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2.1 Faculty Council
2.1.0 Timeline and Procedures for Committee Reports
2.1.1 Policies and Procedures for Position Requests and Consideration of Institutional Need
2.1.1.1 Policy for Consideration of Institutional Need for Full-Time Regular and Full-Time Term Contracts
2.1.1.2 Procedures for Consideration of Institutional Need for Full-Time Regular and Full-Time Term Contracts
2.1.1.3 Timeline for Requests for New or Replacement Positions
2.1.1.4 Timeline for Requests for New or Replacement Positions Following Late Resignations
2.1.1.5 Institutional Need Review Timeline
2.2 Handbook Committee
2.2.0 Procedures for Changes to the Faculty Handbook
2.2.1 Timing and Procedures for Committee Nominations
2.3 Faculty Personnel Committee
2.4 Curriculum Committee
2.4.0 Course and Program Petitions Timeline and Procedures
2.4.1 General Education Designation Petitions
2.4.2 International and Domestic Travel Courses
2.4.2.1 International Travel Courses
2.4.2.2 Domestic Travel Courses
2.4.3 Independent Interdisciplinary Major (IIM)
2.4.3.1 Interdisciplinary Studies Program
2.4.3.2 Independent Interdisciplinary Major (IIM) Approval Procedure
2.4.4 Reporting and Faculty Voting
2.4.4.1 Reports
2.4.4.2 Faculty Votes
2.4.5 Posthumous and End-of-Life Degree Awarding Policy
2.4.6 Academic Petitions Subcommittee of the Curriculum Committee
2.4.7 Changes to Graduation Requirements
Every standing faculty Governance Committee and Administrative Committee has the responsibility to provide periodic updates to the Faculty Council.
- At the beginning of the Fall semester, the Faculty Chair shall solicit reports from each committee.
- The committees shall draft reports of the major goals of the committee for the year and any issues that have been identified, particularly those with broader impact on faculty or for governance.
- Reports shall be submitted to the Faculty Chair by midterm of the Fall Semester.
- At midterm of the Spring semester, the Faculty Chair shall solicit reports from each committee.
- The committees shall draft reports of the results of any major initiatives by the committee or questions that may have a broader impact on faculty or for governance.
- Reports shall be submitted to the Faculty Chair by the end of the Spring semester.
The Faculty Council consults with and issues recommendations to the academic dean regarding requests for Full-Time Regular and Full-Time Term positions.
Institutional need refers to the degree to which a position held by a faculty member is judged to be necessary to support the academic programs of the College. The examination of institutional need for tenure-track and full-time, term-limited faculty positions is part of the College’s routine monitoring of its use of institutional resources. Specifically, it is the shared responsibility of the faculty and the administration to prevent necessary positions being displaced by unnecessary ones, and to ensure over time that departments and programs have the positions they need most to support the programs and general education curricula for which they are responsible. Another important purpose of this monitoring process is to keep programs and departments and probationary faculty informed, in a timely way, of the status of positions with respect to continuing institutional need.
The Faculty Council is responsible for the review of Full-Time Regular (tenure-track) and Full-Time Term positions to determine institutional need. Requests for new or replacement full-time positions are typically made in the spring prior to the year in which the search will be conducted. In cases in which a full-time line has been vacated after the normal spring review, Faculty Council may review requests early in the fall semester of the academic year in which the search will be conducted.
The Faculty Council also reviews positions for ongoing institutional need two additional times after a Full-Time Regular or Full-Time Term line has been filled.
- The first position review will give notice and guidance to the department and the academic dean about the continuing institutional need for the position. The timing of this review will mirror FPC’s timeline for review of the position holder. Typically, this will mean, in the fall prior to FPC’s mid-probationary review of candidates in Regular Full-Time positions, or in the fall of the third year of a Full-Time Term position.
- The second review shall make a final recommendation to the academic dean regarding the institutional need for the position. The timing of this review will typically occur one year prior to a position holder’s application for tenure and promotion in a Regular Full-Time position, or in the fifth year of a Full-Time Term position in which the decision to convert the contract to Regular Full-Time as outlined in Part II, Section 2.1.1.2 of the Faculty Handbook has been deferred.
The Faculty Council and academic dean, in consultation with the appropriate department chair(s), will examine the institutional need for all proposed Full-Time Regular (tenure-track) positions and Full-Time Term faculty positions.
At the beginning of each academic year, the academic dean will notify the Faculty Council and appropriate department chair(s) of the scheduled need to review specified positions according to the Consideration of Institutional Need Policy in Part IV, Section 2.1.1.1 of the Faculty Handbook. The initial review will be conducted by the Faculty Council based on information submitted by the department chair(s).
