Bylaws for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
University of North Texas
Adopted April 10, 2017 (updated March 2025)
Preamble
Subject to the authorities which govern the University of North Texas, the faculty
of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) does hereby specify the
organization of the college and the principles and procedures under which the business
of the college will be conducted. For clarity, the term Academic Unit throughout the
bylaws refers to Departments/Programs/Mayborn School of Journalism.
ARTICLE I. The Faculty
A. Membership of the Faculty
Every person holding a full-time tenured or probationary appointment in CLASS at the
rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor shall be a voting member
of the college faculty. All non-tenure track full time professional faculty entering
their 4th year and beyond of continuous service shall be voting members of the college
faculty.
B. The Faculty Assembly
1. Function
The Faculty Assembly is responsible for approving and revising the college bylaws.
2. Membership
All voting members of the faculty shall be voting members of the Faculty Assembly.
3. Meetings
The Faculty Assembly shall meet at least once in the fall semester and once in the
spring semester of each academic year. Special meetings may be called by the Executive
Dean and shall be called on the written request of ten percent of the voting members
of the Faculty Assembly. Any proposal to revise the college bylaws must be considered
at a public meeting of the Faculty Assembly prior to a final vote being taken. When
no such revisions are pending, the Executive Dean will use the fall and spring semester
meetings to update the faculty on the state of the college and to answer faculty questions.
4. Organization
At all meetings of the Faculty Assembly, the Executive Dean or a member of the Faculty
Assembly designated by the Executive Dean shall preside.
The Executive Dean shall appoint a secretary for the Faculty Assembly. The secretary
shall publish and distribute to all faculty the minutes of each meeting within fourteen
days following the meeting.
5. Procedure
The Faculty Council (see I.C.1) shall prepare and distribute, at least 96 hours before
a meeting, an agenda for the meeting. The agenda must include any proposal to revise
the college bylaws submitted on time and in writing either by the Executive Dean or
by any member of the faculty who carries the endorsement of ten voting members of
the faculty.
All proposals to revise the college bylaws either initiated or substantively amended
by motion from the floor must receive a second hearing at a subsequent meeting of
the Faculty Assembly before a final vote is taken.
Following consideration at a public meeting of the Faculty Assembly, proposals to
revise the college bylaws will be decided by electronic vote. For a proposal to be
approved, at least twenty percent of the voting members of the faculty must cast a
ballot, and two thirds of those ballots must record votes in favor of the proposal.
C. Standing Committees
There shall be standing committees of the faculty that shall have primary responsibility
for representing the faculty in the conduct of the affairs of the college. Each committee
shall consist of CLASS faculty members elected by the faculty or appointed by the
Executive Dean. Eligible persons must receive at least two nominations to be placed
on the ballot for elected positions on standing committees. If no person has two nominations
or if only one person has two nominations, all names submitted for the position will
be placed on the ballot. A regular term of membership shall be three years, and each
term shall begin on the first day of the academic year (fall semester). On completion
of a regular term of membership, no person may be returned to membership, either by
election or appointment, for one year.
Following the initial constitution of a committee, the elected membership and the
appointed membership shall each be partitioned into three sets approximating as closely
as possible one- third of their complement. In each set, the members will serve the
same term and, initially, terms shall be determined by lottery to create staggered
terms. Members receiving less than a regular term shall be eligible to succeed themselves.
Thereafter, each year those members who are completing a regular term shall be replaced.
In the spring of each year, the Executive Dean shall conduct elections and make appointments
for those whose terms begin the following September.
If an elected member of a standing committee is unable to complete their term for
any reason, the Executive Dean shall appoint a replacement until a special election
is held to fill the position. Temporary appointments are subject to the same restrictions
on membership as general appointments and elections. A special election will be conducted
typically within one month of notification that the original member is unable to complete
their term. The special election will follow the format of a general election for
standing committees.
At no time shall two members of a committee be members of the same academic unit.
To ensure broad representation, when a term of service has been completed, a vacancy
on that committee may not be filled by a faculty member from the same academic unit
for a period of one year.
It shall be the duty of all members to attend all regular and special meetings of
the committee. The membership of any member who has been absent from two successive
regular meetings without cause shall be declared vacant.
The meetings of each committee shall be conducted in accordance with generally accepted
practices for deliberative bodies of such small size. The presiding officer shall
ensure that each member has the opportunity for full participation in the deliberations.
All issues, after debate and discussion, shall be decided by simple majority of all
members present and voting.
