1.6 Committee Structure

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The Board of Trustees and the Faculty

The Wilmington College Board of Trustees, in carrying out its responsibility as the governing body of the institution, encourages communication with faculty members in several ways. One method is to have some faculty members meet regularly with the Board of Trustees and its committees. The Wilmington College faculty, for its part, is equally interested in meaningful communication with the Board and faculty members are willing to make the time commitment necessary to achieve this communication.

Plenary Sessions: The three Faculty Conveners will be invited to all plenary sessions of the Board in an informational and advisory capacity. So far as practicable, the Faculty Conveners will receive all pertinent information supplied to Board members prior to meetings. The Faculty Conveners will be able to speak to the Board by gaining consent of the Chair prior to the meeting. At the Chair's discretion faculty representatives may be recognized for the purpose of commenting on issues under consideration.

If class schedules or other commitments preclude one or more of the Faculty Conveners from attending a plenary session, the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty in consultation with the Faculty Conveners and the Chair of the Board will invite substitutes. Depending on the specific issue(s) before the Board, other faculty members may be invited to attend a specific plenary session by the Chair of the Board. The Board reserves the right to go into executive session, during which time the Faculty Conveners and other nonmembers of the Board will not be present.

Academic Affairs Committee:  Matters of educational policy and faculty welfare will be discussed initially in the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board. Items for Board action will be conveyed to the Board by the trustee chair of the committee. Faculty members will be invited to the Academic Affairs Committee meeting by the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty in consultation with the trustee chair of the committee. Board Meetings (except for the Trusteeship Committee) are open to all faculty who wish to attend except when the Board or a Board Committee is in executive session.

Other Board Committees: Frequently, faculty members can provide information and advice helpful to Board Committee deliberations. To facilitate meetings of faculty members with Board Committees, the Faculty Conveners in consultation with the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty will select a faculty representative to each Board Committee except Trusteeship.

The faculty representatives to each of the committees will be able to speak in committee meetings and shall be accorded general access to pertinent materials related to items under discussion at such meetings. The faculty representative will do his/her best to represent what s/he understands to be the faculty position on issues before the committee. Faculty representatives will not participate in final decisions or otherwise vote on matters before the committee.

Administrative Committees

(For complete description see Appendix 1.2)

  1. Academic Council
  2. The President's Council

Institutional Committees

(For complete description see Appendix 1.3)

  1. Institutional Animal Research and Care Committee
  2. Institutional Review Board
  3. Issues and Artists Committee
  4. Judicial Board and Appellate Board
  5. Library Information and Technology Committee
  6. Safety and Emergency Response Committee
  7. Staff Council
  8. Student Life Committee

Constituent Committees

(For complete description see Appendix 1.4)

  1. Faculty Committees
    1. Academic Standards and Appeals Committee
    2. Academic Policies Committee
    3. Assessment Committee
    4. Faculty Council
    5. Graduate Program Committee
    6. Grievance Committee
    7. Instructional Development and Resources Committee
    8. Program Review Committee
    9. Tenure, Promotion and Review Committee
  2. Student Committees
    1. Student Publications Board  

