PLAN OF ORGANIZATION
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES
PREAMBLE
The faculty of the College of Arts and Humanities, in
conjunction with its Dean, students, and staff, promulgate this
Plan of Organization to promote the goals of self-governance and
educational excellence.
The Plan affirms the interrelationship of educational
excellence, faculty self-governance, and an organized student and
staff presence. It seeks, within the constraints imposed by the
hierarchical administrative structure of the University, to
provide faculty members with an active and important role in all
decisions that affect their responsibilities and rights as
instructors and scholars.
Consequently, the Plan asserts the primacy of democratic
principles of governance among the faculty of the College. At
the same time, it acknowledges the pre-eminent administrative
role of the Dean, whose authority is derived from the Board of
Regents. It also provides the opportunity for staff and
students to affect the policies of the College through their own
democratically organized institutions.
I. UNITS AND ADMINISTRATORS
A. Academic and Administrative Units: Constituent Units and
Governance
1. Constituent Units
a. The College of Arts and Humanities consists of
academic units and administrative units. The
academic units are American Studies, Art, Art
History and Archeology, Classics, Communication,
Comparative Literature, Dance, East Asian
Languages and Literatures, English Language and
Literature, French and Italian Languages and
Literatures, Germanic Studies, History,
Linguistics, Music, Philosophy, Spanish and
Portuguese Languages and Literatures, Theatre, and
Women's Studies. The administrative units are the
Art Gallery, Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies,
Language Center, Latin American Studies Center,
Maryland English Institute, Center for Nineteenth-
Century Music, and Center for Renaissance and
Baroque Studies, and the Committee on Africa and
the Americas.
2. Governance of Academic and Administrative Units
a. Each academic unit shall have a Plan of
Organization and shall file it with the College
Office.
b. All academic units shall be organized on the basis
of faculty self-governance. Each Department and
Program shall have appropriate provisions for
staff and student participation, as stipulated in
Article 11 of the Campus Plan of Organization.
c. The Dean or higher-level administrators shall
consult with the Chair and/or representatives of
department faculty before making decisions
affecting the internal functioning of academic
units or the responsibilities and rights of its
members.
d. Each administrative unit shall have a Director,
selected by the Dean after consultation with the
Faculty Advisory Board of the unit. The Director
will report regularly to the Dean and the Advisory
Board.
B. College Committees:
1. Administrative Council:
The Council consists of the Dean, Chairs and Directors
of all academic and administrative units, the Chair of
the Collegiate Council, Associate and Assistant Deans,
and appropriate Dean's staff. The voting members of
this body are the Dean, the department Chairs, and
Directors. The Dean presides at all Council meetings.
The Council shall meet regularly during the academic
year, at the request of the Dean or of a majority of
its members, to discuss Collegiate issues and concerns
and to disseminate administrative information. One
member of the Executive Committee of the Collegiate
Council and the Dean shall regularly report the
substance of these discussions to the Collegiate
Council. One officer of the Collegiate Council
Executive Committee shall attend meetings of the
Administrative Council. The Dean may also invite other
members of the Collegiate Council, College faculty and
students, and others to attend and to participate in
Council meetings, as appropriate.
2. Academic Planning Advisory Committee:
a. Membership:
This committee is composed of the Dean, the College's
financial officer, the associate dean for academic
affairs, one representative of the Administrative
Council, and two representatives of the Collegiate
Council. The faculty appointments will reflect the
College's major discipline areas with selection of one
member from departments devoted to the performing arts,
one from a foreign language or the linguistics
department, and one from the Humanities. Members from
the Administrative Council are elected yearly. Members
from the Collegiate Council are elected for staggered
two year terms, the goal being to always have one
Collegiate Council representative with a year's
experience on APAC.
b. Functions:
(1) The committee reviews and makes recommendations to
the Dean regarding the strategic plans of the
College's units. It deliberates in confidence and
advises the Dean in preparing the College's
strategic plan for submission to the University's
APAC Committee.
(2) The Committee reviews and makes recommendations to
the Dean regarding Directed Research Initiative
(DRIF) requests from the College's annual DRIF
allocation. It also makes recommendations to the
Graduate School about supplemental funding for
College projects.
(3) The Committee reviews and makes recommendations to
the Dean on the financial implications of all
proposals for new programs and curricula, all
courses (new or existing) related to such
proposals, all proposals for new courses or for
substantial changes in existing courses or
curricula.
(4) The Dean may also ask this committee for advice
regarding the financial implications of other
College business.
