Bylaws
Section A. Membership
1. Voting members shall include all ranked faculty in the College of Music.
2. Voting members shall hereafter be referred to as the faculty.
Section B. Jurisdiction
1. The faculty shall be the legislative body of the College of Music, subject to the regulations of the Board of Governors (BOG), the Board of Trustees (BOT), and the Constitution of the University.
2. The faculty may resolve any issue of interest to the College of Music and make recommendations to the appropriate officer or body.
Section C. Meetings
1. The College of Music faculty shall meet each semester upon the call of the Dean or at the request of the Curriculum Committee or by written petition of at least twenty percent (20%) of the faculty.
2. The Dean shall be the Presiding Officer. In his or her absence, a person designated by the Dean shall preside.
3. Fifty-one percent (51%) shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the faculty.
Section D. Committees
1. Promotion and Tenure Committee
a) The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall advise the Dean regarding faculty tenure and promotion based upon criteria set forth by Florida Statutes, the BOG, the BOT, the University, the College of Music, and the BOT-United Faculty of Florida (U FF) Collective Bargaining Agreement.
b) The committee shall consist of seven tenured faculty members holding the rank of professor, to be elected by the faculty. Membership on the committee is staggered: committee members serve two year terms with four members elected in odd numbered years and three members elected in even numbered years. For the purpose of review and recommendation for the promotion of specialized faculty members, the seven full professors elected to serve as members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee will be joined by at least one specialized faculty member appointed by the Dean.
c) The Dean appoints the chair and selects a member of the committee to serve on the University Promotion and Tenure Committee.
2. Merit Review Committee
a) Consistent with the procedures and criteria agreed upon by the UFF, the BOG, the BOT, and The Florida State University, an elected Merit Review Committee shall evaluate and rate faculty merit files. Evaluation shall be made in accordance with procedures and criteria set forth in Section F of the College of Music bylaws.
b) The committee shall consist of seven elected faculty members. All ranked faculty with the exception of deans are eligible to vote for and serve on the committee. Membership is staggered: committee members serve two-year terms with three members elected in odd-numbered years and four members elected in even-numbered years.
c) The seven elected members shall elect a chair.
3. Curriculum Committee
a) The Curriculum Committee shall review and make recommendations regarding curricular changes, new course proposals, graduate directive status applications, academic matters requiring faculty action, and matters referred to the committee by the Dean.
b) The committee may recommend to the Dean items to be included on a faculty meeting agenda, and other matters deemed appropriate.
c) The committee shall consist of one member from each of the seven areas in the College of Music. Each coordinator will appoint a member from his or her area. The Dean selects the chair of the committee from among the seven appointed members.
4. Other Committees
a) Members of the following committees will be determined collectively by the deans and area coordinators: the Housewright Scholars Committee, the Allocation Committee, the Technology Committee, and the Scholarship Committee.
b) All other committees (Library, Opera Advisory, Chamber Music, Recital Policies, Special Events, International Programs, Alumni Relations, Honors and Citations, Music Theatre) shall be appointed by the Dean.
c) Search Committees are established by the Dean to assist in the recruitment and screening of applicants for continuing faculty positions.
5. Ad Hoc Committees
The Dean may establish ad hoc committees as he or she deems necessary to assist in the operation of the College of Music.
6. Faculty Senate
College of Music representatives to the Faculty Senate are elected by the faculty.
Section E. Criteria for Promotion and Tenure (Tenure Track Faculty)
The guidelines followed by the College of Music Promotion and Tenure Committee are the same as those of the University at large. In reviewing a candidate for promotion or tenure, consideration is given to the three traditional areas: demonstrated evidence of effective teaching, scholarly/creative activity, and service to the University and the profession. In reviewing scholarly/creative activity, the College of Music includes public performances, composing, guest conducting, and giving clinics/workshops in addition to scholarly presentations, recordings, and publications. Scholarly/creative activity will be evaluated for its impact upon and reception by the larger discipline and profession.
Section E. Criteria for Promotion (Specialized Faculty)
The guidelines followed by the College of Music Promotion and Tenure Committee are the same as those of the University at large. In reviewing a candidate for promotion, consideration is given to evidence of well-planned and delivered courses; Assignment of Responsibilities (AOR); summaries from Student Perception of Courses and Instructors (SPCI); letters from faculty members who have conducted peer evaluations; proven ability to teach multiple courses within a discipline/major; and other teaching-related activities, such as instructional innovation, involvement in curriculum development, authorship of educational materials, publication relating to teaching, and participation in professional organizations related to the area of instruction.
a) Specialized Faculty Ranks: Promotion in the specialized faculty ranks is attained through meritorious performance of assigned duties in the faculty member’s present position:
1.) Promotion to Rank II shall be based on recognition of demonstrated effectiveness in the areas of assigned duties.
2.) Promotion to Rank III shall be based on recognition of superior performance in the areas of assigned duties.
