APPENDIX 1—H

ORGANIZATION AND WORKING POLICY FOR THE ANDREWS UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL

I—Introduction

This document describes the roles of the various entities of the University charged with the responsibility of providing a focused thrust to the quality-control, promotion and coordination of the undergraduate programs at Andrews University.

Section 1

These tasks have been assigned to the undergraduate faculties of the constituent schools of Andrews University acting in concert as the undergraduate faculty of the University.

Section 2

In turn the undergraduate faculty of the University has delegated these responsibilities to an undergraduate council whose membership consists of elected representatives from each of the constituent schools of the University.

First, the document defines the undergraduate faculty and then its functions are described. Next a definition is given of the undergraduate council after which the terms of reference are given and its operating policies outlined.

II—Undergraduate Faculty and Meetings

Section 1

The undergraduate faculty is made up of all faculty members, from all schools of the University, who teach undergraduate courses.

Section 2

Membership of the undergraduate faculty shall be by annual appointment of the president of the University after consultation with the Provost and deans of respective undergraduate schools.

Section 3

The primary responsibility for nominating faculty members for membership in the undergraduate faculty shall rest with the department chair and the concurrence of the dean of the school of primary appointment and the Provost.

Section 4

The undergraduate faculty shall have the responsibilities as outlined in (A) above.

Section 5

Those responsibilities of the undergraduate faculty as outlined in the Terms of Reference in Section D, are delegated to the undergraduate council.

Section 6

The undergraduate faculty as a group composed of the undergraduate faculties of the constituent schools of the University shall serve as a reference body, on matters referred to it by the undergraduate council (see B 12, 13, F and G below).

Section 7

Members of the undergraduate faculty‖ shall receive and review the minutes of the undergraduate council.

Section 8

The undergraduate faculty shall be scheduled to meet at least once during each academic year. Special meetings shall be scheduled as outlined in sections 12-14 below.

Section 9

The chair, who shall be the Provost, shall call and preside at meetings of the undergraduate faculty.

Section 10

The minutes of the meetings of the undergraduate faculty shall be kept by the secretary who shall be the Andrews University director of records.

Section 11

The agenda shall be distributed at least ten days prior to a regular faculty meeting.

Section 12

The order of business at regular meetings shall be:

1. reading and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting
2. communications and announcements
3. report and review of undergraduate council decisions and activities
4. agenda for the day

Section 13

A quorum of the undergraduate faculty shall be 40% of its total membership.

Section 14

Special meetings of the undergraduate faculty may be called at any time by the chair on the basis of a challenge from a two-thirds majority appeal of the total undergraduate faculty of a given constituent school of the University [or forty (40) members of the College of Arts and Sciences] against a decision of the undergraduate council (see F5 and 6 below).

Section 15

At a special meeting of the undergraduate faculty, only the business that precipitated the meeting may be discussed.

Section 16

A two-thirds majority of the undergraduate faculty‖ of the University present (those present to be not less than a quorum) at such a specially called meeting is required to disapprove the disputed action of the undergraduate council. Since undergraduate council decisions stand unless overturned, a failure to achieve a two-thirds majority at such a special session of the undergraduate faculty of the University shall mean that the disputed decision of the undergraduate council shall stand.

III—Undergraduate Council

The undergraduate council is a group of faculty teaching at the undergraduate level, who shall, with respect to undergraduate affairs at the University and on behalf of all the undergraduate schools of the University, serve as a coordinating, policy-making, consulting, quality control, and advisory council to the president and the University administration.

Members of the undergraduate council are independent voices with special obligations seeking what is best for the University and do not represent specific schools of the University.