The department should include the following information to be considered by the Faculty Council in making its recommendation:
- Overall student enrollment
- Course enrollment patterns
- Numbers of majors and minors
- Departmental, general education, and other program staffing needs
- Role of the department or program in fulfilling the College’s mission
Whenever possible, at least three years of data should be provided. In addition to these factors, the Faculty Council and academic dean should consider the overall financial condition of the College and any other information deemed relevant to this process.
In the case in which the academic dean ultimately determines that a position no longer meets the requirement of institutional need, the academic dean will notify the president, the Faculty Council, the chair of the affected department, and the fauclty member holding the position of the reasons for this conclusion. With the concurrence of the president, the academic dean has authority to act and inform the faculty member in the position that they will not be reappointed for reasons of institutional need. In such a case, every effort will be made to inform the person affected as soon as possible but no later than the end of the academic year in which the review is conducted for Full-Time Regular (tenure-track) positions and March 1 for Full-Time Term Positions. Otherwise, the administration shall be construed as tacitly affirming the continuing institutional need for the appointment. In any instance of non-reappointment for reasons of institutional need, the position will not be replaced within a period of three (3) years, unless the released faculty member, if otherwise qualified, has been offered reinstatement and given a reasonable time of at least twenty (20) working days in which to accept or decline the College’s offer. A faculty member rehired under this provision will be reinstated at their previously earned rank.
- The Faculty Council shall publish rubrics by March 1.
- Position requests are due to the Faculty Council by April 1.
- The Faculty Council shall consider the requests and issue recommendations to the Academic Dean by April 30.
- Position requests are due to the Faculty Council by September 1.
- The Faculty Council shall consider the requests and issue recommendations to the Academic Dean by September 30.
- The Faculty Council shall notify department chairs about positions requiring institutional need review by September 1.
- Institutional need review reports are due to the Faculty Council by October 1.
- The Faculty Council shall consider the reports and issue recommendations to the Academic Dean by October 31.
- For Full-Time Regular positions, decisions against continuation shall be made and communicated to the person affected by the end of the fall semester.
- For Full-Time Term positions, decisions against continuation shall be made and communicated to the person affected by March 1.
Any individual member of the faculty or group of faculty may propose a change to any part of the Faculty Handbook. While not formally required, proposed changes should be submitted to the Handbook Committee before they are presented to the faculty. The Handbook Committee shall:
- Review and suggest changes to the language of the proposal in context with the rest of the Faculty Handbook.
- Offer feedback on the content of the proposal as requested by the faculty bringing the proposal.
- Present the proposal at the next Faculty Meeting.
- Manage discussion about and voting on the proposal as specified in the amendment procedures for the affected part of the Handbook.
The Handbook Committee may not alter the content of the proposal or decline to present the proposal without the approval of the faculty making the proposal.
The Handbook Committee solicits nominees and manages elections for standing faculty committees, ad hoc committees, and division heads.
- The Handbook Committee will solicit nominations at the start of the spring semester.
- Division head nominations are due by February 1, and division heads will be elected at the February faculty meeting
- Nominees for all committees are due by March 1
- Elections for committees requiring divisional representation, Faculty Secretary, at-large representatives for the Faculty Council, and the Faculty Chair will be held at the April faculty meeting
- Elections for committees not requiring divisional representation will be held at the May faculty meeting, as will elections for Governance Committee chairs with the exception of the Faculty Chair
Refer to Parts II and III of the Faculty Handbook for personnel policies and procedures involving the Faculty Personnel Committee.
All of the following additions, deletions, or changes to courses or programs must be petitioned to the Curriculum Committee.
- Course name changes
- Course description changes
- Course number changes
- Prerequisite changes
- Additions or deletions of courses
- Additions or deletions of programs
- Addition of academic majors or minors
- Addition of a certificate
- Any changes to a major or minor
- Any changes to a certificate
- Exceptions to deviations from the 10 four-credit courses (40 credits) plus capstone required for a major.
- Proposals for exceptions should include documentation such as accreditation requirements and examples of similar majors at other Bachelor of Arts institutions.
- Exceptions to deviations from the 16-24 credits required for a minor
- “Honors in the Major” degree requirements
- Exceptions to the standard 1, 2, or 4 credits granted for a course
- Course description for a special topics course catalogued as 190, 290, 390, 590 or 690.
Petitions must be submitted by the department chair on a current petition form as published by the Curriculum Committee. Academic departments seeking to drop academic majors and minors from the curriculum must notify the Curriculum Committee of their intention to do so on the appropriate forms in time to allow Curriculum Committee and the full faculty to consider the change and have any concerns addressed, and in time to allow the college to change all of its marketing materials. For any changes to be included in the following year’s catalog, the timeline for petitions is as follows.
