offices: Faculty Chair, Campus-wide representatives to the Faculty Senate, and members of the Committee on appointment, Promotion, and Tenure.                  

D. On or before the end of the first week of classes in the Spring semester, the Committee shall issue a call for nominations for Faculty Chair, At-Large Faculty Senator, and Committee on Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure to be elected. The committee shall accept nominees for any of the offices if each such nomination is (a) for a nominee who is eligible to vote in the election for the office in question (b) made by a petition signed by ten or more members of the faculty eligible to vote in the election for the office in question, (c) submitted to the Committee within one week after the call is given, and (d) accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of the nominee.

E. The nomination of any one person to more than one of the positions described in Section D hereof is not precluded.

F. On or before March 1 of each year, the Committee shall distribute the following to all eligible voters:

1. A ballot shall list the nominees for the primary election of each of the following:

a. a list of at least three nominees for the position of Faculty Chair;

b. a list of nominees for the position of campus-wide representatives on the Faculty Senate. The number of individuals on the list shall be at least 25% more than the number of vacancies;

c. a list of nominees for the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure. The number of individuals on the list shall be at least twice the number of members of the Committee on Tenure to be elected. Each list shall include all nominees nominated either by the Committee or by valid petition.

2. A brief biographical sketch for each nominee.

3. A call for the return of the completed ballots, specifying that valid ballots must be received by the Secretary of the Committee within 12 days after the call is mailed. The call shall be accompanied by appropriate instructions regarding proper voting procedures under the provisions of Sections I, J, and K hereof.

G. On or before March 15 of each year, having counted the primary ballots in accordance with the provisions of sections I, J, and K hereof, the Committee shall announce the results of the primary elections.

H. By April 1 of each year, the Committee shall have completed any run-off elections required under the provisions of sections I, J, and K hereof, and shall announce the results of such run-off elections. Except for the reduction in the number of candidates as provided therein, the procedures set forth in sections F and G hereof shall apply to any such run-off election. If there are more than three nominees, then the following actions shall be placed into action.

I. The Faculty Chair and Faculty Vice Chair shall be elected from a common list of nominees for the office of Faculty Chair.

1. In the primary election, each eligible voter shall be entitled to vote for two of the nominees.

2. The candidates receiving the most number of votes equal to a majority of the ballots cast shall be elected Faculty Chair. The candidate receiving the second highest number of votes will be elected Faculty Vice-Chair. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, then the three candidates receiving the most votes shall stand for a run-off election where each voter shall be entitled to vote for two of the three candidates. The winner of the run-off election shall be elected Faculty Chair and the runner-up shall be elected Faculty Vice chair.

3. In the event that only three candidates are nominated, the candidate receiving the most votes will be elected Chair and the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes will be elected Vice Chair.

J. Campus-wide representatives on the Faculty Senate shall be elected as follows:

1. In both the primary election and any run-off election, each eligible voter shall be entitled to cast as many unit votes as there are campus-wide representatives to be elected, and to distribute these votes among the several nominees in any way, except that no more than half of these votes may be cast for any single nominee.

2. The nominee shall be declared elected in order of decreasing number of votes received until all positions have been filled. 

3. Should a campus wide representative elected to the Faculty Senate be unable to complete their term of office, the vacancy shall be filled referring to the results of the same election in which that representative was elected. Among the remaining candidates, the individual who received the most votes and who is able to fill the vacancy shall be a campus-wide representative in the Faculty Senate for the remainder of the unexpired term.

K. Members of the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure shall be elected as follows:

1. Each eligible voter shall be entitled to cast as many unit votes as there are members of the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure to be elected, and to distribute these votes among the several nominees in any way, except that no more than half of these votes may be cast for any single nominee.

2. In the primary election, each nominee shall be declared elected in order of decreasing number of votes received until all positions have been filled.

3.  The term for all faculty senate members and officers shall extend from July 1 to June 30.

III. Vacancy in the office of Faculty Vice Chair 
Should the office of Faculty Vice Chair become vacant during the term of office, a new Faculty Vice Chair shall be elected for the unexpired term by the Faculty Senate. In such election, no one shall be declared elected until they have received at least twenty-four votes.

IV. Election of faculty representatives on the Campus Council 
At the Faculty Senate’s first meeting of each academic year, the Senate shall elect 16 senators from among its voting members (other than its Chair and Vice Chair) to be faculty representatives on the Campus Council. The Senate shall be governed by the following procedures for the election of these senators:

A. Before any voting occurs, nominations for filling all of the representative positions shall be made from the floor.

B. In case there are more nominations than positions to be filled, each senator shall be entitled to cast as many unit votes as there are positions to be filled, and to distribute these votes among the several nominees for the positions in any way, except that no more than half of these votes may be cast for any single candidate.

C. In the first round of voting, the nominees shall be declared elected in order of decreasing number of votes received, until all positions have been filled.

D. Should the number of nominees elected in the first round of voting be less than the number of positions to be filled, there shall be a run-off election among the runner-up nominees who received the greatest number of votes, the number of such candidates in the run-off election to be equal to the number of positions to be filled, plus three (or the number of remaining candidates, if fewer than three). The candidates receiving the most votes in the run-off election shall be declared elected.

E. Should a faculty representative elected to the Campus Council be unable to complete their term of office, the vacancy shall be filled by referring to the results of the Senate’s election in which that representative was elected. Among the candidates who were eliminated in that election, the senator who received the most votes and who is able to fill the vacancy shall be a faculty representative on the Campus Council for the remainder of the unexpired term.

