Guidelines for Scheduling Faculty Governance Committee Meetings

Regular and predictable meeting times are of great benefit to the governance process:

• Senate committees and subcommittees are representative bodies, therefore constituencies benefit from predictable access to meetings.
• Faculty deciding whether to participate in faculty governance benefit from knowing specific days and times of meetings in advance so they can adjust their class and work schedules.
• Predictable meeting schedules facilitate moving items through the governance structure.
• Scheduling meeting space requires a longer timeline.
• Linking the timing of subcommittee schedules to standing committee schedules facilitates moving items through faculty governance.

After careful discussion, S&F decided guidelines for committee chairs might be helpful:

• Faculty governance meeting schedules should be maintained at fixed dates and times.
• While meetings can be cancelled when not needed, the frequency and timing should remain consistent.
• Scheduling through the Senate Analyst facilitates the sequencing of meetings and scheduling of rooms.
• The calendar should advance past the weeks of Thanksgiving and Spring Break, keeping meetings in cycle with related meetings (e.g., FSAC the same week as Senate, ExCom on opposite weeks from Senate, etc.).
• Meeting schedules should be included in the call for election nominations, so that candidates can adjust their schedules accordingly.

Created in Spring 2013