Bylaws of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

(Revised April 2018)

ARTICLE I - Name and Purpose

The UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, (hereafter called SEAS) has as its mission the provision of effective and high-quality engineering education at the undergraduate, graduate and continuing education levels. Integral to this mission is an infrastructure of expertise and facilities supporting professional engineering and applied science education, advanced degree programs and research in important areas of applied science and technology. In addition, SEAS has the mission of providing service to the local and broader community in all aspects of engineering and applied science.

These Bylaws provide for faculty governance within the School.

ARTICLE II - Membership

The voting faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences consists of the Dean, all Associate Deans, and all faculty holding the unqualified academic ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor or Distinguished Professor, and qualified full-time Lecturers.

ARTICLE III - Duties and Responsibilities

Section 1.

Pursuant to Article II.6 of the Bylaws of the Voting Faculty, SEAS has the authority to adopt, amend, emend or repeal bylaws, standing orders and special orders regarding both the conduct of its business and the procedures through which it executes its duties and responsibilities.

Section 2.

The voting faculty of SEAS shall review, prior to adoption, all proposals regarding the formation, renaming, re-organization or dissolution of its academic departments, programs, centers or institutes.

Section 3.

Within SEAS, the voting faculty has the authority to initiate, approve or disapprove in an advisory capacity the standards and policies regarding:

(a) Curriculum;

(b) Evaluation of students’ work;

(c) Recruitment, enrollment and retention of students;

(d) Issues relating to student life;

(e) Admissions;

(f) Requirements for graduation and the award of academic degrees;

(g) Conduct and evaluation of academic research, teaching and service;

(h) Appointment, promotion and tenure of faculty.

Section 4.

The voting faculty of SEAS may establish its own procedures for investigating, hearing and reporting, to the appropriate persons or bodies, any charges or complaints brought by faculty members against other faculty members or administrative officers, or by students against faculty members or administrative officers.

Alternatively, the voting faculty of SEAS may follow the complaint resolution process delineated in the Standing Orders of the Faculty Senate, Article 7, “Complaints and/or Charges by and against Faculty.”

Section 5.

These duties and responsibilities shall be carried out through appropriate standing or ad-hoc committees.

ARTICLE IV - Officers

Section 1.

The officers of SEAS comprise the Dean, all Associate and Assistant Deans, all Department Chairs, and all Directors of Programs, Centers and Institutes who hold faculty rank in SEAS.

Section 2.

The Dean serves as the chief administrative officer of SEAS, and is appointed, evaluated and re-appointed by the President after consultation with the Provost and those members of the faculty as the President and Provost may select. The Dean holds academic rank and is responsible for the proper preparation and conduct of the educational business of SEAS. Among the duties attendant to this office, the Dean presents business for the action of the faculty; presides at the meetings of the faculty as a whole; attends or appoints a representative to attend all meetings of the Administrative Council, and delivers annual reports to the President and Provost and to the faculty concerning the conditions, concerns and progress of the School.

Section 3.

Assistant or Associate Deans shall be appointed by the Dean, with the approval of the President or Provost, after the Dean has consulted with the Administrative Council.

Section 4.

Each unit (department, program, center or institute) has a presiding officer known as the Chair or Director, who is recommended to the President or Provost for appointment, evaluation or re-appointment after consultation with the unit’s faculty. The Chair, or Director, who serves a renewable three-year term, conducts all official business of the unit as a whole; represents the unit’s faculty and its interests in the context of the missions of the University and SEAS; supervises the satisfactory progress of the unit’s faculty in the areas of research, teaching and service; reports promptly to the Dean on matters affecting the welfare of the unit; and makes recommendations about members of the faculty, the curriculum, salaries and other relevant matters.

ARTICLE V - Meetings

Section 1.

There shall be two regular SEAS faculty meetings, one in each semester, called by the Office of the Dean, which shall provide a notice of the agenda and purpose of the meeting. Fifty percent of SEAS voting faculty shall constitute a quorum at any faculty meeting, regular or special.

In the event that a matter of sufficient importance, in the opinion of the Dean, arises and a quorum as stated above is not available, the vote on the issue may be conducted by mail ballot. A majority of those voting shall be required to pass the motion.

