Appendix: Rules of Procedure of the Faculty Senate

(Faculty Senate, adopted April 3, 1997; revised April 17, 2002; revised February 15, 2006; revised January 1, 2019; revised March 9, 2022; revised May 2025)

The Faculty Senate has adopted its own rules of procedure (Revised May 2025) to supplement the Board of Trustees policy 810.1, which establishes the Senate and its authority and organizational structure.

ARTICLE I – Parliamentary Procedure

I. The Faculty Senate shall be governed by the current edition of the American Institute of Parliamentarians. (2023). American Institute of Parliamentarians Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (2nd ed.).

ARTICLE II – Officers

II. Pursuant to BOT policy 810.10, Article 2, Section C, paragraph 5, the Faculty Senate at the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville, hereby defines the specific duties of the officers of the Faculty Senate.

II.A.  Senate Chair-Elect            

II.A.1. The Chair-Elect shall have the authority to appoint faculty to committees of the Faculty Senate, and recommend faculty for appointment to committees of the Provost and/or Chancellor.

II.A.2. The Chair-Elect shall serve as a voting member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

II.A.3. The Chair-Elect shall serve as a voting member of the Undergraduate Council.

II.A.4. The Chair-Elect shall serve as a non-voting member of the Catastrophic Leave Committee.

II.A.5. The Chair-Elect shall serve as the Chief Marshall and Bearer of the Mace at all University commencement ceremonies.

II.A.6. The Chair-Elect shall represent the Faculty, along with the Senate Chair and Immediate Past Chair, in monthly meetings with the Chancellor and Provost.

II.B.  Senate Vice Chair-Elect

II.B.1 The Vice Chair-Elect shall serve as a voting member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

II.C.  Senate Chair

II.C.1. The Senate Chair shall preside over the Faculty Senate meetings.

II.C.2. The Senate Chair shall have the authority to appoint faculty to committees of the Faculty Senate, and recommend faculty for appointment to committees of the Provost and/or Chancellor.

II.C.3. The Senate Chair shall be a voting member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

II.C.4. The Senate Chair shall represent the Faculty, along with the Senate Vice Chair and Immediate Past Chair, in monthly meetings with the Chancellor and Provost.

II.D.  Senate Vice Chair

II.D.1. The Senate Vice-Chair shall serve as the Chair of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

II.E.  Immediate Past Chair

II.E.1. The Immediate Past Chair shall serve as a voting member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

II.E.2. The Immediate Past Chair shall represent the Faculty, along with the Senate Chair and Chair-Elect, in monthly meetings with the Chancellor and Provost.

II.E.3. Immediate Past Vice Chair is considered discharged from responsibility to the Faculty Senate, unless the Immediate Past Chair is unable to fulfill their duties.

II.E.4. The Immediate Past Chair shall serve as the de facto Chair of the Campus Faculty, as defined by the Office of the Provost, with the authority to call a meeting of the whole when deemed appropriate.

II.F.  Parliamentarian

II.F.1. The Parliamentarian is appointed by the Faculty Senate Chair to serve a one-year term, such term starting July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year. The Parliamentarian, unless they are a faculty member duly elected to serve on the Faculty Senate, will be a non-voting ex-officio member of the Senate.

II.F.2. The Parliamentarian serves on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

II.F.3. The Parliamentarian shall advise the Faculty Senate Chair on meeting procedures according to the Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (2nd ed.)

II.G.  Secretary

II.G.1. The Secretary is appointed by the Faculty Senate Chair to serve a one-year term, such term starting July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year. The Secretary, unless they are a faculty member duly elected to serve on the Faculty Senate, will be a non-voting ex-officio member of the Senate.

II.G.2. The Secretary attends meetings of the Faculty Senate, Senate Executive Committee, and Campus Faculty.

II.G.2. The Secretary shall keep minutes of Faculty Senate meetings and post the minutes, along with the agendas and related documents to the Faculty Senate website.

II.G.3. The Secretary shall send notification of meetings of the Faculty Senate.

II.G.4. The Secretary shall maintain the Faculty Senate website with current membership.

ARTICLE III – Elections

III.A. During the spring semester of each year, the Senate Chair-Elect, Senate Vice Chair-Elect, and the At-Large representatives on the Faculty Senate shall be elected by all tenured and tenure track faculty holding a halftime (or greater) faculty appointment, and by all non-tenure track faculty holding a halftime (or greater) faculty appointment.

