Resources

Full text of the Bylaws of the College Faculty

Article X of the Policies of the SUNY Board of Trustees requires the college faculty of each college to develop and adopt bylaws to address the shared governance of the college. Buffalo State's Bylaws of the College Faculty are fundamental to shared governance at Buffalo State.

Article X of the Policies of the SUNY Board of Trustees requires certain individuals to be among the college faculty of each college and permits the college to choose to include others among the college faculty. The Buffalo State community has chosen to be as inclusive as possible in setting its college faculty and to make all members of the college faculty voting members. According to Article II of Buffalo State's College Faculty Bylaws, the voting members of Buffalo State's college faculty are:

  • The Chancellor of the University and the President of the College; 
  • All members of the academic staff of the College;
  • All Vice Presidents of the College (including Associate Vice Presidents, Assistant Vice Presidents), all Deans of the College (including Associate Deans, Assistant Deans), and all Directors of the College (including Associate Directors, Assistant Directors); and
  • All other professional staff of the College.

Article VIII of Buffalo State's College Faculty Bylaws provide for their amendment. Substantive amendments can be initiated in two ways: i) by the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee and ii) by 10% of the college faculty petitioning the President to present an amendment to the college faculty. All substantive amendments of the College Faculty Bylaws must be approved by a vote of the whole college faculty and enacted by the President.  The bylaws provide the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee with the authority to make merely technical amendments to the bylaws provided it presents these to the Senate at its May meeting. Such amendments address matters such as more inclusive language, changes to the names of campus units, and reorganizations of the university. For further details, please consult Article VIII of the College Faculty Bylaws.

Full text of the College Senate Handbook

To maintain an authoritative record of Buffalo State's foundational shared governance documents and related information about shared governance at Buffalo State, the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee developed and maintains a handbook known as the College Senate Handbook. This handbook includes the Bylaws of the College Faculty, the College Senate's standing rules, the charges of the College Senate's standing committees, and various other information about shared governance at Buffalo State, including much of the information that can be found on this webpage.

The College Senate is the principal deliberative and advisory body of the College, established in the College Faculty Bylaws as “...the official agency through which the faculty and students engage in the governance of the College.” It is from the College Faculty Bylaws that the Senate derives its authority. The Senate itself has a set of standing rules to govern the conduct of operations.  

The College Senate is intended to serve as:  

  1. A forum in which representatives of faculty, staff, students, and administration interact. The consultative and advisory functions performed by the Senate continue those functions which had been provided by each of the three separate Councils;
  2. The agent of the Buffalo State University  community which holds the administration, through the office of the President, accountable for actions taken and decisions made;  
  3. An advocate for that system of governance which has been agreed to by the various constituencies of Buffalo State and approved in the College Faculty Bylaws by the eligible voting faculty, the President, the College Council, the Chancellor, and the SUNY Board of Trustees; and  
  4. The organizational structure through which faculty, staff, students, and administration will be involved in issues of concern to Buffalo State.  

The College Senate has deliberately avoided intrusion into certain areas of governance. It has, for example, never attempted to impose standards for selection of representatives from the various constituencies (student, administration, professional staff, Schools). It has carefully avoided intruding upon the prerogatives of Schools and is, in fact, prohibited by law in New York State from intruding into the area of terms and conditions of employment which are properly the prerogative of the bargaining agent.  

Campus units (such as schools and departments), United University Professions, the College Council, the Trustees and the Regents, the University Faculty Senate, United Students Government, and the Graduate Student Association all have relatively well-defined spheres of influence/authority and particular ways of interacting with (or failing to interact with) the College Senate.  

Actions taken at Senate meetings are advisory to the President of Buffalo State. The President is responsible for setting policy for Buffalo State. 

The College Senate, in its current form, came into being in 1971. It replaced what had been a tripartite system of governance that consisted of a Faculty Council, a Student Council, and an Administrative Council. While these deliberated as separate bodies, each provided for specific representation from the other Councils so that there was communication among them and some interlocking via membership. However, this form of governance not only proved to be cumbersome, but also prone to foster divisiveness since it encouraged the practice of presenting issues and proposals most likely to be sympathetic on a given issue. In addition to the Faculty Council, the Student Council, and the Administrative Council, another group acted in an advisory capacity to the President of the College and was widely perceived as a “kitchen cabinet.”  

The original proposal for the present Senate included all the constituencies now represented except students and support staff. There was strong feeling in the college community both for and against the inclusion of students as voting members. The inclusion of students, and the number of student Senators (12), is the result of a series of compromises between those who had proposed and those who opposed seating students as Senators.  

All-College Faculty meetings had been used as the vehicle to bring faculty and administration together to address issues; these had been convened (or not convened) at the pleasure of the President. They became unwieldy as the College grew in numbers and were, on occasion, by-passed. The option is provided in the present set of College Faculty Bylaws for the Chair of the Senate to convene All-College Faculty meetings.  

In 1997, the College Senate Curriculum Committee established a website to facilitate communication about curricular matters. In 1999, a separate website for the full Senate was established. In 2001, the approved minutes of the College Senate began to be posted on the website regularly and in 2016 podcasts of the meetings also were made available. A revamped College Senate website was launched in 2015 and continues to be updated. Maintenance of the College Senate website and of the College Senate electronic elections (introduced in spring 2000, and formally approved as an option in fall 2000) had been informal, based on interest/talent of senators. Such maintenance is now the responsibility of the Assistant to the College Senate. 

