Rider University

Academic Policy Committees

Procedures for Bargaining Unit Members

Please refer to the current Agreement between Rider University and the Rider University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Article XIII, Academic Governance [on pages 54-66 of the 2002-2007 Agreement], will identify the contractual policies for the composition of the committees; information about specific Academic Policy Committees (APCs) and the University Academic Policy Committee (UAPC); Eligibility; and Scope and Jurisdiction of the APCs.

Clarification of Procedures for Bargaining Unit Members

Selection of Academic Policy Committee Members

The AAUP Nominating Committee is responsible for elections to the bargaining unit member positions on all Academic Policy Committees (two-year term beginning and ending on September 1). The Nominating Committee also handles elections to fill vacancies in unexpired terms. For Academic Policy Committees, replacements need not require a new election if alternates were nominated and received votes; the election records of votes received by alternates will determine the order in which alternates fill vacancies in unexpired terms.

Eligibility

All bargaining unit members who have completed two years of full-time academic service and priority-status part-time faculty are eligible to be nominated and to vote for positions on the APC of the college of their appointments (CBA, CLAES – [School of Liberal Arts & Sciences and School of Education], ULIB, and WCC). They are also eligible to be nominated and to vote for positions on their own college’s at-large seat on the UAPC. Priority-status part-time faculty who are bargaining unit members as well as full-time faculty are eligible to be nominated and to vote for the university at-large position on the UAPC. For the CCS APC, full-time faculty and adjunct faculty who regularly teach in CCS are eligible to be nominated and to vote.

Nomination and Election Schedule

March 15 An announcement of upcoming AAUP-sponsored Academic Policy Committee elections will be made and include a Call for Nominations.

April 1 Nominees submit their names in writing to the AAUP, stating the position for which they wish to be nominated.

April 15 By this date, a mail-ballot election will be conducted by the AAUP. In each case, leading vote-getters will be elected. The runners-up will be declared alternates.

April By the date of the last AAUP Chapter meeting scheduled in April, the Nominating Committee shall announce the results of the election to Academic Policy Committees. Notice of the winners of such election shall be provided by the AAUP to the Provost and the academic deans.

 

APC Committee Procedure

Initial APC Meeting

From among the full-time bargaining unit members, each college APC shall elect a chairperson, a permanent secretary (who shall also be vice chairperson), and a liaison to the University Academic Policy Committee (UAPC). The liaisons from each college APC to the UAPC shall be elected by the bargaining unit members of each college APC. In the event that no one agrees to serve as permanent secretary, the position of secretary shall be rotated in accordance with past practice, and the committee shall elect a vice chairperson, who will not be paid any additional compensation.

Chairperson Responsibilities

The chairperson of each committee shall notify the AAUP Office Manager of the elected chairperson and representative to the UAPC. The chairperson of each committee shall notify the AAUP Office Manager of any changes to these elected positions and/or any changes to the APC membership. In cases of excessive absenteeism of an elected APC bargaining unit member from APC meetings, the AAUP executive committee will determine the appropriate action to be taken, including alterations in compensation.

 

The chairperson of each committee shall preside at committee meetings in such a manner as to facilitate the orderly and deliberative consideration of the committee’s business and in accordance with procedures established for the committee by a majority of the committee members. Any dispute over committee procedures or the conduct of the committee’s business shall be resolved by a majority of the committee members. During the academic year, committees shall normally meet at least twice a month. Meetings may be held during the summer, if necessary, as long as there is a majority present. Each committee other than the College of Continuing Studies APC shall call a faculty meeting at least once a year, to keep the members of the college informed of the issues being considered by the APC.

Voting

Upon the request of any committee member, committee voting shall be by secret ballot.

Minutes

Minutes shall be limited to a list of the topics discussed, the actions taken, if any, in regard to such topics, a brief recital of the substance of such discussions and debate relating to such topics, and the proposed agenda for the next meeting.

Minutes of each college APC will be distributed by the chairperson to each department within that college or school, with a sufficient number of copies for each full-time member of the department. Distribution to part-time faculty will be handled by the College of Continuing Studies. Many APCs distribute minutes to all APCs whether proposed policies are included or not. Also included in the distribution list are the Provost and the UAPC Chairperson. This good practice is encouraged.

Minutes of each college APC will be distributed by the chairperson to the AAUP Office Manager.

Policy Implementation Procedures

Detailed procedures are required by the Agreement. Please refer to Article XIII for the procedures for Distribution of Proposed Policies, Responses From Other APCs and Resolution of Disagreements, Application to the UAPC to Serve as Mediator in Disputes Between College APCs, and Procedures for Mediation.

Committee Enactment of Policies

Detailed procedures are required by the Agreement. Please refer to Article XIII for the required procedures for Enactment and Distribution of Approved Policies.