III.B. During the spring semester of each year, the members of the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure shall be elected by faculty deemed eligible to vote for members of the Faculty Senate.

III.C. The elections described in Sections A and B hereof shall be conducted by the Nominating and Election Coordinating Committee (“The Committee” herein) pursuant to these rules and any additional rules adopted by the Committee that are consistent with such. The Committee is granted the authority to resolve any questions concerning the elections or elective procedures.

III.D. On or before the end of the first week of classes in the Spring semester, the Committee shall issue a call for nominations for Senate Chair-Elect, At-Large Faculty Senators, and members of the Committee on Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure. The committee shall accept nominees for any of the offices if each such nomination is  (a) for a nominee who is eligible to vote in the election for the office in question (b) made by a petition signed by ten or more members of the faculty eligible to vote in the election for the office in question, (c) submitted to the Committee within one week after the call is given, and (d) accompanied by a brief biographical sketch for the nominee.

III.D.1. The nomination of any one person to more than one of the positions described in Section D hereof is not precluded.

III.D.2. On or before March 1 of each year, the Committee shall distribute the following to all eligible voters:

III.D.2.a. A ballot listing the nominees for the primary election of each of the following:

III.D.2.b.i. The position of Senate Chair-Elect and Senate Vice-Chair Elect; the ballot shall contain at least three nominees, which are considered to be a common listing of nominees for both officer positions.

III.D.2.b.ii. The position of At-Large representatives on the Faculty Senate; the number of individuals on the ballot shall be at least 25% more than the number of vacancies.

III.D.2.b.iii. Membership on the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure (APT); the number of individuals on the ballot shall be at least twice the number of members of the APT committee to be elected.

III.D.2.b. A brief biographical sketch for each nominee.

III.D.2.c. A call for the return of the completed ballots, specifying that valid ballots must be received by the Secretary of the Committee within 12 days after the call is distributed. The call shall be accompanied by appropriate instructions regarding proper voting procedures under the provisions of Sections I, J, and K hereof.

III.D.3. On or before March 15 of each year, having counted the primary ballots in accordance with the provisions of sections I, J, and K hereof, the Committee shall announce the results of the primary elections.

III.D.4. By April 1 of each year, the Committee shall have completed any run-off elections required under the provisions of sections I, J, and K hereof, and shall announce the results. Except for the reduction in the number of candidates as provided therein, the procedures set forth in sections F and G hereof shall apply to any such run-off election. If there are more than three nominees, then the following actions shall be placed into action.

III.E. The Senate Chair-Elect and Senate Vice Chair-Elect shall be elected from a common list of nominees for the office of Faculty Chair.

III.E.1. In the primary election, each eligible voter shall be entitled to vote for two of the nominees.  Only a single vote may be cast for an individual nominee.

III.E.2. In the event that only three candidates are nominated for the primary election, the candidate receiving the most votes will be elected Chair and the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes will be elected Vice Chair.

III.E.3. If more than three candidates are nominated for the primary election, the candidate receiving the most number of votes, which must represent a majority of the ballots cast, shall be elected Senate Chair-Elect. The candidate receiving the second highest number of votes will be elected Senate Vice-Chair Elect. If no candidate receives a majority of votes cast, the three candidates receiving the most votes shall stand for a run-off election. Each eligible voter shall be entitled to vote for two of the three candidates in the runoff election; only a single vote may be cast for an individual nominee. The candidate receiving the most votes in the run-off election shall be named Senate Chair Elect; the candidate receiving the second-most votes in the runoff election shall be named Senate Vice Chair-Elect.

III.F. Campus-wide representatives on the Faculty Senate shall be elected as follows:

III.F.1. In both the primary election and any run-off election, each eligible voter shall be entitled to cast as many unit votes as there are campus-wide representatives to be elected, and to distribute these votes among the several nominees in any way, except that no more than half of these votes may be cast for any single nominee.

III.F.2. The nominee shall be declared elected in order of decreasing number of votes received until all positions have been filled.

III.F.3. Should a campus wide representative elected to the Faculty Senate be unable to complete their term of office, the vacancy shall be filled referring to the results of the same election in which that representative was elected. Among the remaining candidates, the individual who received the most votes and who is able to fill the vacancy shall be a campus-wide representative in the Faculty Senate for the remainder of the unexpired term.

III.G. Members of the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure shall be elected as follows:

III.G.1. Each eligible voter shall be entitled to cast as many unit votes as there are members of the Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure to be elected, and to distribute these votes among the several nominees in any way, except that no more than half of these votes may be cast for any single nominee.