IV—Terms of Reference of the Undergraduate Council

The terms of reference of the undergraduate council shall be:

1. To advise the administration and the general faculty on undergraduate affairs at the University.
2. To advise on undergraduate matters referred to it by one or more constituent schools of the University or any of their committees, who regard the matter for counsel to be of interest and concern to all of the undergraduate schools of the University.
3. To coordinate common undergraduate thrusts towards reaching the goals and objectives of the University in pursuit of its own mission.
4. To take appropriate steps to ensure parity of program standards and quality among the different undergraduate schools of the University.
5. To provide a common forum for communication among undergraduate schools and for the discussion of common problems.
6. To establish minimum criteria, policies and procedures for requirements, activities and programs designed to be common to all the undergraduate schools such as:
   1. approval of general education requirements
   2. requirements for the various categories of associate and baccalaureate degrees
   3. admission requirements
   4. level of English language proficiency required for the various undergraduate degree programs
   5. academic standards to ensure quality for off-campus programs
   6. course outlines and syllabi preparation
   7. program development, review, termination and introduction of new ones within each of the undergraduate schools
7. To keep the members of the undergraduate faculty fully informed of decisions taken on their behalf and if necessary to provide them an opportunity for input whenever needed.

V—Membership of the Undergraduate Council

Section 1

Members of the undergraduate council shall be annually appointed by the president of the University at the beginning of the summer quarter, after due process as described below.

Section 2

Membership of the undergraduate council shall be open only to:

1. members of the faculty who teach undergraduate courses and who hold rank in one of the constituent schools of the University
2. ex-officio members listed in Section 4 below.

Section 3

The undergraduate council shall consist of ex-officio, elected and appointed members totaling nineteen (19) voting members, and constituted as follows with an additional seven (7) non-voting ex-officio Advisory Members:

1. ex-officio members (6)
2. Members elected (10)
3. Members appointed by the president (3)
4. Advisory Members ex-officio (7)

Section 4:

Ex-officio members (6) are:

1. The president of Andrews University
2. The provost
3. The dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
4. The dean of the School of Business Administration
5. The dean of the School of Education
6. The dean of the School of Health Professions
7. The dean of the School of Distance Education

Section 5

The elected members (11) of the undergraduate council shall represent all of the constituent schools of the University offering undergraduate programs as follows:

1. College of Arts and Sciences (4)
2. School of Business Administration (2)
3. School of Education (2)
4. College of Technology (2)
5. School of Health Professions (1)

Section 6

The members appointed by the president (3):

1. One full professor (deans, associate or assistant deans excluded) selected from the undergraduate faculty on the basis of experience, expertise and seniority.
2. One faculty member (deans, associate deans, or assistant deans excluded) selected from among the membership of the general education committee as recommended by the general education committee.
3. One faculty member (deans, associate deans, or assistant deans excluded) selected from the membership of the honors program committee as recommended by the honors committee.

Section 7

Advisory Members (without vote) ex-officio (7):

1. Vice president for financial administration
2. Dean of the James White Library
3. Chief Information Officer
4. Registrar
5. Director of Student Success.
6. Vice president for enrollment management.

Section 8

The elected members of the undergraduate council are nominated by a majority vote of the faculty of a given school of the University from among the non-administrative members of the faculty of that school.

Section 9

The members of the undergraduate council appointed by the president are appointed according to the procedure outlined in Section E6 above.

Section 10

The officers of the undergraduate council are elected by members of the undergraduate council from among themselves (excluding deans) at the last regular meeting of the spring term for the following year and are the following:

1. Chair
2. Vice-chair
3. Secretary

Section 11

The duties of the officers of the undergraduate council shall be as follows:

1. Chair: to prepare an agenda, call meetings, and to preside at them
2. Vice-chair: to function in the place of the chair in his/her absence or as designated by the chair
3. Secretary: be responsible for the maintenance and circulation of the minutes of meetings and of sub-circulation of the minutes of meetings and of sub-committee reports. He/she shall also assist the chair in preparing the agenda and calling of meetings.

Section 12

Terms of service for the elected and appointed members of the undergraduate council shall be for three years. The rotation of members shall start after the second year with one third of the elected and appointed council members retiring each year thereafter.

Section 13

Members may be elected or appointed for no more than two consecutive terms of service.

Section 14

Membership changes required by the rotation formula described in Section E6 above shall be initiated annually by the president’s office.

Section 15

Should any elected or appointed member fail to serve a full term, a replacement shall be obtained to serve the remainder of the term by procedures specified in Section E6, 8, 9, 12, 13, and 14 above.

VI—Meetings of the Undergraduate Council

Section 1

The undergraduate council shall normally be scheduled to meet at least once per quarter except for the summer quarter with the provision of special meetings as called by the chair. Special meetings are defined as meetings which were not initially scheduled at the beginning of the academic year.

