Department of Childhood Studies

Childhood Studies By-Laws

BY-LAWS

Childhood Studies

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

CAMDEN FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Revised 27 August 2021

(Adapted, with permission, from the English Department’s by-laws)

DEPARTMENTAL GOVERNANCE

The Childhood Studies Department of Rutgers University–Camden hereby recognizes a series of operational principles and precedents, which form the basis of its functioning. The most important of these principles include:

  1. that the primary function of the Department is to advance an understanding of its subject through teaching, research, and scholarly activities
  2. that the Department as a whole is the primary decision-making body on questions of policy
  3. that faculty have a right to participate in Departmental affairs and are expected to do so
  4. that students have a right to be heard on matters of common interest

To realize these principles the Department employs the following structure.

I.          THE DEPARTMENT

            A.        The membership of the Department is composed of its faculty: full-time and part-time lecturers (PTLs).

            B.        All faculty members with a .5 appointment or greater in Childhood Studies, including faculty on leave, shall have full voting privileges at regular Department meetings.

                        1.         Votes on all business before the Department will ordinarily be by non-secret ballot.

                        2.         When voting on a matter must await consideration of a document or set of documents that may be circulated by email, the Department Chair may authorize members attending the department meeting when the issue was last discussed, to vote by email after receiving the documents for inspection.

                        3.         If a voting faculty member assumes an administrative position at the college, campus or university level which takes her/him out of the regular faculty, that member’s voting privileges will be suspended until such time that she/he returns to the faculty.

            C.        Department meetings shall ordinarily be held monthly during each semester.  In addition, all-department meetings (for faculty members, graduate students and PTLs) shall ordinarily be held once a semester. Upon the request of two or more members of the department, a meeting will be conducted according to Roberts Rules of Order.

  1. Extraordinary Department meetings may be called by majority vote of members of the Department. 
  2. The Department Chair is responsible for ensuring that minutes of the meeting are recorded and distributed to faculty in a timely manner.
  3. The agenda and order of business for a regular meeting shall be established by the Department Chair in consultation with faculty members.
  4. Any committee or Member of the department can submit an item to the Department Chair for inclusion on the agenda for a regular meeting and that item shall go on the agenda.
  5. Items not included on the agenda may be introduced at any regular meeting as new business by Members.
    1. Items introduced as new business do not need to be subject to final action, but can be referred to a committee by the Department Chair.
  6. A quorum shall consist of a simple majority of the Department Voting Members not on leave or on sabbatical.
  7. The Department will normally receive notice of any meeting at least three working days in advance of the meeting.

            D.        Departmental recommendations for the appointment of Graduate Teaching Assistants shall be the responsibility of full-time faculty members. Reappointment of Graduate Teaching Assistants shall be the responsibility of the Chair and the Graduate Director.

            F.         The Department may establish any committees or sub-committees it believes necessary to do its work; and it may revise, reorganize, or reconstitute any existing committees to facilitate its work. The one exception to this rule is the Committee on Personnel, which by University Regulations is composed of tenured members of the Department.

            G.        To achieve maximum Departmental participation and to spread the workload equitably, every faculty member should assume responsibility for contributing to  important departmental committee work and functions.  The Chair will strive to ensure that departmental duties are distributed equitably.  When evaluating faculty members for retention or promotion, the Personnel Committee is mandated to take into consideration the individual’s committee work to the date of the evaluation. Membership on the Personnel Committee is an additional responsibility of the tenured members of the Department.

II.        THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

            A.        Voting members of the Department shall by ballot elect one of the tenured members of the Department for appointment as Department Chair for a term of three years when a vacancy shall occur through expiration of term or otherwise, and inform the Dean of their choice.  The Chair shall initiate the election and superintend the election process.

            B.        The Department Chair’s responsibilities are defined by university policy:

According to University Regulations, the department chair has general administrative responsibility for the department. This includes: overseeing the scheduling of classes, managing the budget, and serving as the point of contact for students and as the intermediary between the department and the dean’s office; planning, with the members of the department, ongoing improvements in the department’s programs; continuously evaluating the instructional, research, and administrative processes of the department; periodically evaluating members of the department and reporting the evaluations as required; in consultation with appropriate members of the department, recommending appointments, reappointments, promotions, non-reappointments, and dismissals in accordance with University policies and regulations; ensuring that adequate supervision, advice, and training are afforded to new members of the department and other members who might profit thereby; collecting and maintaining thorough records of each member’s teaching, scholarship, and service, taking care to measure teaching effectiveness objectively and continuously by such means as peer reviews and student evaluations; and, generally, to promote the effectiveness of the department, college, and University by every appropriate means.

