Membership in the Academic Faculty of Georgia Tech is defined as those for whom an essential part of their job responsibility is enhancing, leading, developing, and delivering undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs.  It is understood that Academic Faculty members are also often significantly involved in leading, developing, and delivering research.  Membership in the Academic Faculty shall be determined solely on the basis of the position held within the Institute. Titles included shall be consistent with Board of Regents policies for faculty membership and limited to positions with direct involvement in meeting student academic needs.

A list of titles included in the membership of the Academic Faculty shall be maintained by the President’s Office and posted on a website accessible to the Georgia Tech community.  Corrections, additions, or deletions from this list shall only be made with the approval of the Faculty Executive Board and the President.

Persons affected by such a change shall be notified.  Deletion of particular titles from a list of faculty titles may be appealed to the Faculty Executive Board within 60 days of notification of an affected faculty member and a hearing requested. Such appeals will only address the status of particular titles. Questions about the titles held by individuals and their faculty status should be addressed to their unit and the Office of Human Resources.  If there are persons who no longer have Faculty status after a change in the lists of Faculty titles, those persons shall remain entitled to rates of leave accrual available to them in their prior status.

Eligibility for participation in Faculty governance shall follow the guidelines set out in Section 2.

Student Delegates
The Students shall be represented without vote by the President of the Undergraduate Student Body and the President of the Graduate Student Body.

Powers

• Formulate and develop comprehensive educational policies and regulations.
• Define and establish Institute-wide policies on academic matters, including admission policy, grading standards, and the requirements to be met by the candidates for the various degrees.
• Establish the Standing Committees herein defined and such temporary committees as may be needed to conduct its business in an orderly and efficient manner.
• Consider all candidates for degrees and recommend to the President that the appropriate degree be conferred on each approved candidate.
• Recommend through the President to the Board of Regents the establishment, modification, or discontinuance of degrees, of departments of instruction and of colleges; and the establishment, modification, or discontinuance of centers which function to coordinate interdisciplinary educational and research programs.
• Consider proposed general regulations governing student conduct, all phases of student life and activities, and all forms of student organizations insofar as these matters are properly subject to the jurisdiction of the Institute. All such proposals must be approved by the Academic Faculty and the President prior to implementation.
• Rescind or modify actions of the Academic Faculty Senate.
• Make recommendations to be considered by the Research Faculty or the whole Faculty.
• Establish its rules of procedure and determine all matters pertaining to its own meetings not otherwise specified in this Handbook.

Meetings

The President shall be the presiding officer of the Academic Faculty.  The Academic Faculty shall meet at least once a year, in the Spring semester. The time of meeting shall be determined by the Faculty Executive Board. One hundred (100) members present at a scheduled or properly called meeting shall constitute a quorum.  Special meetings may be called on the President’s own volition or shall be called by the President on petition of fifty (50) members to the President, or on the recommendation of the Faculty Executive Board.  In such special meetings the matters considered shall be restricted to those listed in the call for the meeting.

In the President’s absence, the Provost shall preside.  In the absence of both the President and the Provost, the Chair of the Faculty Executive Board shall preside. All members of the Academic Faculty shall have the right to vote.

Minutes shall be kept by the Secretary of the Faculty and shall be posted online.

Presidential Veto
The President shall have the power of veto over any action of the Academic Faculty. The President shall notify the Secretary of the Faculty, in writing, of the veto and the reasons for it, within sixty (60) days from the date of the action of the Academic Faculty.  The Academic Faculty may appeal the veto to the Board of Regents through the Chancellor by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present at a scheduled or properly called meeting. Any such appeal shall be sent via the President who shall forward it to the Board of Regents through the Chancellor.

Standing Committees
The Academic Faculty serves as the parent body to the following Standing Committees whose functions and procedures are specified in Section 2.6:

• Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
• Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee
• Student Regulations Committee
• Student Academic and Financial Affairs Committee
• Student Activities Committee
• Student Grievance and Appeal Committee
• Student Honor Committee
• Student Computer Ownership Committee
• Academic Integrity Committee

Recommendations from these committees may be approved by the Academic Faculty or by its Academic Faculty Senate.

