Governance Document 
COLLEGE of EDUCATION and HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
GOVERNANCE CONSTITUTION
PREAMBLE
This constitution provides for appropriate participation in the governance of the USM College of Education and Human Development and establishes the governance roles and responsibilities of the Dean, faculty leaders, councils, and committees in the College. Additional operating details and procedures are found in the appendices. Nothing within this constitution shall be construed as granting to the faculty, students, professional staff, classified staff, or any governance body the authority to act outside the policies of the University of Southern Maine. The College of Education and Human Development is referenced in this document as “the College” and “CEHD.”
ARTICLE I: DEFINITIONS AND ORIGINATION
Section 1
Name. The official name of the College shall be the College of Education and Human Development.
Section 2
Faculty. All faculty members in the rank of lecturer or higher and holding regular appointments in the College of Education and Human Development, including the Dean, are members of the College, and have voting privileges as outlined in this document.
Professional Staff. All professional staff members holding regular appointments in the College of Education and Human Development are members of the College and have voting privileges on select committees and decisions as outlined in this document.
Classified Staff. All classified staff members holding regular appointments in the College of Education and Human Development are members of the College and have voting privileges on select committees and decisions as outlined in this document.
Adjunct Faculty. Adjunct faculty appointments are recommended by departments and approved by the Dean. Adjunct faculty do not have CEHD voting privileges, but may be entitled to departmental decision-making if approved by the departments. Adjunct faculty are welcome to participate in departmental meetings.
Part-time Faculty. The rights and privileges of the part-time faculty are outlined in the UMS Part-time Faculty Association (PATFA) agreement. Part-time faculty do not have CEHD or departmental voting privileges. Part-time faculty are welcome to participate in departmental meetings.
Section 3
Formation. Proposals for the establishment, change, or discontinuance of the College of Education and Human Development shall be initiated by a 2/3 majority vote of the collective faculty, professional staff, and classified staff who are supported by the university base budget. Such proposals shall then be referred to the Faculty Senate for a recommendation to the President of the University.
ARTICLE II: ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Section 1
Authority. The College of Education and Human Development is responsible for developing policies and recommendations that promote the quality and coordination of its programs and services. The College works collaboratively with other USM units, councils, and committees, including but not limited to the Professional Education Council and the Graduate Council, to promote understanding of and compliance with program accreditation standards.
Personnel Actions. The College of Education and Human Development shall make personnel decisions according to the policies and procedures established by the faculty and approved by the Dean, in accordance with University policies and collective bargaining agreements.
Programs. The College of Education and Human Development creates and maintains degree and certificate programs that are appropriate to its mission. Programs are established within the framework of centrality of mission, quality of the program, and level of demand. All decisions regarding the creation or discontinuance of academic programs will be initiated or acted upon with the recommendation of the program faculty. Program approval and discontinuance actions must be in keeping with the operational structure provisions of this document, and must be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the College faculty. Initiation or elimination of a concentration within the program is reviewed by the Curriculum Committee and either acted upon or referred to the CEHD faculty for a formal vote.
Curriculum. The College of Education and Human Development establishes curriculum policies and procedures in conformity with University policy, relevant accreditation standards, and oversight and review by the CEHD Curriculum Committee and the Dean. All course and curriculum changes affecting certification in programs overseen by the College shall be reviewed by the Curriculum Committee and approved by the Dean. Course or program changes involving additional funds require the Dean’s approval. Course or program changes substantially affecting the College’s curriculum but not having financial implications also require the Dean’s approval; however, the decision of the Dean may be submitted to the faculty for reconsideration and in such cases, a two-thirds majority vote of the faculty is determining. College curriculum decisions affecting other schools, colleges, or independent degree programs shall be promptly reported by the Dean to all other Deans and Directors and to the Chair of the Faculty Senate. Curricular changes affecting initial teacher certification must be approved by the Professional Education Council. When the scope of a decision extends beyond an individual school or college, the decision is subject to review by the Faculty Senate and/or the Graduate Council, as appropriate, and/or the affected schools or colleges.
