Bylaws

The Graduate Faculty, formed under authority vested with the chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, shall enhance graduate education and its research components, and thereby preserve, generate, transmit, and apply knowledge and understanding and foster and support a vital spirit of open inquiry and critical thinking.

Section 1: Eligibility

All full-time faculty members holding academic rank of professor, associate professor or assistant professor, who meet the criteria established by the UNCW Graduate Council (hereafter called Graduate Council) shall be eligible for membership in the Graduate Faculty. Appropriate exceptions may be approved from time to time, including persons holding the status of adjunct professor.

Persons employed for the first time at UNCW as tenure track faculty, adjunct, or visiting faculty may be granted membership on the Graduate Faculty at the discretion of the graduate dean for an initial appointment not to exceed three years.

Faculty with full-time administrative appointments that include the administration of graduate programs shall be members of the Graduate Faculty in recognition of those duties and responsibilities. Whenever such administrative appointments are concluded, such persons shall be granted a five-year extension of membership, after which each shall be evaluated using the prevailing criteria in the normal five-year cycle, as described in Section 2.

Section 2: Admission and Criteria

An eligible person desiring membership on the Graduate Faculty may be appointed (or reappointed) to a five-year membership by the dean of the Graduate School upon nomination by the appropriate department chair and college or school dean, and with the advice and consent of the Graduate Council.

At the minimum, the following general criteria shall be required for membership on the Graduate Faculty.

1. An earned terminal degree in an appropriate discipline along with demonstrated effectiveness in teaching.
2. A continuing record of productive scholarship. Scholarship shall be defined as the creation of factual, theoretical, or interpretive knowledge, including performances, showings, and other forms of artistic accomplishment, which (a) is subject to regional, national, or international peer evaluation, (b) is disseminated regionally, nationally, or internationally in professional media, and (c) establishes a permanent record in a format appropriate to the discipline.
3. A record or strong indication of growing involvement with scholarship for those applicants/members holding the rank of assistant professor.

Academic units, either colleges, schools, or the respective departments, may at their option propose additional criteria. Such criteria shall not negate the general criteria, but may further define the expectations for membership on the Graduate Faculty for persons within the academic unit. An academic unit, if it chooses, thus may propose that their members demonstrate a record of scholarly accomplishment that meets specific qualitative and quantitative criteria.

Such criteria shall be adopted by procedures established within each unit (e.g., majority vote) in concert with the appropriate academic officers and submitted to the Graduate School for approval by the Graduate Council. Academic units may propose revisions in their criteria at any time, but the previously established criteria shall remain in effect until the revisions have been approved by the Graduate Council.

Exceptions to the application of these criteria may be approved on a case-by-case basis upon petition to the dean of the Graduate School and the Graduate Council. Nothing in these and future criteria shall be adopted as a means of discriminating against any person because of race, sex, physical handicap, religion, age, or ethnic background.

Graduate research faculty may serve on graduate student supervisory committees in accordance with the graduate faculty guidelines of the academic unit offering the degree. Ordinarily, a research faculty member cannot serve as sole chair of a graduate supervisory committee, but may, as allowed by the unit's guidelines, serve as assistant or co-chair with a tenured or tenure-track graduate faculty member at the university.

Exceptions may be approved on a case-by-case basis upon petition to and approval of the dean of the Graduate School and the Graduate Council. The petition must include a letter of recommendation from the chair or head of the relevant unit and curriculum vitae for the research faculty member.

Section 3: Activities of Graduate Faculty

Members of the Graduate Faculty may serve on the Graduate Council, vote on amendments to these Bylaws, and participate in graduate instruction, advisory committees of graduate students, and in other matters concerning graduate education within their college or schools and the university.

Section 4: Implementation Period

Implementation shall extend for a five-year period, beginning with the fall semester of the 1989-1990 academic year. During this period, teaching assignments for graduate courses, participation on the advisory committees for graduate students, appointment to the Graduate Council, and other activities that later will require membership on the Graduate Faculty shall remain available to all members of the faculty at the discretion of the chairs and deans of each academic unit.

After academic year 1994-95, activities associated with graduate education, as described in Section 3, shall be limited to members of the Graduate Faculty.

Section 5: Temporary Membership on the Graduate Faculty

By the end of the period of implementation, academic units normally shall use only members of the Graduate Faculty as instructors for graduate courses (note: see definition below). On those occasions when someone who is not a member of the Graduate Faculty is proposed as an instructor for a graduate course, or proposed for service on a graduate student’s advisory committee, the dean of the college or school shall request approval for such an appointment from the dean of the Graduate School; the request should include a justification, the person’s curriculum vitae, and a statement concerning timely actions toward making the person eligible for regular membership of the Graduate Faculty. The dean of the Graduate School will report these requests to the Graduate Council for its advice and consent.

