College Council

Independent Committees

Faculty Student Disciplinary Committee — 2 faculty members appointed from a panel of 6 selected by the college council.

Charge of the Committee: The faculty-student disciplinary committee is charged with hearing of and passing judgment on any and all charges, accusations or allegations against a member of the student body that involve pursuit of a disciplinary sanction i.e. where the decision of culpability concerns a question of fact as opposed to the an academic sanction which is based on an instructor's expert judgment.

Composition of Committee: Shall consist of two faculty and two student members plus a chairperson (who is appointed by the president and must be a faculty member).

Faculty Position Eligibility: The faculty members must have faculty rank or faculty status. (NYCCT bylaws define this as any faculty member holding the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, or lecturer full-time, is eligible to nominate, or be nominated, to vote and to serve on this committee.) The faculty member does not have to be a member of the college council.

Method of Election: The faculty members shall be selected by lot from a panel of six elected annually by the college council. (translation: the college council must elect a panel of 6. The actual committee that reviews charges is then selected from this panel. In the event that the faculty panel is not elected, or if more panel members are needed, the president of the college shall select the panel or panels which have not been elected)

Term: 1 year terms

Additional Stipulations: No one shall serve more than two consecutive terms. As per Article 15 of the CUNY Bylaws, the College President appoints the chairperson of this committee. “The president shall select in consultation with the head of the appropriate campus governance body or where the president is the head of the governance body, its executive committee, three (3) members of the faculty of that college to receive training training upon appointment and to serve in rotation as chairperson of the disciplinary committee.”

(Article 15 of CUNY Bylaws preempts the local plan where there are inconsistencies)

Appeals Committee for Resolution of Student Complaints About Faculty in Academic Settings — 3 members elected by the college council.

Charge of Committee: The college respects the academic freedom of the faculty and will not interfere with it as it relates to the content or style of teaching activities. Indeed, academic freedom is and should be of paramount importance. At the same time the college recognizes its responsibility to provide students with a procedure for addressing complaints about faculty treatment of students that are not protected by academic freedom and are not covered by other procedures. Examples might include incompetent or inefficient service, neglect of duty, physical or mental incapacity and conduct unbecoming a member of the staff. In short, an investigation is conducted by a “fact finder,” typically the department chair, and a report and decision in made by the fact finder. This committee exists to handle the appeal from a student or faculty member should the student or faculty member be unsatisfied with the outcome of the aforementioned process.

Composition on Committee: 3 full time tenured faculty members of rank of associate or higher. Members do not have to be college council members.

Eligibility: Full time, associate or higher faculty members.

Method of Election: Elected by members of the college council in the first meeting of the fall semester. 3 members need a plurality of votes. No 2 members can be in the same department. If more than one member of a single department runs only the candidate with the most votes will be elected.

Term: 1 year term.

Additional Stipulations: No faculty member shall serve more than 3 consecutive terms.

(In NYCCT Governance Plan and NYCCT Bylaws)

College Association Board — (2 faculty members and up to 2 alternates appointed by the president from a panel selected by the college council)

Charge of the Committee: The college association shall have responsibility for the supervision and review over college student activity fee supported budgets.

Composition of Committee with respect to faculty: 13 regular voting members and up to 6 alternates. Counting only regular voting members, the composition is as follows:

  • the college president or his/her designee (1 regular member)
  • two administrative members and one administrative alternate, appointed by the president (2 regular members)
  • two faculty members and up to two faculty alternates appointed by the college president from a panel whose size is twice the number of seats (including alternates) to be filled (practically, this means a panel of at least 4 but no more than 8) — (2 regular members)
  • Six student members and up to three student alternates (6 regular members)
  • Two independent directors appointed by the college president (2 regular members)

FOR THE COLLEGE COUNCIL'S PURPOSES, WE MUST ELECT A PANEL OF AT LEAST 4 BUT NO MORE THAN 8 MEMBERS.

Faculty Positions:

Eligibility: All faculty members are eligible to serve. They do not need to be members of the college council.

Method of Election: The members of the panel from which the president selects must be elected by the college council.

Term:

Additional Stipulations:

(in CUNY Bylaws Section 16.5)

Auxiliary Enterprise Corporation (CUNY Bylaws Section 16.10) — (1 to 2 members appointed by the president from a panel of 2-6 members selected by the college council)

Charge of the Committee: The auxiliary enterprise corporation shall have responsibility for the oversight, supervision and review over college auxiliary enterprises. All budgets of auxiliary enterprise funds and all contracts for auxiliary enterprises shall be reviewed by the auxiliary enterprise corporation prior to expenditure or execution.

Composition of Committee: There must be at least 11 members on the AEB. Specfically:

  • the college president or his/her designee as chair (1)
  • four students (4)
  • faculty and administrative members (4 total)
  • two independent directors (2)

Note: The CUNY bylaws do not specify the distribution of seats with regards to faculty and administrative members. Thus, it follows that there may be as few as 1 faculty member on this committee and as many as 3. Since the college president appoints faculty members from a panel whose size is twice the number of seats to be filled, it is reasonable for the college council to elect a panel with a minimum of 2 members and a maximum of 6 members)

Faculty Positions:

Eligibility: Any faculty member is eligible to be elected to the panel

Method of Election: The college council elects members to the panel.

Term:

Additional Stipulations: “3. The faculty members are appointed by the college president from a panel whose size is twice the number of seats to be filled and the panel is elected by the appropriate college faculty governance body.” (From Section 16.10 of the CUNY Bylaws)

Charge of the Committee: There shall be a personnel appeals committee whose function shall be to review appeals transmitted to it by those who wish to appeal matters relating to instructional staff appointments, reappointments, certificates of continuous employment, tenure, leaves, promotions and the policies, recommendations and procedures thereto pertaining, and to advise the president on their disposition. Such appeals may be made either before or after the president's decision.

Composition of the Committee: This committee shall be composed of two tenured associate or full professors from each school and one from the combined unit composed of the department of continuing education, the library, and the department of enrollment management and student affairs.

In addition, one member from the HEO series and one member from the CLT series shall be elected every other fall, who will serve, with vote, only when an appeal has been presented to the personnel appeals committee by a person in the HEO series or in the CLT series respectively.

School of Technology and Design — 2
School of Professional Studies — 2
School of Arts and Sciences — 2
Combined Unit — 1
HEO series — 1
CLT series — 1

Position Eligibility: For the faculty positions, one must be a tenured associate or full professor.

Method of Election for Faculty Positions: The faculty positions are elected each fall by members of the instructional staff in the faculty titles of lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor and full professor who are eligible to participate in elections for the college council.

These elections are conducted by OFSR. Each candidate shall be required to submit nominating petitions containing the signatures of ten eligible voters.

Method of Election for HEO and CLT Positions: The HEO and CLT series positions shall be elected every other fall. They will serve, with vote, only when an appeal has been presented to the personnel appeals committee by a person in the HEO series or in the CLT series respectively.

All persons in the HEO series who are eligible to vote in the elections for college council shall be eligible to vote for the HEO representative. All persons in the CLT series who are eligible to vote in the elections for college council shall be eligible to vote for the CLT representative.

These elections are conducted by ISR. Each candidate shall be required to submit nominating petitions containing the signatures of ten eligible voters.

Term: Members of the personnel appeals committee shall serve for two years.

Additional stipulations: No member of the personnel appeals committee may serve more than two consecutive terms. Also, no two members of the committee can be from the same department or unit.