APC Member Rights and Responsibilities

    1. The APC’s enact policy in the areas of their authority (see Article XIII for list of those areas of authority). Further, no new academic policies may be adopted unless they have been enacted by the appropriate APC. APC’s may also set policies. A committee may extend its authority to academic matters not listed in the Agreement upon a vote of the Dean ( or Provost in the case of the UAPC) and 5 other (12 in the case of the UAPC) members of the committee other than the student representative. Matters not under the authority of an APC, nor added by the necessary vote, may be considered and discussed by the committee, but its decisions in such areas will be considered recommendations rather than binding policies.
    2. All members of an APC (with the exception of the student member) have the same rights and responsibilities. The administrative members (Dean, Provost, etc.) have no greater voice or authority than bargaining unit members. No member of an APC has a veto of the actions of the committee.
    3. Any member of an APC, any department, any program, any tripartite committee or any member of the Rider community may bring a policy or issue to the attention of the appropriate APC for consideration. It shall be up to the APC to decide whether to take up the issue.
    4. The chairperson of each committee, elected by the bargaining unit members from among the bargaining unit members, shall preside at meetings in such a manner as to facilitate the orderly and deliberative consideration of the committee’s business and in accordance with the procedures established by the majority of the committee members so long as those procedures are not in conflict with the rules for the committee expressly required by the Agreement.
    5. It is up to the committee to determine what information to consider when deliberating over a new policy (including new programs, departments, curricula, etc.). APC’s should keep in mind that, since they are legislative bodies, they should consider not only the academic desirability of a new policy but its overall cost and benefit to the institution. In doing so, the APC shall request such information that it feels is necessary in order to make an informed decision and shall weigh that information as it sees fit. In order that committee discussions be well-informed, each committee member is required to supply to the committee that non-confidential information that is available to him/her and that bears on the matters of academic policy under discussion. The University has an affirmative obligation to provide the committee all reasonably available and pertinent information during the course of committee discussion.
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    7. In order to insure that matters of significance are carefully considered, there are carefully crafted rules on the curtailing of debate. (See section D1 and F2 of Article XIII in the Agreement for a detailed discussion of these rules.) In general votes should not occur until a super majority (a majority plus 1) feel that a proposed policy has been sufficiently discussed.
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    9. College APC’s and the Library APC may enact academic policy by an affirmative vote of at least five (5) out of the eight (8) members of the committee. The UAPC may enact policy by an affirmative vote of at least ten (10) out of the eighteen (18) members of the committee. Upon the request of any committee member, committee voting shall be by secret ballot.
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    11. Minutes of each College and Library APC meeting will be distributed by the chairperson to each department within that college or school. The chairperson of UAPC will distribute minutes to each college for distribution to all members of the faculty of that college. Copies of approved policies shall be distributed to all faculty members within the college, school or University as appropriate.
    12. Before the academic policy (new course, new curriculum) or any other action developed by a college APC or the library APC may be implemented, it must be distributed to the chairperson of all other APC’s, the UAPC , the Provost and the Registrar. The other college APC’s and the library APC shall have 30 days from receipt of the new policy to notify the enacting committee that it believes that there will be substantial adverse impact created by the new policy. The proposing APC and the responding APC will meet and try to resolve the conflict. If such discussion does not lead to a satisfactory resolution, the UAPC will try to mediate the dispute. If such mediation fails the UAPC will make a recommendation to the Provost, who shall make a final determination.
    13. Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of an approved academic policy the University is to either agree to implement the enacted policy or to give notice to the members of the committee that enacted the policy and to the AAUP of its intention not to implement the policy. If the University decides not to implement a policy it must give its reasons, in writing, to the appropriate committee and the AAUP within sixty (60) days of the enactment of the policy. The University may refuse to implement a duly enacted policy for only the following reasons;

1. demonstrable impact on University finances or resources
that is substantial in terms of the area(s) which the policy affects;

2.  demonstrable impracticability resulting from the policy's impact on University administrative procedures;

3.  demonstrable incompatibility with other separate, but related, existing University policies not included in the policy under review;

4.  demonstrable conflict with laws, governmental regulations, or licensure requirements;

5.  inconsistencies with provisions of the Agreement;

6.  the enacted policy affects terms and conditions of employment.

Additionally, the University may implement a rejected policy if the implementation of such policy is necessary to resolve a conflict with a law, governmental licensure requirement, requirement(s) of the University's general accreditation agency, or the Agreement. The AAUP may arbitrate the University’s refusal to implement a duly enacted policy and, at such an arbitration, the University will carry the burden of demonstrating that the reason for non-enactment falls within the allowed reasons.

Open Meetings

All meetings of the APCs shall be open to members of the University community except as those committees may elect to meet in executive session.

Attendance at Academic Policy Committee Meetings

The Executive Committee of the Rider Chapter of the AAUP requests that chairs of the Academic Policy Committees submit APC minutes to the AAUP Office Manager. In cases of excessive absenteeism of an elected APC bargaining unit member from APC meetings, the AAUP executive committee will determine the appropriate action to be taken, including alterations in compensation.