IWS BYLAWS ARTICLE I: PERSONNEL AND MEETINGS Section 1. The Faculty The faculty of the Women’s Studies Program shall consist of the Director, the Associate Director (or Assistant Director, depending upon appointment), and all Core Faculty. Core Faculty include the following: 1) faculty with line items in the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies' budget (including tenure track faculty as well as full time permanent lecturers of all ranks), 2) faculty with lines budgeted outside of Women's and Gender Studies whose regular teaching of Women's and Gender Studies courses is budgeted through their departments, and 3) the Assistant or Associate Director (if holding a faculty appointment), subject to approval by vote of the Steering Committee. Core Faculty will serve on the Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee and will be listed in Women's and Gender Studies publications. Regarding categories #1 and #2, official titles will be governed by Board of Regents' policy, but for internal purposes such persons will carry both the departmental and Women's and Gender Studies designations in their titles (e.g., Assistant Professor, Women's and Gender Studies and Sociology). Regarding tenure track individuals in category #1, although these individuals will have separate departmental homes, their teaching loads, committee assignments, and all evaluations will be determined jointly with Women's and Gender Studies. Teaching, research and service are essential. If a tenure-track faculty member is appointed jointly and the home department does wish to recommend tenure but the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies does not wish to continue the appointment, then it will be the responsibility of the home department, if tenure is approved in the university review process, to fund the position. If the home department does not wish to tenure a person, even though the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies favors tenure, then tenure will not be awarded (other than through a successful appeal based principally, as our Guidelines now provide, on process). Affiliated Faculty are faculty whose lines and departmental homes are outside of Women's and Gender Studies, but whose teaching, research and service are vital to the program. Affiliated Faculty status is granted upon positive review of an application in which evidence of relevant teaching, research and/or service is demonstrated. This application will be reviewed by the Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee or its designate. The application comprises a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and, if requested, appropriate supporting documents, e.g., syllabi, copies of publications. These faculty will be officially listed in Women's and Gender Studies publications. The Institute for Women's and Gender Studies may offer consultation to home departments of Affiliated Faculty in the determination of teaching load, committee assignments, evaluations, and awards for Affiliated Faculty. Affiliates participate in IWS in various ways, taking part in events and working groups and contributing to the administrative, academic, and service components of the unit. Affiliates will have two elected representatives on the Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee; at least one shall have the rank of Professor. These representatives are responsible for keeping affiliates apprised of IWS business and soliciting input on relevant issues. Section 2. Special Meetings Special meetings of the core and affiliate faculty may be called by the director. In addition, the director must convene a special meeting within fourteen days of receiving a petition signed by twenty-five percent of the core and affiliate faculty. The steering committee may also call special meetings of the core and affiliate faculty, for which it may set the agenda. Section 3. Associates of the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies At the discretion of the Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee, individuals from inside or outside the University may be granted associate status for their research, service, or contributions to the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies. Associates of the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies are expected to support or participate in the program in a selective way. Associates may be listed in Institute publications as "Associates of the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies." Associates are not voting members of the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies and will not be represented on the Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee. Section 4. Administration The administration of the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies shall consist of the Director and Associate (Assistant) Director. The Director will be guided by the advice of the Steering Committee and the Core Faculty Executive Committee. Section 5. The Director Appointment. The Director, who must hold the rank of associate or full professor, shall be appointed by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences after recommendation of the Steering Committee and shall serve at the discretion of the Dean. In the event the Director is not a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will negotiate with the dean of the appropriate college. In the event a vacancy occurs in the position of Director, the Steering Committee will recommend a search committee of five or more members (which shall include a representative from outside