By-Laws of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Adopted unanimously by the Department on April 8, 1974
Revised on February 2, 1998

Article I: The Department

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics, hereinafter referred to as the Department, is an instructional unit of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters of The University of Michigan-Dearborn and is maintained for the purpose of providing instruction in the mathematical sciences and conducting scholarly research in these sciences.

Article II: The Faculty

1. Definition

The members of the Department Faculty are those so designated in accordance with the By-laws of the College. The voting members of the Department are those so designated by these same By-laws.

2. Powers and Duties

Subject to the ultimate authority of the Board of Regents, the Faculty of the Department is vested with plenary powers to make rules concerning departmental organization, curricula and other educational matters.

The Faculty is responsible for providing instruction for students in the mathematical sciences including mathematics, computational mathematics, statistics, and mathematics education, and for providing appropriate instructional services to academic programs in the College and other units of the University.

In order to meet its responsibilities, the Faculty may designate within the Mathematical Sciences certain groupings of interest of members of the Faculty and recognize these by recommending the formation of disciplines with responsibilities for providing instructional programs and fostering research in their areas.

3. Meetings of the Faculty

The Chair of the Department shall call a regular meeting of the Department Faculty not less than twice in both the Fall and Winter terms. Notice of these meetings shall be given at least two weeks prior to the meeting. An agenda for the meeting shall be published at least one week prior to the meeting. Agenda items may be submitted to either the Chair or the Secretary by any Faculty member in writing at least eight days prior to the meeting.

Special meetings of the Faculty shall be called upon written petition of not less than one quarter of the voting members of the Department. Notice of such meetings shall be given within three days of receipt of the petition and convened within ten days of said receipt. It shall be the duty of the petitioners to provide timely information to each member of the Faculty concerning the nature of the meeting.

A quorum of half the voting members of the Department shall be required to transact business. A smaller number may receive reports and discuss any matter properly before them.

Article III: Offices

1. Department Chair

1.1 Appointment

The Department shall have a Chair who shall be appointed by the Board of Regents on the recommendation of the Chancellor, the Dean of Academic Affairs and the Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. These, in turn, shall be guided by the recommendations of the voting members of the Department. The voting members 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 nomination, however, shall be passed on to the Chancellor and the Board of Regents without the concurrence of the majority of the voting members of the Department. The Department Chair must hold a full-time, tenured academic appointment at the University of Michigan-Dearborn when appointed. The Chair shall be privileged to vote at any and all Faculty meetings.

1.2 Term of Office

The term of the Department Chair shall be three years, the beginning and ending date of the term being coincident with the beginning date of the University’s Academic Year in the Fall. The Chair shall not serve more than two terms consecutively.

1.3 Duties

The Department Chair shall exercise leadership and hold administrative responsibility for matters relating to the curriculum, the scheduling, the budget and the appointment and promotion of faculty member within the Department. In the event of an absence from campus for a period of more than two weeks, the Chair shall designate, with the aid of the Departmental Executive Committee and the consent of the Dean of the College, a voting tenured member of the Department as Acting Chair of the Department.

2. The Department Secretary

2.1 Duties

The Department Secretary shall record and distribute minutes of the Faculty meetings.

2.2 Selection and Term of Office

At the first Faculty meeting of the Fall term, the Faculty shall select a Secretary who shall serve for one year. No person shall serve two consecutive terms of office as Secretary.

3. Department Representative to College Executive Committee

Any Faculty member of Senate Rank is eligible to serve as the representative of the Department on the Executive Committee of the College. The representative shall be elected according to the rules formulated by the College for such elections.

Article IV: Committees

1. General

1.1 Standing Committees

Standing committees, other than those provided for herein, may be created by the Faculty at any meeting.

1.2 Ad Hoc Committees

The Chair or the Department Executive Committee may create ad hoc committees. The Faculty will be informed of the composition and purpose of such committees.

1.3 Department Representatives

The Department Chair, assisted by the Department Executive Committee, shall recommend Department representatives to be appointed to College and Campus Committees.

