SoHE Governance Document

I.              Purpose

This document details the organization, operating procedures, and policies of the School of Human Ecology. All details below are intended to be consistent with University and College of Natural Sciences policies and procedures which take precedence. Additional relevant information can be found at the College of Natural Sciences Faculty Affairs website and in the Faculty Handbook and Chairs Handbooks, available online.

II.            Overview

The School of Human Ecology (SoHE) is situated within the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. It includes two departments and two academic programs:

• Department of Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS)

• Department of Nutritional Sciences (NS)

• Public Health Program (PH)

• Textiles and Apparel Program (TXA)

The leadership of the Public Health Program and Textiles and Apparel Program report to the director of SoHE while the chairs of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and Department of Nutritional Sciences report to the CNS Dean.

The School also includes several specialized laboratories, institutes, projects, and programs.

The organization, operating procedures, and policies of the two departments are governed within those departments, as outlined in their respective governance documents. Governance within SoHE pertains to shared or joint activities related to research, teaching, and other student support activities, e.g., the Center for Student Success, teaching and research space assignments, and budgets and finances for accounts held by the School. Governance of SoHE as explicated here is intended as supplemental to, rather than superseding, departmental governance, which have independent governance with respect to departmental internal leadership; committees; space; faculty recruitment, retention, and annual, mid-probationary, and promotion reviews; faculty merit reviews; and graduate programs and Graduate Studies Committees.

III.          Structure

Faculty Governance Committee (FGC) type: The FGC of the School of Human Ecology (SoHE) is of the Executive Committee type.

FGC Chair: The FGC chair is the SoHE Director, who is not eligible to vote on the recommendations made by the FGC since they offer their own independent recommendations. The School Director is a tenured faculty member appointed by the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and is a non-voting member of the Executive Committee. The Dean of the College of Natural Sciences sets the term length.

FGC membership: All T/TT Faculty and all Associate and Full Professor of

Instruction/Practice with 50% or higher appointment in a field related to the majors offered in SoHE with two or more academic years of service (see UT Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP), 2-1010, Sec. 3.A.1.b). All eligible faculty remain on the EC as long as they remain in an eligible faculty position; there are no terms.

The role of the FGC is to vote on recommendations. Final decisions related to responsibilities for which the Faculty Governance Committee provides recommendations are made by either the dean, provost, president, executive vice chancellor, chancellor, or Board of Regents depending on the action being taken.

Merit Review Committee (Elected): The SoHE merit review committee is responsible for the annual review of all clinical-, instruction-, and practice-track faculty in the Academic Programs (PBH and TXA) (Department-based faculty annual and merit reviews will be conducted within Departments, led by the Department Chairs). FGC members from the Academic Programs (PBH and TXA) will vote on merit review committee membership. The committee will be made up of 4 members, 2 from each Academic Program, with 3-year terms; only tenured faculty and faculty with ranks at or above associate level are eligible. 

For the evaluation of tenured faculty and faculty with ranks at or above associate level in both academic programs, the School Director will appoint a merit review committee of faculty at ranks the same or higher than the faculty being reviewed, including tenured faculty from the Departments of Human Development & Family Sciences and Nutritional Sciences

IV.          Voting Policies

Synchronous, remote engagement, and voting by faculty:  Synchronous, remote engagement, and voting is allowed for faculty who have been approved to work remotely (either for professional or personal reasons), with the exact rules depending on specific situations. The rules for voting on P&T and hiring are outlined below. Note that faculty who are on official travel and have filed an RTA approved by the department chair are considered to have “approved professional commitments”. 

For votes on promotion and tenure (PBH & TXA): Eligible voting faculty are defined as members of the FGC that are (1) tenured full professors from all Departments and Academic Programs, and (2) FGC members within the faculty candidate Academic Program (PBH or TXA) at higher rank than the faculty candidate. Those eligible voting faculty with approved professional commitments and/or personal circumstances can participate and vote synchronously and remotely in the review of candidates.

For votes on hiring decisions: Eligible voting faculty are defined as members of the FGC members within the faculty candidate Academic Program (PBH or TXA). In situations where materials relevant for the vote have been shared and a discussion is scheduled before the vote, eligible voting faculty on the FGC with approved professional commitments and/or personal circumstances are allowed to cast remote synchronous votes as long as they attend the discussion. If no discussion is scheduled before the vote, these eligible voting faculty are allowed to cast remote synchronous and asynchronous votes.

