MySLC

The legal existence of Sarah Lawrence College began with the granting of the provisional charter on December 9, 1926. This charter was made absolute on September 10, 1931, replacing the provisional nature of the charter and empowering the granting of the Bachelor of Arts degree. The absolute charter has been amended six times; first, to eliminate the provision restricting the enrollment to women; second, to permit the College to grant the degree of Master of Arts; third, to permit the College to grant the additional degree of Master of Fine Arts; fourth, to permit the College to grant the additional degrees of Master of Science and Master of Professional Studies; fifth, to permit the College to grant the additional degrees of Master of Science in Education and Master of Arts in Teaching; and, sixth, to increase the maximum authorized number of trustees from 25 to 40.

As a chartered institution of higher education in the State of New York, Sarah Lawrence College is subject to visitation by the Board of Regents, to the regulations of its board, and to the requirements of the Education Law. Under this law (Section 226), the trustees are legally and financially responsible for the College and exercise all privileges of an educational corporation. The Board of Trustees grants degrees authorizes the annual budget, receives all monies, executes deeds of gift, maintains the capital investments in plant and securities, and, in general, executes all those duties that are proper to such a corporation. The board’s powers and responsibilities are detailed in the trustee bylaws which are available upon request.

See Faculty Bylaws here.

The Faculty Bylaws > Article III, Section 2 includes policy related to voting eligibility and the election process for standing committees. This particular section of the Faculty Handbook is meant to supplement the Faculty Bylaws > Articles III and IV with procedures related to standing committee elections.

The steps for standing committee elections are as follows and should be read in conjunction with the Faculty Bylaws > Articles III and IV:

1. Nominating Committee confers with General Committee who determines the order of elections and divides the committees into groups
2. Nominating Committee submits the slate of candidates for vacancies on standing committees to the Provost’s Office who then gives the slate to the registrar
3. The registrar publishes the slate on the appropriate Faculty page of MySLC and notifies the faculty of the posted slate
4. Before elections occur with a digital ballot, the registrar announces a forty-eight hour period of nominations from the floor for each group of committees sent to eligible faculty based on the Bylaws
   1. Nominations from the floor must be seconded at the time of nominations to be valid
   2. After nominations from the floor close, the registrar confirms that the faculty member agrees to run, and also shares the nomination results with Nominating Committee
5. The registrar updates the slate with valid nominations from the floor, then sends a digital ballot only to eligible faculty with a forty-eight hour voting period
   1. Committee nominations from the floor and digital ballots must be separated based on eligibility for teaching/administrative faculty
6. The registrar updates the slate and emails regular and guest faculty with election results
7. If a quorum of 25% of eligible voters is not met, and a candidate has not received a majority of votes, a run-off election is conducted for successive balloting until a majority of votes is reached
8. The above process repeats with subsequent groups until standing committee positions are filled

The above steps are followed also in the case of resignation from a committee.

While they are not standing committees of the faculty, the following entities also require faculty membership:

Ad Hoc Committees

The formation of ad hoc committees or task forces should be announced to the community if the issues are of general concern (for instance, the Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Policy).

When an ad hoc committee or task force is formed, regular written updates will be given to the General Committee as the work of the committee progresses. The General Committee will determine the communication of these reports at faculty meetings and to the broader SLC community. (See also: Faculty Bylaws, Article IV, and Section 2.)

The Role of Faculty Groups

There are currently 13 faculty groups:

1. Dance
2. Filmmaking and Moving Image Arts
3. Global Studies
4. Humanities
5. Literature
6. Modern and Classical Languages and Literature
7. Music
8. Natural Science and Mathematics
9. Psychology
10. Social Science
11. Theatre
12. Visual and Studio Arts
13. Writing

Faculty groups will have the following functions:

1. To form ad hoc committees for searches.
2. To propose new and replacement positions to the Curriculum Committee.
   1. To serve as the units defined as “internal” with regard to solicitation of required letters for reappointment and tenure.
3. To prepare budget requests and to monitor the budget for the group.
4. In the case of faculty groups containing several disciplines, to coordinate disciplinary functions.

The Creation of New Faculty Groups

Proposals for new faculty groups must adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Proposals to form a new faculty group must be based on intellectually coherent configurations that conform to or enhance the pedagogical ethos of the institution.
2. Proposals must also take into account the size of the proposed group. If by breaking up a discipline in order to form a new group, either the new one or the remainder of the old one falls below a range too small to be desirable, the greater good of the whole College should be considered and atomization avoided.  The acceptable minimum should be five members.
3. Once a new group is formed, a faculty member will participate in the voting business of that group only.

The Migration from One Faculty Group to Another

1. In larger disciplines (five or more) single members or a group of members may request to transfer their appointment to another faculty group, if a persuasive intellectual rationale for migrating can be made and if the discipline left retains no fewer than five members.  In disciplines with fewer than five members, no individual member or small group of members may switch to another group. The whole group, however, may request to migrate to another faculty group.
2. Once an appointment is formally transferred to another unit, a faculty member will participate in the voting business of that unit only.

Procedures for the Creation of New Faculty Groups and for Migration between Existing Groups.

1. Individual faculty members or groups of faculty wishing to migrate to another existing group or wishing to form a new group must prepare a written proposal explaining the intellectual rationale for such a move and demonstrating that the size of the proposed group is within recommended limits. In the case of migration between groups, approval of the group into which they wish to migrate is required.
2. The proposal should be submitted to the Curriculum Committee and to the General Committee. Those two committees will meet as a joint body in the spring of each year to consider such proposals. At that time two representatives of the proposed group will be invited to speak with the two committees.
3. Proposals for new groups will be circulated to the entire faculty who will be invited to comment on the proposal. Those letters will be circulated to the members of the proposed group and to the General and Curriculum Committees.
4. The decision of the joint committee will be final. Once approved, a formal letter of appointment to a new group will be issued by the dean to individual faculty members. The entire faculty will also be notified.
5. Faculty members who change group affiliation must remain in their new faculty group for at least three years. The same time requirement applies to new groups.

Review of Related Practices

1. Each of the major standing committees—Advisory, Curriculum, Student Work, Admissions, Graduate Studies, Conditions of Teaching, Planning and Priorities Committee —should review its procedures in light of the new governance structure and make recommendations to the General Committee for appropriate revisions.
2. Each faculty group should develop (or formally reconfirm) procedural guidelines for administrative and advocacy involvement in hiring and promotion matters.  In the discussion of procedures for hiring and for reappointment and tenure review, faculty groups should work toward a more formal statement of procedures to be used. Attention should also be given to the preservation of breadth of academic areas in search committees.
3. The formal configuration of faculty groups and the catalogue listing of subject areas should be rationalized and coordinated.

Administration of Faculty Groups

The conduct of the work of faculty groups will be guided by the following:

1. Chairs of faculty groups will be elected by the members of that group in rotation. The length is at the discretion of the group. (An exception to this rule will be made for those disciplines with a course structure based on components—dance, music, theatre.)
2. Each faculty group shall keep minutes (or records) of meetings and make them available to each member. 
3. Communication among faculty groups requires planning and programmatic coordination. Chairs of faculty groups should meet regularly with the dean of the college and the president and, as needed, with standing committees.

For a searchable, online listing of the College’s administrative offices and staff, please go to: http://www.slc.edu/directory/index.html.