The University of Texas at Austin (“University”) values and promotes the essential role of faculty governance in the processes of faculty employment and Faculty Review recommendations.
- Reason for Policy
To define the university’s requirements for the establishment of Faculty Governance Committees in all academic units that hire and review faculty, including departments, colleges, schools, Academic Centers, programs, institutes, and Organized Research Units.
- Scope & Audience
This policy applies to administrators and faculty in academic units that are responsible for employment of faculty and faculty review (including promotion and tenure, mid-probationary review, comprehensive periodic review and annual review), as well as other responsibilities as assigned by the Unit’s supervisor, dean, and provost.
- Definitions (specific to this policy)
Academic Center:
Any University institute, program or Center which offers instructional programs as a significant element in its overall mission. (See HOP 2-2120).
Center:
An Academic Center, program, ORU, or institute that is not an academic department nor a program in a non-departmentalized college or school, which employs Professional-Track Faculty who are not also employed by another primary academic department.
Faculty:
Any individual holding an academic title listed in Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 31001, Section 2.1, 2.2, or 2.3.
Faculty Governance Committee:
A committee that offers recommendations to the Unit Supervisor for faculty employment and faculty review. The two kinds of Faculty Governance Committees are Budget Councils and Executive Committees. A Graduate Studies Committee is not a Faculty Governance Committee. (See HOP 9-1240).
Faculty Review:
Recommendations about faculty review includes recommendations about promotion and tenure review for all faculty, mid-probationary review for tenure-track faculty, comprehensive periodic review for tenured faculty and annual review for faculty.
Organized Research Unit (ORU):
An interdisciplinary research unit that enhances the research activity of the University and complements the instructional and research goals of colleges, schools, and units (CSUs). (See HOP 7-1030).
Professional-Track Faculty:
Faculty who are not tenured and are not on the tenure-track. Another term used for this set of faculty title series is “non-tenure-track.”
Professional-Track Faculty Employment Recommendations:
Recommendations about Professional-Track Faculty Employment refers to recommendations about whether to hire a Professional-Track Faculty Member, about the track, title series and rank for the faculty member, whether to renew and the term of a contract for a Professional-Track Faculty Member, and compensation recommendations associated with Professional-Track Faculty Employment and review that can include new-hire salary, contract renewal-related salary and merit increase amounts. (See HOP 2-2160).
Tenured and Tenure -Track Faculty Employment Recommendations:
Recommendations about Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Employment refers to recommendations about whether to hire a new tenured or tenure-track faculty member and tenured and tenure-track faculty compensation recommendations including new-hire salary and merit increases. (See HOP 2- 2160).
Unit:
Any department, non-departmentalized college or school, program in a non-departmentalized college or school, or Center.
Unit Supervisor:
The head of the relevant Faculty Unit, which could be the department chair for a department, the dean in a non-departmentalized college or school, the director of a program in a non-departmentalized college or school, or the director of a Center.
- Website (for policy)
https://secure4.compliancebridge.com/utexas/public/getdoc.php?file=2-1310
Contacts
Responsibilities & Procedures
All academic units that are responsible for faculty employment and Faculty Review are required to have an approved Faculty Governance Committee. A Faculty Governance Committee is responsible for offering recommendations to the Unit Supervisor regarding Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Employment and review as well as any additional responsibilities assigned by the Unit Supervisor. For Professional-Track Faculty Employment and Review, the Unit Supervisor is encouraged where possible to engage the Faculty Governance Committee so that they can make recommendations for decisions about aspects of Professional-Track Faculty Employment and Review. The Unit Supervisor should consider any recommendations of the Faculty Governance Committee and then make their own recommendation to the dean and provost.
Each Committee must formulate its own Faculty Governance Voting Policy that complies with the University’s policies about voter eligibility for each of the relevant types of recommendations (see Related Information below).
- Types of Faculty Governance Committees
There are two types of Faculty Governance Committees, distinguished by their membership:
- Budget Council: A Budget Council consists of all tenured full professors in a Unit.