III.G.2. In the primary election, each nominee shall be declared elected in order of decreasing number of votes received until all positions have been filled.

III.G.3. Three members of the twelve-member Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee must be non-tenure track faculty who have been promoted at the University of Arkansas.

III.G.4. The term for all faculty senate members and officers shall extend from July 1 to June 30.

III.H. Vacancy in the office of Senate Vice Chair-Elect

III.H.1. Should the office of Faculty Vice Chair become vacant during the term of office, a new Faculty Vice Chair shall be elected for the unexpired term by the Faculty Senate. In such election, no one shall be declared elected until they have received at least twenty-four votes.

III.I. Election of faculty representatives on the Campus Council

III.I.1. At the Faculty Senate’s first meeting of each academic year, the Senate shall elect 16 senators from among its voting members (other than its Chair and Vice Chair) to be faculty representatives on the Campus Council. The Senate shall be governed by the following procedures for the election of these senators:

III.I.1.a. Before any voting occurs, nominations for filling all of the representative positions shall be made from the floor.

III.I.1.b. In case there are more nominations than positions to be filled, each senator shall be entitled to cast as many unit votes as there are positions to be filled, and to distribute these votes among the several nominees for the positions in any way, except that no more than half of these votes may be cast for any single candidate.

III.I.1.c. In the first round of voting, the nominees shall be declared elected in order of decreasing number of votes received, until all positions have been filled.

III.I.1.d. Should the number of nominees elected in the first round of voting be less than the number of positions to be filled, there shall be a run-off election among the runner-up nominees who received the greatest number of votes, the number of such candidates in the run-off election to be equal to the number of positions to be filled, plus three (or the number of remaining candidates, if fewer than three). The candidates receiving the most votes in the run-off election shall be declared elected.

III.I.1.e. Should a faculty representative elected to the Campus Council be unable to complete their term of office, the vacancy shall be filled by referring to the results of the Senate’s election in which that representative was elected. Among the candidates who were eliminated in that election, the senator who received the most votes and who is able to fill the vacancy shall be a faculty representative on the Campus Council for the remainder of the unexpired term.

ARTICLE IV – Arkansas Higher Education Faculty Council

IV.1. The Faculty Chair shall serve as the representative-elect to the Arkansas Higher Education Faculty Council, and the Chair of the Faculty Senate shall serve as the representative on the Council.

ARTICLE V – Action on Legislation by Separate Faculties

V.A.  When the Faculty Senate receives legislation from a separate faculty as defined in Board of Trustees Policy 810.1 concerning its own academic affairs (“the legislation” herein), the Senate’s action on the legislation shall be governed by the following procedures:

V.A.1. The presiding officer shall first call for a motion to approve the legislation.

V.A.1.a. If a motion to approve is made and is passed, the Senate shall take no other action on the legislation (unless, of course, it reconsiders or rescinds the motion). After approval of the legislation, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s approval of the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action.

V.A.1.b. If a motion to approve is not made or if a motion to approve is made and is defeated, the presiding officer shall call for a motion to negate the legislation.

V.A.1.c. If a motion to negate is made and is passed, the Senate shall take no other action on the legislation (unless, of course, it reconsiders or rescinds the motion). After approval of the legislation, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s negation of the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action.

V.A.1.d. If a motion to negate is not made or if a motion to negate is made and is defeated, the presiding officer shall announce that, in the absence of an objection from the floor, the legislation will be After filing of the legislation, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s filing of the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action. If a senator objects to filing the legislation, the presiding officer shall entertain a motion to file the legislation. When a motion to file is made, if the Senate has sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation, the Chair of the Senate shall advise the Chancellor of the Senate’s action on the motion to file the legislation; if the Senate does not have sole legislative jurisdiction over the legislation and it directly affects students or staff, it shall be referred to the Campus Council for final action.

ARTICLE VI – Meetings and Notices

VI.A. In any year, the distributions to faculty members required by Subsection D.2 and D.4 of Article II of Board Policy 810.1 may be complied with by (a) sending the required information by e-mail to all faculty members who receive e-mail, and (b) placing the required information on a website dedicated to faculty governance, provided however that early in the fall semester all faculty members are notified by campus mail of the Web site’s address and of the times tentatively scheduled for the six regular meetings of the Faculty Senate that year.