- Petitions for changes to courses, majors, minors, programs, and certificates are due by November 15. Changes requiring a full faculty vote must be approved by the January faculty meeting.
- Petitions for study abroad courses are due by March 1. Courses must be approved by the April faculty meeting.
- Petitions for deletions of majors and minors are due at least 15 months before the major will no longer be offered. For example, a department seeking to drop a major for fall semester 2017 should plan on submitting its materials to Curriculum Committee by March 1, 2016.
The following changes to courses must be petitioned to the Associate Dean for General Education & Assessment.
- General education course designations
Petitions must be submitted by the department chair on a current petition form as published by the Associate Dean for General Education & Assessment. The timeline for petitions is as follows.
- Petitions for designations for fall and spring semester courses are due by November 15 in the school year prior to their effective date.
- Petitions for desingations for study abroad, May term, Summer term, and special topics course catalogued as 190, 290, 390, 590 or 690 are due by March 1 in the school year prior to their effective date.
The Associate Dean for General Education & Assessment will then forward recommended proposals to the Curriculum Committee for review and approval or return the proposal with review comments to the department for revision and resubmission.
197, 297, 397: All international travel courses offered for academic credit are to be reviewed by the Campus Advisory Committee and the Curriculum Committee as outlined in the Bylaws, Sections 3 and 4 of the Faculty Handbook. These courses must be approved by the faculty.
196, 296, 396: All domestic travel courses offered for academic credit are to be reviewed by the Curriculum Committee and approved by the faculty.
The interdisciplinary studies (IntSt) program faculty consists of three faculty members, one of which will be the director of the program, representing three divisions of the college. The interdisciplinary studies program faculty will serve as a committee that will advise students on the development of student-chosen advisory boards and completion of Independent Interdisciplinary Major (IIM) proposals and will review, but not approve, proposals to pass on to the Curriculum Committee for final approval. The IntSt program faculty will serve as a department for students pursuing an IIM, signing graduation applications, petitions and other documents requring department chair review.
- The student consults with the interdisciplinary studies program faculty on choosing an advisory board and developing a proposal.
- With support from the student-chosen advisory board, the student develops a title of the IIM, a set of courses, including options to allow for changes in course offerings, and the nature of the senior project.
- The student submits a proposal to the interdisciplinary studies program faculty including the title of the IIM, a list of required courses, description of the senior project, two letters of recommendation, and an explanation for how the proposed program will meet the student’s educational goals and lead the student into a career or graduate school.
- The interdisciplinary studies program faculty will review the proposals and advise the students on the development of a proposal but will not approve the proposals. The proposal then goes to the Curriculum Committee for final approval. The student, along with their advisory board, will have the opportunity to meet with the Curriculum Committee in support of the proposal.
- After Curriculum Committee approval, the interdisciplinary studies program faculty can approve changes to the required courses of the IIM.
Any changes to be reported or voted on during a faculty meeting must be included in the agenda for that meeting.
The following changes approved by the Curriculum Committee shall be reported to the faculty
- Course name changes
- Course description changes
- Course number changes
- Prerequisite changes
- Addition of a course
- Any changes to a major or minor
- Any changes to a certificate
- Deletions of courses
- Deletion of majors or minors
- If there are objections to the proposal or teach out plan, the matter is referred back to the Curriculum Committe for further review
- General Education designations for courses
Any member of the faculty may request a vote of the full faculty on a change reported to the faculty, during the faculty meeting at which that change is reported.
The following changes brought by the Curriculum Committee must be approved by the faculty
- Addition of a major
- Addition of a minor
- Addition of a certificate
- Exceptions to deviations from the 10 four-credit courses (40 credits) plus capstone required for a major
- Exceptions to deviations from the 16-24 credits required for a minor
- “Honors in the Major” degree requirements
- Exceptions to the standard 1, 2, or 4 credits granted for a course
To award a degree or certificate from Simpson College posthumously or in end-of-life circumstances that prevent a student from completion, a request to do so should be made to the Curriculum Committee. The request should state the reasons that the degree should be granted. The student to be awarded the degree must have completed at least 75% of the credits required for graduation.
If the Curriculum Committee approves the request, it will be forwarded to the full faculty at its next regularly scheduled meeting. If the faculty approves the degree, the proposal will be sent to the president of the college, the secretary of the board, and the academic dean. If all three approve, the degree will be granted.
The academic petitions subcommittee shall consist of three members of the Curriculum Committee, including the current chair of the Curriculum Committee. The academic petitions subcommittee will provide an avenue for students to petition for exemption from the academic policies established by the faculty of the college.
This committee shall meet once a month, dates to be announced, and review all appropriate academic petitions making the decision to either approve or deny the petition.
The authority to change the requirements for degrees is vested in the faculty.
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