Admissions. The faculty in the various programs in the College of Education and Human Development shall determine the admissions criteria for CEHD’s academic programs, in accord with USM’s policies. Faculty and staff shall collaboratively determine admissions procedures. Such criteria must be in keeping with accreditation or credentialing standards for programs in the College, be reviewed by the Admissions and Retention Committee, and be approved by the Dean.
ARTICLE III: ORGANIZATION, OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE, AND BYLAWS
Section 1: Organization
The College of Education and Human Development shall organize itself to carry out its mission and goals. The CEHD is organized into three departments, entitled Human Resource Development, Professional Education, and Teacher Education, and partnerships, centers, and other such externally-funded projects that complement the mission of the College. Each of the departments has a chairperson, elected by the department and approved by the Dean. Programs within departments are administered by coordinators who also work cooperatively with department chairs to facilitate the orderly conducting of departmental business. Directors are named by the dean to oversee specific projects or centers that fall under the auspices of the College.
The governance of teacher education, in particular, is accomplished within a climate of cooperation and collegiality that assures involvement of teacher educators throughout the university, public school educators, and professionals in the Maine Department of Education.
As head of the unit, the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development has overall academic and administrative responsibility for programs and personnel in the College.
The Associate Dean is generally responsible for academic administration in the College, including issues of governance and accreditation.
The Director of Teacher Education provides leadership for teacher education programs leading to initial certification and manages state program approval and national accreditation.
The Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration manages the budget and oversees the logistical, technical, procedural, and student services operations of the College.
The Assistant to the Dean/Coordinator of Scheduling provides support for the Dean and manages the academic programs’ course schedules.
The Coordinator of Student Affairs provides leadership for student services, including promotion of academic programs, student advocacy, and support for student recruitment and retention.
Departments are established according to the USM Governance Constitution, whereby they consist of full-time faculty in the rank of lecturer or higher in a field or fields of scholarship or teaching, and are assigned responsibility for the programs in a discipline or related disciplines. Departments shall create their own governance and operational policies and procedures, in keeping with this document, policies adopted by the CEHD faculty, and the USM Governance Constitution. Curriculum, program standards, admissions procedures, advising, operational guidelines, and personnel recommendations regarding initial faculty appointment, mid-appointment reviews, sabbatical applications, post-tenure reviews, and emeritus/a status shall be the responsibility of the program and its department, in accord with this document and University policies.
A Department Chair shall be appointed by the Dean following nomination by the department, in accordance with provisions of the collective bargaining agreement and the USM University Governance Constitution. A job description for department chairs shall be made available to faculty. Besides the chair, departments may create such officers and committees as it deems necessary, and may delegate to them academic and administrative responsibilities.
Program Coordinators are chosen by the appointed faculty in the respective programs, with the approval of the CEHD Dean. Program coordinator responsibilities are determined by the program faculty, in keeping with this document and the USM University Governance Constitution. Job descriptions for Program Coordinators are developed by the program faculty.
Centers and other special projects exist in the College to address its mission and foster the integration of its core values. Such units are recommended by program faculty and approved by the Dean and other relevant university leaders. Such groups create their own policies and procedures for governance and operations, in accord with this document and the University Governance Constitution. Centers and other special projects currently affiliated with the College are listed on the CEHD website.
Section 2: Operational Structure
College-wide meetings of the Faculty and Staff are convened by the Dean to conduct affairs affecting the total College community.
The College-wide Faculty meet regularly to attend to College governance issues requiring faculty input or decision making, information exchange, updates on programmatic and administrative activities, examination of issues affecting faculty, professional development, and selection of faculty representatives to University-level committees. Faculty meetings are chaired by a faculty member selected by the faculty.
Department faculty are convened by department chairs for regular meetings to conduct the business of departments. Each department, sitting as a committee of the whole, acts as the Department Peer Committee for developing recommendations to the Dean regarding initial appointment of faculty, mid-appointment faculty reviews, sabbatical applications, post-tenure reviews, and emeritus/a status.