When a standing committee deliberates on specific budgetary or personnel matters,
its findings and recommendations shall not be published, but shall be available in
the office of the Executive Dean.
When a standing committee addresses any matter of general policy, the secretary of
the committee shall cause the minutes to be published and distributed within ten days
following each such meeting.
Standing committees shall include those specified below.
1. The Faculty Council
The function of the Faculty Council shall be:
a. to meet regularly with the Executive Dean to discuss matters related to
college budget requests to the central administration and/or allocation of the college’s
own resources;
b. to prepare the agenda for all meetings of the Faculty Assembly;
c. to draft, review, revise, and publish procedures and policies by which
the college shall conduct its business;
d. to advise the Executive Dean on any matter not specifically delegated
to some other committee;
e. to appoint ad hoc faculty committees and receive reports from them as
necessary;
f. to ensure that adequate appeals procedures and policies are available
to all faculty at appropriate levels regarding decisions identified as appealable
in E.1.;
g. to review regularly, and when appropriate, propose revisions to the college
bylaws;
h. to hold focus group meetings to discuss general morale and concerns of
the faculty and report findings to the Executive Dean; and
i. to ensure equitable procedures in assessing faculty
merit and salary recommendations on the departmental level.
The membership of the committee shall consist of three elected members of the faculty,
one Associate or Full Professor from each division (see II.A.), one Principal Lecturer/Professional
Faculty member at the highest rank elected by the professional faculty college-wide,
and three members of the faculty appointed by the Executive Dean. Faculty members
holding the academic rank of associate or full professor are eligible to be elected
to this committee. One of the three appointed members will hold the rank of principal
lecturer/non-tenure track full time professional faculty; otherwise, the appointed
members will also hold the rank of associate or full professor. Departmental chairs/program
directors are not eligible for membership on the Faculty Council. The Executive Dean
or a person designated by the Executive Dean shall be non-voting chair of the committee.
2. The Personnel Affairs Committee
The function of the Personnel Affairs Committee shall be:
a. to formulate policy for the college regarding the appointment, promotion,
granting of tenure, and termination of faculty in the college;
b. to review and approve departmental criteria and procedures for the
evaluation of faculty performance for purposes of promotion, tenure, and progress
in rank; and
c. to make recommendations to the Executive Dean on promotion, tenure,
and progress in rank cases presented to the college by its academic units.
The committee shall be made up of nine members:
- Seven at the rank of Full Professor and two Professional Faculty members at the highest
rank.
- Three full professors shall be elected (1 from each division)
- Three full professors shall be appointed by the Executive Dean (1 from each division)
- One Professional Faculty member shall be elected by college-wide voting by all professional
faculty.
- The second Professional Faculty member shall be appointed by the Executive Dean and
will be from a different division than the elected professional faculty member.
- The final Full Professor will represent the division not represented by the two professional
faculty members and will be elected by the faculty in that division.
The Executive Dean, divisional deans, department chairs, and program directors shall
not be eligible for election or appointment to this committee. Each year the committee
will select a chair from among its members in their second or third year of service.
The Executive Dean and Divisional Deans may attend and participate in presentations
made to the committee as part of promotion, tenure, and progress in rank cases, but
may not participate in committee deliberations.
3. Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
The function of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee shall be:
a. to receive and act on all proposals for undergraduate curricular change
from all units of the college;
b. to review and initiate changes in undergraduate degree programs and
academic standards of the college;
c. to establish procedures, by which changes in the undergraduate curriculum
may be processed in an orderly and expeditious way;
d. to ensure the integrity of the degree programs by periodically conducting
a review and evaluation, in depth, of the core requirements in the degree programs
of the college. Such core curriculum reviews shall be initiated in years that are
multiples of five; and
e. to review curricular proposals from other schools and colleges at
UNT that might affect existing programs in CLASS.
The membership of the committee shall consist of three elected members of the faculty,
one from each division (see II.A.), and four members of the faculty appointed by the
Executive Dean. All fulltime faculty are eligible to serve on this committee. The
Executive Dean or a person designated by the Executive Dean shall be non-voting chair
of the committee. Unless there is no pending business, the committee shall meet at
least once each month during the nine-month academic year. Additional meetings may
be called by the Executive Dean.
4. The Graduate Curriculum Committee
The function of the Graduate Curriculum Committee shall be:
a. to receive and act on all proposals for graduate curricular change
from all units of the college;
b. to review and initiate changes in the graduate degree programs and
academic standards of the college; and
c. to review curricular proposals from other schools and colleges at
UNT that might affect existing graduate programs in CLASS.