According to Article III of the College Faculty Bylaws, college senate membership is determined as follows:

  • The President of the College, ex-officio, non-voting;
  • The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs ex-officio, non-voting;
  • The Vice President for Student Affairs ex-officio, non-voting;
  • The Vice President for Finance and Management ex-officio, non-voting;
  • Seven at large members of the academic staff or professional employees;
  • Six professional employees;
  • Twelve members of the teaching faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences;
  • Six members of the teaching faculty of the School of Education;
  • Six members of the teaching faculty of the School of the Professions;
  • One college librarian;
  • Two University Faculty Senators;
  • Ten undergraduate students;
  • Two graduate students;
  • One member of the support staff; and
  • Two presidential appointees ex-officio, non-voting.

Except for the President, Vice-Presidents, presidential appointees, and the at large senators, all senators are elected by the constituent groups who they represent using the procedures of the relevant constituency. Individuals who wish to represent a given constituency on the senate should consult the bylaws of that constituency for information about how to be elected. The College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee conducts elections for the at large senate positions and the University Faculty Senators. Nominations for these positions are solicited via announcements in the Daily Bulletin and on the floor of the Senate for one week at the end of April. The elections for these positions happen the week after nominations are solicited. All constituencies other than the graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to complete their elections prior to the end of the nomination period for at large positions so that unsuccessful candidates may run for the at large positions. For further details, please consult Article III of the College Faculty Bylaws.

Senators are expected to attend Senate meetings and participate in the deliberations of the Senate. Senators who represent specific constituencies are expected to report Senate business to those constituencies (Faculty meetings, USG meetings, PSC meetings, etc.) as well as to solicit the views and opinions of constituents on issues which are before the Senate. They should be prepared to raise any item of concern to one or more of their constituents on the floor of the Senate.  

Senators are also expected to serve on standing committees.  

From time to time, Senators are asked to attend open hearings which are scheduled by the Senate or one of its committees. At other times, Senators may be asked to serve on a committee as a representative of the Senate or to serve on an administrative committee to provide liaison between that committee and the Senate. 

The Senate is led by its chair, vice-chair, standing committee chairs, vice-chair of the student welfare committee, a student senator, the senior university faculty senator, and any other individuals who the Chair of the Senate chooses to include in Senate leadership. Collectively, these individuals constitute the College Senate's Agenda Committee. The Agenda Committee discusses the business and future direction of the Senate, sets the agenda for each Senate meeting, and coordinates relationships between the Senate and the University's administration. For further details, please consult Article III of the College Faculty Bylaws and Rule 1 of the Standing Rules.

Except for the two student members, the senior University Faculty Senator, and any individuals appointed by the Chair of the Senate, the members for the College Senate Agenda Committee are elected for the upcoming academic year at or after a caucus held by the Bylaws and Elections Committee prior to the Senate's May meeting. All senators for the upcoming academic year are invited to attend the caucus and to run for leadership positions on the Senate. The Bylaws and Elections Committee runs elections for the two student representatives at a senate meeting at the beginning of each academic year. For further details about these elections, please consult Section IV of the College Senate Handbook.

In addition to the Agenda Committee, the College Senate has eight standing committees. They are:

  • Academic Plan (APC)
  • Budget and Staff Allocation (BSAC)
  • Bylaws and Elections (BEC)
  • Curriculum (CSCC)
  • Faculty/Staff Welfare (FSW)
  • Instruction and Research (INR)
  • Standards for Students (S4S)
  • Student Welfare (SWC)

The charges of these standing committees were written by their initial members and approved by the Senate. These charges can be modified by the committee provided that the Senate approves said modifications. The Senate has the authority to form and charge ad hoc committees to conduct special business. The addition or deletion of standing committees of the College Senate requires a modification of in the College Faculty Bylaws. For further information, please consult Section III of the Handbook, Rule 2 of the Standing Rules, and Article III of the College Faculty Bylaws.

The chair of each Senate standing committee is elected either at the senate caucus in May or at the beginning of each academic year. With rare exceptions, the rest of each committee (other than the administrative liaison to the committee) is appointed by the committee's chair. Except for the Faculty/Staff Welfare Committee and the Student Welfare Committee, which have membership requirements in line with their charges, committee chairs are encouraged to include at least two other senators on each committee and to ensure that each of the Senate's constituencies is represented on each committee. Each summer the Senate calls for volunteers for College Senate standing committees. The names of those who volunteer are provided to the chairs of the standing committees. Yet, particularly for popular standing committees, the best way to become a member of a standing committee is to contact its chair over the summer and ask to be appointed to the committee for the upcoming academic year. For further information, please consult Section III of the Handbook, Rule 2 of the Standing Rules, and Article III of the College Faculty Bylaws.

The order of business for Senate meetings is specified in Section IV of the College Senate Handbook. It is as follows:

  • Approval of the agenda
  • Approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting
  • Announcements from the President of the College
  • Announcements from the Chair of the Senate
  • Reports from Standing Committees
  • Reports from Special Committees
  • Special Orders of Business
  • Unfinished Business
  • New Business (including questions from constituents)

This order can be changed by a vote of the Senate at the beginning of a Senate meeting.

Senate meetings are conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order. The parliamentarian to the Senate, who is responsible for ensuring conformity to these rules and rendering judgments as to the application of these rules, is appointed by the Chair of the Senate. For further information, please consult Section IV of the College Senate Handbook and Article III of the College Faculty Bylaws.