Meetings of the Classified and Professional Staff (CPS) of the College provide a forum for professional development, information exchange, updates on programmatic and administrative activities, examination of issues affecting staff, and selection of staff representatives to College and University committees.
The Leadership Council is convened by the Dean for discussion of College policies, procedures, operations, and new initiatives as well as College responses to or involvement in University issues and decisions. The Council is composed of Department Chairs, Associate Dean, Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration, Director of Teacher Education, Director of the Professional Development Center, and the Classified and Professional Staff (CPS) chair. Meetings are open to all members of the College.
Program Coordinators are convened by the Dean as needed to discuss program plans, priorities, and concerns.
Standing committees of the College conduct affairs related to their stated purposes as described in the Article III, Section 3: Bylaws.
Ad hoc committees shall be created for periods not to exceed two years in length for the purpose of addressing urgent or situational needs within the College.
Advisory committees are created to assist CEHD faculty and staff with assessment of needs, identification of priorities, and evaluation of effectiveness.
The Professional Education Council is an advisory group with two purposes: (a) it reviews and recommends to the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development policies and procedures, curriculum changes, and evaluation studies related to initial teacher education at the University of Southern Maine; and (b) it provides a forum for communication and coordination between initial and advanced programs leading to professional credentials for K-12 schools. Chaired by the Director of Teacher Education, the Council is composed of the faculty coordinators for each program and three representatives of partner school districts and/or community agencies, one selected by each department. The Council meets as needed but at least three times annually. The Dean of the College of Education and Human Development (or designee), the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (or designee), and the Director of the Professional Development Center are ex officio members.
Section 3: Bylaws
Leadership
The Dean is the chief academic and administrative officer of the College of Education and Human Development and is expected to provide leadership in all areas of the College’s operations. The Dean also serves as the unit head for all initial teacher education programs in the university. In the rare situations when the Dean will be absent and unavailable, and when CEHD leadership action may be required, the Associate Dean will assume that leadership role. If neither the Dean nor the Associate Dean is able to act in such a leadership capacity, the Dean shall appoint a faculty member to assume such leadership responsibility.
Meetings within the College
The Dean convenes meetings of the College-wide Faculty and Staff as needed but generally at least once a semester for discussion of issues and initiatives affecting the College community.
Faculty: College-wide meetings of the faculty are convened and facilitated by the Faculty Chair. The Faculty Chair is elected by the faculty for a two-year term (renewable). The Faculty Chair is responsible for organizing and distributing the agenda of faculty meetings with input from the faculty and the Dean, ensuring that minutes are taken and disseminated to the faculty and the Dean; soliciting and verifying nominations of faculty to the Faculty Senate and various University committees, ensuring that faculty votes are taken and recorded, organizing and sending ballots as needed to all eligible faculty, and determining the outcome of voting and balloting by majority vote of the eligible voters.
CPS: The Classified and Professional Staff (CPS) meet as needed but generally monthly. The meetings are facilitated by a member selected by the membership. The Assistant Dean serves as Dean’s Office liaison to the CPS and has voting privileges. CPS fills classified and professional staff positions on standing committees of the College.
Leadership Council: The Dean convenes meetings of the Leadership Council as needed but generally monthly during the academic year. Meetings are open to all members of CEHD.
Program Coordinators: The Dean convenes Program Coordinators as needed but at least once a year.
Standing Committees of the College meet as needed but at least once each semester. The chair of the committee convenes and facilitates the meeting and ensures that minutes are taken and disseminated. The chair is elected by the committee membership unless otherwise stipulated in the descriptions below. The following Standing Committees are established to conduct the business of the College of Education and Human Development:
1. Admissions and Retention Committee
A. Membership: Coordinator of Student Affairs(Chair); a representative of the Office of Graduate Admissions, a faculty member from each CEHD department, two CPS representatives (one professional staff, one classified staff); one CEHD student. Additional members may be added by request of the committee and consent of the Dean.
