Department of Mathematics and Statistics
BYLAWS
Approved by Dean
Preamble
The Department of Mathematics and Statistics is a unit of
the
These bylaws provide guidelines for governance and
procedures for operation of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. These
bylaws were approved by the Dean of the
Article I. Administration
A. The Department
Chair is a tenured or tenure-track
faculty member who is appointed by the Dean of the
B. The Assistant Department Chair is appointed by the department Chair in January of each year. The length of service in this role is open-ended and has been quite long in some past cases. This length of service is generally considered positive for the running of the department, as the occupant of the position tends to grow into a reservoir of knowledge on past and present curriculum, policies, procedures and personnel. The duties of the assistant chair include creation of course schedules for every term of the academic year, maintaining of records on such schedules and any faculty releases, maintaining projected course schedules with a two-year future window, reviewing all course substitutions for mathematics courses (except ECE math), processing requests for course prerequisite overrides, unofficial mentoring of new tenure-track faculty members and official mentoring of all new temporary or part-time faculty members, standing in for the Chair when needed, and other assignments as requested by the Chair. The nature of this role is such that it entails activity both in the evaluation area of Professional Service and in the area of Administration and Leadership
C. The
Mathematics Education Program Director is appointed by the Chair of the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics with an approval by the Dean. The
duties of the Coordinator include:
Program
Review and Revision
§ Regularly review program policies and curriculum of Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ECE), Middle Grade Education (MGE) and Secondary programs
§ Hold regular meetings of program faculty, separate meetings for ECE and MGE/Secondary
§ Revise program policies or curriculum as necessary in collaboration with program faculty and chair and appropriate faculty in the Bagwell College of Education
§ Write proposals for changes to program policies or curriculum. (All 3 programs)
§ Shepherd proposals through departmental curriculum committee, Teacher Education Council, and Undergraduate/Graduate Policies and Curriculum Committee (as appropriate).
§ Serve as the Mathematics Education liaison on the department Curriculum Committee
§ Chair of the Mathematics Education Advisory Board with teachers and school officials from eight districts whose input is invaluable for all our programs
Accreditation
and Other Reviews
§ Collect, store, and lead faculty analysis of NCATE evidence.
§ Coordinate collection and reporting of program data to be used in reporting about unit (PTEU).
§ Prepare NCATE report.
§ Prepare data, faculty, and guests for NCATE visits.
§ Collect, store, and lead faculty analysis of PSC evidence.
§ Coordinate collection and reporting of program data to be used in reporting about unit (PTEU).
§ Prepare PSC report.
§ Prepare data, faculty, and guests for NCATE visits.
§ Respond to surveys or information from the Board of Regents
§ Make sure all our programs conform to the Board of Regents Principles
§ Help with preparation of SACS reports.
§ Help with preparation of internal review documents.
Student Interactions
§ Assist with students who have difficulties in field or on campus.
§ Work
with
§ Train faculty to advise program students.
§ Maintain Mathematics Education database
§ Maintain database on all Mathematics Education graduates
§ Advise students with unusual circumstances.
§ Train faculty to fulfill program requirements (key program assessments, collecting evidence of program effectiveness).
§ Coordinate assessments/projects that span more than one course.
§ Keep
website updated to inform current students about program requirements.
§ Create
or revise documents to inform current students about program requirements.
§ Assist chair in scheduling of courses.
§ Assist chair in assignment of university supervisors to students placed in field.
§ Train university supervisors for field experiences.
§ Review and correct KSU catalog copy relevant to program.
Recruitment
§ Respond to inquiries from prospective students.
§ Meet with prospective students.
§ Create or revise documents to inform prospective students about the program.
§ Keep
website updated to inform prospective students about the program.
Collaboration
within university
§ Assist Office Field Experience in placement of students.
§ Coordinate collaboration with other KSU colleges and departments (Mathematics Education serves ECE, MGE and Secondary).
Undergraduate-specific
§ Assist with student teachers and TOSS students who need remediation.
§ Coordinate student teaching seminars.
§ Track Teacher Certification Test(Praxis II or GACE II) scores for all graduates
§ Find support for students unable to pass certification tests
§ Attend Program Coordinator’s meeting
Graduate-specific
§ Review applications for admission.
§ Work with the Graduate Program Coordinator on new program development, scheduling, recruitment, etc.
The nature of this role is such that it entails activity both in the evaluation area of Professional Service and in the area of Administration and Leadership.
D. The Mathematics
Program Advising Coordinator is appointed by the department Chair in
January of each year and typically serves in this role for at least four years.