V. Campus representative on the Arkansas Higher Education Faculty Council 
The Faculty Chair shall serve as the representative-elect to the Arkansas Higher Education Faculty Council, and the Chair of the Faculty Senate shall serve as the representative on the Council.

VI. Action on legislation of a separate faculty or the Graduate School Faculty 
When the Faculty Senate receives legislation from a separate faculty or the Graduate School Faculty concerning its own academic affairs (“the legislation” herein), the Senate’s action on the legislation shall be governed by the following procedures:

A. The presiding officer shall first call for a motion to approve the legislation.

1. If a motion to approve is made and is passed, the Senate shall take no other action on the legislation (unless, of course, it reconsiders or rescinds the motion). After approval of the legislation, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s approval of the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action.

2. If a motion to approve is not made or if a motion to approve is made and is defeated, the presiding officer shall call for a motion to negate the legislation.

3. If a motion to negate is made and is passed, the Senate shall take no other action on the legislation (unless, of course, it reconsiders or rescinds the motion). After approval of the legislation, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s negation of the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action.

4. If a motion to negate is not made or if a motion to negate is made and is defeated, the presiding officer shall announce that, in the absence of an objection from the floor, the legislation will be filed. After filing of the legislation, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s filing of the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action. If a senator objects to filing the legislation, the presiding officer shall entertain a motion to file the legislation. When a motion to file is made, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s action on the motion to file the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action.

VII. Notices and minutes

A. In any year, the distributions to faculty members required by Subsection D.2 and D.4 of Article II of Board Policy 810.1 may be complied with by (a) sending the required information by e-mail to all faculty members who receive e-mail, and (b) placing the required information on a website dedicated to faculty governance, provided however that early in the fall semester all faculty members are notified by campus mail of the Web site’s address and of the times tentatively scheduled for the six regular meetings of the Faculty Senate that year.

B. Minutes of Faculty Senate meetings are distributed by e-mail, to the chairpersons of the Student Senate and the Staff Senate, to the Chair of the Campus Council, to the Chair of the Agenda Committee of the Campus Council, to all chairs of academic departments, to all directors of units, to all vice chancellors and deans, and to the Chancellor. The office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs shall send to the President and to the Board of Trustees all actions involving approval by, or notification to, the Board of Trustees. These postings, which shall be done in a timely manner, will be accompanied with explicit information in the required format.

C. Although supporting information shall be distributed with each tentative agenda when it is feasible to do so, Subsection D.2 or Article II of Board Policy 810.1 shall be complied with whenever the agenda lists by item all of the business known by the one preparing the agenda to be scheduled for the meeting in question.

VIII. “Prefiling” of motions 
When any main motion (except to reconsider, rescind, or resume consideration) is made at a meeting, it shall not be voted upon at that meeting unless its language has been distributed to all members of the Faculty Senate at least 24 hours before the meeting; such distribution may be made by e-mail to all Senators who receive e-mail.

IX. Committee reports 
When the Faculty Senate asks a committee to act, the committee’s report shall be addressed to the Faculty Senate. The original of the report shall be filed with the Chair of the Faculty Senate, and a copy of the report shall also be sent to the Faculty Chair. When a committee addresses a report to the Campus Faculty, a copy shall also be sent to the Chair of the Faculty Senate. All committee reports received by the Chair of the Senate shall be distributed to members of the Senate; such distribution may be made by e-mail to all senators who receive e-mail.

X. Faculty Senate Curriculum Review (Faculty Senate 03-09-2022) 
Curriculum review is the responsibility of the Faculty Senate and is exercised as described herein. The Undergraduate Council is a committee of the Faculty Senate and the University Committee on Program Review is a committee jointly of the Graduate Council and the Faculty Senate.

A. Undergraduate Council

1. The Undergraduate Council reviews and makes recommendations to the  Faculty Senate for actions on proposals regarding undergraduate courses, programs, and related policies, approved by a college or school. Examples include but are not limited to: 1) new courses; 2) changes in title, description, number, prerequisites, etc. of courses; 3) new degree programs; 4) modifications to degree programs; and 5) policies related to courses and programs, which are not specifically identifies as under the jurisdiction of another committee. The Council is responsible for resolving questions concerning course numbering, course or program duplication, completeness of course or program revision forms, and other questions pertaining to course and program changes, including compliance with administrative guidelines implementing Board Policy.

2. Once undergraduate course and program proposals have been approved by the individual academic colleges or schools, they must be reviewed by the Undergraduate Council before being forwarded to the Faculty Senate. Proposals made to this Council will be collected by the Director of Curriculum Review and Program Assessment and distributed to the members prior to each meeting. A summary sheet listing all recommendations from the committee is distributed with the agenda to the Faculty Senate prior to the meetings at which they are reported. 

3. Voting Council membership consists of a representative  to be appointed by the dean of each undergraduate college or school, a faculty representative from each undergraduate college and school elected by their respective faculty, a representative of the university libraries appointed by the Dean of Libraries,  a student member selected by the ASG procedures, one undergraduate student selected by the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,  the chair of the Campus Faculty, and  the Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate.

Non-voting membership consists of a representative of the Graduate Council, a representative from the School of Law,  a representative appointed by the Vice Provost for Distance Education.  A representative from the Registrar's Office will meet with the committee to provide technical support. The committee elects its own chair.