B. Committee Responsibilities: Examine policies, procedures, and resources for the recruiting and admission of students; review current practices and recommend (to the appropriate body) procedural guidelines for advising and retention matters, College-level appeals procedures relating to admissions, review program admissions criteria and procedures and make recommendations to the Dean and other relevant governing bodies.
2. College Peer Committee
A. Membership: Six tenured faculty members, two selected from each of the three departments of CEHD. At least three members must hold the rank of professor. The CEHD faculty strongly encourages departments to insure that committee members represent the diversity of the faculty. Members of the committee serve staggered, three-year terms.
B. Committee Responsibilities: Conduct peer reviews of CEHD faculty who are seeking re-appointment, tenure, and/or promotion, and recommend action to the Dean. The committee also makes recommendations to the faculty regarding faculty review procedures, policies, and standards and serves in an advisory capacity to all faculty regarding tenure and promotion standards and protocol. Specific procedures for faculty review are outlined in the CEHD Procedures for Faculty Review document.
3. Committee for Digital Collaboration, Learning, and Teaching
A. Membership: One faculty member from each department; one professional staff member; one classified staff member; one CEHD student. A representative of the Center for Technology-Enhanced Learning and a representative from Instructional Technology unit are invited to serve as ex officio members.
B. Committee Responsibilities: Support and promote pedagogically sound uses of technology in a collaborative environment; digital learning and teaching; professional learning; institutional collaboration; and strategic vision, planning, and innovation.
4. Curriculum Committee
A. Membership: One faculty member from each department; Director of the Professional Development Center; one CEHD student; a representative from the Dean’s Office (ex officio).
B. Committee Responsibilities: Recommend to the Dean the approval or disapproval of proposed courses (including course titles, course descriptions, credits, CEHD core values or core practices, goals and outcomes) and course eliminations; review proposals for development of new programs or changes in or elimination of existing programs, and recommend action to the Dean.
5. Faculty Development Committee
A. Membership: One faculty member from each department. A staff member serves in an ex officio role, providing support to the committee.
B. Committee Responsibilities: The primary purpose of the FDC is to promote and support faculty development. It does so by: a) coordinating faculty development opportunities; b) distributing faculty development resources; c) awarding funding for graduate assistantships; d) coordinating selection of faculty for Faculty Senate awards and other university-wide faculty recognitions; and e) communicating all FDC decisions to faculty colleagues.
6. Libra Committee
A. Membership: One faculty member from each department, one professional staff member, one CEHD student, and one member from the community-at-large. A member of the Dean’s staff serves as liaison to the Dean’s Office. Additional members may be added by request of the committee and consent of the Dean.
B. Committee Responsibilities: Review the standards and priorities by which Libra Scholars will be chosen; identify potential themes that may be addressed by Libra Scholars that respond to College-wide needs and issues; recruit, review and propose to the Dean candidates for Libra Scholars; coordinate the schedules and logistical plans for Libra Scholars; collaborate with the Dean on budgetary issues related to Libra Scholar visits; provide leadership for the College in promoting and using the expertise of the Libra Scholars; evaluate the impact and generally oversee the quality of the Libra Scholar Program within the College.
7. Multicultural Learning Collaborative
A. Membership: One faculty member from each department; two CPS representatives; one CEHD student; one liaison from the Dean's Office. Additional members may be added by request of the committee and consent of the Dean. Meetings are open to all faculty, professional and classified staff, and CEHD students.
B. Committee Responsibilities: Guide the College-wide efforts to educate ourselves, our students, and the larger community about diversity; develop a more diverse curriculum; increase the diversity of our students, staff, and faculty; oversee the development, implementation, and evaluation of the CEHD Diversity Plan, solicit and review applications for Diversity Scholar and make recommendations to the Dean on appointment of Diversity Scholar.
C. MLC Advisory Board. Consists of members from the larger community who deal with multicultural issues. This group’s function is to serve an advisory/consulting capacity to the MLC and meets three times per year. All MLC members should attend each board meeting.