The duties of the Coordinator include assignment of faculty advisors to
mathematics majors, maintaining of records of mathematics majors, maintaining
and updating the mathematics advising Web page, coordination of advising
for freshmen and transfer orientations,
and updating the mathematics majors’ handbook. The nature of this role is such
that it entails activity both in the evaluation area of Professional Service
and in the area of Administration and Leadership.
E. The
Director of the Graduate Statistics Program is appointed by the Department
Chair in January of each year. The Director is responsible for publicity
concerning the program, including newspaper and magazine advertising, brochures
and Web sites, attendance at graduate education fairs and open houses;
maintaining the content of the program website; communicating with prospective
applicants; maintaining application files; evaluating the application files;
making acceptance/rejection decisions about applicants and communicating
acceptance/rejection decisions to the Graduate Admissions Office. The Director
is responsible for advising students who have been admitted to the program,
monitoring students’ progress in the program, coordinating the student
projects, coordinating Citrix access to the statistical software used in the
program and coordinating the awarding of Graduate Research Assistantships. The Director is a non-voting, ex-officio
member of the Graduate Policies and Curriculum Committee. The nature of this
role is such that it entails activity both in the evaluation area of
Professional Service and in the area of Administration and Leadership.
F. The Mathematics Education Graduate Program Coordinator has duties that include
· Report & Update Math, Math Ed, Education faculty regarding programs (MAT, MEd, EdD/EdS)
· Communicate with Chair
· Serve as Representative on Graduate Program Coordinator meetings. (monthly meeting)
· Serve as Representative on EdD Task Force, MEd Program Committee, MAT Program Committee. (monthly meetings)
· Initiate/coordinate program revisions
· Assist in aligning programs with national, state & institutional standards
· Conduct regular assessments of the program
· Utilize feedback for programmatic changes
· Teach graduate classes
· Coordinate & facilitate student advisement for all 2nd degree students
· Monitor application processes, review applications for MEd, MAT, EdD/EdS programs, interview potential applicants.
· Market program & recruit students
· Coordinate MATH/MAED graduate courses.
· Work with Education each semester to coordinate scheduling of courses.
· Recruit faculty to teach graduate courses.
The nature of this role is such that it entails activity both in the evaluation area of Professional Service and in the area of Administration and Leadership.
G. The Department
Webmaster is responsible for maintaining the website for the department, as
well as the software and hardware for the web server. The duties of the
Webmaster include (1) making sure the web server is up and running at all times. This
includes applying regular patches to the software running on the server.
It also includes making sure the server remains secure. (It is
under constant attacks by hackers.), (2) making sure the information on the
site is up to date, (3) adding new information when needed, (4) redesigning the
site at regular intervals when the old site becomes obsolete, and (5) creating
and maintaining accounts for all the users of the server. The nature of this
role is such that it entails activity both in the evaluation area of
Professional Service and in the area of Administration and Leadership. In
addition, the faculty member who fills this role must be highly trained in
computer science and in special issues related to computer hardware and
software
H. The ECE
Mathematics Coordinator mentors faculty who teach the courses for ECE
majors. This activity involves sharing methods and philosophies about how the
courses should be approached and delivered to ECE students. A major activity of
the coordinator is approving/denying prerequisite override requests. This
activity must be attended to twice during each semester and involves an
intensive amount of time during priority and final registration. Each request is
considered on a case-by-case status that requires accessing and analyzing
records of the student and then applying the policies for such override
requests. There is a large amount of background knowledge and expertise that is
inherent in making these decisions. A second major activity that is not quite
as time intensive is the process of approving course substitutions. This
activity again requires researching student records and accessing, often
on-line, courses from other educational institutions to evaluate how they fit
into the existing KSU mathematics courses. In addition, the coordinator serves
as a liaison between the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the
Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education. The nature of this role
is such that it entails activity both in the evaluation area of Professional
Service and in the area of Administration and Leadership.
I.
The Placement Test
Coordinator is appointed by the Department Chair in January of each
year. The Coordinator is responsible for
all communication regarding the placement test, including informing incoming
students about when and how to take it before orientation; informing advisors
about how to handle the results at orientation and registration; and informing
faculty about how to access the results of their students. The Coordinator is also responsible for any
maintenance to the test itself, and for liaising with the technology staff
regarding the implementation. Finally,
the Coordinator is responsible for keeping campus-wide stakeholders, including
the Registrar, the Admissions office, and the University Studies Department
informed of all developments regarding the placement test. The
nature of this role is such that it entails activity in the area of
Professional Service.