C. Administrative Officers: Selection and Duties
1. The Dean:
a. Selection of the Dean:
The Dean is appointed by the Board of Regents on the
recommendation of the President. The President's
recommendation must be made from a list of names
recommended by a search committee appointed by the
Provost with the advice of the Collegiate Council. The
Search Committee must include one elected member of the
Collegiate Council, and a majority of its members must
be faculty of the College. The Committee shall solicit
names of possible candidates from members of the
College and inform faculty of the progress of the
search. College faculty shall have the right to submit
to the President their evaluations of candidates
recommended by the search committee.
b. Duties of the Dean:
(1) To act as chief administrative officer of the
College.
(2) To provide leadership in setting standards for
academic excellence and in stimulating research,
performance, and teaching. To foster conditions
conducive to service by the College's faculty.
(3) To act as the chief representative and advocate of
the College in the University administration and
Community.
(4) To bear the final responsibility for the budget of
the College and its academic and administrative
units.
(5) To make recommendations with respect to all
collegiate promotions and appointments carrying
tenure; to review non-tenured appointments in
academic and administrative units. In each case
the dean shall follow the procedures
specified in applicable University regulations.
(6) To promote Affirmative Action policies within the
College.
(7) To maintain an advising system for students in the
College and to certify the completion of their
degree requirements.
(8) To serve as an ex-officio member of the Collegiate
Council, with voice but no vote, and to seek the
Council's advice and/or consent, as specified in
the Plan of Organization.
(9) To preside at meetings of the Administrative
Council and to seek the advice of its members on
appropriate College business.
(10) To enforce implementation of the Plan of
Organization.
(11) To form ad hoc committees after due consultation
with the Collegiate Council.
(12) To report annually to the Collegiate Council on
the state of the College.
2. Department Chairs and Program Directors:
a. Selection:
The Dean shall appoint a search committee and
shall recommend a nominee to the Provost. The
Dean shall choose the nominee from a list of names
proposed by the Search Committee. A majority of
the members of the committee shall be from the
Department or Program. The Search committee shall
solicit the names of nominees from the members of
the unit and shall apprise the unit of the
progress of the search. All members of the
Department or Program shall have the right to
submit evaluations of recommended candidates to
the search committee, the Dean, and the Provost.
b. Duties of the Chair and Director:
(1) To act as the chief representative and advocate
for the unit.
(2) To promote superior teaching, service,
performance, and research among faculty members.
(3) To plan and administer the unit's budget, subject
to consultation and review by the Dean.
(4) To make recommendations with respect to tenure and
non-tenure appointments and promotions, as
specified in applicable University regulations.
(5) To promote faculty recruitment and renewal and to
promote Affirmative Action policies.
(6) To administer the curriculum and related programs
and to maintain appropriate advising systems for
students.
(7) To solicit the active participation of the faculty
in Departmental or Program affairs and to
communicate policies to faculty members.
C. Review of Units and Officers:
Academic Departments and Programs, Administrative Units, and
Administrative Officers (the Dean, Chairs, and Directors)
shall be reviewed regularly, as specified in Appendix, I.C.
II. COLLEGIATE REPRESENTATION AND GOVERNANCE
A. Collegiate Council:
1. Functions:
a. To act as the chief representative and advocate of
the faculty of the College.
b. To consult with the Dean, Department and Program
Chairs and Directors, and other Collegiate
administrators regarding programs within the
College.
c. To communicate matters of academic and
administrative policy to College faculty and to
respond to their concerns.
d. To receive and consider recommendations from the
Dean or the Provost and to advise the Dean,
University administrators and community on matters
of College concern.
e. To establish educational policies and priorities
for the College, in consultation with the Dean.
f. To promote excellence in instruction, research,
and creative activities, and to advise the Dean on
long-range plans for the professional and physical
development of the College.
g. To supervise Collegial referenda and set
guidelines for election of Council members and
Senate representatives.
h. To review and approve proposals for courses and
curricula from units.
i. To propose changes in the Plan of Organization and
to propose and approve changes in its Appendices.
2. Relationship to the Dean:
Decisions of the Collegiate Council are subject to
approval by the Dean and, when necessary, by the Campus
Senate, the Provost, the President, and the Board of
Regents. When approved, they shall be put into effect
by the Dean, the Collegiate Council, or the appropriate
administrator or committee.
If the Dean does not approve a policy decision of the
Collegiate Council, the Dean shall state the reasons in
writing. In such cases, the Collegiate Council may seek
the support of the Campus Senate and/or the President.
