Department of Philosophy, University of Missouri-Columbia

Adopted: Sept. 12, 2005

I. Membership and Voting Rights

All faculty who are tenured or tenure track in the Department of Philosophy have full voting rights on all matters, except as specified by specific policies (e.g., Promotion and Tenure). Emeritus faculty, non-tenure-track faculty, and those with merely honorific cross-appointments have no voting rights, but, at the discretion of the chair, are fully eligible to participate in departmental deliberations. The voting rights of other faculty (e.g., those with part-time appointments) will be decided by the Department on an individual basis. Members retain their voting rights while on leave.

II. Departmental Meetings and Policy Decisions

The chair of the Department will call a meeting of the Department at least once in each of the Fall and Winter semesters. Under normal circumstances, meetings will be called only while these two semesters are in session (not during the Summer semester, and not during holiday periods). During these two semesters, upon the written request of at least one-quarter of the members, the Chair will call a meeting within two weeks. Meetings will be run in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, except as explicitly specified by this or other policy governing documents. An agenda will normally be circulated (e.g. by e-mail) at least 48 hours in advance, together with drafts of any proposed policies to be voted on. A majority of the departmental voting rights constitutes a quorum.

Departmental policies will be adopted upon a favorable vote from a majority (understood as anything more than 50%) of the votes cast. A secret ballot will be used upon the request of any member. Except as required by other departmental or university policies (e.g., the promotion and tenure policy), only those present at a meeting are entitled to vote. If, however, a majority of the departmental voting rights requests consideration or reconsideration of some issue, the department chair will, upon receiving a documented request, ensure that the issue is reconsidered at a department meeting in a timely manner.

III. Amendment

These by-laws will be revised upon a favorable vote from at least two thirds of the voting rights of the Department.