Policy & Committee

College of Design, Art & Performance Bylaws

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I. Name

The name of this organization shall be “The Faculty, Staff, and Administrators of the College of Design, Art & Performance of the University of South Florida” (“This Organization"). The college consists of four academic units (School of Architecture & Community Design; School of Art & Art History; School of Music; School of Theatre & Dance); and the Contemporary Art Museum & Graphicstudio. Faculty in the College of Design, Art & Performance (COTA) are currently located on the Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses. In the future, faculty may also be located on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.

II. PURPOSE

The purpose of this governance document is:

  1. to assure that all constituencies of the college on the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses have a voice and insure principles and practices of equity for faculty across multiple campuses in those matters most central to their roles within the college
  2. to promote the orderly conduct of the business of the college.

This governance document is intended to supplement the rules, policies, and laws of the University and the State. In any case where there is conflict between this governance document and institutional/state rules, policies, or laws, the University and/or State policies will prevail.

III. COLLEGE MEMBERSHIP

Organizational Structure

For governance purposes, the faculty represent the most central and essential constituency within the college. Staff and administration personnel, while small in number, provide for the daily and essential operations of the college and hold an abiding interest in the future and collective well-being of the college. Appointed administrators of the college are charged by both law and institutional policy with the mission of responsibly and effectively representing, managing, and leading the college. Appointed administrators (college dean and associate/assistant/dean(s) and unit directors from the Schools of Architecture & Community Design; Art & Art History; Music; Theatre & Dance; Contemporary Art Museum &  Graphicstudio) form the college leadership.

Appointed Administrators of the College

  1. The duties and responsibilities of the dean and the leadership of the College of Design, Art & Performance are defined by the university provost and executive vice president in collaboration with the president of the University of South Florida.
  2. The dean shall be a tenured member of a school in COTA and serves at the discretion of the provost. The associate and assistant deans and the primary unit directors, who form the leadership, shall be tenured members of a school in COTA and serve at the discretion of the dean.
  3. The dean of COTA shall engage and seek counsel of COTA faculty and the provost, in appointing associate/assistant deans and directors, to serve in the administration of the college.
  4. The directors of each school/unit shall be appointed by the dean after the receipt of recommendations from the appropriate unit faculty.
  5. Associate/assistant deans and school/unit directors shall be appointed for stated terms that may be renewed under conditions promulgated by the dean.
  6. The dean shall establish a Directors Council consisting of the primary leadership of the college. This council will meet on a regular basis and no less than once per month. The dean serves as the chair and convener of the Directors Council. This council takes direction from the dean and serves as advisory in coordinating and overseeing the administration of COTA. Additionally, the dean shall establish an Administrative Council consisting of the leadership of the college and others with administrative responsibilities as determined by the dean. The Administrative Council will meet at least twice a semester. The dean serves as the chair and convener of the Administrative Council. This council takes direction from the dean and serves as advisory in coordinating and overseeing the administration of COTA.
  7. The leadership of the college shall engage and seek counsel of COTA faculty in major decisions affecting the academics, financials, and operations of COTA.
  8. The office of the dean shall provide requisite administrative support to the Faculty Advisory Council and the college standing committees.
  9. As representatives of their units, members of the COTA Directors Council are responsible for disseminating pertinent information to their faculty, staff, and students.

Multi-Campus Administration

The college supports the principles of equity of assignment, resources, and opportunities for faculty across a multi-campus unit.

  1. The College of Design, Art & Performance is a multi-campus college led by a college dean who is responsible to ensure that the college’s programs are successful on all campuses.
  2. The college dean consults with the regional chancellor for a college hire on a branch campus.
  3. The regional chancellor or designee has:
    1. a seat on any branch campus faculty search
    2. input in annual evaluation of branch campus faculty
    3. input on tenure and promotion for branch campus faculty.

Regional chancellors or their designee will provide “formal written input… prior to a School Director or College Dean completing the annual [performance] appraisal.” (see University of South Florida as “One University Geographically Distributed” document in the Consolidation Handbook).

General Faculty Membership

  1. Membership in the general faculty of the college shall consist of all full-time faculty members: full professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructors (NTE), and non-tenure-earning faculty.
  2. Administrators who hold faculty appointments are not eligible to vote if their administrative assignment is 50% or greater.
  3. Visiting, adjunct, emeritus, courtesy and affiliate faculty are excluded from the membership.