General Governing Policies for Institutional and Constituent Committees

  1. The faculty and most College related committees use Quaker business procedures rather than Robert's Rules of Order. Questions tend to be presented as problems-to-be-solved, not solutions-to-be-defended. The presiding officer, acting as Clerk of the Meeting, tries to formulate the judgment of the whole in terms acceptable to the whole. "Sense-of-the- meeting" implies unity, not unanimity: a decision is reached when the opposition, if any, is willing to "go along" with a proposal. This procedure places heavy demands on individuals, both to say what they think and to "stand aside" if they do not feel strongly enough to block the will of the whole. The philosophy behind this procedure is based on the premise that each individual is rooted in the same reality as every other individual and that group decisions can be reached that reflect the needs of the group if personal and partisan considerations are set aside. (See Appendix 1.6).
  2. Membership of non-permanent members (see Appendices 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4) of Administrative, Institutional and Constituent Committees (listed in Sections 1.6.2, 1.6.3 and 1.6.4, respectively) extends from the first Monday following commencement. Two exceptions to this occur. Members of the Academic Standards and Appeals Committee and the Recruitment and Retention Committee will assume responsibilities the first Monday of the fall semester. If meetings occur during the summer and the Faculty Conveners cannot obtain an adequate number of members for a meeting, they may call on previous members or newly appointed members to obtain a quorum. One exception to this is the Academic Standards and Appeals Committee. Members who previously served will hear all appeals from the spring semester.
  3. A quorum is the majority of the total committee membership. If a quorum is not present and a decision must be made, action can be taken subject to review at the next regular meeting where a quorum is achieved.
  4. In the spring of each academic year, the Faculty Conveners or the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty survey faculty members regarding their preferences for committees on which to serve for the following year. As soon as possible after annual election to faculty positions, the newly elected Faculty Conveners and the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty will meet to make committee assignments. The outgoing Presiding Clerk may be invited to participate. The committee assignments will be announced before Commencement. In order for each faculty member to be involved in a variety of committee assignments, the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty and the Faculty Conveners will maintain a system of rotation. Typically, faculty will be rotated onto new committees every two or three years. Without violating the system of rotation, and after considering qualifications and balance, faculty members will be assigned to committees according to their preferences. (Faculty approved revision 2/27/2017)
  5. Each committee will hold an organizational and planning meeting during the first six weeks of the academic year. If a committee establishes a regular meeting time on some sequential basis, it should be stated in the minutes and reported to the Faculty Meeting. Each committee should establish a standard means of notifying all members of meeting times. Agendas should be prepared and, as far as possible, distributed to members prior to all meetings. The President and the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty, as ex officio members of all committees, will receive notices, agendas and minutes for all meetings. All standing committees must meet at least once per semester with additional meetings determined by the presiding clerk of the committee.
  6. Each committee will adhere to the following policies and procedures for handling the records of committee business:
    1. Each committee will keep a permanent, up-to-date book of minutes that shall be a complete record of all committee actions.
    2. A copy of these minutes shall be sent to the President, the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty and the Recording Clerk within ten days of the meeting. Minutes will be posted on the Intranet as appropriate.
    3. Each committee's minutes should contain the following information: meeting date and time, members present and absent, old business (indicating clearly actions taken or decisions made) and name of the person compiling the minutes.
    4. The Tenure, Promotion and Review Committee takes two different types of minutes. When discussing matters of policy that address concerns of the entire faculty, these members shall follow a, b and c above. When discussing issues of promotion, tenure, third- and sixth-year review and faculty evaluation, minutes shall be kept for the purpose of refreshing the memory of committee members regarding their deliberations. These minutes will be made available to a faculty member who appeals a decision of the committee but will otherwise be kept confidential. Academic Standards and Appeals Committee follow the same procedures with respect to student appeal discussions.
  7. Each committee will report its activities in the following manner:
    1. By filing a committee report with the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty and the Faculty Conveners once each semester, which will be posted on the intranet.
    2. If the committee has taken an action that requires the approval of the Faculty Meeting, or some other appropriate group or individual, the report should state clearly the specific action needed and the justification for such action. It is the presiding clerk of the committee’s responsibility to make certain reports are compiled correctly and forwarded to the appropriate individual or group.
    3. Institutional and Constituent Faculty Committees should report to the Faculty Meeting at least once per year.
    4. Institutional and Constituent Faculty Committees are intended to function largely in a screening and initiating role in preparing specific plans for action on the part of the larger College community. Members of the faculty and staff, but particularly the Faculty Conveners, Faculty Council and the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty, may submit items to a committee with requests for the committee to investigate and propose solutions to them.
    5. The Faculty Conveners and the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty should make certain that issues are moving through the committee structure "with all deliberate speed.”