You are here
Section B – Executive Committee
Approved by the Faculty of Environmental Studies Faculty Council on May 17, 2012
Approved by Senate on October 25, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
B1. Nominations Subcommittee
B2. Guidelines on the Responsibilities of Faculty Members
B3. Faculty Project Requirements
B1.1 The Nominations Subcommittee shall consist of the Chair, who shall be the Vice-Chair of the Council, and the two elected faculty members of the Executive Committee, and the elected support staff member of the Executive Committee.
B1.2 The Nominations Subcommittee shall be responsible for the nomination of:
(a) candidates for all non-student elected positions on the Council and its committees and subcommittees;
(b) candidates for all other positions which the Council fills by election, including the nominees for election as representatives of FES on Senate committees;
(c) candidates for election to non-representative Senate Committees;
(d) candidates for election to committees of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
B1.3 For those Senate committees that are established on the basis of representation from the Faculties, the Nominations Committee is responsible for ensuring that the Faculty seats are filled at all times.
B2. GUIDELINES ON THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF FACULTY MEMBERS
B2.1 Preamble
Under the Collective Agreement relating to the York University Faculty Association, faculty members have the right to engage in part-time outside activities, paid or unpaid, "provided that such activities do not interfere with their obligations, duties and responsibilities to the University." The following guidelines are intended to clarify the responsibilities that accompany these rights.
The statement of collegial responsibilities which follows presupposes an understanding of the traditional values of university life – that receiving an appointment at a university has meant and still means to most colleagues a commitment to a life of scholarship and creativity, and that the full professional energies of faculty members will be placed at the service of the academy and their disciplines. A tenured appointment guarantees freedom of thought and action to its holders. With this guarantee comes a commitment to the community of one's academic peers to use those freedoms for the purposes for which they are intended. This shared trust must not be abused, either by inordinate or indiscreet activity which fails to meet the general criteria outlined below, or by failure to fulfil one's university obligations. A university cannot function by constantly coercing faculty members to live up to their scholarly or creative responsibilities, or to refrain from taking on outside paid or unpaid work which is neither reflective nor innovative nor related to the academic and professional education concerns of the Faculty. However, the university must nonetheless be in a position to account to all of its members and to society at large for the way in which those responsibilities are discharged. It must therefore possess knowledge of the behaviour which will permit such an accounting, and must accept responsibility for dealing with abuse.
B2.2 Statement of Responsibilities
The responsibilities of full-time faculty members in the Faculty of Environmental Studies include participation in the following activities: (a) teaching, (b) advising of students, (c) research, scholarly, creative or professional activity, and (d) service to the University. These duties constitute the faculty member's principal obligation to the Faculty and to the University.
(a) Teaching: Faculty members shall carry out their responsibility for teaching by keeping up to date with relevant secondary literature and carefully preparing lectures and course materials, taking care to make themselves accessible to students for academic consultation, to inform students adequately regarding course formats, assignments, and methods of evaluation, to maintain teaching schedules in all but exceptional circumstances, to inform students adequately of any necessary cancellation and rescheduling of instruction, and to adhere to the schedules for submission of grades and evaluation set by the Faculty.
(b) Advising of Students: Faculty members shall carry out their responsibility for advising of students, in both informal and formal settings, including general examinations and final examinations.
(c) Research, Scholarly, Creative or Professional Activity: Faculty members shall devote a reasonable proportion of their time to original research, innovative or reflective scholarly or creative work consistent with their academic stream and professional field. They shall make the results of such work available to the scholarly, professional, and general public through publications, lectures, and other appropriate means. Activity undertaken outside the University which is reflective and/or innovative and/or which contributes directly towards the faculty member's academic responsibilities constitutes research, scholarly, creative or professional activity.
(d) Service to the University: Faculty members are expected to participate in the decision-making councils of the Faculty and the University, and to share the necessary administrative work of the Faculty and the University. Service to the Faculty and the University embraces service to the larger academic community, which is performed through (among other duties) reviewing academic and professional publications, and participating on editorial boards, granting councils, and other learned and professional associations. Faculty members may also serve the Faculty and the University, directly or indirectly, through service to the external community which does not take the form of research but which involves direct application of academic or professional qualifications or expertise.
