Academic Senate
Our Office

Kendall Hall, Room 101
530-898-6201
academicsenate@csuchico.edu

Mailing Address
Academic Senate
400 W. First St.
Chico, CA 95929-0020

Executive Memoranda

Constitution of the Faculty of CSU, Chico


  • Article I: Name
    The name of this organization shall be the Faculty of California State University, Chico.
  • Article II: Duties and Responsibilities
    • Section l. It shall be the duty and responsibility of the Faculty to formulate, recommend, review, and revise all academic, personnel, and professional policies, including fiscal policies related thereto broadly and liberally defined.
    • Section 2. It shall be the duty and responsibility of the Faculty to assure through well-established and well-defined channels of communication the maximum cooperation between the teaching and administrative members in order that policy and administrative implementation shall be consonant.
    • Section 3. It shall be the duty and the responsibility of the Faculty to present through proper channels to the Trustees of The California State University and/or the Statewide Academic Senate of the California State University any appropriate recommendations related to, but not limited to, those policy matters enumerated in Article II, Section l. Such recommendations may ask for amendment to or the elimination of any law, code section, regulation, or policy when the Faculty deems it to be in the general welfare of this, of any, or of all the state universities.
  • Article III: Members
    • Section l. The Faculty of California State University, Chico shall consist of
      • Individuals holding the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer or coach;
      • The President of the University;
      • Librarians with the classification of librarian, associate librarian, senior assistant librarian, and assistant librarian.
      • Others defined as faculty by the Unit 3 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
    • Section 2. Membership in the Faculty shall not lapse because of authorized leaves of absence.
    • Section 3. Faculty Voting Rights:
      Unless otherwise mandated or restricted by the California State University System (CSU) or the Unit 3 Memorandum of Understanding between CFA and CSU, voting rights shall be as follows:
      • Regular Voting Members: Regular Voting Members of the university, colleges, schools, and departments or other units are the tenured and probationary faculty of the respective units.
      • Auxiliary Voting Members: The University, colleges, schools, and departments or other units may by a majority vote of the Regular Voting Members of the unit extend voting rights to other classifications of members of the academic community. Those to whom voting rights have been extended in this manner shall be known as Auxiliary Voting Members.
      • The Regular Voting Members of the unit shall determine qualification standards and the duration of voting rights terms for Auxiliary Voting Members. The beginning and ending dates of these voting rights terms shall coincide with academic year dates. The duration of voting rights terms shall not exceed three academic years, but may be renewed repeatedly. The Regular Voting Members of the unit may restrict the voting rights of Auxiliary Voting Members with respect to specific types of issues. Once established, changes to qualification standards, permitted issues, and voting rights terms shall become effective at the beginning of the next voting rights term. (1)
      • Absentee Voting: The bylaws of the Academic Senate shall provide for absentee voting at the University level. Colleges, schools, and departments shall also provide for absentee voting.
      • When the necessity for voting arises during a summer session or in a period between regular sessions, those members of the Faculty who qualified to vote in the previous regular session and those who will be qualified to vote in the succeeding regular session of the University shall be entitled to vote.
      • Voting Rights Disputes: Voting rights disputes at the college, school, and department level shall be resolved by a personnel committee elected by and from the appropriate colleges. All other voting rights disputes (i.e., involving multiple colleges) shall be resolved by the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate.
        • Footnote: (1) Tenured and probationary faculty of units which have already extended voting rights to others may continue present practices by conducting a vote in which a majority of tenured and probationary faculty reaffirm their constitution or other governing document.
        • No action is required of units which currently limit voting to tenured and probationary faculty.
      • Section 4. In all matters of appeal concerning voting eligibility or membership in the Faculty, the Academic Senate shall make the final determination.
  • Article IV: Officers of the Faculty
    • Section l. Officers of the Faculty of the University shall be the President of the University, or his/her representative, and the Chair of the Academic Senate.
    • Section 2. The President of the University shall be the President of the Faculty.
    • Section 3. The Chair of the Academic Senate shall act as the President of the Faculty at the request of the President of the University.
  • Article V: Committees of the Faculty
    • Section l. Authorization:
