The School of Arts and Sciences & The School of Engineering Faculty Handbook

TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Tufts Faculty Handbook for Arts, Sciences and Engineering

Chapter 1: Organization and General Policies

Tufts University is an institution of higher learning, chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its legal corporate name, applying to all divisions of the University is "Trustees of Tufts College," under which name the management and execution of its business affairs are conducted.

DIVISIONS AND FACULTIES OF THE UNIVERSITY

The undergraduate colleges of the University are:

College of Liberal Arts
Jackson College for Women
College of Engineering
College of Special Studies

The graduate schools are:

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
School of Medicine
School of Dental Medicine
School of Veterinary Medicine
School of Nutrition Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences

The Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering is composed of the faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The faculty of each school in Arts, Sciences and Engineering has its own bylaws, except that the College of liberal Arts and Jackson College constitute a single faculty with a single set of bylaws. Membership criteria and responsibilities of the several Arts, Sciences and Engineering faculties are specified in the bylaws of each of the faculties, which are included in the Appendix.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Article III of the Bylaws of the Trustees of Tufts College (amended by the Board November 6, 2004) states: '' The Officers of the Corporation shall be the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, up or three Vice Chairs, the President of the University, the Treasurer and the Secretary, all of whom shall be elected at the annual meeting of the Trustees and shall hold office for one year or until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified, the Provost, the Executive Vice President, the Vice President for University Advancement, the Vice President for University Relations and other officers including without limitation those having titles that include the words ''President,'' ''Vice President,'' ''Treasurer'' or ''Secretary,'' as the Board may from time to time elect or appoint, who shall serve at the will of the Board of Trustees.''

Other Trustee groups include:

Trustee Executive Committee and standing committees: Administration and Finance Committee, Committee for University Advancement, Academic Affairs Committee, Committee on Trusteeship, Honorary Degree Committee and the Audit Committee. Boards of Overseers advising the Trustees and the administration on: the School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Science, the School of Dental Medicine, the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition, Science and Policy, the University College of Citizenship and Public Service and within Arts, Sciences and Engineering: School of Engineering, School of Arts and Sciences, and Athletics.
International Board of Overseers.

FACULTY GOVERNANCE IN ARTS, SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING

Faculty participation in university governance is essential to the success of any university. The Tufts community recognizes that the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering has primary responsibility for such fundamental areas of University life as the Arts, Sciences and Engineering curriculum, subject matters of instruction, research projects, criteria for faculty promotion and tenure, and those aspects of student life that relate to the education of students on campus. The faculty is not only a self-governing body but the body principally charged with day to day responsibility for carrying out the educational program of the University. An overview of faculty governance is provided below.

Faculty Meetings

Regular meetings of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering and the Associated Schools are held during the academic year to conduct such business as the faculty and administrative officers deem necessary or desirable. The following full-time faculty members of the several Arts, Sciences and Engineering faculties are voting members: Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Instructors, and Lecturers. Faculty with modified titles such as visiting, or adjunct, or research faculty are not eligible to vote. Part-time faculty members are welcome to attend the meetings of the appropriate faculties without vote. Certain full-time administrative positions are appointed by the President on an annual basis as voting members of the faculty. Other administrators, by custom, are invited to attend faculty meetings, ex officio, without vote.

Faculty are expected to attend faculty meetings. Minutes of Arts, Sciences and Engineering, Arts and Sciences (the College of Liberal Arts and Jackson College), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering are made available to the faculty on the Faculty Info website at http://ase.tufts.edu/faculty-info.

Student Attendance at Faculty Meetings
Attendance by students at faculty meetings is permitted in accordance with the policy voted by the faculty in May 1973, inviting those student spokespersons noted below to attend and to participate in all meetings of the faculty, except during consideration of matters of a confidential nature as determined by faculty vote. Students may not vote, but may be recognized by the chair. Specified student spokespersons include members of the Tufts Community Union Senate, two representatives of the student newspapers (one from The Observer and one from The Tufts Daily), and any student who petitions to the Secretary of the Faculty regarding a presentation at a faculty meeting. Students are not permitted to bring tape recorders to faculty meetings, nor will they be allowed to address the faculty unless they so petitioned and had been granted approval to speak at a particular meeting.

Faculty Committees

Standing committees of the faculties are described in the several bylaws. They include both elected and appointed committees, the latter being appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the appropriate faculty bodies as the Committee on Committees. There are also ad hoc committees appointed each year by the President, Provost, or the Deans of the Schools A&S and/or Engineering. Procedures for the nomination and election of faculty to the elected committees are outlined in the Bylaws of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering and in the Governance Manual.

A list of all committees and their memberships is distributed to the faculty in the fall term of each year. The bylaws provide for student membership on most faculty committees, provided that faculty always constitute the majority of any such committee. Annual reports of the faculty committees are distributed to the faculty prior to the last meeting of the appropriate faculty for each year, and time is allowed on the agenda of that meeting for comments and questions regarding the reports.

The following are elected standing committees of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering:

Budget and Priorities Committee
Committee on Committees
Executive Committee
Faculty Advisory Board for Administration
Grievance Panel
Tenure and Promotion Committee

The following are appointed standing committees of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering, listed in the order they appear in the Bylaws of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering:

Committee on Educational Policy
Subcommittee on Foreign Programs
Subcommittee on Specific Learning Disabilities
Committee on the Library
Committee on Student Life
Committee on Athletics
Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid
Committee on the Summer School
Committee on Computer Facilities and Usage
Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity
Advisory Committee on Faculty Research, Support and Facilities
Committee on Faculty Research Awards
Committee on Campus Planning and Development
Academic Awards Committee

Each of the Associated Schools has its own standing committees.

Faculty Participation in Trustee Meetings and Committees

Students and faculty, as well as alumni, may, upon invitation of the Board of Trustees, participate as non-voting members on the following Trustee standing committees: Trustee Committee on Administration and Finance; Trustee Committee on University Advancement and Trustee Academic Affairs Committee. Faculty participants are recommended by the Executive Committee.

POLICY ON NON-DISCRIMINATION
Read the full text of Tufts' Policy on non-discrimination.

POLICY ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Read the full text of Tufts' Policy on affirmative action (PDF).

POLICY ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Read the full text of Tufts' Policy on Sexual Harassment and procedure for grievance.

POLICY ON CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIPS
Read the full text of Tufts' Policy on Consensual Relationships.

POLICY ON STALKING
Read the full text of Tufts' Policy on Stalking (PDF).

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT/SECTION 504 POLICY
Read the full text of Tufts' Americans with Disabilities Act/Sectin 504 Policy (PDF).

SEXUAL ASSAULT POLICY
Read the full text of Tufts' Sexual Assault Policy (PDF).

>> Return to the Faculty Handbook Index page

Tufts University | Arts, Sciences & Engineering | Faculty Meetings Home