Passed: April 2, 2019
Sponsors: University Faculty Committee (UFC)
Senate Discussions: November and December 2018; February, March and April 2019
UFC Proposal on RTE Representation
University Voting Rights (UVR)
An individual with UVR is eligible to serve in the Faculty Senate and can vote in University-wide elections that determine the Faculty Trustees, the Dean of Faculty, the Associate Dean of Faculty, the University Faculty Committee, and the Nominations and Elections Committee. Individuals with UVR can also vote in elections that determine the senators from their own department.
The University Faculty (UF) and the Research, Teaching, Extension (RTE) Faculty
In the following, titles in red have UVR.
The UF is made up of the Tenure Track (TT) Faculty (all ranks of professor), the emeriti, and all ranks of adjunct professor, visiting professor, courtesy professor, and acting professor. Throughout this document “UF*” refers to the UF who have UVR, i.e., the TT faculty (with unmodified titles) and the emeriti.
Those with the following titles make up the RTE faculty: research professor (all ranks), clinical professor (all ranks), professor-of-the-practice (all ranks), senior scholar, research scientist, principal research scientist, senior research associate, research associate, senior lecturer, lecturer, senior extension associate, extension associate, librarian, associate librarian, senior assistant librarian, assistant librarian, archivist, associate archivist, senior assistant archivist, assistant archivist, visiting scientist, visiting critic, visiting scholar, visiting fellow, instructor, and teaching associate. An RTE title modified by “visiting”, “acting”, or “courtesy” does not have UVR. Throughout this document, “ RTE* ” refers to the RTE Faculty with UVR.
Faculty Senate Membership Rules
| Type of Seat | Existing Rules | Proposed Rules |
|
Department |
a) Every department gets one seat to be filled by a member of the UF*. b) If TT > 25 then a department gets a second seat to be filled by a member of the UF*. |
a) Every department gets one seat to be filled by a member of the UF*. b) If TT + RTE* > 25 then, a department gets a second seat to be filled by either a member of the UF* or a member of the RTE*. |
|
College At-Large |
a) There are no college at-large seats. |
a) Every college gets one seat to be filled by a member of the RTE*. b) If RTE* > 25, then a college gets a second seat to be filled by a member of the RTE*. |
| University At-Large | a) Nine seats three of whom must be filled by an untenured member of the UF*. |
a) Three seats designated for the tenured UF*. b) Three seats designated for the untenured UF*. c) Three seats designated for the RTE*. |
|
Designated |
a) One seat for the emeriti to be filled by Cornell Academics and Professors Emeriti. |
a) One seat for the emeriti to be filled by Cornell Academics and Professors Emeriti. b) One seat for the RTE* to be filled by Cornell University Library. |
| Nonvoting Ex-Officio | a) One seat for each of the Assemblies and ROTC. |
a) One seat each for the Assemblies and ROTC. b) One seat for post docs be to filled through the Office of Postdoctoral Studies. |
Implementation Details
- Department senators are elected by secret ballot. Anybody who is eligible to occupy a senate seat in the unit would be allowed to place their name on the slate. All those with UVR would be allowed to vote. The electorate for the College at-Large seats consists of all faculty in the college who have UVR. Self-nominations must be accepted. The colleges are AAP, CALS, CAS, CIS, CHE, CVM, ENG, ILR, JCB, and LAW.
- At the discretion of the Dean of Faculty, a Senate vote can be a published roll call vote with ballots submitted physically and/or electronically over a period of one week. For the legislation to take effect, the number of votes cast must be at or above the level of quorum.
- Participating in the Faculty If the proposed plan is adopted, then any member of either the UF or RTE faculty would be allowed to attend and speak at a meeting of the Senate.
- Visible The Dean of Faculty Office will maintain on its website a table that reports the current academic titleholder populations for every college and department. It will also publicize the total number of UF* Senators and the total number of RTE* Senators.
- Every third January the Nominations and Elections Committee will review the numbers and determine the senate-seat allocations for departments and colleges. Changes would take effect at the start of the following Fall Semester.
- At least every three years the University Faculty Committee with broad consultation will assess the quality of Faculty representation as realized through the various allocation formulae. Concerns would be discussed in the Faculty Senate. Proposed modifications would be brought before the University Faculty in accordance with the Bylaws of that body, i.e., the Organization and Procedures of the University Faculty.