8. Professional Development Center Steering Committee
A. Membership: One faculty member from each CEHD department; one CEHD faculty member-at-large; three representatives from schools and/or human resource agencies (with geographic representation); Director of the Southern Maine Partnership; Director of the PDC (Chair); and a representative from the CEHD Dean’s Office (ex-officio). All members (except ex-officio) have voting status. Departmental representatives are elected by their departments. The CEHD faculty member-at-large are elected by the CEHD faculty. Nominations for the schools and agency representatives are made by the Steering Committee. Appointments are for renewable three-year terms.
B. Committee Responsibilities: Develop policies and procedures to connect the PDC with the program goals of the CEHD departments and other PDC stakeholders; assess the staff development needs of schools and targeted human services agencies; recommend programs and services to meet regional professional development needs; review courses, workshops, and institutes offered through the PDC; review qualitative assessments of PDC programs and services; assist in long-range planning for the PDC; promote PDC’s outreach mission in regional schools and agencies; and conduct an annual review of the Steering Committee’s mission and responsibilities.
9. Scholarship and Awards Committee
A. Membership: One faculty from each department; Coordinator of Student Affairs (chair).
B. Committee Responsibilities: Develop financial aid initiatives in CEHD; oversee application process for and the awarding of CEHD scholarships, including professional development funding for students; assist the chair with the development and management of scholarship funding opportunities.
Quorum and Voting
(See Article II: Academic Affairs for information on authority, personnel actions, programs, and curriculum.)
1. Business (including information sharing, discussion, motions, and debate) conducted by the College of Education and Human Development, its councils, committees, and constituent groups, excluding the Classified Profession Staff (CPS), requires at least a 35% quorum of eligible participants.
2. The CPS committee shall require a quorum to be the total of its committee members present at any scheduled meeting.
3. Formal motions in all College, council, and committee meetings require a simple majority (at least 51%) of votes cast, unless otherwise stipulated in this document.
4. College-wide policy decisions (those that affect the actions of CEHD programs, faculty, staff and students) require formal approval. A policy motion must be sent (in writing) to all faculty and/or staff who are eligible to vote on the policy at least 15 days prior to the vote. If a quorum is present, 20% of the eligible personnel in an authorized College meeting may vote to require a mailed ballot with a 15-day return deadline. If a quorum is not present at a meeting that includes a vote on a proposed motion, a ballot will be distributed via campus mail, with a 15-day return deadline.
5. Proxy votes are acceptable for policy decisions (and other formal votes as stipulated above) if they are submitted in writing or via e-mail, indicating whether in favor or not in favor of the motion, and the proxy vote is verified by the voting faculty or staff member.
Minutes and Annual Reporting
1. Official minutes shall be kept of all meetings of the College, councils, and committees. When feasible, minutes of CEHD, Executive Council, Professional Education Council, Faculty Development Committee, and Curriculum Committee meetings shall be made available to all faculty and staff in the college. Copies of all minutes shall be kept by the Dean's office for a minimum of five years, or as long as historical documentation is needed for CEHD governance and operations. Councils and committees may choose to elect a recorder or secretary to keep minutes and transmit official correspondence of the groups.
2. Each unit of the College (departments, standing committees, centers, institutes, special project groups) shall transmit an annual written report to the Office of the Dean. This report includes a summary of activities as well as recommended future business.
Amendments
This governance document may be amended by a majority vote of the combined faculty, professional staff, and classified staff, as identified in Article 1, Section 2. Amendments must be proposed in writing and mailed to all faculty and staff at least 15 calendar days prior to the vote during the regular academic year. Amendments take effect immediately upon passage. Notice of all amendments shall be transmitted to the USM Faculty Senate and to the university's chief academic officer.
Publication
This governance document shall be made available to all faculty and staff in the College of Education and Human Development, including all new faculty and staff being hired or appointed after the document's effective date.
5/23/96 ; Adopted July 1, 1996.
Revised: 6/98, 10/00, 11/00, 12/08