Meetings: Meetings of the Executive Committee constitute faculty meetings and will be called by the School Director. Additional School personnel (lecturers, staff, graduate or undergraduate student representatives) may be invited.

Meetings that include votes will allow for synchronous, remote engagement and voting by faculty who have been approved to work remotely (those with conflicts for attendance outside of approved professional commitments may not vote). For voting purposes, a quorum constitutes 50% of the total number of eligible faculty.

Continuation and future changes (every three academic years) to this Policy: All FGC members are eligible to vote.

V.            School Procedures and Policies

Faculty Reviews: This policy applies to faculty mid-probationary / third-year reviews, promotions, and comprehensive periodic reviews (CPR). The policy applies to all faculty appointed in the Academic Programs of the School (Textiles & Apparel, and Public Health). Department-based faculty reviews will be conducted within Departments, led by the Department Chairs.

The School Director will designate an ad-hoc committee for each faculty to be reviewed, made up of Executive Committee members at ranks above the candidate being reviewed. The composition of ad-hoc committees will be determined based on university guidelines (UT HOP, 2-2150), and reviews will be conducted consistent with CNS guidelines (see CNS Faculty Affairs; Faculty Evaluations).

Eligible voting faculty for promotion reviews for professional-track faculty includes all SoHE tenured full professors plus all faculty of higher rank within a promotion candidate’s program.

Space Allocation and Assignment: For non-departmental space that is allocated by the Dean to the School, the Director will review space assignments and requests annually and will make space allocation and assignment decisions in consultation with School leadership.

VI. Additional Provision

Faculty Recruiting: For approved positions in Textiles & Apparel, and Public Health, the SoHE Director nominates a Search Committee representative of all members of the faculty, which can be tasked with managing multiple positions. The Search Committee will be comprised of professional track faculty from the academic program.  The Search Committee may also include faculty outside of the academic unit (e.g., in the case of joint hires).  The Search Committee oversees the placement of recruiting ads, identifies potential candidates for recruitment, performs the initial screening of candidates, interviews qualified candidates, and provides recommendations of candidates to the SoHE Director.  Once viable candidates have been identified, all full-time (>50% FTE) faculty members are eligible to participate in in-person interviews and evaluation of each faculty candidate’s accomplishments.  Following the completion of in-person interviews, the Search Committee Chair holds a discussion and initial vote of the faculty candidate finalists with all faculty members eligible to participate. The appropriate EC members (as described above in II.2) then vote formally on faculty candidates at their own or lower ranks, considering the vote of the entire faculty.  The SoHE Director forwards its ranking of the candidates to the Dean and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs of the College of Natural Sciences.

Faculty Retention: Negotiations occur between the SoHE Director and the faculty member. The SoHE Director seeks advice from colleagues. Salary discussions, teaching reductions, funds for research development are between the faculty member, the SoHE Director, and the CNS Dean.

Committee on Undergraduate Education: The committee purpose is to facilitate communication and coordination between SoHE undergraduate programs on issues including, but not limited to: honors programs, advising, student groups, cross-listing of courses, and curriculum changes. The committee will consist of the Directors of TXA and PBH, the Associate Chairs of Undergraduate Education of HDF and NTR, and the head of advising, and will be chaired by an additional SoHE senior faculty member (instructional or tenured faculty at the rank of associate or full professor) appointed by the SoHE Director, who will serve as non-voting member. This committee reviews and approves proposals from the faculties of TXA and PBH, to be then recommended to the CNS Course and Curriculum Committee for college approval. Voting members of the committee include all members with the exception of the head of advising, who should be included in all proposal discussions and is asked to offer comments and suggestions regarding all proposals. Proposals can be voted on during meetings of the committee or through email communication. Committee members are required to respond/vote on proposals within 48 hours of having received the proposal. Proposals are approved by majority vote.

Committee on Graduate Education:

·      Primary liaison for the School of Human Ecology, College, and Graduate School committees.

• Facilitates communication and potential coordination across graduate programs and plans School-wide graduate activities.

• Identifies possibilities for school-wide graduate teaching synergy, cooperation, or joint listing of courses.

Undergraduate Scholarships Committee: One or more faculty members will be appointed to the following responsibilities:

• Support communication and dissemination to encourage scholarship applications

• Liaison with the College of Natural Sciences Scholarship committees

• Confer with School faculty about nominations for student awards (e.g., the CNS Book Award, CNS Dean’s Scholars, Unrestricted Endowment Presidential Scholarship)

• Work with identified award candidates to prepare relevant application materials