Powers

The President shall be the presiding officer of the Academic Faculty Senate.  All members of the Academic Faculty Senate, except those expressly excluded, shall have the right to vote.  The Academic Faculty Senate may act for the Academic Faculty in all matters except the appeal of a Presidential veto of an action of the Academic Faculty in a meeting of that body.

Members

The Academic Faculty Senate shall comprise:

• Elected members of the Academic Faculty Senate subject to the provisions of ‘Distribution of Elected Representatives’, below.
• Chairs of Academic Faculty Standing Committees
• Ex officio members:
  • The President and the Provost.
  • Without the right to vote; the Vice-President of Student Life, the Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Education, the Vice-Provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development, the Deans of the Colleges and the Library, and the Registrar.
• Elected members of the Faculty Executive Board.
• Two (2) nonvoting Student delegates.

Distribution of Elected Representatives

There shall be one (1) elected representative for each twenty (20) members (rounded) of the Academic Faculty for each School, the Colleges without Schools, and components of Services and Central Administration (which includes the Libraries and other components). Aggregates of units with fewer than ten (10) members of the Academic Faculty shall be formed as required by the Faculty Executive Board.  Unit representation for terms beginning in the Fall semester shall be based on data compiled from the preceding Spring semester.

See http://www.facultygovernance.gatech.edu for a list of the current elected representatives.
 

Nomination and Election Procedures
Representatives of a School, a College, and sub-units of the Services and Central Administration of sufficient size as defined above shall be elected prior to the first meeting of the Academic Faculty Senate in the fall semester by a process to be determined by the members of that unit, except that the nominations shall be open and a secret ballot used.  Nominations and elections for remaining representatives of the aggregate units in the Services and Central Administration shall be supervised by the Faculty Executive Board.

The election of representatives shall take place annually, with approximately one-third (1/3) of the representatives being replaced each year when their terms expire.

Eligibility of Voters and Candidates
All members of the Academic Faculty shall be eligible to vote, but only in the election of representatives from their respective constituent unit.  All members of the Academic Faculty shall be eligible to be candidates for election to the Academic Faculty Senate except:

• Ex officio members of the Academic Faculty Senate;
• Academic Faculty members who are presently serving as members of the Academic Faculty Senate.
• Academic Faculty members who are presently serving as members of the Faculty Executive Board, including those who are finishing a term at the time of the election.

Terms of Office
A representative shall be elected for a three (3)-year term.  Representatives may not serve consecutive terms. 

Filling Vacancies
If a representative resigns, takes leave of absence, is elected to the Faculty Executive Board, or undergoes a change of assignment so that he/she no longer qualifies as a member of the unit which he/she was elected to represent, the Faculty Executive Board shall arrange for a replacement to serve the remainder of the term. Units that elect their own representatives will be asked to hold a special election.  Representatives from aggregate units will be replaced by designating the first runner-up from the most recent election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. If the first runner-up is unable or unwilling to serve, the position goes to the second runner-up, etc. If the entire slate of nominees for that position is unable or unwilling to serve, the Faculty Executive Board shall appoint an appropriate replacement to serve the remainder of the unexpired term upon recommendation of the Faculty Executive Board’s most recent Nominating Committee. 

 Meetings 
The Academic Faculty Senate shall hold at least one (1) meeting during each semester of the academic year.

A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum at a scheduled or properly called meeting.

Special meetings may be called on the President’s own volition, or shall be called by the President on petition of one-third (1/3) of the members, or upon the recommendation of the Faculty Executive Board. In such special meetings, the matters considered shall be restricted to those items listed in the call for the meeting.

In the President’s absence, the Provost shall preside. In the absence of both the President and the Provost, the Chair of the Faculty Executive Board shall preside.

The Academic Faculty Senate shall establish its rules of procedure and determine all matters pertaining to its own meetings not otherwise specified herein or determined by the Academic Faculty.

Minutes shall be kept by the Secretary of the Faculty and shall be posted online.

Presidential Veto 
The President shall have the power of veto over any action of the Academic Faculty Senate. The President shall notify the Secretary of the Faculty, in writing, of the veto and the reasons for it, within sixty (60) days from the date of the action of the Academic Faculty Senate.  The Academic Faculty Senate may appeal the veto to the Board of Regents by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present at a scheduled or properly called meeting. Any such appeal shall be sent via the President who shall forward it to the Board of Regents through the Chancellor.