The college of education in a land grant institution carries a special commitment to fulfill educational needs within the local community, the state, the nation, and in the global arena. The College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, established in 1905, is dedicated to excellence in teaching, scholarship, service, and public engagement, and to the principles of academic freedom, democratic governance, and embracing diversity in the formulation and implementation of educational policies.
Written as a supplement to the University of Illinois Statutes (hereafter, Statutes), these bylaws are intended to provide a framework for the effective conduct of College activities. Specifically, the bylaws are written, consistent with the Statutes, to further (I) define the rights and responsibilities of the dean, (II) define the rights and responsibilities of the associate deans; (III) define members, rights, and responsibilities of the faculty and specialized faculty, (IV) guide the appointment/election of committees and other faculty groups, and (V) establish roles and responsibilities of departments and units within the College.
Building on more than a century of tradition in preparing new generations of citizens, learners, and workers, the College of Education has the mission:
A. The Dean is the chief executive officer of the College and is responsible for its administration. The Dean is also the agent of the faculty and is responsible for the execution of College policies. The duties of the Dean are specified in the Statutes (Article 3, Section 3) and in these bylaws.
B. As defined by the Statutes, the Dean shall be reappointed annually by the Board of Trustees acting on the recommendation of the Provost, who is the Chancellor’s designee in these matters. The College Executive Committee will advise the Provost in this matter.
C. Among other responsibilities as defined in the Statutes (Article 3, Section 3d), the Dean shall recommend the appointment, reappointment, non-reappointment, and promotion of members of the academic staff. As described in Section IIIA below, the Dean shall decide on such recommendations in consultation with the College Executive Committee. If the Dean’s recommendation is not approved by the Provost and Chancellor, the Dean may present the recommendation to the President, and if not approved by the President, the Dean with the consent of the Board of Trustees, may present the recommendation in person before the Board of Trustees.
D. To carry out the business of the College, the Dean shall have the right to create, appoint, and dissolve standing and ad hoc committees after consultation with the College Executive Committee
E. The Dean shall meet regularly with department chairs and unit heads (a body referred to as the Committee of Department Executives (CoDE) to expedite the administrative work of the College. The Dean may invite to such meetings other administrators, faculty, and students to discuss specific administrative problems or issues. The Dean shall set the agenda for each meeting and maintain a record of matters discussed.
F. Any powers not delegated to the Dean in the Statutes and these bylaws are reserved to the faculty.
G. The performance of the Dean shall be evaluated every five years. The review process begins with a discussion between the Dean and the Provost. This discussion can be used to raise specific issues that the Dean and/or the Provost would like to explore during the review and will also provide a forum for an overall survey of the process and timelines of the review. The Dean’s Evaluation Committee (DEC) is constituted according to the College Bylaws and charged by the Provost, in consultation with the College Executive Committee. The DEC consists of six members selected by the College Executive Committee, all of whom are associate and full tenured professors. The DEC must be constituted such that it contains at least (a) one faculty member from every department, none of whom reports administratively to the Dean, and (b) one member from the College Executive Committee. The chair of the DEC shall be an administrator whose appointment is outside of the College of Education and is appointed by the Provost. The DEC is responsible for (a) identifying participants in the review process and for identifying optimal methods for engaging them in this process, (b) determining the methods of gathering information from the participants in the review process, and (c) reporting its findings to the Provost in a written summary. The evaluation process and reporting should follow the guidelines in Provost Communication No. 24.
A. Associate Deans are chosen by the Dean, in consultation with the College Executive Committee, typically after a search process that may be a purely internal search. Assistant Deans are identified in a search process and chosen by their respective hiring managers. On the recommendation of the Dean, the Provost, and the Chancellor, the President may appoint Assistant or Associate Deans as required.
B. Associate Deans are appointed for three-year terms, subject to reappointment by the Dean. As part of this reappointment process, each Associate Dean will be reviewed every three years, in the fall, before their consideration for reappointment. These reviews will be conducted by college committees with expertise in the areas represented by each Associate Dean (for example, the College Research Committee will conduct the review of the Associate Dean for Research).
C. As part of this formal review process, each Associate Dean will complete a self-assessment report, listing their accomplishments during their term and their proposed plans for activities if they are reappointed. This report will be shared with the review committee and the Dean.