J. The Minor
in Applied Mathematics Program
Coordinator is appointed by the department Chair in January of each year
and typically serves in this role for at least four years. The duties of the
Coordinator include advising of students enrolled in the program, monitoring
students’ progress in the program, communicating with prospective minor
students, maintaining of records of mathematics minors, maintaining and
updating the minor in mathematics Web page, and advertising the program. The
Coordinator is also responsible for keeping campus-wide stakeholders, including
the Registrar, the Admissions office, and the University Studies Department
informed of all developments regarding the program. The nature of this role is such that it
entails activity both in the evaluation area of Professional Service and in the
area of Administration and Leadership.
K. The Department
Faculty Council (DFC)
a.
Duties
i.
The DFC
is advisory to the Department Chair who holds decision-making authority at the
department level.
ii.
The DFC
should promote collegiality and effective shared governance of the department
by increasing the transparency and two-way communication between the faculty
and the Chair with regard to the development and implementation of policy
including but not limited to strategic planning, annual budgeting, hiring,
space and resource allocation, salaries and raises, appointment and reports of
ad hoc committees, workload, teaching load, overall goals, ideas about new
programs, etc.
iii.
The DFC
shall have the right to prompt access to department information relating to the
planning and implementation of departmental policies.
iv.
The DFC
should work with the Dean and/or the Ombuds office to address problems arising
in its work that may require external assistance, and should notify the Faculty
Senate Executive Committee for information purposes.
b.
Membership
i.
In
addition to the Assistant Chair, three members will be selected by the
department’s full-time faculty using secret ballot. The ballot will contain a
slate of all the tenured faculty and volunteers from the remaining tenure-track
faculty.
ii.
At least
two of the four members of the DFC are tenured faculty.
iii.
The
Chair of the DFC will be a tenured faculty member who is not the Assistant
Chair, selected by vote of the elected members of the DFC from among their
number.
iv.
The
department may recall any DFC member by a 2/3 vote of the permanent full-time
faculty. The department will replace any member who does not complete his or
her term for any reason with a timely election.
v.
The
Department Chair is an ex-officio non-voting member of the DFC, and is not
eligible to vote for or to serve as a DFC representative.
c.
Meeting
Times
i.
Twice
per semester or as called by the Chair of the DFC.
ii.
The
Department Chair will respect the DFC’s desire, on occasion, to meet without the
Department Chair present.
d.
Term: Three
year staggered terms.
Article II. Committees
A. The department Tenure and Promotion Committee is elected by a vote of all tenured
and tenure-track faculty members taken in January of each year. Only tenured
faculty members may serve on this committee. The number of members of this
committee will be determined as follows:
1) The current total number of tenured and tenure-track
faculty members in the department will be rounded down to the nearest integer multiple of 10. Call this (rounded)
number N.
2) Let X=N/10.
3) If X is odd and at least 3, then the number of members of the
committee will be X.
4) If X is even, then the number of members of the committee will be
X+1.
The Chair of this committee
will be chosen by the members of the committee.
Furthermore, any faculty member who will
undergo a promotion review during a certain year may not serve on this
committee during that year. Any faculty member who has served on this committee
for two consecutive years may elect to not be placed on the ballot for
consideration to serve on the committee for a third consecutive year. The
committee that is elected in January serves during the upcoming academic year
(Fall and Spring semesters).
B. The department Curriculum Committee is appointed by the department Chair in
January of each year. The committee that is appointed in January serves during
the upcoming academic year (Fall and Spring semesters). This committee consists
of at least five tenured and tenure-track faculty members and might also have
members from other departments that hold an interest in the curriculum of the
mathematics department.
C. The Mathematics Education
Committee is chaired by the Mathematics Education Coordinator. The
committee consists of all Mathematics Education faculty members. The
committee oversees all matters pertaining to the mathematics
education program including especially the advising and training of future
secondary mathematics teachers. The committee also oversees mathematics
and mathematics education courses for MGE/Secondary and ECE majors and for
the M.Ed. program and the M.A.T. program in the Bagwell College of Education.
D. The Assessment
Committee is appointed by the department Chair in January of each
year. The committee that is appointed in
January serves during the upcoming academic year (Fall and Spring
semesters). This committee has
responsibility for assessment/Assurance of Learning activities within the
department. The committee conducts
assessment activities and reports results to the department and to the
Assurance of Learning Council.
E. The Awards
and Scholarships Committee handles promotion, selection, and awarding of
honors and scholarships in the department.
