Department Bylaws

Bylaws

I. Faculty

(a) “Regular Faculty”: Definition & Voting Rights. The “regular faculty” of the department consists of all faculty members who are either tenured or on the tenure-track and have at least a 50% appointment in Philosophy at UIUC. Regular faculty shall have full voting privileges in the department.

(b) “Specialized Faculty”: Definition & Voting Rights. The “specialized faculty” of the department consists of anyone holding a formal appointment (≥ 0%) in the department with any of the specialized faculty titles enumerated in Provost Communication No. 25 (e.g., lecturer, senior lecturer, teaching professor, or research professor). Specialized faculty in the teaching or research professor ranks with an appointment of at least 50% in the department shall have voting privileges in it, excluding votes on personnel matters that concern current or prospective members of the regular or associated faculty.

(c) “Associated Faculty”: Definition & Voting Rights. The “associated faculty” of the department consists of all faculty members who are either tenured or on the tenure-track and have a formal appointment in the department of less than 50% (i.e., ≥ 0% but <50%).

(d) Faculty Appointment Processes. Appointment in the department shall be made in accordance with the following excerpt from the University of Illinois Statutes [hereinafter “Statutes”]: “In each department organized with a head, the head in consultation with the advisory committee shall recommend individuals for academic appointment in the department.” (Statutes Art. IV, Sec. 3b.)

  1. Regular Faculty. Recommendations by the head to appoint tenure-stream faculty shall be preceded by one or more department meetings in which the regular faculty have an opportunity to discuss the candidate(s) under consideration and cast an advisory vote. The head shall not recommend appointment of anyone to the tenure-stream faculty who receives less than 50% of the advisory votes cast by the regular faculty at or above the rank in question (i.e., assistant, associate, or full).
  2. Specialized Faculty. Recommendations by the head to appoint teaching or research professors at any rank (i.e., assistant, associate, or full) shall be preceded by one or more department meetings in which the regular and specialized members of the department faculty have an opportunity to discuss the candidate(s) under consideration and cast an advisory vote. Voting in such cases will be open to both regular faculty and specialized faculty at or above the rank in question who meet the eligibility requirements in Section I(b) above. The head shall not recommend anyone for appointment to teaching or research professor who receives less than 50% of the votes.
  3. Associated Faculty. Recommendations by the head to appoint an associated faculty member with an appointment under 50% may be made to academic personnel with appropriate ranks and qualifications (including faculty whose main appointments are in other units, emeriti, and visiting academic staff) only after an advisory vote of no less than 50% of the regular and eligible specialized faculty.  

II. Administrative Officers

(a) Head. The department shall be governed by a head, with the duties and responsibilities specified in the University of Illinois Statutes. (See generally Statutes Art. 4, sec. 3.) The head shall be appointed for a five-year term by the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, in consultation with the regular faculty of the department. A head may be reappointed by the Dean of the College of LAS after consultation with all the faculty (regular, specialized, and affiliated) in the department.

(b) Acting or Interim Head. When an acting or interim head must be appointed, the dean will likewise make the necessary appointment after appropriate consultation with the department faculty (regular, specialized, and affiliated).

(c) Headship Role. The head shall administer the department in accordance with the following excerpts from the Statutes:

  1. Jurisdiction. “The head of the department shall have the power to determine such matters as do not affect other departments or properly come under the supervision of larger administrative units.” (Statutes Art. IV, Sec. 3c.)
  2. Duties. “The head shall have general direction of the work of the department.” (Statutes Art. IV, Sec. 3d.) Pursuant to this Article of the Statutes, the head shall:
    1. “consult with the departmental advisory committee in regard to departmental policy”;
    2. “consult with each member of the department regarding the nature and scope of the work in the charge of that member”;
    3. “call and preside at meetings of the departmental faculty for explanation and discussion of departmental policies, educational procedure, and research, of which there shall be at least one in each academic year for consideration of departmental governance and educational policy”;
    4. “be responsible for the organization of the work of the department, for the quality and efficient progress of that work, for the formulation and execution of departmental policies, and for the execution of University and college policies insofar as they affect the department”;
    5. “report on the teaching and research of the department”;
    6. “have general supervision of the work of students in the department”;
    7. “prepare the departmental budget in consultation with the departmental advisory committee”;
    8. “be responsible for the distribution and expenditure of departmental funds and for the care of departmental property.”
  3. Relation to Duties of Others.  “In the administration of the office, the head shall recognize the individual responsibility of other members of the department for the discharge of the duties committed to them by their appointments and shall allow proper scope to the ability and initiative of all members of the department.” (Statutes Art. IV, Sec. 3e.)

