A&S Faculty Council

The A&S Faculty Council is responsible for formulating the educational policy of the college. It is the screening and steering committee of the faculty for consideration of matters presented by motion of individual members at faculty meetings, communications from administrative officers, and reports and recommendations of standing and ad hoc committees. The Faculty Council is the official coordinating body for expressing authoritative, college-wide faculty opinion on matters of academic affairs and faculty-administration relations. The Faculty Council advises the dean upon all matters affecting educational policy. The Council meets, on average, once a month during the academic year.

Eligibility

All full-time A&S faculty are eligible to vote and, if elected, serve a three-year term.

Composition

There are twelve members of the Council elected for a three-year term on a rotating basis, electing four members each year. The twelve elected members are divided as follows: three members from each division and three members at-large. Every year, one member is elected from each division and one member is elected at-large. Faculty will declare their candidacy for either divisional or at-large positions. The dean of the college is a standing voting member. The chancellor of the university and the dean of the Graduate School shall be non-voting ex officio members.

There are no term limits. Faculty may serve simultaneously on Faculty Council, Faculty Senate, and, if eligible, on the Graduate Faculty Council.

Current Members

(Member's term expiration date in parenthesis)

Ari Bryen, Faculty Council Chair, History (TBD)

Elizabeth Catania, Faculty Council Secretary, Neuroscience (May 2026)

Timothy McNamara, Dean of the College of Arts & Science, ex officio

Celina Callahan-Kapoor, Medicine, Health, and Society (TBD)

Henry Chan, Mathematics (TBD)

Erika Grundstrom, Physics and Astronomy (May 2026)

Peter Lorge, History (May 2026)

Ken MacLeish, Medicine, Health, and Society (TBD)

ML Sandoz, Communication Studies (May 2027)

Jacob Sauer, Anthropology (May 2026)

Michael Stone, Chemistry (TBD)

Claudine Taaffe, African American & Diaspora Studies (TBD)

Tara Todd, Chemistry (May 2026)

Archive of Faculty Council members

Procedural Rules

Robert’s Rules of Order is adopted for the conduct of meetings.
The Chair and Secretary of the Council shall be elected near the end of the spring term for a term to begin with the next academic year. This election shall be by the eight continuing members, the four newly-elected members of the Council and the Dean of the College.
If the Chair is unavailable to chair a meeting of the Council, the Secretary shall serve as Chair.
The quorum for Council meetings is seven.
A motion requires seven affirmative votes to pass.
Roll call votes will be taken when requested by one member and such votes will be reported to the Faculty. The minutes will show any division when a roll call vote is not taken.
Voting on a matter before Council electronically or by email outside of an official meeting is permitted only under the following circumstances:
- statement or rationale is presented as to why an electronic vote is needed or appropriate;
- voting on the matter cannot wait until the next scheduled Council meeting; and
- no Council member objects to holding an electronic vote on the matter in question.
Any member of the Council may request inclusion of an item on the Council agenda.
Members of the Faculty of the College of Arts and Science may attend meetings of the Faculty Council. Such a person normally has no floor privileges. The Chair of the Council, the Council, or the Dean of the College may invite guests to attend meetings of the Council at their discretion. Such persons may be on the agenda to present reports and provide information to the Council. The Council may go into executive session at any point in its deliberations by decision of the Chair, or by a majority vote of the Council members present and voting at a meeting. A motion to go into executive session is not debatable. Only members of the Council and persons invited by a majority vote of the Council members present may attend executive sessions of the Council.
Each Fall, the Council may undertake to assist the Dean in making an annual review of the progress and state of the College, suggesting whatever changes in academic priorities or capital needs it deems appropriate. At least one Council meeting open to all College Faculty should be part of these deliberations.
These rules are not binding on subsequent Councils, but the Executive Secretary of the Faculty is requested to maintain a complete file on all Council Rules and Constitutional Revisions which shall be passed on and kept in turn by each new Executive Secretary of the Faculty for the convenience, continuity, and future reference of the Council and the College Faculty.

Adopted September 3, 2019

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