the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies) to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Duties. The duties of the Director shall include: acting as chief administrative officer for the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies; serving as presiding officer for Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee meetings; coordinating and promoting feminist scholarship at UGA; informing faculty, students and the university community on feminist academic affairs; making budgetary decisions, communicating about the IWS budget with the Franklin College business office, and addressing budgetary issues with the Associate Dean; providing systematic yearly written performance evaluations of Women's and Gender Studies staff and Core Faculty budgeted in Women's and Gender Studies in accordance with university policy and the IWS annual review policy. Report regularly to the Steering Committee on Institute matters and submit annual report to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Communicating regularly with core and affiliate faculty; representing the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies at internal and external functions; coordinating the recruitment and hiring of Core Faculty; and handling promotion and tenure matters for Core Faculty, and upon request, for Affiliated Faculty. Review and Removal. Review and removal of the Director shall be made by the Dean in accordance with the policies and procedures of the College of Arts and Sciences. Section 6. The Associate (Assistant) Director The Associate Director (Assistant Director) is appointed by the Director. In the event that the Associate (Assistant) Director does not hold a University Faculty appointment, voting privileges on Women's and Gender Studies committees shall be extended. The Associate (Assistant) Director will assist the Director in all administrative duties. In particular, the Associate (Assistant) Director shall oversee the implementation of Institute policies in the areas of student advisement and services; curriculum management; and community outreach. The Associate (Assistant) Director shall assist in budget development, grant writing, and fundraising as needed. The Associate (Assistant) Director shall assist the Women's and Gender Studies Faculty with administrative matters and shall represent the institute in the Director's absence. The Associate (Assistant) Director will also be assigned teaching responsibilities. They will serve as chair of the Curriculum Committee. Section 7. TA Supervisor & Coordinator of Graduate Certificate Program Appointment. Appointment will be made by the Director in consultation with the Steering Committee for a term of three years. Duties: Supervise the interviewing, selection, and appointment of teaching graduate students. Direct the teaching of women's studies courses in conjunction with the Assistant/Associate Director. Responsibilities include assuring that there is proper orientation, supervision of courses taught by graduate students. Provide mentoring to graduate students for their professional development and advancement. Administer the Graduate Certificate program. Section 8. Evaluations Procedures for annual evaluations, including the role of the executive committee in this process, are described in the IWS document, Annual Performance Evaluations for Joint-Appointed Tenure Track Faculty and Lecturers. As described in that document, faculty members will have the opportunity to review the evaluation, discuss it with the Director, and provide written response to the written evaluation. Per university policy, annual reviews are not subject to appeal. Section 9. Grievances The Core Faculty Executive Committee will constitute a Grievance Committee as needed, and grievances within the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies shall be handled in accordance with the grievance procedures of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the University's unified grievance procedure. ARTICLE II: COMMITTEES Section 1. Steering Committee Purpose and Composition. The Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee, in conjunction with the Director, shall set policy on matters of curriculum, faculty appointments, programs, fiscal matters, fund raising, and long-range planning. The committee shall comprise all Core Faculty; two elected members of the Affiliated Faculty, including at least one Professor; the Director; the Associate (Assistant) Director; and one graduate student. Only budgeted core faculty may vote on hiring and promotions. Meetings. The Institute for Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee shall meet at least once each semester during the academic year, at a time and place to be determined by the Director. Notices of regular meetings shall be sent to each member of the Steering Committee by the Director at least one week in advance. Agenda items may be submitted to the Director. The agenda for a regular meeting shall be provided to members of the Steering Committee at least one week before the meeting, and shall constitute the total business of the meeting. The Director shall preside and shall present a report on matters of interest to the Committee. A quorum shall be a simple majority of the Steering Committee members. Elections and appointments of non-core faculty members of the steering committee. (i) The Affiliated Faculty shall elect two representatives to serve two-year terms. Affiliates will elect one representative at the rank of Professor and one representative of any rank. An affiliate may not serve two consecutive terms but can be reelected at a later time. Affiliate