CASL By-Laws

Adopted March 23, 1972 by the Division of LSA Applied to CASL September 10, 1973; Revised Version Approved April 21, 1981; Revised Version Approved April 5, 1983; Revised Version Approved February 4, 1985; Revised Version Approved November 7, 1986; Revised Version Approved February 14, 1990; Revised Version Approved March 16, 1990; Revised Version Approved October 27, 1993; Revised Version Approved March 20, 1995; Revised Version Approved November 29, 1999; Revised Version Approved March 23, 2006; Revised Version Approved December 3, 2007; Revised Version Approved February13 2013; Revised Version Approved December 23, 2013; Revised Version Approved April 4, 2014; Revised Version approved 7 November 2017; Revised Version Approved 20 March, 2018; Revised Version Approved 25 February 2020; Revised Version Approved 17 March, 2022. 

ARTICLE I. THE COLLEGE 

I.1 Province 

The College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters (CASL) is the academic unit in the University of Michigan-Dearborn (UM-D) charged by the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (hereafter the Vice Chancellor), by the authority of the Chancellor and the Board of Regents, with the responsibility for the development, offering, and administration of all programs on the UM-D Campus related to the arts, sciences, and letters. 

2.a College Faculty 

The CASL faculty shall consist of all instructional, research, and clinical staff. 

2.b Professorial Staff 

The term professorial staff shall include professors, associate professors, and assistant professors. 

3.b Governing Faculty 

The governing faculty of the College shall include three groups: the professorial staff who hold appointments of one-half time or more; LEO III & IVs who hold appointments of one-half time or more, and who have held appointments for one or more years; clinical professorial staff who hold appointments of one-half time or more, and who have held appointments for one or more years.

I.3 Administration 

The Dean, assisted by the CASL Executive Committee, shall act as the executive officer of the College. The Dean, assisted by the Administrative Council, shall act as the administrative officer of the College. The basic administrative units within the College shall be the officially authorized departments. (See Article V.) The plenary power shall rest with the faculty. 

ARTICLE II. DEAN OF THE COLLEGE 

II.1 Appointment 

The Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters shall be appointed by the Board of Regents on the recommendation of the Vice Chancellor of UM-D, who shall in turn be guided by the recommendation of the CASL Executive Committee. 

II.2 Term of Office and Procedure for Selection 

The term of office of the Dean of CASL shall be five years. When the term of office of the Dean is nearing expiration or when the Dean is to vacate the office for any reason, the CASL Executive Committee shall consult with the governing faculty members of all departments and, based on these consultations, shall, in cooperation with the Dean of CASL, draw up a statement on the current situation and the anticipated problems of CASL, to the Chancellor, and to the Vice Chancellor in the process of determining an appropriate procedure for filling the position of Dean of CASL for the next term of office. 

II.3 Duties 

The Dean of CASL is responsible to the Vice Chancellor for the overall educational leadership and the general administration of the College. The Dean is responsible for the coordination of CASL departmental activities within CASL and with the programs of Divisions, Schools, and Colleges. The Dean is also responsible for the College budget and for enforcing, with the Executive Committee, College academic regulations. The Dean is to expedite the operation of the College and is to supervise the development of plans, in association with the CASL Executive Committee and the Administrative Council, for the most effective development of the College educational program--both teaching and research.

II.4 Assistant and/or Associate Deans 

With the approval of the CASL Executive Committee and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Dean may appoint one or two assistants - Assistant or Associate Deans - to assist the duties of said office. The person(s) appointed as Assistant or Associate Dean(s) must be tenured faculty members in the College and shall be subject to approval by the Board of Regents. Specific appointment at the level of Assistant or Associate Dean shall be commensurate with the relevance and extent of the candidate’s experience and the scope and extent of the assigned responsibilities. The Dean of CASL, with the concurrence of the CASL Executive Committee, may designate an Associate Dean as the Acting Dean of CASL in the Dean’s absence. 

ARTICLE III. CASL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

III.1 Duties 

The CASL Executive Committee shall be charged with the duties of investigating and formulating educational and instructional policies for consideration by the faculty of the College and shall act for the faculty in matters of budgets, promotions, and appointments. It shall make periodic reviews of all academic and administrative policies of the College and formulate either modifications of existing policies or new ones for submission to the faculty. Further, the Executive Committee shall have the right to review all decisions of the Administrative Council in order to insure their conformity with College policy. All educational and instructional policy decisions of the Executive Committee are subject to review by the faculty. In the event that questions arise between the Executive Committee and the Administrative Council that cannot be resolved between the two bodies, the governing faculty shall have the power of deciding the matter. Each College Executive Committee member shall be an ex officio member of their Department Executive Committee. 