Graduate courses shall be defined as those classes identified by a 500 or above prefix. Classes that are cross-listed (i.e., concurrently carry an undergraduate course number and a graduate course number) also must be taught by members of the Graduate Faculty.

Section 1: Purpose and Call

A general meeting of the Graduate Faculty shall be called by majority vote of the Graduate Council, the chancellor, the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, the dean of the Graduate School, or by petition of at least 10 percent of the Graduate Faculty.

A general meeting shall be for the purpose of communication, discussion, and/or determining whether an issue warrants a referendum by the full membership of the Graduate Faculty.

Section 2: Quorum

A quorum shall consist of 25 percent of the Graduate Faculty.

Graduate Faculty referenda shall be conducted only with the consent of the Graduate Council or the Graduate Faculty, shall be conducted by mail ballot, shall be conducted only during the September-May academic year, and shall be valid only if one-third or more of the eligible voters return ballots. A majority of the ballots cast shall represent the decision of the Graduate Faculty. The decision shall be binding on the UNCW Graduate Council.

Section 1: Function

The primary function of the Graduate Council shall be to review, develop, and make recommendations concerning policy for the Graduate School and graduate education at UNCW. (Note: The Graduate Council replaces the body known as the Graduate Administrative Board.) The Council also shall serve in an advisory capacity to, and shall undertake special assignments from, the dean of the Graduate School.

Section 2: Composition

Voting members of the Graduate Council shall be thirteen elected members of the Graduate Faculty, including three each from Voting Divisions I and II of the College of Arts and Sciences, two from Division III of the College of Arts and Sciences; two from the Cameron School of Business; two from the Watson College of Education; and one from the College of Health and Human Services (see below).

Non-voting members of the Graduate Council shall be the chancellor, the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, the college and school deans, the university librarian, and the president of the Faculty Senate, or their designees; and a student representative from the Graduate Student Association.

1. Voting divisions shall be those stated in section 14 of the Official Senate Election Procedures.
2. Provisions of this section shall be periodically reviewed by the Graduate Council and amendments proposed as necessary (as provided in Article IX) to insure an equitable distribution of members among the Graduate Faculty.

Section 3: Chair of the Graduate Council

The chair shall be the dean of the Graduate School, who shall vote only in the case of ties. In the absence of the dean, the associate dean has the authority to preside over meetings of the Graduate Council and shall vote only in the case of ties.

Section 4: Vice-Chairperson of the Graduate Council

At the first meeting of each academic year the graduate council will elect a vice-chairperson. The vice-chairperson's primary responsibility is to preside over the graduate council when the dean of the Graduate School is unable to attend a meeting due to a schedule conflict.

The vice-chairperson will also be responsible for convening a meeting and presiding over it if a situation arises when the majority of the voting members of the graduate council request that a meeting be called without the dean of the Graduate School being present.

Section 5: Election of Members

Faculty members of the Graduate Council shall be elected in the spring for a term of three years. Newly elected members shall begin service at the beginning of the subsequent fall semester.

Representatives must be tenured members of the Graduate Faculty and may be from any department regardless of whether that unit awards an advanced degree. Administrators (half-time or more) and department chairs are ineligible to serve as elected members.

Election of members shall occur within voting division (College of Arts and Sciences Division I, College of Arts and Sciences Division II, College of Arts and Sciences Division III, Cameron School of Business, Watson College of Education and the College of Health and Human Services). Terms of members within each division shall be staggered. No more than one member may serve from any department.

Each spring the Graduate School shall distribute a list of eligible candidates to members of the Graduate Faculty for challenges and withdrawals. Having processed the responses, the Graduate School shall distribute ballots to members of the Graduate Faculty in divisions where there is a vacancy. Faculty may vote for one candidate for each vacancy within their division.

The candidate receiving the most votes within a division shall be elected for a three-year term. In the case where more than one vacancy exists within a division, the candidate receiving the second-most votes shall serve the second longest term, and so on, consistent with the stipulations in the preceding paragraph.

If a member is unable to complete a term, the Graduate Council shall appoint a faculty member from within the same division to serve for the remainder of the academic year, with any remainder of the unexpired term to be filled the following year by election. A member who has served for six consecutive years may not be elected to an additional consecutive term.

A non-voting graduate student representative will be chosen by the Graduate Student Association to serve a one-year term. This term will rotate among the schools and college so that each academic unit is represented once every four years according to a pre-determined schedule. The graduate student selected must be currently enrolled and in good academic standing.