3. Collegiate Support:
The College, through the Office of the Dean, shall
furnish assistance to the Collegiate Council as a
whole, and to its committees, in the discharging of
official business. This shall include assistance with
elections and referenda, the processing of academic
proposals, and any other business involving educational
programs and development of the College and its
faculty.
4. Composition:
a. The Dean shall have voice, but not vote, in the
Collegiate Council.
b. Each academic unit shall elect one member (and one
alternate who shall attend and vote in the absence
of the elected representative) from among its
faculty. Faculty representatives shall serve a
term of two years from July 1 after election and
may not serve for more than two successive terms.
Elections should be held prior to April 30th each
year.
c. The Executive Committee shall name one
undergraduate student, one graduate student, and
one staff member to the Collegiate Council. These
representatives shall have voice, but not vote, in
the deliberations of the Council and each shall
come from a different academic unit within the
College. If staff and students are represented in
their own Councils, as described in Part III of
this Plan, then their Collegiate Council
representatives shall come from those bodies.
Student and staff members shall serve for a term
of two years from July 1 after selection, and may
not serve for more than two successive terms.
d. Procedures for the election, disqualification, and
recall of Collegiate Council members are described
in the Appendix at II. A. 4 d.
5. Meetings:
The Collegiate Council shall meet at least three times
each semester. A quorum shall be a majority of the
elected members. Meetings shall be open to all faculty
of the College and to others that the Council may
admit. Procedures for calling special meetings and
making decisions in the absence of a quorum are described in
the Appendix at II. A. 5.
6. Officers:
Officers of the Collegiate Council are the Chair, Vice-
Chair, and Secretary. Officers shall be elected from
and by the elected members of the Collegiate Council.
The Chair shall preside over all meetings or, in the
absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall preside.
Procedures for election are described in the Appendix
at II. A. 6.
B. Collegiate Council Committees
1. Structure:
a. The standing committees shall be as follows:
(1) Executive Committee
(2) Committee on Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure
(3) Committee on Programs, Courses, and Curricula
b. The Council may establish special committees and
shall appoint (or delegate the appointment) of
their members. These committees shall function
until discharge by the Council.
c. All faculty members eligible to vote in elections
for the Collegiate Council may serve on its
committees. Members of standing and special
committees shall serve for one year and may be
reappointed for one successive year. The
composition of all committees shall be public
information, available to all members of the
College's faculty.
d. The Dean may appoint an ex-officio member, with
voice but not vote, to each Council committee.
The Dean may also establish special committees
after due consultation with the Collegiate
Council.
e. Each committee shall normally include one faculty
member from each of the three groups of academic
Departments or Programs as listed in Appendix I.
A. 1, the arts, the humanities, and the foreign
languages.
f. The Chair of each standing committee shall report
regularly to the Collegiate Council and shall
annually submit a written report for the Council.
On the recommendation of the Executive Committee,
the Collegiate Council may recall and replace the
chair or a member of a committee by a two-thirds
majority vote.
g. Every fifth year, the Chair of the Collegiate
Council shall appoint an ad hoc committee to
review the Plan of Organization and to
recommend changes, as necessary.
3. Specific Committees:
a. Executive Committee:
(1) Membership: The Executive Committee shall include
the Dean, who shall have voice but not vote in its
deliberations, the officers of the Collegiate
Council, and one additional member of the Council,
as elected by the Council. The Chair of the
Council shall serve as its Chairperson. The
Committee may delegate the Chair to act on its
behalf. The Committee may invite non-members to
assist the Committee and the Council in its
deliberations; non-members shall have voice but
not vote.
(2) Functions:
(a) To act for the Council in intervals between
meetings.
(b) To prepare the agenda for Council meetings.
The Committee shall invite the Dean to report
to the Council on a regular basis and shall
solicit reports from Chairs of standing and
special committees. The Council may direct
that items be placed on the agenda, and
Council members may suggest items for
inclusion.
(c) To undertake special projects or activities
as directed by the Council as a whole.
(3) Elections: The Executive Committee shall be
elected annually at the last meeting of the
Collegiate Council each spring. The Committee
shall serve during the following year.
(4) Meetings: The Executive Committee shall meet at
least once each semester, at the call of its
Chair. The quorum for the committee is three
members. It shall meet before the first session
of the year of its term to draw up a list of
priorities for consideration by the Council at its
first meeting.
b. Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure:
(1) Membership: The Dean, with the advice and
consent of the Collegiate Council, shall
appoint the committee members. The Committee
shall consists of five members; all members
shall hold the rank of full professor. Three
members shall come from each of the three
groups of academic units, as listed in I. A.
1 above; two shall be members-at-large.