Voting

  1. As per the University's Shared Governance Principles and Guidelines, each unit in the college will determine voting constituency to create a best possible governance structure for the unit's specific make-up and needs.
  2. In matters pertaining to college policy and college-wide voting, only the tenured, tenure-earning, instructors, and permanent full-time non-tenure-earning faculty will be eligible for consideration of the issues and voting.
  3. For policy and college voting, the voting procedures will be determined by the college Faculty Advisory Committee as its elected representative body.

Tenured, Tenured-Earning Faculty and Non-Tenure Earning Faculty

  1. Tenured and tenured-earning faculty are those who hold a tenure-track or tenured appointment of 50% or more.
  2. Instructors (NTE) are full-time, non-tenure earning faculty, who are eligible for Career Path Promotions and have a typical 4/4 assignment as instructional faculty/instructors of record.
  3. Non-tenure earning faculty are full-time faculty employees that are not tenure earning and typically have a full-time assignment in research and may have a portion of their full-time assignment in an administrative role.

IV. College Meetings

The dean of the college will call a meeting of all full-time members of the College faculty, administration personnel, and staff once a year. This meeting will recognize the outstanding contributions of college faculty, administration personnel, and staff; address the major issues and accomplishments of the college; and articulate the short and long-term goals set for the college. Additionally, the college dean may attend meetings of the unit faculty. When possible, meetings will be arranged on a secure virtual link for participants and members who are at a distance and unable to attend, or as appropriate to other considerations for the meeting and attendees.

V. Contituency Structures

Membership is described under each committee/council listed below.

As a multi-campus college, at any given time, one member of at least one college committee/council, from the listings below, should be a faculty member from the program(s) located on the associated branch campus.

University Faculty Senate Representatives

The Faculty Senate is the primary faculty advisory body to the University of South Florida Tampa President, Provost, and Vice President for Health on all matters that pertain to the academic climate of the university. The senate has the responsibility to review and make recommendations to them considering decisions on all matters pertaining to the welfare of the University, focusing particularly on those pertaining to the academic mission.

Membership: Each school will elect a faculty senator according to the Faculty Senate Guidelines.

Faculty Advisory Council (FAC)

Eligibility for election to Faculty Advisory Council shall be full-time faculty members: full professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructors (NTE), and non-tenure- earning faculty. These representatives will assume their FAC positions on July 1 and serve for two years until June 30 of the second year. Members are elected for staggered two-year terms with one-half of the membership changing or re-elected each year.

Membership: The membership will consist of two members from the Schools of Architecture & Community Design; Art & Art History; Music; Theatre & Dance; Contemporary Art Museum & Graphicstudio. The dean sits as an ex-officio member and should attend regular meetings.

The FAC shall have the authority to call meetings of the faculty of the college and mediate issues that might exist.

Serving as an advisory body to the college dean, this council shall have the responsibility of:

  1. Providing review and advice on any issues brought to the council by the college dean or college dean’s representatives, including, but not limited to, college budget review; strategic planning; and any matters of general interest or welfare of the college.
  2. Raising issues for the college dean’s consideration.
  3. Serving as faculty liaisons with their unit faculty and the college.
  4. Encouraging faculty suggestions and receiving and presenting suggestions/petitions from the faculty to the college dean.

The FAC will meet at least once a semester and will elect a chair, vice chair, and secretary at its first meeting each year. The college dean will report on activities, suggest issues to the council for consideration, and provide information upon request. The chair of the FAC shall establish the agenda for meetings and will chair the meetings.

Curriculum Committee

Auspices: The Curriculum Committee (CC) is a standing committee of the college and receives authority for its actions through the leadership of the college.

Charge: The CC is responsible for advising the leadership of the college of principles, policies, and procedures affecting undergraduate and graduate education. The committee reports to the faculty on matters pertaining to undergraduate and graduate courses, curricula, certificates, programs, and degrees of the college. Responsibilities include the evaluation of curricula and courses for existing or proposed degree programs, certificates, and other institutional programs. The committee will advise the leadership of the college and faculty of the college on the development of future courses and programs in the college, and shall aid them in developing, reviewing and updating the college curricula.