First, the committee is charged with collecting information regarding
awards and scholarships and publicizing those that are of interest to students
in the department's programs and classes.
Second, the committee selects student recipients of awards originating in
the department, including the Ronald C. Biggers Scholarship, the Outstanding
Math and Math Ed majors, and the MAA and AWM student memberships. Finally, the committee organizes an annual
awards ceremony to honor the student recipients of the awards.
Article III. Department
Meetings
Department
meetings will be held at least twice each Fall semester and twice each Spring
semester. The Department Chair will call as many department meetings as deemed
necessary. All full-time faculty members are required to attend department
meetings unless excused by the Department Chair. (Any faculty member who is
teaching during the time of a department meeting will automatically be excused
from the meeting.) Minutes of each meeting (including attendance) will be recorded,
reviewed by the department faculty and the Department Chair, and kept on file
in the department office.
Article IV: Voting
Voting on matters
of departmental policy and procedures, degree program changes, academic
standards and integrity, academic honors, committee membership, departmental
representation, nominations for college and university positions, and revision
of departmental bylaws will be conducted as follows:
1.
Eligibility
a.
All
faculty who are not part-time or temporary are eligible to vote.
b.
Faculty
who will be absent at the time of a vote may vote by written proxy submitted to
the Department Chair.
2.
Quorum
a.
A quorum
shall consist of half of those eligible to vote plus 1.
b.
In the
event that a quorum is not achieved, the vote will be tabled until such time
that a quorum can be achieved.
3.
Passage
of a Motion
a.
A simple
majority of those voting shall be required to pass a motion.
b.
A two
thirds majority of those voting shall be required to pass an amendment to the
department bylaws.
4.
Ballots
a.
Secret
ballots shall be used for votes if requested by at least one faculty member.
Article V. Changes
in the Curriculum
1. The Department Chair or any tenured or
tenure-track faculty member may propose new course offerings, course deletions,
changes in degree requirements, or any other curriculum-related changes to the
department Curriculum Committee.
2. Written proposals regarding
curriculum-related changes will be reviewed by the Curriculum Committee.
3. The Curriculum Committee will make a
recommendation to the Department Chair regarding any proposed
curriculum-related matter. In some cases, the Chair may request a vote of the
entire voting faculty.
Article VI. Guidelines
for Tenure Track Faculty Searches
1. Search Committee Designation
a. After discussion with the department faculty
about which discipline to stipulate in the advertisement for a given faculty
position, and in consultation with the Dean, a search committee that includes
at least three tenured or tenure-track faculty shall be appointed by the Department
Chair.
b. The Department Chair shall appoint a Chair of
the Search Committee. The search committee Chair, working in concert with the
department secretary and Department Chair, will work to gather applicants’
files, reviewing their completeness, and making them accessible to committee
members and other faculty, and in completing paperwork related to EEO and other
required documentation. The Department Chair shall provide the committee with
specific guidelines about conducting searches.
2. Following the closing date, and after initial
review of the files of qualified applicants, if an appointed committee member
discovers that one or more applicants is a person or persons with whom the
member has had a prior close personal relationship, he or she should make this
known to the committee and the Department Chair and discuss whether it is
appropriate to be replaced on the committee, in order to avoid the appearance
of conflict of interest.
Article VII. Summer
Session Teaching
The following guidelines shall be used to determine priority for
teaching during the summer session.
1. Through written solicitation, the Assistant
Department Chair shall determine faculty members’ requests to teach during
summer sessions.
2. The following ranked criteria shall be
considered when making teaching assignments for the summer sessions.
a. Course demand and faculty specialization.
b. Budget Conditions.
c. Preference will be given to full-time, tenure
track faculty.
d. When additional course sections are available
after each faculty member who desires to teach has received one section,
additional assignments shall be made using the criteria listed above.
Article VIII. Travel Policy
Funding (from departmental travel funds) for faculty travel to
professional meetings and for travel to other professional events is awarded,
at the Department Chair’s discretion, based on the following criteria:
1. The total amount of travel funding that has
been allocated to the department in a given fiscal year.
2. Whether or not the faculty member will be presenting
a paper or be performing some other active role at the conference being
attended.
3. The total cost of the requested travel
(including in relation to other travel that the faculty member in question has
undertaken or is planning to undertake in the given fiscal year).
Article IX. Amendments
to Bylaws
Amendments to these Bylaws shall be submitted in writing to Department
Faculty Council and shall be approved by a two thirds majority vote at a
faculty meeting at which a quorum of voting faculty are present.