Section 2

Agenda items may be submitted to the chair by any member of the undergraduate council or from the committees and sub-committees that report to the undergraduate council. The submissions are to be in writing. Relevant agenda items may also be submitted to the chair by the faculty of any of the constituent schools of the University or any of their sub-committees.

Section 3

Agenda items which involve the following shall not be finalized by a vote on the day introduced, but shall be held over until the next special or regularly scheduled meeting following the meeting of introduction and discussion:

1. The introduction of new undergraduate policy(ies), except for recommendations from the general education, honors program, and academic support and advising services committees.
2. A change in existing undergraduate policy(ies) except for recommendations from the general education, honors program and academic support and advisory services committees.
3. The introduction of new programs, except as recommended by the sub-committee on program development and review.
4. Substantive changes to existing programs, except as recommended by the sub- committee on program development and review.

Section 4

Minutes of the proceedings of the Undergraduate Council shall be recorded and maintained by the secretary who shall also be responsible for distributing copies of the minutes within a week to all members of the council as well as to each undergraduate faculty member.

Section 5

A decision of the undergraduate council may be challenged as provided for by policy in B14-16 above as well as F6 below. If a decision of the undergraduate council is challenged the undergraduate faculty of the University shall be asked to resolve the impasse in the manner described and implemented as described in F7 below.

Section 6

Decisions taken by the undergraduate council may be implemented after twenty-one (21) days from the date of being made, unless challenged by a two-thirds majority of the total undergraduate faculty of a given constituent school (see exception in B14 above) of the University (see Section B14-16 as well as F5 above for calling special meetings and for the resolution of such an impasse).

Section 7

The routing of undergraduate council decisions shall be as follows:

1. Decisions judged not to be affecting graduate programs of the University are immediately referred for implementation to the various undergraduate schools of the University by the secretary of the undergraduate council.
   1. Should the undergraduate council decision not be challenged by any of the undergraduate faculties, the action of the undergraduate council shall be implemented after the required number of days have elapsed (sections B14-16 and F6).
   2. At this time the general faculty shall be informed of this by the chief academic officer.
2. Decisions judged to impinge on graduate programs, are referred by the vice-president for academic administration to the general faculty for final approval and recommendation to the Board of Trustees by the president of the University.

Section 8

A quorum shall consist of nine (9) voting members.

VII—Standing Committees and Sub-committees Reporting to the Undergraduate Council

Section 1

Standing and ad-hoc sub-committees may be designated as needed by the undergraduate council and may include representatives who are not regular members of the undergraduate council.

Section 2

The standing committees and sub-committees reporting to the undergraduate council include:

1. Program development and review sub-committee (appointed by the undergraduate council)
2. Academic policies sub-committee (appointed by the undergraduate council)
3. General education committee (appointed by the president)
4. Academic support and advising services council (for matters pertaining to undergraduate affairs and appointed by the president)
5. Honors programs committee (appointed by the president).

VIII—Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, newly revised, shall govern meetings in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these policies.

IX—Interpretation of this Document

The President of Andrews University shall be the ultimate authority in matters of dispute over the interpretation of the Organization and Working Policy for the Andrews University Undergraduate Council.

X—PROCEDURES FOR AMENDMENTS

Section 1

Proposals for amendments to the Organization and Working Policy for the Andrews University Undergraduate Council may come from a member of the Undergraduate Faculty at a regular or special meeting of the Undergraduate Faculty.

Section 2

All proposals for amendments to the Organization and Working Policy for the Andrews University Undergraduate Council must be studied and approved by a majority vote of the undergraduate council, according to the policies outlined in Division F above governing meetings. If approved, the proposal will be recommended to the Undergraduate Faculty.

Section 3

Approval of an amendment to the Organization and Working Policy for the Andrews University Undergraduate Council will require a two-thirds majority vote of the entire Undergraduate Faculty at either a regular or special meeting of the Undergraduate Faculty (see Division F above).

Section 4

Proposals for amendments to the Organization and Working Policy for the Andrews University Undergraduate Council shall be voted by the Board of Trustees before they may be implemented.