- Executive Committee: An Executive Committee may include tenured, tenure-track, and Professional-Track Faculty. Committees historically referred to as Extended Budget Councils are a form of Executive Committee.
Units with fewer than five tenured full professors may not operate with a Budget Council and must instead have an Executive Committee and include a minimum of five members. Units with five or more tenured full professors and that are not Centers may opt to have either a Budget Council or an Executive Committee. Because Centers cannot be the primary academic home for tenured faculty, Centers must have an Executive Committee, not a Budget Council, as their Faculty Governance Committee. Faculty members on modified service may not serve on either type of Faculty Governance Committee. (See HOP 2-2420).
- Chair of the Faculty Governance Committee
Each Faculty Governance Committee must have a Committee Chair. The Faculty Governance policy for the Unit should specify who is eligible to be Committee Chair, the term of their appointment, and how they must be selected. In addition, the Faculty Governance policy should clarify the voting eligibility of the Committee Chair. By default, the Unit Supervisor serves as the Committee Chair.
- Voting Process for Generating Recommendations
Eligible members of a Faculty Governance Committee are responsible for voting on recommendations for Faculty Review and faculty employment. Each member of a Faculty Governance Committee is entitled to one vote if the member is eligible to vote on the recommendation under consideration. Not all Faculty members in an Executive Committee will have a vote on all Faculty matters under consideration by the Committee. However, all members of an Executive Committee can participate in the Committee’s discussions even when they are not eligible to vote on the matter at hand.
If the chair of a Faculty Governance Committee is the Unit Supervisor or is in a Unit in which the Committee chair also offers an independent recommendation about Faculty Review or Faculty Employment, then the Committee chair is not eligible to vote on recommendations made by the Faculty Governance Committee.
Each Faculty Governance Committee must formulate its own Faculty Governance Voting Policy (“Voting Policy”). A Unit’s Voting Policy should clarify which titles and ranks of Faculty are eligible to vote on each type of recommendation, consistent with the University’s Guidelines, HOPs and Regents’ Rules. See the resources below (University Guidelines, HOP and Regents’ Rule references) for details.
- Promotion and Tenure Review
Eligible members of the Faculty Governance Committee vote on promotion and tenure recommendations. A promotion and tenure review committee must include a minimum of five voting-eligible members (not including the Unit Supervisor). Thus, it might sometimes be necessary to form an ad hoc promotion and tenure review committee for the Unit that includes all eligible voting members of the Unit’s Faculty Governance Committee as well as additional eligible voters from inside and outside of the Unit whose ad hoc membership is approved by the dean. See the University's Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty and the Promotion Guidelines for Professional-Track Faculty that can be found on the Provost’s website. Some Units might have five or more eligible voters on their Faculty Governance Committee and still choose to include additional eligible ad hoc members (external to the Unit although still at the University) for promotion and review recommendations. The decision to augment a Faculty Governance Committee’s membership by adding ad hoc members to a Faculty Governance Committee that already includes a minimum of five eligible voters must be made through a majority vote made by voting-eligible members of that Faculty Governance Committee. - Other Types of Faculty Review and Faculty Employment
Eligible members of the Faculty Governance Committee are responsible for conducting, and voting on their recommendation for, additional types of Faculty Review (i.e., annual faculty review, mid-probationary review, and comprehensive periodic review) and faculty employment. Regents’ Rule 31102 and the corresponding guidelines found on the Provost’s Faculty Evaluation website include information about who is eligible to conduct each kind of review, the timing of the review, and other considerations. - Other Responsibilities as Assigned
The supervisor, dean, or provost might assign additional responsibilities to a Unit’s Faculty Governance Committee and may indicate the roles, titles, and ranks of the Committee members who are eligible to vote on associated recommendations.
- Faculty Governance Committee and Voting Policy Creation, Renewal, or Modification
During the third academic year of operation for a Faculty Governance Committee and not later than each third year thereafter, each Unit must submit for approval by the supervisor, dean, and provost a proposal to modify or continue their Faculty Governance Committee structure and the associated Voting Policy. And upon creation of a new Unit, a new Faculty Governance Committee structure and Voting Policy must be formed, subject to immediate review and then subsequent review every three academic years.