Section 2.

Special meetings of SEAS faculty may be called at any time by the Dean or by petition of ten percent of the voting faculty, such petition being in written form and signed by each petitioner. Such a petition must delineate the purpose of the meeting, and be delivered to the Office of the Dean in timely fashion.

ARTICLE VI - Committees for Assistant and Associate Professor Personnel Actions, Full Professor Personnel Actions, and Qualified Rank Promotion Actions

Committee for Assistant and Associate Professor Personnel Actions

“Tenure Committee”

The SEAS Committee for Assistant and Associate Professor Personnel Actions (short name = Tenure Committee) shall be responsible for recommendations concerning second reappointments (three-year term) of Assistant Professors in rank, promotion actions from Assistant to Associate Professor, tenure actions for Assistant Professors who are being considered for promotion to the Associate Professor rank, initial appointment at the rank of Associate Professor, and granting of tenure to a currently untenured Associate Professor. This committee is not responsible for recommendations of initial appointment or initial reappointment within rank. Consistent with the Faculty Staff Handbook II.B.1, initial appointment and reappointment will be the responsibility of the home department and the SEAS Dean.

The Committee shall consist of tenured professors from the voting faculty of SEAS. One member will be elected by each of the departments. Each department will also name an alternate in the case of an absence. The members will be elected to three-year, staggered terms. Members are eligible for re-election only after a lapse of one year. A faculty member may not serve simultaneously on this committee and on the Promotion Committee. The committee will annually elect a Chair and a Vice Chair.

A member of the Committee is not eligible to vote on a case being considered from his/her department.

Committee for Full Professor Personnel Actions

“Promotion Committee”

The SEAS Committee for Full Professor Personnel Actions (short name = Promotion Committee) shall be responsible for recommendations concerning promotion actions from Associate to Full Professor, granting of tenure to a currently untenured Full Professor, initial appointment at the rank of Professor, and tenure actions for untenured Associate Professors who are being considered for promotion to a Full Professor rank.

The Committee shall consist of tenured full professors from the voting faculty of SEAS. One member will be elected by each of the departments. Each department will also name an alternate in the case of an absence. The members will be elected to three-year, staggered terms. Members are eligible for re-election only after a lapse of one year. A faculty member may not serve simultaneously on this committee and on the Tenure Committee. The committee will annually elect a Chair and a Vice Chair.

A member of the Committee is not eligible to vote on a case being considered from his/her department.

The Committees shall:

1. Formalize their recommendations to the Dean by vote of the elected members.

2. Review all cases in which faculty holding professorial rank are not recommended for reappointment and make a recommendation on the decision to the Dean.

3. Give counsel to the Dean regarding matters of personnel policy.

4. Advise the Dean regarding the termination or suspension for cause of any member of the voting faculty.

5. Safeguard the rights and privileges of joint appointees and SEAS-wide appointments.

6. Meet at the call of the Dean, who shall provide advance notice of the matters to be considered, or at the request of any member of the committee. Minutes of its meetings, which shall record the members present and the results of votes taken, shall be kept. In addition, the committee will provide a recommendation in writing to the Dean on each case of promotion and tenure for the use of the Dean only. Five members shall constitute a quorum at such meetings.

7. Maintain strict confidentiality of all conversations related to personnel cases.

Committee for Qualified Rank Promotion Actions

“Qualified Rank Promotions Committee”

The UB SEAS Committee for Qualified Rank Personnel Actions (short name = Qualified Rank Committee) shall be responsible for recommendations concerning promotion actions from Assistant to Associate and from Associate to Full, for all faculty who have a qualified rank. This includes teaching, research and practice faculty. This committee is not responsible for recommendations of initial appointment within rank or for reappointment within rank.

The Committee shall consist of tenured full professors from the voting faculty of SEAS. One member will be elected by each of the departments. Each department will also name an alternate in the case of an absence. The members will be elected to three-year, staggered terms. Members are eligible for re-election only after a lapse of one year. The committee will annually elect a Chair and a Vice Chair.

ARTICLE VII - Administrative Council

Section 1.

