TWO - Duties of officers shall be as follows:

Duties of President:

• Preside over all meetings of the Faculty Senate and the Assembly of the Faculty.
• Be a non-voting ex officio member of all standing and ad hoc committees of the Faculty Senate.
• Call special meetings when appropriate.
• Transmit to the appropriate administrative authorities of the University of Houston the recommendations and resolutions passed by the Faculty Senate.
• Advise the president and the senior vice president for academic affairs of the University of Houston on matters of general interest to the faculty.
• Transmit from the president and senior vice president information on matters of general interest to the faculty.
• Appoint the chairs of the following senate standing committees: Budget and Facilities; Community and Government Relations; and Faculty Affairs.
• Determine the portfolio of each Member-at-large of the Executive Committee.
• Be a voting ex officio member of the University Coordinating Commission.
• Be the representative of the faculty on the University President’s Cabinet.
• Report on faculty interests to the University of Houston System Board of Regents at regular Board meetings.

Duties of President-Elect:

• Preside over all meetings of the Faculty Senate and the Assembly of the Faculty in the absence of the president.
• Be a non-voting ex officio member of all standing and ad hoc committees of the Faculty Senate, and act as liaison between these committees and the president
• Further assist the president as the president may deem advisable.
• Coordinate with the secretary the communications of the Senate.
• Be a voting ex officio member of the University Coordinating Commission.
• Be a voting ex officio member of the University Commission on Women.

Duties of the Secretary:

• In consultation with the President, be responsible for all forms of communication emanating from the Faculty Senate.
• Keep a complete set of minutes for each meeting and prepare summary minutes of each regular or special meeting.
• Act as treasurer when necessary

Duties of Immediate Past President:

• Serve as chair of the Faculty Governance Committee.
• Work with the new president in transferring effectively the responsibilities of the office.
• Further assist the president as the president may deem advisable.
• Be a voting ex officio member of the University Coordinating Commission.

THREE -- The Faculty Governance Committee shall determine the eligibility and qualifications of all nominees and members of the Senate.

FOUR – At-large Senators shall be appointed to the membership of the Budget and Facilities Committee, Community and Government Relations Committee, and Faculty Affairs Committee. The committees in consultation with the Executive Committee may appoint additional voting and non-voting members as needed based on required expertise.
     The Budget and Facilities Committee shall conduct a continuing review of the University's financial resources, including the ways in which such resources are actually spent.
     The Faculty Affairs Committee shall review and recommend policy concerning the conditions of faculty employment, review the operations of the appropriate administrative officials with respect to the implementation of existing policy and the promulgation of policy changes.
      The Community and Government Relations Committee shall serve as the Faculty Senate liaison to the university community, external communities, and governmental entities.
      The chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee or designee shall be a member of the UH Faculty Advisory Committee on Human Resources-Fringe Benefits Committee.

FIVE -- Members of the Research and Scholarship Committee, the Undergraduate Committee, and the Graduate and Professional Studies Committee shall be elected to their respective committees as senators by the eligible faculty within their college. The committees in consultation with the Executive Committee may appoint additional voting and non-voting members as needed based on required expertise. The chairs of these committees shall be senators and shall be elected by the Senate members of the respective committee.

     In order to be eligible for nomination for election to the Research and Scholarship Committee, the faculty member must satisfy the following criteria:

1. the faculty member must have an ongoing, focused research agenda as evidenced by refereed scholarly articles, grant writing, research presentations or other scholarly research output deemed in their discipline as appropriate to a faculty member actively engaged in the research endeavor of a nationally recognized research university. Such scholarly output must satisfy the expectations of the individual college from which the faculty member is nominated.
   
   
2. the faculty member must be actively involved in either graduate or undergraduate research programs administered within their own academic unit.

     One position on the Research and Scholarship Committee must be reserved for an eligible faculty member who holds the formal rank of research faculty. Nominations for this position should be directed to the Faculty Governance Committee from individual colleges. This member will be elected by all eligible research faculty.

     The Research and Scholarship Committee shall work to advise and make recommendations to the Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer on the matters pertaining to research development, policies relating to the conduct of research and related research activities at the University. The Research and Scholarship Committee administers the Internal Grants Program, including restructuring the program each year in light of available resources, preparing and issuing the call for proposals, coordinating review of proposals, and making recommendations on the allocation of the funds. The Committee also administers the Research Excellence Award, including establishing guidelines, issuing request for nominations, and overseeing the activity of the selection committee that makes recommendations of awards.

     In order to be eligible for nomination for election to the Undergraduate Committee, the faculty member must satisfy the following criteria:

1. must have taught at least one undergraduate class in two of the three years preceding nomination
   
   
2. the faculty member must be actively involved in the undergraduate academic programs administered within their own academic unit.

     The Undergraduate Committee shall work to advise the Provost on matters pertaining to the assessment and strengthening of undergraduate academic programs and curriculum offerings, setting of standards and priorities leading to academic excellence, monitoring of college and departmental requirements for baccalaureate degrees, stimulation and assessment of excellence in teaching, development and implementation of strategies for the recruitment and retention of undergraduate students, implementation of crucial recommendations from any university level study and its impact on the undergraduate students, refinement and monitoring of the admissions criteria and process, particularly for target populations, create and maintain more effective coordination and cooperation with student organizations, and any other matters pertaining to or having an impact on undergraduate education.

