The faculty, with the President and the Board of Trustees, has the power and responsibility to govern and conduct the affairs of the College, to supervise the academic program of the College, and to approve candidates for degrees in accordance with the charter and bylaws of the College.

In accordance with the charter and the bylaws of the Board of Trustees, the faculty, meeting in official session, is the academic legislature of the College and has the authority to recommend to the President and, if necessary, directly to the Board through its representatives on the Board, the educational program of the College in such areas as the following: admissions, curricula, student life, approval of honorary degrees, and recommendations of persons for academic degrees in course. The faculty may be charged with additional responsibilities as directed by the Board of Trustees. (Section 17 of the Faculty Handbook)

Normally, new business will not be transacted at a faculty meeting without it first having been submitted to an appropriate committee, and the report of such committee having been in the hands of the faculty members for at least a week prior to the meeting of the Faculty.

Properly constituted committees of the Faculty may exercise functions of the Faculty when policy changes are not involved, but any action so taken must be reported to the Faculty at the first meeting following the action.

Courses to be added or dropped must be sent by Academic Policy Council to the Faculty. Any deletions or additions of curricula and any revision of curricula, including specific major requirements, must be sent by Academic Policy Council to the Faculty for vote. Minor, non-policy changes, such as minor changes in course descriptions, titles, numbers and prerequisites may be sent by Academic Policy Council to the faculty for information only.

The Faculty has the power to override any of the items sent to it by either Academic Policy Council for vote or information.

The faculty exercises its legislative functions when it meets in official session.

Properly constituted committees of the faculty may exercise functions of the faculty when policy changes are not involved.

The faculty shall meet in official session, at a regular time and place chosen by the faculty annually at its first meeting of the college year.

The President and the Provost may call meetings of the faculty in addition to the regular meetings and must do so upon signed petition of twenty-five percent of the voting membership of the faculty.

The faculty shall make decisions by majority vote of those present and voting.

For called meetings, a quorum of fifty percent of the total voting faculty will be necessary for faculty action.

Robert's Rules of Order is the parliamentary authority, except as hereinafter provided.

The President of the College has veto power over faculty and committee action. Within 48 hours of a Faculty meeting the faculty secretary will present to the President of the College all action passed by the Faculty; if the President decides to veto an action, he must notify the Faculty within five days that its decision is in abeyance and announce a time by which a final decision will be sent to the Faculty.

The faculty has primary responsibility for such fundamental areas as curriculum, subject matter and methods of instruction, research, faculty status, and those aspects of student life which relate to the educational process. On these matters the power of review or final decision lodged in the governing board or delegated by it to the president should be exercised adversely only in exceptional circumstances, and for reasons communicated to the faculty. It is desirable that the faculty should, following such communication, have opportunity for further consideration and further transmittal of its views to the president or board. Budgets, personnel limitations, the time element, and the policies of other groups, bodies, and agencies having jurisdiction over the institution may set limits to realization of faculty advice.

The faculty sets the requirements for the degrees offered in courses, determines when the requirements have been met, and authorizes the president and board to grant the degrees thus achieved.

Faculty status and related matters are primarily a faculty responsibility; this area includes appointments, reappointments, decisions not to reappoint, promotions, the granting of tenure, and dismissal. The primary responsibility of the faculty for such matters is based upon the fact that its judgment is central to general educational policy. Furthermore, scholars in a particular field or activity have the chief competence for judging the work of their colleagues; in such competence it is implicit that responsibility exists for both adverse and favorable judgments. Likewise, there is the more general competence of experienced faculty personnel committees having a broader charge. Determinations in these matters should first be by faculty action through established procedures, reviewed by the chief academic officers with the concurrence of the board. The governing board and president should, on questions of faculty status, as in other matters where the faculty has primary responsibility, concur with the faculty judgment except in rare instances and for compelling reasons which should be stated in detail.

The faculty should actively participate in the determination of policies and procedures governing salary increases.

The chair or head of a department should be selected either by departmental election or by appointment following consultation with members of the department and of related departments; appointments should normally be in conformity with department members' judgment. The chair or department head should not have tenure in office; tenure as a faculty member is a matter of separate right. He or she should serve for a stated term but without prejudice to reelection or to reappointment by procedures which involve appropriate faculty consultation. Board, administration, and faculty should all bear in mind that the department chair has a special obligation to build a department strong in scholarship and teaching capacity. ("Joint Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities (1966)," excerpted from Policy Documents and Reports. The American Association of University Professors, Washington, D.C., 1990, pp. 119ff. See Appendix A of Faculty Handbook for complete statement.)