Section 6: Responsibilities

The Graduate Council shall:

1. Advise the dean of Graduate School on matters of graduate education and its research components;
2. Initiate, review and make recommendations concerning graduate education;
3. Review and make recommendations on all curriculum requests at the graduate level;
4. Review and make recommendations on all proposals for new degree programs, concentrations, or certificate programs at the graduate level;
5. Review and make recommendations on the criteria developed by academic units for membership on the Graduate Faculty; approve or disapprove applications based on the recommendations of the dean of the Graduate School;
6. Develop appeals procedures for issues related to the Graduate School;
7. Establish such committees as may be deemed necessary and proper for the purpose of furthering graduate education at UNCW;
8. Participate in the recruitment of the dean of the Graduate School, and have input into the selection of the dean;
9. Participate in matters of concern to graduate education in the University of North Carolina through representation on the University Graduate Council.

Section 7: Standing Committees

The standing committees of the Graduate Council shall include, but not be limited to the following:

1. Student Affairs
2. Program and Curriculum
3. Policy and Planning
4. Graduate Faculty

Section 8: Meetings

Meetings of the Graduate Council shall be held regularly during the academic year (September-May), Special meetings may be called by the dean of the Graduate School by circulating a written notice and agenda to members at least seven days prior to the meeting day,

Also, the dean of the Graduate School must call a meeting within 30 days if requested in writing by at least four members of the Graduate Council.

Section 9: Graduate Council Action Between Academic Years

The Graduate Council shall function only during the academic year (September-May). At other times, the dean of the Graduate School shall render ad hoc decisions on policy matters until such times as the Council resumes its meetings: such decisions as may be necessary shall not necessarily serve as precedents for subsequent actions by the Council.

Section 10: Quorum and Voting

A quorum of the Council shall consist of a majority of the voting members of the Council (i.e., seven of thirteen members), and the affirmative vote of a majority of the quorum shall be necessary to evoke action (i.e., a minimum of four of seven voters present). The dean of the Graduate School shall vote only in the case of ties.

The rules contained in Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised, the latest edition, shall govern meetings of the Graduate Council and its committees in all parliamentary situations not covered by these Bylaws or the laws of the State of North Carolina.

Section 1: Chair of the UNCW Graduate Council

The dean of the Graduate School, acting as chair, shall preside over meetings of the UNCW Graduate Council, call meetings of the Council as necessary, or whenever requested to do so in writing by four of its members or the Provost, represent UNCW on the University System Graduate Council, speak on behalf of the Graduate Council as necessary, and perform any other duties assigned by the Council.

Section 2: Dean of the Graduate School

The primary role of the dean of the Graduate School is to assure the quality of all graduate programs of UNCW. The dean reports directly to the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. The dean of the Graduate School advises the provost on the attraction and retention of faculty and in the budgeting process so that graduate education is properly represented when academic funds are distributed.

The dean should also be the chief advocate for graduate education and its research components at all levels of the university. The dean of the Graduate School should lead and assist the departments and colleges within the university to develop new programs in response to identified needs. In summary, the dean represents the university’s commitment to excellence in graduate education and its associated research components.

Although not limited to the following, the dean of the Graduate School is expected to:

1. Administer the policies of the Graduate School as determined by the Graduate Council as approved by provost;
2. Administer the Office of the Graduate School;
3. Admit students to the degree programs of the Graduate School upon recommendations of the appropriate colleges or schools;
4. Appoint, with the advice and consent of the Graduate Council, individuals nominated for membership of the Graduate Faculty;
5. Represent graduate education on behalf of the Provost’s Office, in the Faculty Senate, UNCW Planning Committee, the UNC Graduate Council, and appropriate graduate educational associations;
6. Cooperate with and support the school and college deans, department chairs and graduate coordinators in the development and maintenance of quality graduate programs;
7. Meet with graduate program coordinators on a regular schedule for the purpose of communication and coordination;
8. Consult with appropriate personnel in the development and revision of budget matters concerning graduate education;
9. Assist in the exploration and development of new graduate programs;
10. Assure that periodic evaluations of all graduate programs occur;
11. Assist in the expansion of professional development opportunities for the Graduate Faculty;
12. Advocate and support the enhancement of research activities associated with the conduct of the graduate programs.

Representation of the UNC Graduate Council shall be vested in the dean of Graduate School and, upon action of the provost, in such other members of the Graduate Faculty as may be elected or appointed in the conformance with policy of the University of North Carolina.

Section 1: Proposal

Amendments to these Bylaws may be proposed by voting members of the Graduate Council or by dean of the Graduate School. Proposed amendments shall be presented in an open hearing of the Council and, if receiving at least nine affirmative votes, thereafter shall be sent to the entire Graduate Faculty by mail ballot within 30 days, unless the voting cannot reasonably take place before the end of the spring semester, in which case voting shall be delayed until the following fall term.

Section 2: Adoption

The adoption of amendments to these Bylaws requires a mail ballot sent to the entire Graduate Faculty. To be valid, one-third of the eligible voters must return ballots and a two-thirds majority of the mail ballots returned shall be necessary to pass any amendment.