The CASL Executive Committee shall make periodic written reports to the College to keep it well informed. 

III.2 Membership 

The CASL Executive Committee shall consist of the Dean and seven faculty members of the governing faculty to be appointed by the Regents on the recommendation of the Chancellor and the President, who shall, in turn, be directed by the results of a faculty election system described below. The Dean shall chair the committee. 

2.a Regular Members

The seven regular faculty members of the Executive Committee shall be constituted from professorial faculty as follows: one representative from each of the departments, one representative from the college-wide programs, and one member-at-large. No temporary or permanent Department Chair or faculty member holding a salaried administrative appointment shall be allowed to serve concurrently on the CASL Executive Committee. The departmental and college-wide programs representatives shall be elected for a three-year appointment by the governing faculty of their department/college-wide programs. The representatives shall not be eligible to stand for re-election until after the lapse of one year except upon a waiver of the one-year lapse by two-thirds of the governing faculty of the department/college-wide programs concerned. 

2.b Alternates 

To ensure the effective representation of each department at every meeting of the CASL Executive Committee, procedures are hereby established to provide for official alternates with the full powers of regular members. 

Every year, in September, each of the CASL Department Chairs shall obtain from the Department Executive Committee approval of two alternate representatives to the CASL Executive Committee, both of who shall satisfy all of the criteria for members cited above with the exception of election by the CASL governing faculty. At least one of these alternates must be at the rank of Full Professor if the person they will be potentially replacing is at the Associate rank. The Board of Regents shall approve all alternates. This designation of alternates may be changed, as necessary, during the year. (For the procedure governing the determination of an alternate for the member- at-large, see Article III.3 below.) 

Whenever the elected regular member from a department cannot attend any meeting of the CASL Executive Committee, they or the Department Chair shall inform the Dean of the identity of the alternate who will attend. Normally, alternates shall not replace a regular member for more than three months running. If the absence should have to be longer (in the case of a sabbatical, illness, or a leave), a formal Department/College- Wide Program election shall be held to choose a regular member for a specified interim or to complete the unexpired portion of the term of office. 

III.3 Election 

Election of members of the CASL Executive Committee from the several departments shall be accomplished by way of the voting procedures each department establishes within its own By-Laws. The person from each department receiving the largest number of votes shall be recommended as the member of the Executive Committee from that department. 

Nominations of at least two candidates for the member-at-large position shall be solicited by the CASL Faculty Secretary, who shall also conduct the election. Nominees may be from any of the departments, and all members of the CASL governing faculty shall be eligible to vote. This election should be conducted after the results of the balloting for the departmental representatives have been announced. The nominee receiving the largest number of votes will be recommended for appointment; the nominee receiving the second largest number of votes will be recommended for appointment as official alternate, to serve, with full powers, whenever the regular member-at-large must be absent. 

Nominations of at least two candidates for the College-Wide Programs representative position shall be solicited by the Associate Dean responsible for College-Wide Programs, who shall conduct the election. Nominees must be faculty who serve on at least one College-Wide Program and all members of the College-Wide Program faculty shall be eligible to vote. This election should be conducted after the results of the balloting for the departmental representatives have been announced. The nominee receiving the largest number of votes will be recommended for appointment; the nominee with the second largest number of votes will be recommended for appointment as official alternate, to serve, with full power, whenever the regular CASL-wide programs representative must be absent. 

In all elections for regular members and all instances of short-term appointments for membership on the CASL Executive Committee, at least twice as many candidates or appointees as there are positions must be forwarded to the Board of Regents for their official action. In the case of elections, the actual number of votes received by candidates shall be forwarded. All elections and appointments are never official until the Regents have acted. This procedure shall also apply in those short-term appointments related to reconstitution for actions on promotion and tenure recommendations. 