Section F. Procedures and Criteria for Merit Review of Faculty
1. Procedures for Evaluation
a) Faculty Merit File and Evidence of Performance Report. It is each faculty member’s responsibility to prepare an Evidence of Performance Report (EPR), which will be placed in that person’s merit file for a given review cycle. To facilitate evaluation, the EPR should be no more than four (4) pages in 11-12-point font and should provide a concise summary of activities and evidence regarding teaching, scholarly/creative activity, and service as outlined under Section F2. Faculty members are also responsible for providing SUSSAI/SPOT/SPCI summaries. Faculty members may place additional evidence of teaching effectiveness, documentation regarding scholarly/creative activity, and indication of service and performance in their merit files as they determine, but this will be in addition to the maximum four-page EPR. Failure of a faculty member to submit an EPR by the announced due date shall be interpreted as a waiver of opportunity for merit pay increases for that review cycle. The Assignment of Responsibilities for the review cycle under consideration will be placed in each faculty member’s merit file.
b) Merit Review Committee Evaluation Without consultation and anonymously, individual members of the Merit Review Committee shall evaluate faculty merit files on the basis of each faculty member’s assigned responsibilities. Members review each faculty member’s file and mark designated forms with their ratings. These forms shall be transmitted to the elected committee chairperson confidentially in a ballot box. Each Merit Review Committee member will evaluate other committee members but will not evaluate him- or herself. The chairperson and one other committee member together will average the seven individual ratings. These ratings shall be placed in a sealed envelope and forwarded to the Dean.
c) Coordinator’s Evaluation. Each faculty member in the College of Music shall be evaluated by the coordinator of his or her area on the basis of assigned responsibilities. Ratings of each faculty member are marked on a designated form. Forms shall be forwarded to the Dean along with the faculty merit files.
d) Dean’s Evaluation . The Dean shall evaluate all faculty members on the basis of their status in the profession and their contributions over a period of years, as well as on the basis of their merit files for the review cycle under consideration.
e) Merit File Rankings . Merit files will be ranked based on the ratings of the elected Merit Review Committee, the coordinators of the academic areas, and the Dean. All ratings shall be based on the same differentiated scale using a designated form. For assistant/associate deans, the Dean provides a rating; for area coordinators, the rating is the average of the committee’s and the Dean’s ratings;for all other faculty, the rating is the average of the committee’s, the coordinator’s, and the Dean’s ratings. The Dean and at least one other person, who shall be made known to the faculty, shall compute rankings of faculty. The result shall be the basis for merit pay increases for the review cycle under consideration. Faculty members whose performance meets or exceeds the expectations for their position classification at the College of Music are eligible for merit pay increases.
Faculty members may have access to their individual merit file folders and their ratings on each of the three evaluations. They may not have access to such information about any other faculty member.
2. Criteria for Evaluation
a) Documents to be considered.
1) Assignment of Responsibilities (instruction and other assigned duties)
2) SUSSAI, SPOT, and/or SPCI Reports
3) Evidence of Performance Report
4) Supporting Documentation
b) The evaluation shall be based on evidence of teaching effectiveness, scholarly/creative activity, service, and any other duties. The weighting of evidence shall be informed by the Assignment of Responsibilities.
1) Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness shall be based on such measures as SUSSAI/SPOT/SPCI ratings, achievements of students, and success in attracting students to the University, although not necessarily limited to these measures. Supportive evidence of student achievements and performance shall be considered.
2) Evaluation of Scholarly/Creative Activity shall be based on published books, compositions, and research articles; recordings of performances or compositions; presentation of professional papers; public performances; honors, awards or other recognition accruing from excellence in research, composition, or performance; and unpublished research or creative projects for which evidence is presented. It is understood that evaluation of scholarly/creative activity is not necessarily limited to these items and activities, and that there is a wide range of merit possible between and within these examples. The evaluation shall include consideration of the faculty member’s long-term professional activity as well as the larger academic and professional community’s recognition of this activity.
3) Evaluation of Service shall be based on evidence of service on departmental, College or University committees, councils, and senates; service in administration; service in appropriate professional organizations; participation in meetings, symposia, conferences, or workshops;service on local, state, and national governmental boards, agencies, or commissions; and professional service outside the University where one’s musical and scholarly expertise is utilized.
4) Evaluation of Other Assigned Duties shall be appropriate to the nature of those duties. In the case of area coordinators, ensemble directors, or other individuals who may be assigned administrative or other special duties by the Dean, and particularly where these responsibilities may exceed those that have been specifically assigned, performance in these areas will be given the weight that would otherwise have been assigned to the teaching/research/service that was displaced.
Section G. Procedures and Criteria for Annual Evaluation of Faculty
1. The Dean, in consultation with the area coordinators, shall evaluate all faculty members on the basis of their status in the profession and their contributions over the preceding year. Ratings of each faculty member are marked on a designated form.
2. The evaluation shall be based on evidence of teaching effectiveness, scholarly/creative activity,service, and any other assigned duties. The weighting of evidence shall be informed by the Assignment of Responsibilities. Criteria for evaluation are provided in the College of Music Criteria for Annual Evaluation document
3. A non-tenured faculty member whose performance is described on the annual evaluation form as not meeting FSU’s high expectations will be placed on a performance improvement plan created in consultation with the Dean. A tenured faculty member whose performance is described on annual evaluation forms as not meeting FSU’s high expectations during three or more years in a six-year period may also be placed on a performance improvement plan created in consultation with the Dean.
Section H. Substantive Change Policy
Faculty and staff members are expected to be familiar with and to follow the Florida State University Substantive Change Policy, as posted on the Florida State University web site (https://sacs.fsu.edu/substantive-change-policy/).
Section I. Bylaw Amendments
The bylaws of the College of Music may be amended by a majority vote of the faculty.
Approved by faculty vote, November, 2006.
Amended by faculty vote, September, 2008.
Amended by faculty vote, February, 2013
Amended by faculty vote, May, 2013.
Amended by faculty vote, March, 2014.
Amended by faculty vote, August, 2020.