The membership of the committee shall consist of three elected members of the faculty,
one from each division (see II.A.), and four members of the faculty appointed by the
Executive Dean. All full time faculty who are actively involved in graduate education
(teaching or advising) are eligible to serve on this committee. The Executive Dean
or a person designated by the Executive Dean shall be non-voting chair of the committee.
Unless there is no pending business, the committee shall meet at least once each month
during the nine-month academic year. Additional meetings may be called by the Executive
Dean.
D. Academic Freedom
“The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free expression. Academic
freedom is essential to these purposes” Board of Regents Rules 06.401
On the UNT campus, the primary authority governing academic freedom for all faculty
members is University Policy 06.035, “Academic Freedom and Academic Responsibility.”
The faculty of CLASS also affirm the following statement developed by the American
Association of University Professors in its 2009 report on “Protecting an Independent
Faculty Voice: Academic Freedom after Garcetti v. Ceballos”:
Academic freedom is the freedom to teach, both in and outside the classroom, to conduct
research and to publish the results of those investigations, and to address any matter
of institutional policy or action whether or not as a member of an agency of institutional
governance. Professors should also have the freedom to address the larger community
with regard to any matter of social, political, economic, or other interest, without
institutional discipline or restraint, save in response to fundamental violations
of professional ethics or statements that suggest disciplinary incompetence.
CLASS is committed to free inquiry, free expression, and open dissent, which are critical
for student learning as well as the production, dissemination, and advancement of
knowledge. Recognizing these as necessary to the functioning of a democratic society
and a public university, CLASS respects and protects all faculty’s academic freedom
and their constitutionally protected rights to freedom of speech.
E. Grievance
1. Appealable Decisions
Any faculty member who disagrees with a decision made by their chair or program director
may ask the Executive Dean to review that decision. The formal procedure described
here applies only to disputes related to the following appealable actions or decisions:
a. annual evaluations;
b. termination of tenured faculty;
c. termination of non-tenure track full time professional faculty of
any rank prior to the end of a contract or appointment period; and
d. corrective actions as described in UNT policy on Faculty Misconduct
and Discipline (06.025).
If an academic unit decides not to renew a non-tenure track full time professional
faculty of any rank at the end of a contract, the faculty member may request a review
of the unit's decision. In that case, the Faculty Council will review the case and
make a recommendation to the Executive Dean. The Executive Dean will consider the
recommendation to make a decision. This decision is not appealable.
Appeals related to negative tenure or promotion decisions are not governed by these
bylaws but rather by UNT policy on Faculty Appointments, Promotion, Tenure and Reduced
Faculty Appointments (06.004).
2. Grievance Procedure
A faculty member will initiate as appeal by contacting the Faculty Council within
twenty-one days of when the appellant is first informed of the decision being appealed.
a. If the alleged grievance occurred in an academic unit, the aggrieved
party shall exhaust all academic unit grievance procedures available before appealing
on the college level.
b. If the aggrieved party is dissatisfied with a decision identified
as appealable in E.1, the aggrieved party may appeal in writing to the Faculty Council.
The Faculty Council shall review the grievance to ensure that college and university
policies have been met, including timeliness, whether an appealable action is being
grieved and whether the grievance substantially involves a previously adjudicated
appeal. If policies have been met, there shall then be constituted a five-person ad
hoc grievance committee chosen from faculty members in CLASS. The Faculty Council
and aggrieved party shall each appoint two tenured faculty members to the committee.
The persons chosen must not have been directly involved in the proceedings or issues
leading to the appeal. Those four members shall, by majority vote, compile a ranked
list of at least three nominees, with the same restrictions
as govern the selection of the original four appointees, from which the Faculty Council
shall select the fifth member and chair of the committee. Following its final selection,
the committee shall normally meet within two weeks to hear arguments. The committee
shall then render its findings to the Executive Dean and aggrieved party (normally
within one week of hearing arguments). The Executive Dean shall then accept, modify,
or reject the ad hoc committee’s findings. If the aggrieved party is dissatisfied
with the ad hoc committee’s decision or the Executive Dean's ruling, he/she may pursue
university-level appeals according to UNT policy (06.051).