Operating Procedure: The committee will develop its own operating procedures, subject to approval by the college dean. Functions of the committee are frequently managed through electronic communication, discussion, and voting and include:

  1. Provision for appropriate liaison with college administration and other appropriate university councils and standing committees with functions that may have an impact on the college's various curricula.
  2. Provision for review of proposals for adoption and deletion of the college's degrees, programs, certificates, curricula, and courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as for review of modifications to existing ones.
  3. Provision for a continuing evaluation of the college's academic program, ensuring the maintenance of high academic standards in the arts and design.

Membership: Faculty members will be appointed for one-year terms by their academic unit director. The membership will consist of two members each from the School of Architecture & Community Design; Art & Art History; Music; and Theatre & Dance.

The college associate dean will serve as a member-at-large, voting only to break a tie. The college associate dean will serve as the chair of the Curriculum Committee.

Ex Officio Members: Ex-officio members include one college representative currently serving on the University Undergraduate Council (voting) and one college representative currently serving on the University Graduate Council (voting), and one college representative currently serving on the University General Education Council (voting).

A quorum for purposes of voting will consist of a simple majority from the 11 members of the full committee.

Faculty Development Committee (FDC)

Auspices: The Faculty Development Committee (FDC) is a standing committee of the college and receives authority for its actions through the dean of the college. The FDC shall promote and act as an advocate for faculty development interests and needs in the College of Design, Art & Performance.

Charge: The Faculty Development Committee is responsible for:

  1. Supporting and promoting the research/creative/teaching/service activities of the faculty of the college.
  2. Supporting and promoting the research/creative/teaching/service activities of instructors and non-tenure-earning faculty.
  3. Assisting in the dissemination of faculty research/creative/teaching/service activities throughout the college, the university, and the worldwide community.
  4. Advising the leadership of the college on matters pertaining to policies and procedures intended to promote research/creative/teaching activities throughout the college and university.
  5. Advising the faculty and units within the college on the scope of research and teaching strategies for supporting individual and group faculty research/creative/teaching/service activities.

Operating Procedures: The Faculty Development Committee will develop its own operating procedures, subject to approval by the leadership of the college and the Faculty Advisory Council which may include:

  1. Provision for meeting with and advising the leadership of the college and other administrative officials on matters pertaining to policies and procedures intended to promote research/creative/teaching activities throughout the college.
  2. Provision for sharing faculty research/creative activities and teaching and its dissemination throughout the college and the university community, thus, increasing visibility in the university and beyond the larger academic/professional community.
  3. Provision for review of proposals to support research/creative/teaching activities for awarding grants to college faculty.
  4. Provision for assisting the college associate dean in recommending the criteria, nomination process, and selection of college and university awards.
  5. Provision for advising the college, its centers and units on appropriate ways of disseminating information to faculty and administration on the availability and distribution of funds for research/creative/teaching activities.
  6. Provision for advising the college and its units on appropriate ways of developing and supporting effective mentoring programs for faculty.
  7. Provision for developing a clearinghouse of funding sources.
  8. Provision for advising other university committees on criteria for evaluating research/creative/teaching activities.
  9. Provision for appropriate liaison with the University Research Council and other university committees whose function may relate to the promotion of research/creative/teaching activities at USF.
  10. Provision for the encouragement of interdisciplinary research/creative/teaching activities among the college units and those outside the college.

Membership: The membership will consist of two members from the Schools of Architecture & Community Design; Art & Art History; Music; Theatre & Dance. The Contemporary Art Museum & Graphicstudio will jointly have two members elected by majority vote of the members from their unit for a three-year term.

  1. Members are to be elected for staggered three-year terms, one-third of the membership changing or re-elected each year.
  2. A quorum is half of the total membership.
  3. In instances where a committee member is directly involved in a research/teaching proposal under evaluation by the committee, the member will recuse themselves from the meeting during the discussions and voting of their application.
  4. In funding worthy grant applications the dean will take into account the number of grants awarded in a year and applicant’s committee appointments.

Ex-Officio Membership: Ex-officio members include one college representative currently serving on the University Research Council (voting). Furthermore, the associate dean will serve as a member-at-large, voting only to break a tie.

Chair/Vice Chair of Faculty Development Committee: The chair and vice-chair will be elected by the members of the committee. Each will be a member serving in the second or third year of his/her term.

Tenure and Promotion Committees

Auspices: The Tenure and Promotion Committees consist of the Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor Committee and the Promotion to Full Professor Committee. These committees are standing committees of the college and receive authority for their actions through the leadership of the college.

The Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor Committee

Membership:

  1. Members are to be elected for staggered three-year terms, one-third of the membership changing each year.
  2. Faculty members will be elected for two-year terms by the unit’s tenured full professor faculty including members from Tampa and branch campuses who are members of their academic unit. The committee term runs for two academic years. Members are to be elected for staggered two-year terms, one-half of the membership changing or re- elected each year.
  3. The membership will consist of two elected representatives from each academic unit plus one elected alternate. The three representatives from each unit (Schools of Architecture & Community Design; Art & Art History; Music; Theatre & Dance) for a total of 12 members including the alternate, must be tenured faculty members with a mix of full professors and associate professors when available in the unit.
  4. The alternate committee member will serve in cases of "conflict of interest " and in the case of a regular committee member's approved absence. These substitutions require unit director approval. The alternate from the appropriate unit also serves if, for any reason, a regular member fails to attend the deliberative meeting.
  5. For any individual application, the committee will be made up of six committee member representatives from the schools outside of the applicant’s school.
  6. In the first meeting of the year, if a majority of the committee determine there is need for expertise to address specific subject matter questions that cannot be addressed by the applicant’s school committee members, the chair of the committee will submit a request to the dean to add a subject matter expert. The dean may add a non-voting faculty member to serve as a consultant. The consultant will not be present or participate in the deliberations of the committee, being available only for specific subject matter questions.
  7. The chairperson of the Associate Professor Committee has voting privileges for candidates outside his/her School and must be elected from and by the committee membership.
  8. The chairperson of the Associate Professor Committee will recuse themselves from the committee deliberations for any candidate from his/her School

The Promotion to Full Professor Committee

Membership:

  1. The promotion to Full Professor Committee will be selected from all full professors from the College of Design, Art & Performance including academic unit directors.
  2. Faculty members will be elected for two-year terms by the tenured and tenure track faculty including members from Tampa and branch campuses who are members of their academic unit. The committee term runs for two academic years. Members are to be elected for staggered two-year terms, one-half of the membership changing or re- elected each year.
  3. Each college academic unit will provide up to (2) two full professors from their unit to serve on the membership of the College Full Professors Committee. The two representatives from each unit (Schools of Architecture & Community Design; Art & Art History; Music; Theatre & Dance) for a total of 8 members must hold the rank of full professor. If a unit does not have available (2) two full professors to serve on the committee then the unit director is responsible for finding an appropriate USF full professor as a substitute from outside the school or college.
  4. In those units where there are more than (2) two full professors, the representatives will be selected by a vote of the full professors in that unit.

  5. An academic unit director is eligible to serve on this committee unless s/he is in a unit where there are more than (2) two full professors who can serve on the Full Professor Committee. An academic unit director serving on the committee is not eligible to vote on a candidate from his/her unit.

  6. The chairperson of the Full Professor Committee has voting privileges for candidates outside his/her unit and must be elected from and by the committee membership.
  7. For any individual application the committee will be made up of 6 committee member representatives from the schools outside of the applicant’s school.
  8. In the first meeting of the year if a majority of the committee determine there is need for expertise to address specific subject matter questions, that cannot be addressed by the applicant’s school committee members, the chair of the committee will submit a request to the dean to add a subject matter expert. The dean may add a non-voting faculty member to serve as a consultant. The consultant will not be present or participate in the deliberations of the committee, being available only for specific subject matter questions.

VI. Amendments or Additions to governance document

Proposals for amendments or additions may be made by any member of the college faculty by submitting the proposed change to their unit's Faculty Advisory Committee, unit director, the college dean, or the college Faculty Advisory Council.

The governance document may be amended by a simple majority of the votes cast by the college voting membership in a vote by electronic ballot organized by the college dean’s office. Votes will be counted by the college dean or their associates together with the chair of the Faculty Advisory Council.

Technical revisions to this document may be made by the college administration with advance notice to the college faculty when such changes or revisions are mandated by rules, policies, and laws of the university and the state and, in any case where there is conflict between this governance document and institutional/state rules, policies, or laws.

April 18, 2022: The College Bylaws were revised and replaced by this College of Design, Art & Performance Governance Document, in a vote of the COTA tenured faculty, as specified under the procedures of the College Bylaws, in effect, at that time.