BY-LAWS

FOR THE

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

OF THE

UNIVERSITY CENTER AT BINGHAMTON

OF THE

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

AS AMENDED

5/13/1994, and

12/1/1998

1.

Definitions:

a.

Department = the Department of Mathematical Sciences at SUNY - Binghamton.

b.

Department Faculty = all Assistant, Associate and Full Professors in the Department on term or permanent appointment; and those holding a visiting appointment with the Department as Assistant, Associate or Full Professor that are designated as voting faculty at the time that the appointment is made. Faculty on leave or sabbatical will not be considered members of the Department for voting purposes. Exception to this will be made for votes on personnel cases and votes on amendments to these by-laws, or if the faculty member on leave or sabbatical indicates in writing to the Department Chair a desire to remain as part of the voting faculty. The faculty member must establish, in cooperation with the Department Chair, a workable means for communicating the issues and the votes.

c.

Department Meeting = the Department Faculty, meeting as a committee.

d.

Higher Authority = the Policies of the Board of Trustees of SUNY; the Faculty by-laws of SUNY - Binghamton; the by-laws of Harpur College; the by-laws of the Graduate School of SUNY - Binghamton; and any existing labor agreement that covers the Department Faculty.

e.

Substantive Motion = a motion that is neither a procedural motion nor an amendment to a motion.

f.

Working Day = a weekday (Monday through Friday) not declared by the administration as a holiday for the faculty.

2.

Scope: These by-laws establish the rules for the governance of the Department. Nothing in these by-laws shall contradict a Higher Authority. Should such a contradiction exist, only those items involved in the contradiction shall be invalidated.

3.

Duration: These by-laws shall take effect immediately upon adoption by the Department and approval by the academic unit to which the Department belongs as specified in Article VI, Title A, 4(b) of the Faculty by-laws of SUNY - Binghamton.

4.

Amendments: Amendments to these by-laws shall be adopted if all of the following are satisfied:

a.

The proposed amendment, signed by one quarter or more of the Department Faculty, is distributed to all members of the Department Faculty ten or more Working Days prior to the Department Meeting at which the proposed amendment is scheduled to be considered.

b.

The Department Meeting approves submitting the proposed amendment or an amended version of the proposed amendment to the Department Faculty for approval by secret ballot.

c.

The amended version of the proposed amendment is distributed to all members of the Department Faculty ten or more Working Days prior to the time that the ballots called for in (b) above are due.

d.

The amended version of the proposed amendment receives the approval of two thirds or more of the Department Faculty in the ballot called for in (b) above, with the exception that until 4/30/87 amendments are passed by an affirmative vote of more than one half of the Department Faculty.

5.

Committees: The committees shall be

a.

the Department as a whole,

b.

an Advisory and Planning Committee,

c.

those committees required by a Higher Authority,

d.

those established by action of the Department, and

e.

any additional committees established by the Department Chair.

6.

Meetings: Meetings of a committee may be called by:

a.

the committee chair,

b.

the Department Chair,

c.

a motion passed at a Department Meeting,

d.

one quarter or more of the committee members if the committee is the department as a whole,

e.

one half or more of the committee members if the committee is not the Department as a whole.

In cases b, c, d, and e; unless the motion setting the meeting, or those requesting the meeting, indicate a later date to be acceptable, the committee chair shall schedule a meeting within ten Working Days of being notified that the meeting has been called for.

7.

Agenda: Agenda items shall be as specified by those calling the meeting and may be altered by action of the committee. To conduct ordinary business at a meeting, the meeting must be held in either the Fall or Spring semester (between the first day of classes and the last day of finals) and the agenda must be distributed at least three and no more than ten Working Days prior to the meeting in the semester in which the meeting is held. Meetings that do not meet the conditions of the previous sentence may be called by the Department Chair or the Committee Chair or a majority of the members of the committee involved in order to conduct only such business as cannot be delayed until the conditions of the previous sentence are met.

8.

Conduct of Meetings: A Substantive Motion is passed when it receives an affirmative vote from more than one half of the committee members. Disputes over the conduct of a meeting shall be resolved by reference to the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.

9.

Motions: The Department shall be governed in conformity with the Substantive Motions passed by the Department, except for those motions found to contradict these by-laws or a Higher Authority. The operation of a committee shall conform to the motions passed by that committee, except for those motions found to contradict a Substantive Motion passed by the Department, these by-laws, or a Higher Authority. A permanent record shall be kept in the Department office of all motions passed by all committees. Each committee shall appoint a secretary for each meeting to record the motions passed. The permanent record of motions passed shall be available to all of the Department Faculty.

10.

Voting: Each committee member shall have one vote.

11.

Committee membership: Members and chairs of all committees other than the Advisory and Planning Committee shall be appointed by the Department Chair. The Advisory and Planning Committee shall consist of the Department Chair and three other members who shall be elected by and from the voting faculty minus the Department Chair. The chair of the Advisory and Planning Committee shall be elected by and from the three members of the Advisory and Planning Committee other than the Department Chair.

12.

Quorums: A committee cannot conduct business unless one half or more of the committee members are present. A quorum for the Advisory and Planning Committee shall be three members.

13.

Visiting appointments and initial appointments below associate professor:

a.

Appointments to visiting positions shall be recommended to the dean by the Department Chair.

b.

Initial appointments to non-visiting positions below the rank of assistant professor shall be recommended to the dean by the Department Chair.

c.

Initial appointments to non-visiting positions at the rank of assistant professor shall be recommended to the dean by the Department Chair upon the approval of the Junior Personnel Committee.

14.

Grievance procedure: The Department shall have on file with the academic unit to which the Department belongs a grievance procedure to provide resolution of certain complaints brought by students against faculty members and teaching assistants of the Department. The grievance procedure on file at the time this amendment is approved shall be in effect until it is modified. Modifications shall be by written ballot and require approval by more than one half of the Department Faculty.

15.

Advisory and Planning Committee: The Advisory and Planning Committee will report in writing to the faculty (at a department meeting) at least once per semester. The Advisory and Planning Committee shall

a.

write and annually revise a long term plan for the department which shall be submitted to the full department for approval,

b.

advise the Department Chair on a variety of matters including hiring priorities and the composition of the hiring committee.

 
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