Grass Roots View of Faculty Participation in Governance:
If you are of professorial rank with at least a quarter-time appointment, you are a member of the Faculty Assembly (approximately 2,300 members). You are expected to attend the Faculty Assembly, which meets at least once each Fall and each Spring. The dates and times of this year's Assemblies are November 18, 2008, and March 18, 2009. Recent programs have dealt with reports on Diversity and Inclusion, Strategic Planning for the University, Open Source, and other interesting and informative issues. The meeting is usually held the the Law Auditorium (capacity 350), or Tsai Center. The President presides, with the agenda jointly negotiated by the Faculty Council and the President's Office. You have a chance before and after to mix with other faculty, including members of the administration. In the Fall the Assembly votes on a five-member Nominating Committee from a long list of those who have agreed to serve. Later in the year the Nominating Committee prepares the ballot for you to elect of Faculty Council officers who take office in May, and for its successors who are selected at the next Fall Assembly.
As a member of a School or College, you are expected to go to meetings of the Faculty of that School or College. The Constitutions of at least some of the Faculties are available . If you wish someone else to speak up about a governance issue in your college, notify fafc@bu.edu (your identity will remain confidential).
As an individual faculty member with particular interests, you can volunteer to be appointed to one of the Standing Committees or special task forces of the Faculty Council. Committees work by email, or meet in person at arranged times, as needed. The list of Committees and their charges, as well as the most current report of their activities is available elsewhere on this website. Send your expression of interest to fafc@bu.edu. Even though you are not a Representative or Alternate from your School or College, you can be a member of a committee, or even serve as Chair. Chairs of Standing Committees automatically become voting members of the Faculty Council and also its Executive Committee. That extra responsibility corresponds to two or three meetings per month during the academic year, all in the Wednesday, 3:30-5 p.m. time slot.
In order to represent your School or College as a Representative or Alternate on the Faculty Council, you need to figure out how to be elected. Procedures differ from school to school. We are gathering this information and posting it as it becomes available. Representative and Alternates both are expected to attend one meeting per month during the academic year, Wednesdays, 3:30-5 p.m. Alternates are just as valued as Representatives, since most issues are decided by thoughtful discussion, not by narrowly divided votes. One difference is that Representatives, or their arranged substitutes from the Alternate list, are expected to attend two short University Council meetings per semester.
As a Member of the Faculty Council, you can learn about, and question, many different aspects of the University. We formulate our own initiatives or projects, and we invite University staff to inform us about how services of interest work (which in turn gives us a chance to provide feedback). We also participate in the evaluation of new proposals for academic programs and the formulation of legislation or policy affecting faculty in two or more Schools or Colleges.
As Representative on the Faculty Council, you also are automatically a member of the University Council, together with other academic leaders such as Deans, and some nonacademic administrators. Subsets of certain Faculty Council Committees also serve with administrators on University Council Committees, where the substantive topics of the University Council are formulated. Faculty probably have their greatest input to important legislation in this setting.
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