In the performance of their professional responsibilities, faculty members shall deal fairly and ethically with their colleagues, students, and other members of the Faculty and the University community.
With respect to activities outside of the University, the Faculty of Environmental Studies recognizes that the matter is of great importance because professional education occupies an important place in the Faculty's activities and because many of its faculty members engage routinely in outside professional activity (paid and unpaid) as part of their academic/ professional career.
B2.3 Faculty Procedures
(a) No full-time faculty member of the University may, at the same time, hold a full-time position or its equivalent elsewhere except when on leave of absence without pay.
(b) The purpose of determining a norm for outside activities is to set a general standard which positively identifies faculty members' required commitment to their direct on-campus University activities, and which can be used to trigger an active consultation process between individuals and the Faculty administration. The basic requirement is that faculty members devote enough time to meet their stipulated teaching and advising responsibilities, to perform an equitable share of intra-Faculty or University-wide non-teaching activities, and to be readily accessible at convenient times to students and other faculty members, particularly for advising and oral examination purposes. The norms for full-time faculty members are as follows:
i. faculty members shall be physically available at least four days per week during the Fall and Winter Terms;
ii. the "normal" maximum level of outside activity during the Fall and Winter Terms should be an average of one day per week, although the heavy load of advising and oral examinations may require faculty members to be available at all normal working times during specific peak periods;
iii. during the Summer Term, there are no specific time norms for faculty members who have no course responsibilities during that term, although faculty members are required to be reasonably available for advising and oral examinations and to advise the Dean of any significant outside commitments beyond the normal personal vacation period;
iv. any departure from these norms should be dealt with by individual negotiation in advance with the Dean and may result in a reduction of obligations to, and remuneration from, the University;
v. the missing of scheduled classes in order to undertake paid employment or other unpaid activity outside the University must always be reported in advance to the Dean and satisfactory arrangements for makeup classes must be approved by the Dean.
(c) An individual shall consult with the Dean prior to embarking on a major outside commitment. Where an individual's time commitment to outside activities is judged by the Dean to interfere with the fulfilment of teaching, research, and service responsibilities at a reasonable standard, the individual is expected to reduce such activities appropriately, seek a reduced teaching load or leave without pay, or resign.
(d) At the end of each term, the Dean may report to the Faculty on the status of faculty members indicating projected time commitments for the coming term.
(e) On an annual basis, individual faculty members shall report to the Dean on all outside activities beyond the trivial. In turn, the Dean may provide to the Faculty Council a summary report outlining the nature and extent of such activities and their contributions to the affairs of the Faculty.
(f) The University shall be reimbursed for all uses of its facilities in pursuit of outside activities.
(g) If the faculty member or the Dean so desires, an attempt to mediate any dispute between the Dean and a faculty member arising from a difference of opinion regarding the above procedures shall be undertaken through the collegial process traditionally part of the Faculty.
B3. FACULTY PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
B3.1 Any project proposal made on behalf of the Faculty or using the name of the Faculty shall be submitted for advance approval by the Dean and for reference by the Dean to such advisory process or further approvals by other University officials as considered appropriate. This requirement applies to students, faculty members, and support staff alike.
B3.2 Every project in or directly relating to the Faculty shall have a Principal Investigator or Director designated by the Dean. In the case of an approved project of an individual nature, the initiator shall be the Principal Investigator or Director. The Principal Investigator or Director of each project shall be responsible for the work of the project and shall make regular reports to the Dean.
B3.3 The budgets of funded projects shall be under the administration of the Dean. The Principal Investigator or Director shall have direction and control of expenditures but shall not have independent signing authority. All communications on financial matters shall be subject to approval by the Dean.
B3.4 The Principal Investigator or Director of a project shall maintain in the Dean's office a file of correspondence and reports pertaining to the project.
End of Section B