ARTICLE II. Administrative Organization of the College
A. Academic Units
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences consists of the following units:
Division of Communication, Media, and Performance
Department of Communication Studies
Department of Dance and Theatre
Department of Media Arts
Department of Technical Communication
Mayborn School of Journalism
Division of Humanities
Department of English
Department of History
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Aerospace Studies
Jewish Studies Program
Military Science
Women’s and Gender Studies Program
Division of Social Sciences
Department of Anthropology
Department of Economics
Department of Geography and the Environment
Department of Political Science and International Studies Program
Department of Psychology
Department of Sociology
The academic units and interdisciplinary programs shall be considered the basic organizational
and voting units of the college. Proposals to add, abolish, or split academic units
or interdisciplinary programs shall, after initial consultation of all the members
of the groups directly concerned, and of the Faculty Council, be referred by the Executive
Dean to the Vice President for Academic Affairs for consideration and recommendation.
The divisions of “Communication, Media, and Performance,” “Humanities,” and “Social
Sciences” provide a framework for discussion, collaboration, and comparison between
similar academic units and do not denote an additional layer of administrative hierarchy
interposing between the Executive Dean and the academic units in those divisions.
Within the regulations of the university, the academic units and interdisciplinary
programs shall recommend to the college the establishment of courses and programs,
the policies of admissions to these programs, and the requirements for degrees, diplomas
and certificates.
Through the standing committees of the college, the faculty and the Executive Dean
will consider these recommendations from the academic units for recommendation to
the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
B. The Executive Dean
The Executive Dean of CLASS is the chief administrative officer of the college and
shall be responsible for the orderly and efficient academic operation of the college.
The Executive Dean shares responsibility for the definition and attainment of college
goals consistent with the mission of the university, for administrative action, and
for operating the communication system which links the academic components of the
college. The Executive Dean represents the college to its various publics. As chief
administrative officer of the college, the Executive Dean has a special obligation
to innovate and initiate. The Executive Dean may appoint Divisional Deans at their
discretion.
The Executive Dean shall be responsible for communications to the faculty on matters
affecting the college as a unit of the university and for carrying out policies adopted
by the faculty within its policy responsibility. The Executive Dean shall recommend
to the faculty procedures for implementing policies and present proposed policies
to the faculty for its consideration. The Executive Dean shall receive and transmit
expressions of faculty concern on policies or actions not directly within the area
of faculty responsibility. The Executive Dean may create special committees or, with
consent of the Faculty Assembly, standing committees for assisting in the conduct
of college business.
C. Divisional Deans
Divisional Deans shall be appointed by the Executive Dean upon consultation with the
appropriate academic units, program committees, and/or divisional faculty.
Divisional Deans will be responsible for the coordination of efforts within and across
divisions in order to:
· Increase opportunities for interdisciplinary research and teaching;
· Collaborate with department chairs on existing or new curriculum;
· Advocate for resources for their division to improve existing programs and
develop new programs;
· Work with their departments and programs to develop hiring plans to strengthen
departments and develop new opportunities across the division;
· Work with the Executive Dean, advancement team, and other university resources
to create better connection with alumni and the community at large.
The Divisional Deans shall meet regularly with the Executive Dean and Associate Deans.
The Divisional Deans shall serve terms of 5 years, with quinquennial review and the
possibility of reappointment with the mutual agreement of the Executive Dean, the
academic unit, and the Divisional Dean.
D. Department Chairs and Program Directors
Chairs/Directors shall be appointed by the Executive Dean upon consultation with the
appropriate academic unit or program committee and/or faculty.
Chairs/Directors shall be responsible for advancing the teaching, research, and service
mission of the academic unit in concert with the Executive Dean and working within
the guidelines of Article III. Although the chairs/directors, as a group, shall not
have a specific role in college governance, they shall meet with the Executive Dean
on a regular basis and a summary of those meetings shall be published to the faculty.
Chairs/Directors shall serve terms of four years, with quadrennial review and the
possibility of reappointment with the mutual agreement of the Executive Dean, the
academic unit, and the chair/director.
ARTICLE III. Academic Units
A. Minimum Standards of Organization and Procedure
1. Each academic unit shall have bylaws that have been approved by the
faculty of that unit, the Faculty Council, and the Executive Dean.
2. The provisions of such bylaws shall in no way conflict with or supersede
the procedures of the college or university.
3. Details as to the structure and procedures of the basic academic unit
may vary, but the unit bylaws must have as their objective the creation of an atmosphere
that is receptive to individual opinion and that encourages the free exchange of views
and the participation of all full-time faculty in the decision-making process.
4. Each basic academic unit shall meet in a regular faculty meeting at
least once per long semester and may meet more often as provided in the unit bylaws.