In order to be eligible for nomination for election to the Graduate and Professional Studies Committee, the faculty member must come from a college with a graduate or professional program.

     The Graduate and Professional Studies Committee is responsible for advising the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School regarding graduate and professional programs at the University of Houston. It is also charged with recommending changes in existing policies or suggesting the need for new ones, approving new programs, and approving new courses, course changes and/or deletions for submission to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Specifically, the GPSC will address matters relating to: A) Review of admission procedures of graduate and professional students as well as other policies affecting graduate and professional students. B) Review of new graduate and professional degree program proposals, program changes, and on-going programs. C) Review of and recommendations for graduate and professional programs policies and procedures.

SIX – Minutes for regular Faculty Senate meetings will be provided to each senator before the next regular meeting; copies will be available to others upon request from the Faculty Senate office. Minutes for special meetings will be prepared promptly and distributed in the same manner as the minutes of regular meetings.

SEVEN --When the Senate is requested to nominate faculty members to serve on any committee or other body for which members are not nominated by the Faculty Governance Committee, the power to nominate rests with the president of the Senate. All nominations shall be promptly communicated by the president to the Executive Committee and the Faculty Governance Committee.

EIGHT --

The Faculty Grievance Committee, comprised of nineteen members, has thirteen tenured faculty representatives and six promotion-eligible non-tenure track faculty representatives of associate rank or higher. Committee members are elected by the entire faculty to three-year terms of office, with approximately one-third of the membership being replaced each year. If a member resigns, a replacement of the same representative track is appointed by the Faculty Governance Committee to serve until the next annual election. Those then elected serve out the original term of office (see Article Four).

     The nominees should be broadly representative of the diversity in the faculty and in the academic perspectives. No more than four members, three tenured and one promotion-eligible non-tenure track shall be from the same college when said college has 200 or more full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty or promotion-eligible non-tenure track faculty and no more than three members, two tenured and one promotion eligible non-tenure track shall be from the same college when said college has fewer than 200 full-time tenured or tenure-track or promotion-eligible non-tenure track faculty.

     The Faculty Governance Committee shall nominate at least two candidates more than the vacancies for the respective tenured and non-tenure lines. Recognizing the value of participation in the grievance process by members of each college, the Faculty Governance Committee shall work with due diligence to include a candidate from each college without a continuing member on the Grievance Committee. In consideration of the burdens of the grievance committee, any currently serving faculty senator who is elected to the grievance committee may resign from their current faculty senate committee assignments by submitting notice to the Faculty Senate president and the chair of the impacted committee.

     The members of the Grievance Committee must be full-time tenured faculty or promotion-eligible non-tenure track faculty as stipulated above. Members of the administration, including deans or directors, assistant or associate deans or directors, and department chairs, are not eligible to be members of the committee.

     The University Grievance Committee exists as the final faculty body to which a faculty grievance may be submitted including a decision for nonrenewal of contract of a non-tenured faculty member if the appeal is based upon procedural issues including the allegation that adequate consideration of the individual's qualifications was not given or that considerations in violation of the individual's academic freedom contributed significantly in the decision not to renew the contract.

NINE --  The president of the Faculty Senate, the president-elect of the Faculty Senate and the chairs of the Faculty Governance Committee, Graduate and Professional Studies Committee, Research and Scholarship Committee, and Undergraduate Committee are members of the University Coordinating Commission (UCC) which shall operate to coordinate and expedite communication among faculty, staff, students, and the administration in the development of policies and procedures..

TEN -- The president and president-elect or their representatives shall serve as Senate representatives to the University Faculties Executive Council [UFEC]. Each representative shall serve until the end of the calendar year, or until replaced. A Senate representative may continue to serve even if the Senator's term of office has expired..

ELEVEN -- The Senate is a member of the Texas Council of Faculty Senates (TCoFS), a state-wide organization composed of state colleges and universities. The two representatives to TCoFS shall be the president and president-elect of the Senate.

TWELVE -- The Senate is a member of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics. The delegate to, and an alternate for, the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (CoIA) will be elected by the UH Faculty Senate for two-year terms. The elections will be held as necessary at the same meeting as the other officers each year. The delegate and alternate must be members of the Faculty Senate at the time of their election. In the event that neither can attend a meeting of CoIA, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee may appoint another Faculty Senate member as the UH representative for that meeting
     In the event the Delegate resigns, the Alternate will become the Delegate and the Executive Committee shall appoint another Alternate. In the event the Alternate resigns, the Executive Committee shall appoint another Alternate. Appointees must be members of the Faculty Senate at the time of appointment.
     The elected CoIA Delegate or Alternate shall be a voting ex officio member of the University of Houston Athletic Advisory Committee.

THIRTEEN -- In situations where there is the possibility of eliminating or drastically reducing academic departments or programs with the result that faculty might be terminated, the president of the Faculty Senate will appoint an ad hoc committee representing the academic interests of the campus. This committee will participate actively in deliberations and proceedings concerning possible reduction or elimination. Committee participation shall be timely and shall afford ample opportunity for the Faculty Senate to represent adequately its viewpoints prior to final decision.