D. As part of this formal review process, the review committee will also solicit confidential and anonymous comments from all faculty in the college, and any other constituency whose input they believe is pertinent to the review (for example, in some cases, students).
E. The review committee will submit their report to the Dean as advice.
F. Assistant Deans are normally academic professionals, they are appointed for various terms, and their evaluations are conducted by their hiring managers.
In this document “faculty” shall mean both tenure system faculty and specialized faculty unless otherwise specified.
The College Executive Committee will consist of seven faculty members, of which no more than three shall be from one department. Each department will elect a tenure system representative with an electorate determined by department bylaws. The remaining College Executive Committee members will be elected at large through a College-wide vote of the faculty in the Spring semester. Two at-large seats shall be held by tenure system faculty and one at-large seat shall be held by specialized faculty. The College Executive Committee represents the voices and concerns of the College of Education faculty in college deliberations. The College Executive Committee is the primary advisory committee to the Dean of the College and shall transact such business as may be delegated to it by the faculty and the Statutes. At the beginning of each academic year, the College Executive Committee shall elect a tenure system faculty moderator who will, with the agreement of the Dean, conduct College Executive Committee meetings, and in consultation with the Dean, prepare its agenda. The Dean is an ex-officio member and chair of the College Executive Committee.
a. The new members of the Executive Committee of the College of Education and three alternate members to replace members who become ineligible for service shall be elected annually for two twelve-month terms. The terms will be staggered to ensure that experienced members will serve on the College Executive Committee at all times. All voting faculty members shall be eligible for membership on the Committee. Service on the College Executive Committee while on sabbatical or other leave of absence will not be permitted. If possible, the election will be held after the approval of the next year’s sabbaticals. Members who go on leave will be replaced by alternates, starting with the alternate with the highest number of votes, for the period of the leave. Should members go on leave or otherwise become ineligible for service in numbers that exceed available alternates, additional committee members will be elected in a separate election.
i. All department heads and chairs and assistant and associate deans shall be omitted from consideration since (1) they already serve in advisory positions and since (2) their exclusion gives a broader advisory base for staff not in administrative positions. The President, the Chancellor, and the Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs also shall be omitted from consideration.
ii. Service on the College Executive Committee shall be limited to two consecutive terms, with further service being possible after at least one year’s absence from membership.
iii. The ballot for election of the at-large members to membership on the College Executive Committee will include each eligible staff member’s rank, departmental affiliation(s), and the number of consecutive years (if any) he/she has served, to the present date, on the College Executive Committee.
iv. The College Executive Committee shall hold regular meetings during the academic year. During the summer months, the College Executive Committee will be available as needed to advise the Dean.
a. The Dean shall seek advice from College Executive Committee on all matters of importance to the College, including those related to policy, administration, budget, management, and personnel (except those delegated to the College’s Promotion and Tenure Committee and Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee).
b. The College Executive Committee may invite representatives of departments and units to participate in College Executive Committee meetings when issues warrant.
c. The College Executive Committee must consider an issue or question presented in a petition signed by ten members of the college community (i.e., tenure system faculty, specialized faculty, staff, and students).
d. All College Executive Committee meetings are open except when specific personnel matters are being considered.
e. The agenda and minutes of each College Executive Committee meeting shall be disseminated to the faculty electronically in a timely manner. Actions taken by the Executive Committee with regard to specific personnel decisions will be excluded.
a. The Grievance Committee shall be elected annually in the Spring semester and consist of three members of the tenure system faculty and two alternates (elected by the tenure system faculty); one member of the specialized faculty and one alternate (elected by the specialized faculty); one graduate student and one alternate (elected by the enrolled graduate students); and one undergraduate student and one alternate (elected by the enrolled undergraduate students). The faculty members who receive the consecutive highest numbers of votes will serve as committee members and alternates. The chair of the College Grievance Committee will be a tenured faculty member selected by the members of the Grievance Committee.
b. Should a member of the College Grievance Committee resign or have a conflict of interest with the potential grievance, he/she will be replaced by an alternate to serve in the adjudication of the specific grievance under consideration.
The College Grievance Committee shall hear grievances submitted from faculty and students when all attempts at informal resolution and/or departmental level procedures are exhausted. The CGC will adhere to the procedures stated in the College’s Grievance Policy and Procedures.