In addition, the Chair shall fulfill the following responsibilities. 

                        1.         Preside over meetings of the Department.

2.         In consultation with the faculty, appoint all committees with the    exceptions as stated elsewhere and ensure their functioning.

3.         Communicate to the Department all matters and proposals that affect the Department.

                        4.         Place on the agenda of Department meetings such matters as are raised for consideration by faculty or students, as stated above.

                        5.         Serve ex-officio as a member of all standing committees of the Department, excepting the committee on Personnel, of which he/she shall be a voting member.

                        6.         Plan through consultation with the members of the Department a list of courses to be offered each semester and during the Summer Session together with appropriate class-hour schedules. Such lists and schedules shall be distributed to the full Department.

                        7.         Serve as the department’s liaison to the college and university.

            C.        If the chair is unable to attend a scheduled meeting, the voting faculty present shall elect a presiding officer from among the tenured members present.

            D.        If the Chair is unable to fulfill the duties of the office for longer than four weeks during the Fall or Spring Semester for any reason (including sabbatical or competitive fellowship leave), the Department shall elect from among the tenured faculty an Acting Chair who will serve until the Chair resumes the duties of the office or until the end of the semester, whichever comes first. If the Chair is unable to resume the office at the end of the semester, a new permanent Chair will be elected.

III.       THE DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE STUDIES

            A.        Voting members of the Department shall by ballot elect one of the tenured members of the Department for appointment as Director of Graduate Studies for a term of three years when a vacancy shall occur through expiration of term or otherwise, and inform the Dean of their choice.  The Chair shall initiate the election and superintend the election process.

The Director of Graduate Studies’ responsibilities shall be:

to take general administrative responsibility for the degree programs under his or her jurisdiction; to conduct, with members of the program faculty,  supervision and review of student courses of study, admissions, and overall enrollments and degree productivity; to nominate, with the program faculty, candidates for membership in the graduate faculty; to determine, with the faculty, the course offerings and faculty assignments for the graduate programs for which he or she is responsible; to report to

the Dean of the Graduate School and the Dean of the appropriate Faculty or Faculties and chairperson(s) of the appropriate department(s) at least once each year on the activities and state of the program; and generally to promote the effectiveness of the graduate program and to advise the Dean on matters pertaining to graduate study.

  • On matters pertinent to the Childhood Studies Graduate Program, the Director shall act as liaison between the Department and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and any other groups or individuals responsible for graduate programs within the University.

     IV.        UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM COORDINATOR

  1. An Undergraduate Program Coordinator (UPC) shall ordinarily be appointed by the chair to serve as a point person for core undergraduate matters.
  • The main duties of the Undergraduate Program Coordinator include: working with the Advising Office to approve major and minor completions in advance of graduation; participating in the department’s course scheduling process (with an eye to curricular coverage areas and course rotation); meeting regularly (2 – 3 times per semester) with the undergraduate committee to discuss ongoing undergraduate matters; maintaining the accuracy of the undergraduate section of the department website; conducting periodic reviews of the undergraduate curriculum; providing information regarding enrollment and other undergraduate matters in department faculty meetings; participating in discussions that shape the undergraduate program (such as major requirements and course caps); and other duties related to the undergraduate program. 

V.  AMENDMENTS OR ADDITIONS TO BYLAWS

  1. Amendment of or addition to the bylaws may be made by two-thirds vote of all voting members, including faculty on leave, providing ample time is given to review changes and the notice requirement of I. 7 above are met. Voting is by voting Members and may be conducted by email.
    1. Proposals for amendments or additions may be made by any Members of the Department by submitting the proposed change to the Department Chair, who shall then include the proposal on the agenda for the next regular meeting.
    1. These bylaws take effect upon approval of a simple majority of departmental faculty.