Members shall serve one year, and may be
reappointed by the Dean, with the advice and
consent of the Collegiate Council, for one
successive year. Insofar as possible, the
committee should contain members in both
their first and second year of service.
(2) Functions: The committee shall deliberate in
confidence and shall then make written
recommendations on all cases of tenure,
promotion, or appointments to the ranks of
Associate and Full Professor. The Committee
shall conduct its business in accordance with
the policies set out in "The UMCP Policy on
Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure of
Faculty" (approved by the Chancellor March
26, 1993) and the "College of Arts and
Humanities APT Procedures" (Approved by
Collegiate Council in October, 1993).
The committee shall review its own policies
and procedures at least every three years and
report the results to the Collegiate Council.
The committee shall also review the policies
and procedures on tenure and promotion
employed by academic units and, through the
Collegiate Council and the Dean, suggest
appropriate changes.
c. Committee on Programs, Courses, and Curricula
(1) Membership: The Dean, with the advice and consent
of the Collegiate Council, shall appoint members.
The committee shall consists of five faculty, one
undergraduate student, and one graduate student.
(2) Functions:
(a) The committee reviews and makes
recommendations to the Dean on all proposals
for new programs and curricula, all courses
(new or existing) related to such proposals,
all proposals for new courses or for
substantial changes in existing courses or
curricula. The Committee, in making its
recommendations, shall consider the soundness
of the proposal, evidence of need and
availability of resources, appropriateness of
sponsoring groups, assurance of non-
duplication, and conformity with established
priorities, goals, and existing regulations.
(b) The committee shall formulate and recommend
to the Collegiate Council the academic
priorities of the College regarding
undergraduate and graduate programs and
interdisciplinary and interdivisional
studies. The committee shall review and
recommend policies concerning matriculation
and retention within the College, Collegiate
degrees, honors programs of the academic
units within the College, and other matters
pertaining to the instructional program of
the College.
III. STAFF AND STUDENT COUNCIL
The staff and the students associated with the College may
create democratically organized bodies similar in character
to the Collegiate Council. These Staff and Student Councils
shall convey the interests and concerns of their respective
constituents to the Collegiate Council and to the Dean, and
they will convey information from the Collegiate Council and
the Dean to their constituents. The Dean and the faculty
shall have voice but not vote in these Staff and Student
Councils. The powers of the Staff and Student Councils
shall be determined by their Plans of Organization, as
limited by the applicable policies of the Board of Regents.
IV. AMENDMENT OF THE PLAN OF ORGANIZATION
Amendments or revisions may be proposed by members of the
Collegiate Council, committees of the Council, or by
petitions signed by 25 full-time faculty members in the
College.
The Collegiate Council shall discuss a proposed amendment at
two successive meetings and then vote upon the proposal.
Amendments that are approved by a majority of the Council
members who are present and voting shall be submitted to a
Collegiate referendum. Amendments that are not approved by
a majority of the Council shall be submitted to a Collegiate
referendum upon presentation to the Council of a petition
signed by 75 full-time faculty members in the College.
Amendments shall become part of the Plan of Organization if,
in the Collegiate referendum, they receive either:
60% of the votes of those voting; OR
50% plus one of the votes of all full-time faculty in
the College.
The Collegiate Council shall ensure that referenda are
conducted in a timely, just, and appropriate manner.
The Plan of Organization shall be reviewed every fifth year
by a committee elected by the Collegiate Council. By a 60%
vote of the Collegiate Council or by resolution of 60% of
the academic units, a committee may be created at any time
to draft a new Plan of Organization. Recommended revisions
or amendments or a new Plan of Organization shall be
submitted to a Collegiate referendum as described above.
Amendments to the Appendices of the Plan of Organization
shall be approved by a 60% majority vote of the Collegiate
Council. Proposed amendments to the Appendices shall be
presented at a meeting of the Council and voted upon at a
subsequent meeting.
V. PLENARY SESSIONS
The faculty of the College will meet in plenary session
during the Spring semester of each academic year. The
Collegiate Council will report to the faculty and, as
appropriate, request its approval of policies and
procedures. Such proposals shall become College policy,
upon receiving appropriate administrative approval, if they
receive a majority of the votes of those faculty members
present and voting. The faculty, meeting in plenary
session, may also approve amendments to the Plan of
Organization; such amendments must be approved by 60% of
those present and voting or 50% plus 1 of the number of
faculty members eligible to vote in the College.
The Collegiate Council shall invite the Dean to address the
plenary session with respect to College concerns. The Dean
shall have voice but not vote in the plenary session.