VI.B. Minutes of Faculty Senate meetings are distributed by e-mail to the chairpersons of the Student Senate and the Staff Senate, to the Chair of the Campus Council, to the Chair of the Agenda Committee of the Campus Council, to all chairs of academic departments, to all directors of units, to all vice chancellors and deans, and to the Chancellor. The office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs shall send to the President and to the Board of Trustees all actions involving approval by, or notification to, the Board of Trustees. These postings, which shall be done in a timely manner, will be accompanied with explicit information in the required format.

VI.C. Although supporting information shall be distributed with each tentative agenda when it is feasible to do so, Subsection D.2 or Article II of Board Policy 810.1 shall be complied with whenever the agenda lists by item all of the business known by the one preparing the agenda to be scheduled for the meeting in question.

ARTICLE VII – Pre-Filing of Motions

VII.A. When any main motion (except to reconsider, rescind, or resume consideration) is made at a meeting, it shall not be voted upon at that meeting unless its language has been distributed to all members of the Faculty Senate at least 24 hours before the meeting; such distribution may be made by e-mail to all Senators who receive e-mail.

ARTICLE VIII - Reports

VIII.A. When the Faculty Senate asks a committee to act, the committee’s report shall be addressed to the Faculty Senate. The original of the report shall be filed with the Chair of the Faculty Senate, and a copy of the report shall also be sent to the Senate Chair-Elect. When a committee addresses a report to the Campus Faculty, a copy shall also be sent to the Chair of the Faculty Senate. All committee reports received by the Chair of the Senate shall be distributed to members of the Senate; such distribution may be made by e-mail to all senators who receive e-mail.

ARTICLE IX – Curriculum Review

IX.A. Curriculum review is the responsibility of the Faculty Senate and is exercised as described herein. The Undergraduate Council is a committee of the Faculty Senate and the University Committee on Program Review is a committee jointly of the Graduate Council and the Faculty Senate.

IX.B. Undergraduate Council

IX.B.1. The Undergraduate Council reviews and makes recommendations to the Faculty Senate for actions on proposals regarding undergraduate courses, programs, and related policies, approved by a college or school. Examples include but are not limited to: 1) new courses; 2) changes in title, description, number, prerequisites, etc. of courses; 3) new degree programs; 4) modifications to degree programs; and 5) policies related to courses and programs, which are not specifically identifies as under the jurisdiction of another The Council is responsible for resolving questions concerning course numbering, course or program duplication, completeness of course or program revision forms, and other questions pertaining to course and program changes, including compliance with administrative guidelines implementing Board Policy.

I.X.B.2. Once undergraduate course and program proposals have been approved by the individual academic colleges or schools, they must be reviewed by the Undergraduate Council before being forwarded to the Faculty Senate. Proposals made to this Council will be collected by the Director of Curriculum Review and Program Assessment and distributed to the members prior to each meeting. A summary sheet listing all recommendations from the committee is distributed with the agenda to the Faculty Senate prior to the meetings at which they are reported.

IX.B.3. Voting Council membership consists of a representative to be appointed by the dean of each undergraduate college or school, a faculty representative from each undergraduate college and school elected by their respective faculty, a representative of the university libraries appointed by the Dean of Libraries, , a student member selected by the ASG procedures, one undergraduate student selected by the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the chair of the Campus Faculty, and the Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate.  Non-voting membership consists of a representative of the Graduate Council, a representative from the School of Law, a representative appointed by the Vice Provost for Distance Education. A representative from the Registrar's Office will meet with the committee to provide technical support. The committee elects its own chair.

IX.C. The University Committee on Program Review.

IX.C.1. The University Committee on Program Review has the responsibility for initiating, participating in, or evaluating the results of undergraduate and graduate program reviews consistent with University guidelines and the review schedule as set forth in Academic Policy 10 and 1620.11 requiring that each program be reviewed at least once every 10 years by this process or external reviewers. Revisions to the guidelines and the schedule for reviews may be developed by the committee and recommended by the Faculty Senate, consistent with Board of Trustees policy 620.1, Arkansas code 6-61- 214, and policy of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board including the provision that changes to program review guidelines and schedule must be approved by the AHECB. Reviews of graduate programs will be presented to the Graduate Council before being presented to the Faculty Senate.

IX.C.2. Voting committee membership consists of a voting member of the Faculty Senate and a voting member of the Graduate Council from each academic college, the chair of the Graduate Council, and the Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate or their representative. The committee elects its own chair.