      The President of the University or his/her representative, and the executive officer within whose administrative sphere the committee will function, after consultation with the Academic Senate, may authorize committees to be charged with such duties as are specified in Article II, Section l.
    • Section 2. Recommendations and Reports:
      Each committee under this Section shall make its recommendations and reports only with respect to policy to the designated Standing or Executive Committee of the Academic Senate; such recommendations and reports with respect to both administration and policy shall be made to the President or his/her representative or to the appropriate executive officer.
    • Section 3. Liaison Between the Academic Senate and Faculty Committees:
      To facilitate consideration of policy recommendations or reports from committees under this section, one member of such committees shall be appointed by the designated Standing or Executive Committee of the Academic Senate.
    • Section 4. Ad Hoc Committees of the University:
      The President of the University, after consultation with the Academic Senate, may create ad hoc committees to carry out special assignments.
  • Article VI: Meetings and Quorum of the Faculty
    • Section l. Meetings of the Faculty:
      • There shall be at least one meeting each academic year to review the activities of the Academic Senate. The President of the Faculty may call such additional meetings as he/she may deem necessary. The Faculty may, in its by-laws, describe the manner in which it wishes the report from the Academic Senate to be made.
      • Meetings of the Faculty may be requested by a petition of not less than ten percent of its membership. Upon receiving such a petition, the President of the Faculty shall call a meeting to take place within ten instructional days.
      • The Faculty may initiate actions by a simple majority vote of faculty members present provided a quorum is in attendance.
    • Section 2. Quorum of the Faculty:
      • The quorum will be not less than one-third of the members of the Faculty.
  • Article VII: Initiation, Consultation and Advisement
    • The Academic Senate and the President of the University may each, at their discretion, seek advice and consultation or initiate proposals for the consideration of the other.
  • Article VIII: Initiative and Referendum
    • The Faculty of the University may initiate recommendations to the President or call for a referendum of Academic Senate actions by a petition of ten percent of its membership submitted to the Chair of the Academic Senate. The contents of the petition must be made available to the Faculty within five instructional days after its submission. A faculty election shall be held within ten instructional days after the contents of the petition have been circulated. Faculty initiative and referendum actions shall require approval by a majority of the members of the Faculty voting.
  • Article IX: Delegation of Duties and Responsibilities
    • The Faculty delegates its duties and responsibilities as described in Article II to the Academic Senate. Any action of the Academic Senate may be subject to review by the Faculty in accordance with procedures specified in Article VI of this Constitution. The Faculty may also act through initiative and referendum in accordance with procedures specified in Article VIII of this Constitution.
  • Article X: Amendments
    • Section l. Proposals of Amendments:
      Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by
      • A two-thirds vote of the Academic Senate or
      • A petition signed by at least twenty percent of the Faculty.
    • Section 2. Proposals for amendments must be available to the Faculty at least ten instructional days before they are voted upon.
    • Section 3. Approval of Amendments:
      Amendments proposed Pursuant to Article X, Section l, of this constitution will be approved when these conditions are met:
      • Two-thirds of the Faculty voting on the amendment vote for approval and
      • The University President approves the amendment.
  • Article XI: Faculty Rights
    • The rights of university faculty members are not fundamentally different from those of other members of society. The University, however, has a special autonomy and reasoned dissent plays a particularly vital part in its existence. Therefore, there are faculty rights which owe their origin to the nature of the educational process. These rights are to be enjoyed by all faculty, including those who perform instructionally related support tasks.
    • Section l. As citizens, members of the faculty enjoy the same basic rights as do all citizens.
      • Among these basic rights are freedom of speech; freedom of peaceful assembly and association; freedom of political beliefs; freedom from censorship; and freedom from personal force and violence, threats of violence, and personal abuse.
      • Each faculty member, subject to contractual agreement, has the right to enjoy the benefits of his or her creative work. The faculty member has the right to a clear written statement in advance of the extent to which the conditions of his or her employment restrict the enjoyment of those private benefits of his or her creative work, which are commonly referred to as copy-right, patent rights, or licensing rights.