The College Promotion and Tenure Committee will consist of seven tenured full professors. Each department will select one representative and the three remaining members will be elected at large through a College-wide vote in the Spring semester. One tenured full professor per College department will be appointed to the committee by each department executive, in consultation with the department’s faculty advisory committee. If no full professor is eligible in the Department, the Department may appoint a full professor from another appropriate Department. Additionally, three tenure system faculty members will be elected as member-at-large from the College’s tenure system full professors. In the event there are not enough eligible full professors for these three to be from separate departments, an exception may be made to allow two of these from the same department (resulting in three from the same department on the overall committee). Department executives and associate deans are not eligible to serve on the Promotion and Tenure Committee. Members on the Promotion and Tenure Committee will serve staggered terms of two twelve-month terms with no individual serving more than three consecutive terms. The Promotion and Tenure Committee will elect a chair from among its members.
a. The College Promotion and Tenure Committee is an advisory committee to the Dean, which reviews and votes on the dossiers of tenure system faculty being considered for promotion and/or tenure each year. Promotion dossiers are prepared at the department level. The Dean will meet with the College Promotion and Tenure Committee as an ex officio member to listen to the conversations regarding promotion cases.
b. Tenure system faculty members who serve on the College Promotion and Tenure Committee cannot vote at multiple levels. Therefore, members of the College Promotion and Tenure Committee will be recused from voting on cases from their home department, so that they may participate at the departmental level in the preparation and evaluation of dossiers.
i. Exception: In cases where the candidate has a joint appointment spanning two or more departments within the College, only the tenure home department will participate at the department level in the preparation and evaluation of dossiers, allowing the other department(s) to maintain participation at the college level.
c. Only the members of the College Promotion and Tenure Committee physically present or participating through synchronous electronic communications for candidate discussions, and being informed by that discussion, are eligible to vote.
d. In third-year review cases where the result of the departmental review is a notice of non-reappointment, all third-year review materials, along with a letter from the department executive explaining the reasons for the decision, will be submitted to the College Promotion and Tenure Committee for review and a separate vote. In cases where the department vote and the College Promotion and Tenure Committee vote differ, the matter will be forwarded to the Dean for a final resolution.
The College Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee will consist of seven members, of which no more than two shall be from any one department. Four members will be tenured associate or full professors appointed to the committee by each department executive, in consultation with the department’s faculty advisory committee. Additionally, three specialized faculty members will be elected as members-at-large from the College’s specialized faculty in the Spring semester. For the purposes of nomination and voting, the specialized faculty of the College with a 50% or greater appointment will serve as a single electorate. Preference in this voting should be given to specialized faculty who have reached the rank of “Full.” Department heads/chairs and associate deans are not eligible to serve on the College Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee. Members on the College Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee will serve staggered terms of two twelve-month terms with no individual serving more than three consecutive terms. The College Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee will elect a chair from among its members.
a. Faculty members who serve on the College Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee cannot vote at multiple levels. Therefore, members of the College Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee will be recused from voting on cases from their home department, so that they may participate at the departmental level in the preparation and evaluation of dossiers.
b. Only the members of the College Specialized Faculty Promotion Committee physically present or participating through synchronous electronic communications for candidate discussions, and being informed by that discussion, are eligible to vote.
The standing committees of the College are classified as advisory committees or working committees. Advisory committees evaluate existing policies, propose new policies, advise the Dean or other administrative officers, and report their activities to appropriate groups as requested. Working committees are assigned specific duties or projects which are essential to the governance and administration of the College. Standing committees shall be appointed annually by the Dean, and responsibilities, duties, and outcomes shall be established by the Dean in consultation with the College Executive Committee.
Ad hoc committees are committees that may be appointed for a one-year period with the possibility of successive one-year reappointments. Such committees shall be charged with specific responsibilities by the appointing group. Ad hoc committees may be appointed by the Dean or formed by the College Executive Committee, and responsibilities, duties, and outcomes shall be established by the Dean or College Executive Committee.
Departments are the primary units of education and administration within the College.
Any person entitled to vote at a faculty meeting may propose an amendment to these bylaws. Proposed amendments shall be distributed at least seven days prior to a faculty meeting, be discussed at the faculty meeting, and voted on by electronic ballot. Passage shall require a 2/3 majority vote of the voting faculty. The Dean shall initiate a review of the College of Education bylaws at least once every five years.