III.4 Reconstitution for Promotion and Tenure Deliberations 

When promotions are being considered by the CASL Executive Committee, its members may vote only on those faculty being recommended up to and including their own ranks. If any member is ineligible to vote on certain recommendations, the Committee must be reconstituted. For promotions to full professor, any member of the Committee who is not a full professor must be replaced by an eligible full professor from the respective department. For promotions to associate professor, any member who is an assistant professor must be replaced by an associate or a full professor from the respective department. In either eventuality, if the ineligible member is the member-at-large on the Committee, the eligible replacement may be chosen from any department. Whenever reconstitution to ensure peer-rank representation takes place, replacements for departmental representatives shall be chosen by the College Executive Committee from among the eligible faculty of the appropriate departments. (Chairs and faculty currently serving on the Academic Affairs Advisory Council are automatically ineligible.) Because such ad hoc members of the reconstituted CASL Executive Committee are also subject to the approval of the Regents, the selection(s) shall be held in such time as to ensure their approval prior to the Committee’s deliberations and recommendations. 

III.5 Intra-Campus Promotion and Tenure Deliberations 

When a tenured or tenure-track faculty member has a joint academic appointment (hereafter joint appointee) to CASL and another college there shall be a memorandum of understanding (MOU) written and signed by the deans of the colleges, chairs of the departments, and the joint appointee. The MOU shall detail: the participating colleges and departments; the workload distribution between the colleges and departments; and, the home college and department that shall have the responsibility of assisting in the administration of the casebook and other materials for a joint appointee. 

The following committees and procedures shall be used to make promotion and/or tenure decisions for any joint appointee: 

A. A Joint Casebook Committee, consisting of two tenured faculty from each department designated in the MOU, shall be established for each joint appointee created by CASL and another college. The Casebook Committee shall have the responsibility for the collection of materials supporting promotion and/or tenure and the writing of promotion documents. 

The Joint Casebook Committee shall also elect its own chair and appoint two of its members, one from each department, as co-advocates for the purpose of representing the joint appointee before the Joint College Committee (see Subsection C below) and the Faculty Senate Committee. 

The Joint Casebook Committee shall solicit external reviews of the candidate’s scholarly works, normally at the end of the fifth year of service. Upon incorporating the external review letters, the Joint Casebook Committee shall forward the candidate’s casebook to the Joint Department Committee (see Subsection B below). 

B. The Joint Department Committee, consisting of all tenured faculty from each department designated in the MOU, shall have the responsibility for considering the casebook for joint appointees and making promotion and/or tenure recommendations to the Joint College Committee (see Subsection C below). The chair from the home department designated in the MOU shall head the Joint Department Committee. Recommendations for promotion and/or tenure, along with all relevant documents and a record of the vote, shall be forwarded by the department chairs to the Joint College Committee. 

C. The Joint College Committee, consisting of all executive committee members from CASL and the other college in which the joint appointment is held, shall make promotion and/or tenure recommendations to the Provost. Both college deans shall co-chair the Joint College Committee and neither will have a vote. Recommendations for promotion and/or tenure, along with all relevant documents and a record of the vote of the Joint Department Committee and Joint College Committee, shall be forwarded by the deans to the Provost. 

Voting at all levels shall be by secret, written ballot. Faculty members serving on the committees established in this section shall be of a higher rank than the faculty member being considered for promotion and/or tenure. The joint committees shall otherwise establish their own rules and procedures for carrying out their promotion and tenure responsibilities in alignment with the Casebook Guidelines issued by the Office of the Provost. 

III.6 Chair of the Executive Committee 

The Dean of CASL shall be an ex officio member without vote (except to break ties) and Chair of the Executive Committee and shall call committee meetings no less than once every two weeks during the periods when classes are in session in the two regular semesters. 

ARTICLE IV. CURRICULUM COMMITTEE 

IV.1 Membership 

The CASL Curriculum Committee shall be led by an associate dean who serves as chair, ex officio without vote (except to break ties), one faculty member of the governing faculty from each department within the College, and one faculty member of the governing faculty who will represent the College-wide programs. 

IV.2 Duties 

The committee shall be responsible for (1) carrying out the policies for curriculum matters as established by the Executive Committee, (2) reviewing and approving new course proposals, course modifications, and course deletions, (3) initiating curriculum reviews with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, and (4) evaluating and recommending to the Executive Committee for approval, any curriculum reforms, such as new degree programs, areas of focus, interdisciplinary studies, minors, etc. 

