Background

Procedure for Electing Program Directors to the Academic Council April 30, 2020

EMU’s Academic Council integrates the functions of the former Undergraduate and Graduate Councils. The scope and composition of the Academic Council is detailed in the “Faculty Shared Governance Guidelines,” which were approved by Faculty Assembly on April 13, 2020. This document addresses the procedure for selecting the program directors who will serve on the Academic Council.

Eligibility

Article II, Section 3 (Membership) of the Faculty Shared Governance Guidelines states that “3 Program Director representatives from each school” will sit as voting members on the Academic Council.​ ​Representatives may be elected for a renewable two-year term. These three representatives are “to reflect the mix of programs in the school.” Every currently serving program director in each school is eligible to be nominated to serve on the Academic Council, albeit any individual program director may “request to be omitted (from the ballot) based on unusual circumstances.”

Voting Procedure

No later than May 15, all eligible faculty will be asked to nominate program directors to represent their school on the Academic Council. Faculty will suggest nominees of eligible program directors from the ballot prepared by the dean of that school. The ballot will indicate the primary focus of each program director (undergraduate or graduate) and the current representatives on the Academic Council. Deans will select representatives from the top three preferred nominees from each school, in consultation with each other, the Provost, and the Chair of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI).   Since the purpose of the Academic Council is to reflect the diversity of EMU’s faculty, the deans may choose to recommend to the Council that it appoint one or two additional at-large Council members to achieve that goal.

Consultation

After receiving the ballots and computing the results, the deans will consult with each other, the Provost, and the Chair of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI) regarding the mix of nominees. Since the purpose of the Academic Council is to reflect the diversity of EMU’s faculty, the deans may choose to recommend to the Council that it appoint one or two additional at-large Council members to achieve that goal.

Term and Duties

Program Director Representatives elected to the Academic Committee shall serve two-year terms and will represent the interests of their respective schools and the university as a whole by attending Academic Council meetings and communicating the opinions and perspectives of the faculty in their schools.

Review

This procedure is to be reviewed by the faculty every three years.

Distribution

Faculty/Staff Handbook

Last reviewed April 17, 2023