- Faculty Governance Proposal
A Unit Faculty member or members or the Unit Supervisor may develop a proposal for creation, continuation, or revision of the Unit’s Faculty Governance Committee structure (e.g., change from Budget Council to Executive Committee, change in membership eligibility for an Executive Committee) and its Voting Policy. The University’s Faculty Governance Committee Structure and Voting Policy Guidelines (found on the Provost’s website) detail the contents required in the proposal for creation, continuation, and modification of a Unit’s Faculty Governance Committee’s structure and Voting Policy. - Unit Review of Proposal
The Faculty Governance Committee and Voting Policy proposal should be circulated to the Unit Faculty allowing at least one week for the Faculty to review the proposal. A new Unit’s Voting Policy must include delineation of which Unit Faculty are eligible to vote on the next continuation or revision proposal for the Unit’s Faculty Governance Committee structure and Voting Policy.
After circulation and completion of the review period, an in-person meeting shall be called for the Unit Faculty (including those on leave) who are eligible to vote on the proposal as outlined in the active Voting Policy for the Unit. The meeting must also allow for synchronous, remote engagement by Faculty approved to work remotely or who have a personal accommodation requiring remote participation.
At the meeting, the Faculty should discuss the merits of the proposal. Upon conclusion of the discussion at the meeting, a vote of the eligible voting Faculty who participated in the meeting should be taken. The proposal must be submitted to the supervisor and dean for their recommendations and to the provost for approval.
A modification to or continuation of the Unit’s Faculty Governance Committee shall take effect if a majority voted to recommend the proposal consistent with all requirements in the Voting Policy and if recommended by the supervisor and dean and approved by the provost.
If a new Unit is being created, then the proposal for its Faculty Governance Committee must be recommended by the dean and approved by the provost.
- Administrator’s Revision of a Faculty Governance Committee
The provost or president may determine, in consultation with the relevant dean and supervisor, that the operation of an academic Unit has deteriorated irreparably because of egregious actions taken or not taken by the Faculty Governance Committee, or because of irreconcilable differences within the membership of the Faculty Governance Committee, and that a change in the Faculty Governance Committee’s organization is essential to the effective administration of the academic Unit. This determination may occur only after the Faculty Governance Committee has been informed in writing about how the operation of the academic Unit has deteriorated irreparably, advised what changes in the Committee’s organization and functioning are considered essential to the effective administration of the academic Unit, and given reasonable time to make changes. If the Faculty Governance Committee fails to make the required changes, the provost or president may establish a temporary, modified Faculty Governance Committee structure and Voting Policy for the academic Unit. The temporary change in the Committee structure must conform to the regulations outlined elsewhere in this HOP. Such a change shall be reviewed annually and may be effective for a period of not more than three years before its revision or renewal.
- Forms & Tools
The University’s Faculty Governance Committee Structure and Voting Policy Guidelines
- Frequently Asked Questions
None
- Related Information
Annual Review of Faculty
See the University’s Guidelines for Annual Review of Faculty, HOP 2-2151, HOP 2-2160, and Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 31102 and Rule 30501.
Mid-Probationary Review of Faculty
See the University’s Guidelines for Mid-Probationary Review of Faculty and HOP 2-2160.
Comprehensive Periodic Review of Faculty
See the University’s Guidelines for Comprehensive Periodic Review, HOP 2150, and Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 31102
Promotion and Tenure Review
See the University’s General Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure of Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty, University’s General Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure of Professional-Track Faculty on the Provost’s website.
Faculty Governance Committee and Voting Policy
See the University’s Faculty Governance Committee Structure and Voting Policy Guidelines on the Provost’s website.
Modified Service and Phased Retirement for Tenured Faculty
See HOP 2-2420
- History
Modified: May 9, 2024
Next scheduled review date: May 2027
Modified: October 21, 2014
Origination date: September 1, 1981
Previously HOP 2.8
