Bylaws of the Faculty of the College of Engineering of Purdue University

Revised from original adoption 16 November 1966, amendments of 24 April 1969, 21 March 1972, 27 February 1973, 9 December 1980, 14 August 2006 and 13 April 2013.

Effective on the first day of 2006-07 Academic Year, August 14, 2006.

1. Membership

The faculty of the College of Engineering of Purdue University, hereinafter referred to as "the faculty", shall be composed of the Deans of Engineering and the faculties of the several engineering schools, departments and divisions, including members of the faculty of the Department of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, under the administrative jurisdiction of the Dean of Engineering. For purposes of this document, the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering will be considered a school.

2. Voting Members

The voting members shall consist of those members of the faculty of professorial rank who have a tenured or tenure track, joint, research track, or faculty of engineering practice appointment, and those full-time instructors who have completed two years of service in the instructor rank and are not candidates for an advanced degree. Other members of the faculty may attend meetings of the faculty with voice but no vote.

3. Officers

The secretary shall be appointed by the Dean and shall be responsible for recording and distributing minutes of the faculty meetings.

4. Representation of the Faculty on the University Senate

The elected representation on the University Senate shall be apportioned among all degree granting schools in close proportion to the number of voting members of the respective faculties, subject to the proviso that no engineering school should be without representation so long as the number of seats assigned by the senate to the College of Engineering is at least equal to the number of engineering schools. Since the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering is represented through the College of Agriculture, it is not included within the College of Engineering for University Senate representation. The number of senators to which each school is entitled shall be determined by the Engineering Faculty Affairs Committee subject to the approval of the faculty. Senators shall be nominated from and elected by the voting members of a school in which they are a voting member. No faculty member shall hold more than one senate seat concurrently. The election shall be supervised by the Engineering Faculty Affairs Committee.

5. Engineering Faculty Meetings

Meetings of the faculty shall be held at the call of the chairperson or upon written request to the chairperson of twenty (20) or more voting members. Routine business in the college may be conducted using electronic means and the outcomes will be made freely available to the entire faculty. Every semester, including summer session, the standard approvals of the degrees occur through passing of the following motion:

“I move that those students, who complete all requirements for their respective degrees by the end of the current semester or summer session, be recommended by the Faculty of the College of Engineering to the Board of Trustees for their degrees. The Dean of Engineering and the Registrar, upon recommendation of the head of a particular school/unit of engineering, are authorized to act for the engineering faculty in each case of a candidate who fails to meet the requirements set forth here.”

This motion will be considered approved for each school/unit, unless an objection is recorded by any of the individual degree granting schools/units. In case of such an objection, the particular school/unit is responsible for holding a meeting to vote on the motion and to inform the Dean’s office of such action. The objection will not prevent other qualified candidates in that school/unit from graduating.

6. Jurisdiction of the Faculty

The jurisdiction of the faculty shall be as designated by current University faculty regulations.

7. Committees of the Faculty

Except as hereinafter provided, appointments to committees, including the chairpersons thereof, shall be made annually by the Dean. Ordinarily, appointments shall be made from the voting members, but where desirable, non-voting members may be appointed; and members of other faculties may be invited to membership. The Dean may also invite students, staff, with or without vote, to membership on any standing committee, special committee, or subcommittee. The committee structure includes Standing Committees, Special Committees and Subcommittees as hereinafter provided:

A. Standing Committees:

A standing committee is a permanent committee, which reports to the Dean, and/or Faculty. The exception is the Engineering Area Committee, which reports to the Dean alone. The standing committees and their functions are:

1. Engineering Leadership Team: Members of this committee shall include the Deans and the Heads of the Schools, Departments, and Divisions. The chairperson shall be the Dean or the Dean’s designee, and the Dean may appoint additional members to the committee. The committee shall serve in an advisory capacity to the dean.
 
2. Engineering Faculty Affairs Committee: Members of the committee shall consist of one representative each from the voting members of the faculties of the schools, departments and divisions of engineering, plus the Dean of Engineering or the Dean’s designated representative. Members representing the schools, departments and divisions shall be elected by ballot by the voting members of their respective faculties, except that Heads of engineering schools, departments and divisions shall be ineligible for membership. Each member shall normally serve for three years beginning with the start of the fall semester. No member shall serve continuously for more than six years.
This committee shall:
a. Advise the Dean on issues regarding faculty affairs.
b. Suggest and provide ways and means for effective communication among all members of the engineering academic community.
c. Obtain nominations for and supervise elections to engineering committees as required by these bylaws or by University Regulations.
d. Review appointments to engineering committees which require a vote for the election of the members.
e. Advise the Dean relative to the agenda of faculty meetings, matters relating to membership of various committees, and other matters affecting committee and faculty activities.
f. Serve in other capacities as requested by the Dean or the faculty.

3. Engineering Curriculum Committee: Members of the committee shall consist of one representative each from the voting members of the faculties of the schools, departments and divisions of engineering, plus the Dean of Engineering or the Dean’s designated representative. Members representing the schools, departments and divisions shall be elected by ballot by the voting members of their respective faculties, except that Heads of engineering schools, departments and divisions shall be ineligible for membership. Each member shall normally serve for three years beginning with the start of the fall semester. No member shall serve continuously for more than six years. The Dean may invite up to three students (voting or non-voting) to membership. Members of other faculties may be invited to serve on subcommittees of this committee when desirable. The committee shall study and make recommendations on any and all phases of education referred to it by the faculty or the Engineering Leadership Team or which otherwise come to its attention. It will also facilitate the review and processing of documents and policies requiring faculty approval.

4. Engineering Area Committee: This committee shall consist of the Dean, who shall be chairperson, the Heads of the schools and departments, and one full professor (excluding assistant and associate Heads) from each school or department elected by the voting members of that school or department for a two-year term. This committee can be appropriately augmented using a similar election process to consider promotion of Research Faculty. This committee shall act on faculty promotions concordant with the University Policy Concerning Promotions. In addition, this committee shall consider and vote on cases of faculty tenure without promotion and deviations from regular emeritus policy. The committee shall consider and make recommendations on nominations for the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award and for Honorary Doctor of Engineering degrees.

B. Special Committees:

A Special Committee is a temporary committee, which may report directly to the Dean and/or the faculty. Its existence automatically terminates with the accomplishment of its assigned objectives.

C. Subcommittees:

Subcommittees are inherent to committee structure and may be established and dissolved as deemed necessary by any Standing or Special Committee.

8. Procedure of Faculty Meetings

Meetings of the faculty will be conducted according to established parliamentary procedure taking Robert’s Rules of Order as the authority. A quorum of 35 voting faculty must be present (including live electronic presence) to transact business in the meeting. The minutes of all meetings of the faculty shall be made freely available to the faculty as directed by the chairperson.

9. Amendments to the Bylaws

An amendment to these bylaws may be initiated by the Engineering Leadership Team, the Engineering Faculty Affairs Committee, or by petition of the faculty, acting through the Engineering Faculty Affairs Committee. Such faculty petitions shall contain the signatures of at least thirty five (35) voting members of the faculty. A proposed amendment shall be presented and discussed at a faculty meeting and shall be distributed to all voting members of the faculty not less than two weeks prior to that meeting. Following the presentation, the proposed amendment shall be put to a vote of all the voting members of the faculty. The Engineering Faculty Affairs Committee shall act as teller and shall announce the results to the faculty.