Bylaws for the University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Table of Contents
Chapter I
Foreward
Chapter II
Structure
2.1 Administration
2.1.1 Vice Chancellor
2.1.2 Deans and Directors
2.1.3 Other Administrative Officers
2.2 Divisions of IANR
2.3 IANR Units
Chapter III
Faculty and Committees
3.1 Faculty Membership
3.2 Committees
3.2.1 Liaison Committee
3.2.2 Ad Hoc Committees
Chapter IV
Mode of Operation
4.1 General IANR Faculty Meeting
4.1.1 Call of Meeting
4.1.2 Call of Meetings by Petition
4.2 Mail Ballot
Chapter V
Rights, Responsibilities, and Evaluations
5.1 Rights and Responsibilities of the IANR Faculty
5.2 Evaluation of Faculty and Administrators
Chapter VI
Change of Bylaws
6.1 Bylaws Conformance
6.2 Bylaws Changes
6.3 Counting Ballots
Revised and Approved by Faculty 4/29/2016
Chapter I
Foreword
These Bylaws shall be considered an adjunct to the current Bylaws of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska and the Bylaws of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). The Bylaws of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, hereafter referred to as IANR, shall take precedence over bylaws of any individual IANR division or unit within IANR. Faculty of each division/unit shall be responsible for developing supplementary bylaws and/or operating procedures that are unique to the individual division/unit.
Chapter II
Structure
2.1 Administration. Selection of IANR administrative officers and specification of their responsibilities shall be in accordance with Board of Regents and UNL Bylaws.
2.1.1 Vice Chancellor. The Vice Chancellor shall be the chief administrative officer of IANR, and also serves as a Vice President of the University of Nebraska.
2.1.2 Deans and Directors. A dean or director shall be the chief administrative officer of each IANR division, unless otherwise designated by the Board of Regents, and shall report to the Vice Chancellor of IANR.
2.1.3 Other Administrative Officers. These shall include associate and assistant vice chancellors, associate and assistant deans, associate and assistant directors, department heads/chairs, district directors, center directors, and others designated by the Board of Regents as having administrative responsibilities.
2.2 Divisions of IANR. The divisions of IANR shall be those designated by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Currently so designated are: Agricultural Research Division, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the Cooperative Extension Division.
2.3 IANR Units. These are the academic departments, the district research, extension and education centers, the Nebraska Forest Service, the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, and other administrative entities that are administratively responsible to one or more of the IANR divisions or the Vice Chancellor of IANR. The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) is under the governance of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents with administrative responsibilities delegated to the Vice Chancellor of IANR in the capacity of Vice President of the University of Nebraska. NCTA has separate bylaws and the faculty are NCTA faculty of the University of Nebraska rather than IANR faculty.
Chapter III
Faculty and Committees
3.1 Faculty Membership. The membership of the faculty shall consist of (a) all persons holding the rank of instructor or above or equivalent rank, and occupying funded positions in IANR [i.e., Instructor, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Assistant Extension Educator, Associate Extension Educator, Extension Educator, Assistant Forester, Associate Forester, Forester, Assistant Geoscientist, Associate Geoscientist, Geoscientist, Extension Assistant Professor, Extension Associate Professor, Extension Professor, Assistant Professor of Practice, Associate Professor of Practice, Professor of Practice, Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, Research Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor] and (b) those persons holding (1) the rank of assistant instructor, and (2) adjunct, visiting, courtesy, or research associate (post doctoral) appointments. Faculty in the College of Education and Human Sciences are members of IANR by virtue of their appointments in the Agricultural Research Division or the Cooperative Extension Division. The voting membership shall consist of those persons listed in (a) above.
3.2 Committees. Committees shall meet and report at least annually to the IANR faculty through written reports and at general IANR faculty meetings. Each committee in consultation with the Vice Chancellor will determine its operating procedure. Standing committees and ad hoc committees shall be elected or appointed as outlined in these Bylaws.
