Faculty Membership & Senate Elections

Wright State University Faculty Senate

Fall 2024 Special Election – Faculty Vice President (AY2024-25) Candidate Summary

• Mindy S. McNutt (CV)
• Geoffrey R. Owens (CV)
• John W. Sherman (CV)

Qualtrics ballot links will be distributed to University Faculty voters via WSU email on Tuesday, October 8 and the deadline to vote is 5:00 PM, Tuesday, October 15. Qualifications and duties are listed below.

Election update - Run-off Ballot (October 15, 2024)

The Faculty Constitution and Senate election procedures require that if no nominee receives a majority of the votes cast on the first ballot, a run-off election will be held to decide between the candidates receiving the highest number of votes on the first ballot. The candidates for the run-off ballot are:

• Mindy S. McNutt (CV)
• John W. Sherman (CV)

Ballot links will be distributed to faculty voters on October 16 and the deadline to vote is 5:00 PM, Wednesday, October 23.

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University Faculty

Membership

The University Faculty shall be comprised of persons who hold the following academic ranks within the university: university professor, professor, associate professor, assistant professor, senior lecturer, lecturer, instructor or clinical assistant professor and clinical instructor in the College of Health, Educaton, and Human Services, or the Lake Campus.

1. A member of the University Faculty shall be considered fully-affiliated with Wright State University if:
   1. The person is under full-time contract with the university requiring a majority of the member’s professional efforts; and
   2. The contractual obligation to Wright State University has first call on the person’s time and effort; or
   3. The person is on a tenure track or is fully-affiliated as defined by their contract.
2. A member of the University Faculty who is not covered by Article II, Section 1.A shall be considered partially-affiliated with Wright State University if:
   1. The person’s rank includes an additional modifier such as:  voluntary, adjunct, research, visiting, acting, clinical (except as noted in Article II, Section 1), part-time, fellow; or
   2. The person’s professional activities cannot fulfill the criteria of Article II, Section 1.A., above; or
   3. The person is a m0ember of the School of Medicine or the School of Professional Psychology holding either an institutional faculty or auxiliary faculty designation.
3. Both fully-affiliated and partially-affiliated members may attend and participate in faculty meetings; however, only fully-affiliated members may vote on issues before the faculty.
4. In consultation with the Human Resources Department, the Faculty Office shall prepare annually a list of fully-affiliated faculty.  Final authority for determining the nature of the affiliation lies with the University President.

Faculty Senators

Qualifications

Senators shall be fully-affiliated members of the University Faculty; elected from [the following] mutually exclusive constituencies:

• Boonshoft School of Medicine
• College of Health, Education, and Human Services
• College of Engineering and Computer Science
• College of Liberal Arts
• College of Science and Mathematics
• Lake Campus
• Raj Soin College of Business

Senators shall hold the rank of university professor, professor, associate professor, assistant professor, senior lecturer, lecturer, instructor, or clinical assistant professor and clinical instructor in the College of Health, Education, and Human Services or the Lake Campus. A Senator shall have been a fully-affiliated member of the University Faculty, as defined above, for a minimum of two academic years. Chairs, but not deans, assistant deans, or associate deans, are eligible for election to the Faculty Senate.

Terms of Office

Senators are elected for two-year terms with approximately one-half of the representatives in each constituency being elected each year.  Prior to each election, the constituencies will be advised by the Faculty Senate Secretary of the number of Senators each constituency is entitled to elect.

Election of Senators

All elections shall be conducted prior to the last regularly scheduled Faculty Senate meeting of each year following these guidelines:

There shall be at least one candidate per constituency for each open Senate seat.  If there are not the required number of candidates, the Faculty President will inform the constituency Executive Committee representative there is such a lack, seeking his/her help in securing the minimum number of required candidates.

A plurality of votes is necessary for constituency elections.  Should a tie exist, a run-off election shall be held to determine a winner.

The Faculty Senate shall adopt regulations governing the conduct of elections, the filling of vacancies, and the recall of representatives from constituencies.

The Executive Committee will appoint a replacement for any vacancy.  The replacement must come from the same constituency as the original representative and will serve until the next election.  Runners-up in descending order are contacted for willingness to serve; if no replacements are appointed in this manner, volunteers are sought.

Faculty President & Vice President

Qualifications

The Faculty President & Vice President shall meet the qualifications required for Faculty Senators and;
Have tenure or otherwise have met any equivalent probationary requirements of their appointment; and
Have a minimum of seven years of continuous service on the University Faculty; and
Have served on the Faculty Senate or as a member of a standing Senate committee.

The Faculty Vice President shall not also simultaneously hold the office of Faculty President.