      • Each faculty member has the right to organize his or her own personal life and behavior, so long as it does not violate the law or agreements voluntarily entered into, and does not interfere with the rights of others or the educational process.
      • The faculty member's relationship with the University shall be free from unlawful or unjust action; for example, discrimination based on race, religion, gender, national or ethnic origin, age, or sexual orientation.
    • Section 2. As members of the faculty of a university, faculty members have rights based upon the nature of the educational process and have the requirements of the search for truth and its free presentation.
      • Basic rights which devolve to university faculty members include freedoms of teaching, learning, conducting research, and publishing findings in the spirit of free inquiry; that is, basic rights include an atmosphere free from institutional orthodoxy and internal or external coercion, one where the expression of the widest range of viewpoints is encouraged. Free inquiry implies the right to make one's research findings public.
      • Individual faculty members have the right to determine the specific content and instructional methods in the courses they are assigned. The collective faculty has the right to develop curricula and, within the appropriate discipline, the right to establish general course content by such means as course titles, definitions, outlines, and catalog descriptions; to set the requirements for degree completion; and to authorize the granting of degrees within the discipline.
      • Freedom from restriction to pursue academic and administrative responsibilities is a right of the faculty member.
      • The faculty member is entitled to the right to privacy in offices and laboratories and in keeping of professional materials such as personal papers, confidential records and effects, subject only to law and to conditions voluntarily entered into; to the freedom to hear and to study unpopular and controversial views on intellectual and public issues; to the right to be identified as a member of the university community at all time; to speak or act on behalf of the institution when authorized to do so; and to the right to hold public meetings, to post notices, and to engage in lawful demonstrations.
      • The faculty member has the right to recourse if another faculty member is negligent, irresponsible, or represents the work of others as his or her own.
      • The faculty member has the right to academic due process which shall determine the validity of allegations against his or her professional behavior; the validity of the abridgment of faculty rights; or the resolution of disputes not resolved by less formal means. The procedures shall be structured so as to facilitate a reliable determination of the truth or falsity of charges, to provide fundamental fairness to the parties, and to be an effective instrument for the maintenance of professional standards.
      • The faculty member has the right to know in advance the range of penalties for violations of professional standards of behavior and of those regulations which govern the conditions of employment.
      • The faculty member has the right to be heard, to be considered, and to regularized participation at all appropriate levels of the decision-making process about basic policy matters of direct concern to professional performance and status and to press action on matters of concern by any appropriate means.
      • The faculty member has the right to participate in the formulation of institutional educational goals and the right to a clear statement of the goals of the institution.
      • The faculty member has the right to regular access to all information which is used for administrative decisions and which is not specifically restricted by law.
      • The faculty member has the right to a regular objective evaluation of his or her performance without regard to his or her political, social, or other views, unless directly related to academic professional merit, ethics, or responsibilities.
      • The faculty member has the right to a clear, careful, and complete outline in writing of the conditions and stipulations of his or her appointment at the time of that appointment.
      • The faculty member has the right to know in advance the causes, circumstances, and procedures which could result in his or her separation from employment.
      • The faculty member has the right to form and participate in organizations that in his or her judgment are most appropriate for the purpose of faculty governance and the formation of infra- and inter-campus educational, faculty, and fiscal policies.
      • The faculty member has the right to form, join, and participate in employee organizations for the purpose of representation and meeting and conferring, and the right to refuse, without coercion, to join or participate in employee organizations.
      • The faculty member has the right to evaluation by faculty peers with respect to his/her appointment, retention, tenure, and promotion on the basis of criteria and standards developed by the appropriate faculty units or faculty representative bodies.
      • Faculty members, collectively, have the right to exclude from abridgment by negotiation certain matters and procedures for which the individual faculty member must continue to share responsibility on his or her local campus.