3.2.1 Liaison Committee. This Committee shall meet with the Vice Chancellor at least quarterly and represent the faculty as an advisory group to the Vice Chancellor. Additional duties are specified in this document. A committee of seven shall be elected from members of the faculty, excluding administrators as defined in 2.1.1, 2.1.2, and 2.1.3. The committee shall comprise broad faculty representation by giving consideration to diversity, and member’s work location, division/unit of IANR, and academic function. Two candidates shall be nominated for each position. The current Liaison Committee shall provide two eligible candidates for each vacancy to be voted on by the entire faculty. The candidate receiving the larger number of votes shall be elected for a three-year term. An elected member of this committee is ineligible for immediate reelection to this committee. A tie vote shall be broken by action of the Liaison Committee. Interim vacancies of elected positions shall be filled by the Liaison Committee through appointment of an eligible person to serve the remainder of the term.
3.2.2 Ad Hoc Committees. All matters requiring committee action not specified in 3.2.1 shall be conducted by committees appointed by the Liaison Committee by majority vote or by the Vice Chancellor in consultation with the Liaison Committee. This includes advising the Vice Chancellor on procedures and policies relating to selection, appointment, promotion, evaluation, and other personnel actions throughout IANR. The tenure of such committees shall not exceed one year, but they may be reappointed or reconstituted.
Chapter IV
Mode of Operation
4.1 General IANR Faculty Meetings. Meetings shall be conducted as an open forum in accordance with the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order. Issues will be decided by a simple majority of a quorum, unless a specific decision is made by a majority of a quorum to submit the vote to a mail or electronic ballot. Annual meetings shall be held at such time or in such ways as to minimize travel cost and to maximize opportunity for faculty participation.
4.1.1 Call of Meeting. Meetings of the IANR faculty may be called with a three weeks notice by the IANR Vice Chancellor or by the Liaison Committee. A written or e-mail notice and agenda shall be presented with the call to a meeting. A quorum shall be 15 percent of the voting members. Meetings called by the Vice Chancellor shall be chaired by the Vice Chancellor or by the Vice Chancellor's designee. Meetings called by the Liaison Committee shall be chaired by the Committee's designee.
4.1.2 Call of Meetings by Petition. Faculty may call an IANR faculty meeting by petition. The petition shall state the purpose of the meeting and be signed by 10 percent of the voting members of the IANR faculty. Meetings called by petition shall be chaired by the designee of the petition circulators.
4.2 Mail Ballot. Elections and major issues shall be decided by mail or electronic ballot.
Chapter V
Rights, Responsibilities, and Evaluations
5.1 Rights and Responsibilities of the IANR Faculty. While the UNL Bylaws establish general guidelines for rights, responsibilities, and redress, professional responsibility rests with the individual faculty member, administrator, and with elected committees. It shall be the responsibility of the Liaison Committee to consider alleged deviations from IANR Bylaws unless responsibility has been directly delegated to the Committee on Policy for Appointment and Promotion as stated in 3.2.1 or has been referred to the UNL Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee. The committee shall take such actions as it deems necessary to bring these discrepancies to the attention of the proper, responsible persons and to plead for correction of the fault.
5.2 Evaluation of Faculty and Administrators. Each IANR administrative division/unit will utilize the same standard system for evaluation of IANR faculty. Additional evaluation input such as student evaluations, county extension board evaluations, etc., may be a part of a division or unit procedure. The IANR system shall be designed to fulfill the requirements of the Board of Regents and UNL Bylaws, and it shall be approved by the IANR Liaison Committee. Results of such evaluation shall become a part of the individual's personnel file. The process for evaluation and criteria for evaluating performance shall be made available to all persons directly affected by the evaluations. IANR utilizes a separate system to evaluate all administrators. Administrative evaluation shall include a broad spectrum of inputs from the faculty for which the administrator is responsible.
Chapter VI
Change of Bylaws
6.1 Bylaws Conformance. These Bylaws are intended to conform with the Bylaws of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska and the Bylaws of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Changes in the Bylaws of the University of Nebraska, or UNL are assumed to imply necessary changes in IANR Bylaws.
6.2 Bylaws Changes. Changes in IANR Bylaws can be initiated by the IANR Liaison Committee, or by a petition of the faculty, which will require a statement of the proposed change and be signed by 10 percent of the voting members of the IANR faculty. Any amendment of the Bylaws shall require a two-thirds majority vote of those responding to a mail or electronic ballot.
6.3 Counting Ballots. It will be the responsibility of the Liaison Committee to tabulate and report results of voting on amendments to the IANR Bylaws.