ARTICLE V. ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL 

V. 1 Composition and Function 

The CASL Administrative Council shall consist of the Dean, the Associate Dean(s), and the Department Chairs. The Council shall assist the Dean of CASL in making administrative decisions and in carrying out the business of the College. The Council shall make periodic written reports to the College to keep it well informed. 

ARTICLE VI. CASL GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE 

There shall be within the College a committee titled the CASL Grievance Committee (hereafter the Grievance Committee) whose sole purpose is to receive, conduct inquiries, and make recommendations to the Dean concerning faculty grievances appealed from the departments of the College. It is not empowered to create policy. 

1. Membership 

The Executive Committee shall at the beginning of each academic year choose from among its members three tenured faculty, excluding the Dean, Associate Dean(s), and Assistant Dean(s), to serve on the Grievance Committee. 

2. Procedures 

The Grievance Committee will follow the faculty grievance procedures as outlined in the Faculty Handbook. If either the grievant or respondent is unwilling to accept the recommendation of the Grievance Committee, she/he may appeal to the Faculty Senate. 

ARTICLE VII. DEPARTMENTS 

VII.1 Authorized Departments 

The departments shall constitute the basic units of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. The departments shall be Behavioral Sciences; Language, Culture, and the Arts; Mathematics and Statistics; Natural Sciences; Social Sciences; and such other departments as shall be designated by subdividing any of the above-named departments. Such creations and designations shall be made by the CASL Executive Committee, but they shall be subject to the authorization and approval of the Vice Chancellor and Chancellor of the UM-D and of the President and the Board of Regents. 

VII.2 Assignments of Faculty to Departments 

Faculty members shall be assigned to departments appropriate to their field of study (discipline) and teaching assignment(s). Although a faculty member may have, by the agreement of the departments concerned, a vote in the internal affairs of more than one department, (s)he may not vote in more than one Department on matters concerning the whole College, e.g., selection of members of the CASL Executive Committee. 

VII.3 Definition of Departmental Governing Faculty 

The governing faculty of a department are those faculty who have been designated as members of the governing faculty of CASL. 

VII.4 Department Chairs 

Each department shall have a Chair. The Chairs of the departments shall be appointed by the Board of Regents on the recommendation of the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and the Dean of the College, who shall in turn be guided by the recommendation of the governing faculty of the departments. When a Department Chair is to be chosen, the governing faculty of the department shall submit a list of at least two but not more than three names to the Dean of the College. Nominations need not be confined to persons currently holding appointments in the University. No nominations, however, shall be passed on to the Vice Chancellor, the Chancellor, and the Board of Regents without the concurrence of both the Dean of CASL and a majority of the governing faculty of the department concerned. The Department Chair must hold a full-time appointment in CASL, must normally be engaged in instructional activity, and must be tenured at the University of Michigan-Dearborn when his/her appointment commences. 

In the event of his or her absence for a period of more than two weeks but less than a full term, the Chair of a Department shall designate a voting member of that Department as Acting Chair with the consent of the Departmental Executive Committee and the Dean of the College. In the event of an anticipated absence for a full semester or longer (excepting Spring or Summer term), or a vacancy, the Department shall submit nominations for an Acting Chair in accordance with the procedures for appointing a Chair, the Acting Chair to serve for the period of the vacancy. 

VII.5 Department Executive Committees

Each department shall have an Executive Committee. The composition and size of each Executive Committee shall be determined by each of the several departments, subject to the approval of the CASL Executive Committee. The Department Chair shall be a member ex officio without vote (except to break ties) and act as Chair of the Department Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall be charged with duties of investigating and formulating educational and instructional policies for consideration by voting members of the department and shall act for the departmental faculty in matters of budget, promotions, and appointments. With the approval of the majority of the governing faculty, a department may transfer authority to act on promotions and appointment to an appropriately constituted promotion and tenure committee. 

Members of the Department Executive Committees are to be elected by the governing faculty of the department. 

VII.6 Terms of the Department Chairs 

The term of office of a Department Chair shall be three years. No Chair shall serve more than two terms consecutively unless two-thirds of the governing faculty of the department concerned, voting by secret ballot, requests that the Department Chair be granted an exemption in order to stand as one of the departmental candidates to be recommended to the Dean, and provided that such a request is approved by two-thirds majority of the CASL governing faculty voting at a faculty meeting or by mail ballot, at least a quorum having voted. 