2. The Executive Committee

2.1 Duties

The Executive Committee shall be the policy-making body of the Department. It shall make periodic reviews of existing administrative and academic policies of the Department and shall inform the Faculty of all proposed changes to existing policies. This shall be done both by issuance of minutes as well as by discussions at regular meetings of the Faculty. The Executive Committee shall act for the Faculty in matters of policies concerning budgets, appointments, promotions and salaries, and shall act for the faculty in recommending appointments.

2.2 Membership and Selection of Members

2.2.1 Composition

The Executive Committee shall consist of four faculty and the Department Chair who shall be ex officio the chair of the committee. In addition, if the Department representative to the College Faculty Executive Committee is not an elected member of the Department Executive Committee, the representative shall serve as an ex officio member. The elected members shall comprise two tenured members, one member-at-large who must be of professorial rank, and one member-at-large who may be from any rank but who must have the voting franchise within the College.

2.2.2 Term of Office

The term of office of an elected member shall be two years. No elected member may serve more than two consecutive terms.

2.2.3 Elections

Elections of the Elective Committee shall take place at a meeting of the Faculty. Each vacancy on the Committee shall be filled by a separate election. Tenured positions shall be filled first, followed by the at-large professorial position, followed by the at-large position of any rank. Nominations for any position may be made by any member of the Faculty. Elections will be made by secret ballot. A simple majority is required to win an election. In the event that no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest number of votes will be eliminated and the election procedure continued with the remaining candidates.

2.2.4 Absence

A committee member who will be absent from the campus for a full term or more shall be replaced during that absence by a member elected for the same category.

2.3 Meetings

2.3.1 Frequency

The Department Chair shall call a meeting of the Executive Committee at least twice in both the Fall and Winter terms and upon request of two elected members of the Executive Committee.

2.3.2 Agenda

An agenda for each meeting shall be provided at least three days prior to the meeting. Any committee member or pair of Faculty members may submit agenda items.

2.3.3 Reporting

The actions of the Executive Committee shall be reported to the Faculty within one week of such actions. Amendments to department policy made by the Executive Committee shall not take effect until one week after notification of the Faculty of impending change. Such amendments are subject to revision or revocation by a two-thirds vote of the Faculty.

2.3.4 Voting

Action of the Executive Committee requires the presence of at least 3 elected members plus the Chair. A majority vote by the elected members is required for the passage of a motion. In the event of a tie vote with the elected members, the Chair may cast a vote or bring the matter before the Faculty.

3. Ad Hoc Promotion, Reappointment, and Termination Committee

3.1 Procedures

The Department shall follow the procedures adopted by the College for the review of Faculty in the Department concerning promotions, reappointments, and terminations of contracts.

3.2 Recommendations

The recommendation made to the College by the promotion, reappointments, or termination committees shall be presented to the elected members of the Departmental Executive Committee for their review. This review shall consist of determining that established procedures have been followed and that the policies of the Department have been met in the deliberations of the committees.

Article V: Policies of the Department

1. The Policies of the Department shall be in accord with those of the College. The Department Faculty has the authority and the responsibility to formulate and enforce policies which remain within the province of the department.
2. The adoption and promulgation of policy rests with the Executive Committee.
3. The administration of department policies is the responsibility of the Department Chair who may seek the assistance of the Executive Committee.
4. The Chair shall exercise leadership in the formulation and execution of policy in the best interest of the Department.
5. The Executive Committee shall act for the Faculty in policies concerning budgets, promotions, appointments, and salaries.
6. The Faculty as a whole has the responsibility for the adoption and exercise of policies concerning curricula, graduation requirements, and academic standards.

Article VI: Amendments

These By-laws may be amended at any faculty meeting by a two-thirds vote of voting members provided that the proposed amendment is submitted in writing to the Faculty at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which it is considered.

Article VII: Rules that Take Precedence

Nothing in these By-laws should be construed to be in conflict with rules of the College, the rules of the University of Michigan-Dearborn or those of the Regents of the University of Michigan.