Duties

The Faculty President shall:

1. Chair special meetings of the University Faculty;
2. Chair all meetings of the Faculty Senate;
3. Report to the Faculty Senate and also be the responsible correspondent to the university regarding all decisions made by the Executive Committee;
4. Be the representative and spokesperson for the University Faculty, and the liaison and coordinator between the faculty and the administration and the Board of Trustees, the committees, the students, and the general faculty;
5. Attend the meetings of appropriate committees of the Board of Trustees as an ex-officio member, and shall serve (or appoint a designee) on any other committee or council as directed by the Faculty Senate;
6. Convene all committee chairs at the beginning of the academic year to review responsibilities and procedures;
7. Serve as an ex-officio member and meet regularly with the Provost's Council and the Leadership Team at the invitation of the President or Provost;
8. Chair the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate;
9. Be responsible for the Faculty Office;
10. Preside as Grand Marshal of commencement exercises, Freshman Convocation and University Convocation;
11. Serve as a member and attend meetings of the Ohio Faculty Council and report to the Executive Committee;
12. Meet regularly with the President and the Provost;
13. Give the Faculty President Report at the Board of Trustees public meetings.
14. Chair the Faculty Budget Priority Committee.

The Faculty Vice President shall:

1. Assume the duties of the Faculty President in his/her absence;
2. Be a member of the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee;
3. Co-chair the Undergraduate Academic Policies Committee;
4. Serve as Marshal of the Graduate School during commencement exercises (in the event the Faculty Vice President is not available to serve, the Faculty President will designate a Senator holding Graduate Faculty status to serve as Marshal of the Graduate School during commencement exercises);
5. Attend the meetings of appropriate committees of the Board of Trustees as an ex-officio member, and shall serve (or appoint a designee) on any other committee or council as directed by the Faculty Senate;
6. Serve as an ex officio member of the Faculty Budget Priority Committee and Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Faculty Senate;

Term of Office

The Faculty President & Vice President are elected for a two year term and may serve no more than two such terms consecutively.

Election Procedures

(approved by Senate - 10/09/17)

1. The schedule of times for nomination and election process will be specified by the Executive Committee (EC).   These dates include:
   • Initial call for nominations
   • End of nomination period
   • Beginning of election  
   • Closing of election   
2. The Office of the Faculty President and the EC will solicit nominations, including self-nominations, for Faculty President via the Faculty Senate Agenda, FacultyLine, and faculty governance e-mail list.   The nomination period should extend for at least one month.  
3. At the same time, the Office of the Faculty President and the EC will solicit nominations, including self-nominations, for Faculty Vice-President via the Faculty Senate Agenda, FacultyLine, and faculty governance e-mail list.   The nomination period should extend for at least one month.   
4. After the close of the nomination period, the Senate Secretary and the Executive Committee will verify the nominees’ eligibility and confirm the slate of nominees.  The EC will then set the election dates.  If there are no qualified nominees at this time, a new nomination period will be designated by the EC and nomination procedure will be repeated. A nominee cannot seek both the office of President and Vice President, but a candidate for either office may also run at the same time for a Faculty Senate seat.
5. Nominees for Faculty President will be asked to submit a vita and statement of the objectives they wish to achieve as Faculty President.  These documents should be submitted within three days of their notification by the Senate Secretary.  These documents will be supplied to the faculty as part of the election procedure.  Failure to submit a vita by the deadline will result in removal of the nominee’s name from the ballot.
6. Nominees for Faculty Vice-President will be asked to submit a vita.  This document should be submitted within three days of their notification by the Senate Secretary.  The document will be supplied to the faculty as part of the election procedure.   Failure to submit a vita by the deadline will result in removal of the nominee’s name from the ballot.  
7. Nominees for Faculty President and Faculty Vice-President shall appear on the ballot for these offices as individuals and not as parts of a “ticket.”  Ballots will permit one vote per office, not one vote for a pair of nominees.
8. Electronic ballots shall be distributed to all fully-affiliated faculty members on the date selected by the EC.  Voting shall close at the end of business seven days later, unless the voting closes on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday in which case voting will be extended to the next business day.  
9. Ballots shall be tabulated via the electronic tabulation methods available through CaTS.   
10. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the conditions specified in the Faculty Constitution, Section 3-A-2–c will be applied.  
11. The President of the Faculty shall be responsible for conveying the results of the election within 72 hours of the tabulation of the votes.  Notification shall be given in this order:  the slate of candidates, the Faculty Senate, the University Faculty.
12. These procedures may be modified in whole or in part by a majority vote in the Faculty Senate.