VII.7 Duties of Department Chairs 

The Department Chairs shall exercise leadership and hold administrative responsibility for matters relating to the curriculum, scheduling, the budget, and the appointment and promotion of faculty members within the department. 

VII.8 Department Grievance Committees 

At the beginning of each academic year, each department within the College shall choose from among its members three tenured faculty, excluding the department chair to serve on the Department Grievance Committee, whose sole purpose is to receive, conduct inquiries, and make recommendations concerning faculty grievances. The Department Grievance Committee is not empowered to create policy. 

If either the grievant or respondent is unwilling to accept the Department Grievance Committee’s recommendation, they may appeal to the CASL Grievance Committee. All other procedures used by the Department Grievance Committee shall be established within departmental bylaws and approved by the governing faculty at a regular department meeting, a quorum being present. 

ARTICLE VIII. CASL FACULTY SECRETARY 

VIII.1 Duties and Election 

To assist the Dean and the College, there shall be a CASL Faculty Secretary. The Secretary shall be responsible for the preparation and distribution of calls for all CASL faculty meetings, shall solicit items for the agendas of College meetings, and shall prepare and distribute the agendas and the minutes of such meetings. The Secretary shall also conduct all College elections. The Secretary, who must be a member of the governing faculty, shall serve a term of two years and shall be elected by the governing faculty. 

ARTICLE IX. COLLEGE FACULTY MEETINGS 

IX.1 Authority to Call Meetings 

The Dean of CASL shall call meetings of the faculty at least once during each fall and winter semester. In the absence of the Dean, authority to call meetings shall be vested in the Acting Dean. Faculty meetings may also be called by a petition to the duly elected CASL Faculty Secretary of at least 10% of the governing faculty of the College. No issue of substance may be acted upon at a “summer session” meeting without an absolute majority of the CASL faculty being present to constitute a quorum, or, alternatively, voting via a mail or absentee ballot. 

IX.2 Definition 

A College faculty meeting shall be understood to be a plenary meeting of the faculty of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. 

IX.3 Voting Members 

The voting members shall be all of the members of the CASL governing faculty (see above, Art. I.2). 

IX.4 Quorum 

Twenty percent (20%) of the governing faculty of CASL at any official CASL meeting shall be regarded as a quorum for the purposes of discussing and debating, formulating and amending proposals, and calling for a mail ballot, but not for the purpose of final voting on proposals.

Thirty-five percent (35%) of the governing faculty of CASL at any official CASL meeting shall be regarded as a quorum for the purpose of final voting on proposals, except that an absolute majority shall be required at meetings during the summer period (May through August). 

IX.5 College Parliamentarian 

At the Fall meeting, as necessary, the College Faculty will elect from their ranks a College Parliamentarian to serve a three-year term. 

The College Parliamentarian shall rule on all points or questions of order which arise at meetings of the College Faculty. 

IX.6 College Agenda Committee 

The Chair, the Secretary, and the College Executive Committee are responsible for preparing the Agenda for all meetings of the College Faculty. 

Faculty members who wish to present business to the meeting should notify the Secretary of the faculty before noon Thursday preceding the Faculty meeting so that it may be considered for inclusion in the Agenda which is distributed before the meeting. 

ARTICLE X. AMENDMENTS 

X.1 Proposals 

Any member of the governing faculty of the College may propose an amendment to the Bylaws. Such proposals shall be submitted to the duly elected CASL Faculty Secretary in writing at least two weeks prior to the College faculty meeting at which it is to be considered. The Secretary shall in turn provide each member of the faculty with a copy of the proposed amendment at least one week prior to the meeting. 

X.2 Necessity of Two-Thirds Majority of Vote 

These Bylaws may be amended at any regular business meeting of the College by a two-thirds majority of those voting, a quorum being present, and provided that due notice has been given as provided in IX.1. They may also be amended through a mail ballot. A two-thirds majority shall be required, a quorum of the governing faculty having voted. 

ARTICLE XI. GRANDFATHER CLAUSE 

To insure continuity in College policy and administration, those presently holding office in the College shall continue to do so until their normal terms expire. Their replacements, however, shall be duly appointed or elected according to the provisions of these Bylaws. 

ARTICLE XII. DATE OF EFFECT 

All articles not requiring the approval of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan shall go into effect immediately upon the approval of the CASL faculty and the Chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Articles requiring the approval of the Regents shall go into effect immediately as they are approved by the Regents.