faculty representatives are responsible for communicating with affiliate faculty about relevant concerns. Nominations shall be solicited by current representatives from the affiliate faculty, no later than April 15 of each year. Elections shall be held no later than the last day of spring term. (ii) There shall be one graduate student representative, who is responsible for communicating with graduate certificate students about relevant concerns. The graduate student representative is a non-voting member of the steering committee and will be appointed by the director in consultation with the steering committee. (iii) Terms for affiliate and grad student representatives will commence at the beginning of the academic year. Section 2. The Core Faculty Executive Committee Purpose and Composition. The Core Faculty Executive Committee shall advise the Director in all matters concerning annual evaluations, salaries, budget, resources, and grievances and will serve as the Grievance Committee as needed. The committee shall comprise four members of the Core Faculty budgeted in Women's and Gender Studies, one at each rank including non-tenure track faculty, and excluding the Director and Associate (Assistant) Director. The committee’s role in the annual evaluation process is fully described in the document titled Annual Performance Evaluations for Joint-Appointed Tenure Track Faculty and Lecturers. Meetings. The Core Faculty Executive Committee shall meet on an as-needed basis. Elections. Members shall be elected by the core faculty of the same rank. In the event that one of the ranks has no members, the core faculty may choose to elect an additional member from the remaining groups to constitute a committee of four members. In the event that a group has only one member, that person normally will be expected to serve on the committee. Elections will occur at the first steering committee of each academic year, at which point the members’ term will commence. Terms will normally be for two years. Section 3. Other Standing Committees In addition to any ad hoc committees the Director shall deem it appropriate to appoint, the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies shall have the following standing committees: Curriculum Committee Promotion and Tenure Committee New committee chairs and members shall be appointed by the Director in consultation with the committee in question. Committees shall meet on a regular basis as necessary for the business of the committee. Curriculum Committee. The Director, Associate/Assistant Director, and Graduate Coordinator shall serve as voting members of the Curriculum Committee. At least two additional members of the steering committee should serve on this committee. There shall be no more than seven members of the Curriculum Committee including the chair. The duties of the Committee shall include: Approving course proposals; Determining in what categories courses in the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies curriculum should be placed, i.e., required, core or related; Providing periodic scholarly reviews of the Women's and Gender Studies curriculum for currency and quality; Working with school and college curriculum committees to obtain approval for Women's and Gender Studies courses; Hearing student petitions to include transferred or UGA departmental courses in their programs of study; Working with the Steering Committee on issues of a sensitive nature. Making regular reports to the Steering Committee. Promotion and Tenure Committee. Members of this committee shall be responsible for: Reviewing IWS-appointed faculty (lecturers) for promotion; Reviewing jointly-appointed candidates for promotion and/or tenure and participating with departments in third-year review evaluations; Considering matters of promotion and tenure and how they affect the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies; Providing an evaluation for affiliated faculty of their contributions to the research, teaching and service of the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies for promotion and tenure or other departmental evaluations, upon request of the faculty member; and Reporting to the Steering Committee on such matters. Composition. The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall consist of all members of the Steering Committee of the appropriate rank. The Director shall chair this committee. Procedures for Voting on Core Faculty Promotions. The candidate and Director shall collaborate in preparing third-year review dossiers as well as preliminary and final T&P or promotion dossiers. Dossiers shall be presented to the committee, which will vote, by secret ballot, on the candidate. All voting processes must cohere with university rules. The committee may also suggest revisions to the preliminary dossier, as appropriate. In cases of jointly appointed faculty, the Director then will present the IWS vote to the home department and will collaborate with the departmental head in writing the cover letter for the dossier. All other procedures will conform to the University Promotion and Tenure Guidelines. ARTICLE III: AMENDING THE BYLAWS The bylaws may be amended by majority vote from two-thirds of the Steering Committee members present at the meeting at which the bylaw amendment is voted upon. Bylaw changes must be considered at least one meeting before being voted upon at a subsequent meeting. Last Updated 31 October 2023 Patricia Richards Juanita Johnson-Bailey Chris Cuomo Kelly Happe Rumya Putcha Cecilia Herles Nichole Ray Josie Leimbach Ingie Hovland Ryan Schey Belinda Stillion Southard Elizabeth Saari Browne