(d) Associate Head. The head shall have the power to appoint an associate head, who shall have such duties as are delegated to the associate head by the head and are consistent with other applicable Statutes and policies.

(e) Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). The head shall have the power to appoint a director of undergraduate studies. To ensure some degree of procedural continuity, appointment as DUS shall normally be for a five-year term of service concurrent with the head’s (or interim head’s) own appointment. Should the DUS be granted any form of leave accompanied by release from departmental service for either or both semesters of a given academic year within their term of office, the head shall appoint an acting DUS to serve for that year. In recognition of the administrative responsibilities associated with overseeing the undergraduate program, the faculty member acting as DUS in any given academic year shall be assigned a teaching load of three courses over two semesters.

(f) Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). The head shall have the power to appoint a director of graduate studies. To ensure some degree of procedural continuity, appointment as DGS shall normally be for a five- year term of service concurrent with the head’s own appointment. Should the DGS be granted any form of leave accompanied by release from departmental service for either or both semesters of a given academic year within their term of office, the head shall appoint an acting DGS to serve for that year. In recognition of the administrative responsibilities associated with overseeing the graduate program, the faculty member acting as DGS in any given academic year shall be assigned a teaching load of three courses over two semesters.

(g) Rank of DGS and/or DUS. At any given time and barring extraordinary circumstances that would temporarily make staffing difficult, both the DGS and DUS shall be professors at the rank of associate or higher with indefinite tenure.

(h) Other Officers, Committees and Committee Chairs. In consultation with the advisory committee (see Section III, below), and unless otherwise specified in the Statutes or Bylaws, the head shall appoint other officers of the department, committee chairs, and members of committees each year and when vacancies occur, and specify their duties, powers, and charges.

(i) Office Staff. The head shall have the power to appoint, in consultation with the advisory committee, the department’s office staff.

III. Advisory Committee

(a) Advisory Committee. The department shall have an advisory committee, in accordance with the following excerpt from the Statutes Article IV, Section 3f:

In each department organized with a head, there shall be an advisory committee elected annually by and from the faculty of the department by secret written ballot. The department faculty may choose to elect members of the advisory committee for staggered two- or three-year terms. In a department which has a faculty of not more than five members, the advisory committee shall consist of the entire faculty. In all other cases, the size of the advisory committee shall be determined by the faculty of the department.

(b) Functions. “The functions of the advisory committee shall be to provide for the orderly voicing of suggestions for the good of the department, to recommend procedures and committees that will encourage faculty participation in formulating policy, and to perform such other tasks as may be assigned to it.” (Statutes Art. IV, Sec. 3f). The faculty advisory committee has some roles assigned to it by these Bylaws (see, e.g., Sections I(d) (consultation on academic appointments), II(c)(2.1) (consultation on department policy), II(c)(2.7) (budget consultation), IV(b)(3) (consultation on invitations to attend faculty meetings)). Given the importance of this role for the functioning of the department, members of the advisory committee shall be expected, consistent with reasonable professional limitations, to make themselves available on short-notice to consult on some time-sensitive matters.

(c) Composition and Election. The advisory committee shall consist of three persons, who serve each for three-year terms, with one new person being elected each academic year. Membership shall be determined by secret ballot in an at-large election, where all regular and specialized faculty members with voting privileges may vote.  No one who previously served for more than one year of a previous term may be re-elected for the next three-year period. Barring extraordinary circumstances, all three members of the committee should also be tenured members of the faculty. In the event of a vacancy, the vacancy shall be promptly filled through another at-large,  special election, which follows the same rules and conditions for eligibility as in an ordinary election.

V. Department Affairs

(a) General Communications. The head shall keep the faculty informed of matters of interest and significance to the department and shall endeavor to provide opportunities for the discussion of issues of departmental policy, new appointments, and other such matters before action is taken by the head.

  1. Actions Taken and Important Topics. The head shall inform the faculty as fully as is feasible, of actions taken in consultation with the advisory committee and, whenever appropriate, of important topics discussed.
  2. Faculty on Leave. Faculty who are on leave will be kept as fully informed as is feasible of issues before the department and of actions taken.

(b) Department Meetings. Meetings of the department will be held as needed during the fall and spring semesters, normally once each month, but not less than once each semester.