The Administrative Council shall consist of the Dean, the chairs of the academic departments, and as ex-officio, non-voting members, such associate and assistant deans as the Dean may designate. All voting members of the administrative council must be voting members of the SEAS faculty.

Section 2.

The Dean shall preside at the meetings of the council. In the absence of the Dean, a member of the council designated by the Dean shall serve as chair.

Section 3.

The Administrative Council shall:

(a) Give counsel to the Dean regarding matters of policy, budget, organization and administration.

(b) Promote coordination and cooperation between the various units of the SEAS.

Section 4.

Meetings shall be held at the discretion of the Dean or at the request of two voting members of the council.

Section 5.

Minutes shall be kept of all meetings of the council, and they shall be available to all members of SEAS faculty.

ARTICLE VIII - Academic Programs Committees

Section 1.

The Academic Programs Committees shall be the bodies of SEAS that give expression to its educational philosophy and provide broad guidance for the formulation of its academic plans, establishment and modification of its curricula and for other educational activities. The committees shall be concerned with the general and specific aspects of undergraduate and graduate degree programs within SEAS as well as those concerning and involving other cross-disciplinary programs within the University.

Section 2.

There are two Academic Programs Committees: the Committee for Undergraduate Education and the Committee for Graduate Education (which shall also serve as the Graduate Divisional Committee for SEAS).

The Committee for Undergraduate Education shall consist of:

(a) The appropriate Associate Dean as the Dean may designate, who shall act as Chair.

(b) One member from each department or degree-granting program, each of which is a member of the voting faculty of SEAS and who also serves as undergraduate director of a degree-granting program.

The Committee for Graduate Education shall consist of:

(a) The appropriate Associate Dean as the Dean may designate, who shall act as Chair.

(b) One member from each academic degree program of SEAS, each of which is also the director of graduate studies of that program.

Section 3.

The Academic Programs Committees shall conduct their business as two separate committees, except that at least once during each academic year, the Committees should meet as a whole.

The Committee for Undergraduate Education shall:

(a) Receive proposals for the creation of new programs of study or for changes in existing programs; consider and act upon such proposals and transmit them with its recommendations to the Dean for further action.

(b) Conduct regular reviews of officially published rules and regulations pertaining to undergraduate curricular requirements, admission requirements, graduation requirements and accreditation requirements and make appropriate recommendations to the Dean.

The Committee for Graduate Education shall:

(a) Serve as the Graduate Divisional Committee for SEAS

(b) Select from its membership one or two persons to serve on the Executive Committee of the Graduate School

(c) Receive proposals for new programs of study or for major changes in existing programs, consider and act upon such proposals and transmit them to the Dean for further consideration.

(d) Provide oversight of graduate programs of study and petitions by graduate students, and make appropriate recommendations before transmittal to the Graduate School.

(e) Conduct, at appropriate intervals, reviews of the officially published rules of SEAS or the University pertaining to graduate affairs.

(f) Maintain and review SEAS Uniform Policies for Master’s and Ph.D. Programs.

(g) Receive, consider and take appropriate action in response to requests and petitions by graduate students for exceptions to established SEAS rules, in those cases where the authority to permit exceptions is not specifically designated to other committees or officers.

(h) Oversee procedures for membership on the Graduate Faculty of the University. Approve SEAS Graduate Faculty appointments and renewals.

Section 4.

The Academic Programs Committees shall meet at the call of the chairs at least twice per semester. Minutes of their meetings shall be kept, and made available to SEAS faculty.

ARTICLE IX - Ad-Hoc Committees

The Dean shall have the authority to establish such Ad-Hoc Committees as are deemed necessary for the conduct of the business of SEAS.

ARTICLE X - Amendments

These Bylaws may be amended by a 2/3 vote at a meeting of the faculty, provided that notice of the proposed amendment(s) are made available to the faculty at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

ARTICLE XI - Periodic Review

These Bylaws will be reviewed for potential revision no less than every five years by an ad-hoc committee composed of one faculty member from each department. Recommended revisions will be forwarded to all voting faculty at least two weeks before a regular SEAS faculty meeting.