  1. Agenda and Minutes. Prior to departmental meetings, an agenda will be distributed, and minutes will be kept of such meetings. Minutes of departmental meetings will be made available to the faculty.
  2. Open or Closed. Meetings of the department may be open or closed. Attendance at closed meetings is restricted to members of the faculty eligible to vote on matters to be discussed at the meetings in question and, at the discretion of the head, members of the department office staff. Participants in meetings shall comply with all relevant confidentiality policies and procedures relevant to the type of meeting in question.
  3. Call to Meetings. Meetings of the department may be called, and may be declared open or closed, either by the head or by the associate head or by petition or vote of a majority of the regular and eligible specialized faculty.
  4. Visitors. Attendance of open meetings shall be in accordance with the following excerpt from the Statutes: “In consultation with the advisory committee or as specified in the department bylaws, the head may invite other persons who are not members of the department faculty to attend meetings of the department faculty, but such persons shall have no vote.” (Statutes Art IV, Sec. 3b). The department head may invite visitors to contribute to meetings, without having any vote, on an as-need basis, and with notice to the faculty.
  5. Quorum. A majority of faculty eligible to vote and not on leave shall constitute a quorum at department meetings. At the discretion of a majority of those present and voting, the opportunity to vote on a motion presented at a department meeting may be extended to regular and eligible specialized faculty who are not present.

IV. Promotion and Tenure

(a) Consultation for Promotion and Tenure of Regular Faculty. Recommendations for the promotion and tenure of assistant professors will be made in consultation with a committee composed of all regular faculty (who wish to serve) with indefinite tenure. Recommendations for the promotion of associate professors will be made in consultation with a committee composed of all regular faculty (who wish to serve) with the academic rank of full professor. In cases for promotion where there are less than three  professors at the relevant rank apart from the department head, the department head, in consultation with the advisory committee and/or the associate dean of LAS, shall appoint an ad hoc committee of professors at the relevant rank to consult that contains all professors of the relevant rank in the department.

(b) Standards for Promotion and Tenure. The general standards for promotion and tenure will be those set by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

(c) Rights of Appeal. A faculty member who questions a tenure or promotion decision made in their case shall have full rights of appeal as specified by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

(d) Processes for Jointly Appointed Faculty. In accordance with Provost Communication No. 23, consideration of an assistant professor with a budgeted joint appointment in Philosophy and another unit may be done either separately, in accordance with the procedure outlined above, or in collaboration with the other units involved.

  1. Initiation of Review. In either case, the home unit initiates the review.
  2. Composition of Review Committee. In the event of a collaborative review, the review committee will typically be composed of members from all appointing units, and jointly charged by the unit executive officers. When justified by the need for expertise in the candidate’s area of research, the committee may, with the approval of the department promotion and tenure committee, consist in part of tenured faculty from units other than those in which the candidate has a budgeted appointment.
  3. Departmental Approval and Transmission of Report. The report of the  committee identified in Section IV(d)(2) will be reviewed by the Philosophy Department as specified above. An approved report will be sent to the Dean of LAS over the signatures of the executive officers of each unit involved.

VI. Annual Faculty Review and Third Year Review

(a) Annual and Third Year Reviews Required. The department shall conform to the campus requirement of “annual faculty review,” adopting its own “Annual Faculty Review” policy and procedure statement to implement this requirement by majority vote of the regular faculty and modifying its statement in like manner to reflect modifications made in the campus requirement. The department shall also conform to the University requirement for a third year review of all untenured faculty members in accordance with Provost Communication No. 13, adopting its own “Third Year Review” policy and procedure statement (Appendix: Third Year Review) to implement this requirement by majority vote of the regular faculty and modifying its statement in like manner to reflect modifications made in the University requirement.

(b) Notice of Standards and Procedures. All regular faculty shall be provided with a copy of the current version of this statement upon appointment and shall be informed whenever modifications need to be made or have been made in it.

VII. Salaries

(a) Initial Appointments and Retention Cases. Faculty salaries at times of initial appointment and in response to outside offers and other situations apart from annual salary increase recommendations shall be set through negotiations with the head, in consultation with the advisory committee and/or the Dean of LAS or their delegate.

(b) Annual Salary Increases and Special Merit or Other Special Salary Increases.

  1. Procedure and Timing for Decisions. Proposals for annual salary increase recommendations and (when permitted) recommendations for special merit or other such special increases shall be developed by the head when the guidelines for such recommendations have been received from the administration.
  2. Information to be Solicited. In preparation for the development of the proposed recommendations described in Section VII(b)(i), the head shall consider information solicited from individual faculty in connection with their annual reviews about their teaching, research, publication, professional and administrative activities, and other matters relevant to merit salary increases, and shall take due account of this information.
  3. Consultation with Advisory Committee. Members of the advisory committee will be given the opportunity to examine the proposed recommendations described in Section VII(b)(i) and discuss them with the head at a meeting of the advisory committee called to discuss some or all the proposed increases.
    1. Conflicts of Interest. At such meetings any member whose own increase is under discussion shall be excused.

(c) Final Recommended Salary Increases Conveyed to Advisory Committee and the Dean of LAS. After any responses from or discussions with members of the advisory committee, as described in Section VII(b)(3), the head shall prepare a set of final recommendations of salary increases, inform the advisory committee of them, and submit them to the Dean of LAS.

VIII. Grievance Procedures

(a) Right to Formal Grievances. Any faculty member has the right to bring formal grievances concerning actions or policies of the department, its officers, committees, or other faculty.

  1. Informal Resolution Encouraged as First Step. Informal resolution is strongly encouraged before any such formal grievance is initiated.
  2. Grievances within the Jurisdiction of the Office of Access and Equity. Grievances alleging contraventions of federal, state or University regulations and policy with respect to discrimination or harassment should be made to the Office of Access and Equity. The remainder of this Article pertains to the handling of other grievances.

(b) Departmental Grievance Committee (GC). There shall be a Grievance Committee (hereinafter “GC”), advisory to the head (or, in cases involving the head, to the Dean of LAS).

  1. Election of GC. The GC shall be elected annually by a vote of the regular and eligible specialized faculty of the department, from among its tenured members (other than the head) who will be in residence for the full academic year in question, all of whom shall have the obligation to stand for this election.
  2. Composition of GC. The GC shall have three members, consisting of the three faculty who receive the most votes (with a run-off election in the event of a tie for the third place), and with an ordered list of alternates determined by the numbers of votes received. In cases involving promotion to the rank of full professor, GC members not holding that rank shall be replaced by alternates who do.
  3. Conflicts of Interest and Alternates. In cases where GC members are named in the grievance (henceforth “respondents”), the Dean of LAS shall be informed, and those GC members shall be replaced by alternates who are not so named, unless the Dean of LAS deems it appropriate to appoint a special ad hoc GC consisting in part or whole of faculty from other departments to hear the case and advise them with respect to it.

(c) Grievances against the Department. Grievances brought against the department but naming no respondent will be deemed to have no respondent, and so to have no effect on the membership of the GC or other grievance procedures; but in such cases the head may request that the Dean of LAS hear and address the grievance with the assistance of an ad hoc GC (see Section VIII(b)(3) above), or the Dean of LAS may opt to do so.

(d) Processes to Initiate and Respond to Formal Grievances. Formal grievances shall be explicitly stated in writing, including the facts relating to the matter and the resolution sought by the grievant. The grievance statement shall be presented to the head (or, if the head is named and so is to be a respondent, to the dean), who shall examine the statement to determine the appropriate membership of the GC for the case (Section VIII(b)(3) above), and shall transmit the statement to them, specifying reasonable time frames for each step in the process, and so informing the grievant and respondent(s). Respondent(s) shall be given the opportunity to reply in writing to the written grievance. The grievant shall be given the opportunity to reply in writing to the respondent(s). Such replies shall be presented to the head (or dean), who shall transmit them to the GC.

(e) GC Procedures to Consider and Make Findings on Grievances. The appropriately constituted GC shall convene to consider the grievance, soliciting whatever information and testimony it deems appropriate to gather and receive. It shall proceed as expeditiously as circumstances permit. If circumstances warrant, it may request and may be granted an extension of the time it has been given to complete its work, and the grievant and respondent(s) shall be so informed. All its deliberations shall be held in strict confidence.

(f) Procedures for Deciding Measures and Dispositions of Grievances. 

  1. Initial Communication of Findings. The findings of the committee shall be communicated in written form to the grievant, the respondent(s), and the head (or, if the head is a respondent, to the dean).
  2. Opportunities to Respond and Decision on Measures and Dispositions. The head (or dean), after giving both parties the opportunity to respond to these findings, in consultation with the advisory committee (excluding any members who are respondents), and with its approval of any contemplated measures falling within its purview, will determine upon appropriate disposition of the matter.
  3. Notice of Measures and Dispositions. All parties shall be informed in writing of this decision, and of any available further avenues of appeal established by the campus administration or faculty governance structure.

(iv) Rights to Appeal. Both the grievant and the respondent(s) shall be given a reasonable but limited and specified time in which to initiate such appeal before action is taken to implement the decision, after which the matter shall be considered closed, and such action shall be taken expeditiously.

IX. Revision of Bylaws

(a) Periodic Amendment. Any three regular faculty and/or specialized faculty in the teaching or research professor ranks with an appointment of at least 50% in the department may propose a modification of these bylaws. The proposed modification will be considered first by the advisory committee and then submitted to the department for discussion and vote. The adoption of any proposed modification shall require approval by a majority of the regular faculty.

(b) Regular Review. These bylaws shall be formally reviewed every five years, at the instigation of the head and as overseen by a Bylaws Committee that will bring any proposed changes to the faculty for a vote. 

Last modified March 24, 2023