FCG Chapter 23 Colleges, Schools, and Departments

Section 23-01 Statutory Provisions

[For statutory provisions concerning the colleges, schools, and departments of the University see RCW 28B.20.130(1), (2), and (4).]

Section 23-11 Campuses, Colleges, and Schools

[See Executive Order No. IX, Campuses, Colleges, and Schools.]

Section 23-21 Delegation of Authority by the President

[For executive orders of the President granting general authority to the deans and the faculty of colleges, schools, and departments see Executive Orders No. I, No. II, No. III, No. IV, No. V, No. 12, No. 14, and No. 16.]

Section 23-23 Campuses, Colleges, Schools, and Departments: Definitions

[See Executive Order No. VI, Campuses, Colleges, Schools, and Departments: Definitions.]

Section 23-24 The Graduate School: Definitions

[See Executive Order No. VII, The Graduate School: Definitions.]

Section 23-25 Presiding Officers of Colleges, Schools, and Departments

[See Executive Order No. VIII, Presiding Officers of Colleges, Schools, and Departments.]

Section 23-31 Delegation of Authority by the University Faculty

[For delegation by the University faculty of powers and duties to the faculties in colleges and schools, see Chapter 13, Section 13-31, Subsection A.3.]

Section 23-41 Governing Body of a Campus, College, or School

The faculty of a campus, college, or school is its governing body, and under the provisions of this chapter may exercise direct control of its affairs or may delegate such control as it deems appropriate to an executive committee, council, or other committee or committees.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: both with Presidential approval.

Section 23-42 Campus, College, School, and Department Faculties: Composition

Except for the Graduate School faculty, the faculty of each campus, college, school, or department is organized in the following manner.
1. It consists of those members of the University faculty, whether full-time or part-time, whose official appointments are to positions within it.
2. Its voting members are those of its personnel who are voting members of the University faculty under Chapter 21, Subsection 21-32.
The graduate faculty consists of those members of the University faculty who have been designated by the Dean of the Graduate School, with the advice of committees established for this purpose.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 54, March 7, 1977; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: all with Presidential approval.

Section 23-43 Campus, College, and School Faculties other than the Graduate Faculty: Powers and Duties

In accord with Executive Orders No. IV and No. V, and Chapter 13, Section 13-31, Subsection A.3, the President and the University faculty grant to the faculty of each campus, college, and school, with exception of the graduate faculty, the powers and duties enumerated below. This authority is subject, however, to the power of the Senate to determine policies which affect the general welfare of the University (Chapter 22, Section 22-32, Subsection B) and to the procedures set forth in Sections 23-47 and 23-48 for the coordination of campuses, colleges, and schools. Except for the graduate faculty, the faculty of each campus, college, or school:

Shall, with respect to academic matters:
1. Determine its requirements for admission and graduation;
2. Determine its curriculum and academic programs;
3. Determine the scholastic standards required of its students;
4. Recommend to the Board of Regents those of its students who qualify for the University degrees;
5. Exercise the additional powers necessary to provide adequate instruction and supervision of its students;
Shall, with respect to personnel matters, make recommendations to its chancellor or dean in accord with the provisions of Chapter 24 and of Chapter 25, Section 25-41;
May, if it is departmentalized, delegate to the faculties of its several departments any of the powers and duties specified in Subsections A and B of this section.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: both with Presidential approval.

Section 23-44 The Graduate Faculty: Powers and Duties

In accord with Executive Order No. IV, and Chapter 13, Section 13-31, Subsection A.3, the President and the University faculty confer upon the graduate faculty the powers and duties enumerated below. The graduate faculty shall:

Determine requirements for the admission of graduate students;
Recommend to the Board of Regents the designations of graduate degrees;
Approve the requirements for graduate degrees;
Determine which departments or undepartmentalized colleges or schools are qualified (Executive Order No. VII) to give courses of study leading to graduate degrees;
Determine those courses for which students may receive credit toward a graduate degree;
Recommend to the Board of Regents those graduate students who qualify for degrees;
Determine the scholastic standards required of graduate students;
Promote research by members of the faculty.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956 with Presidential approval [Subsection H added silently in 1956 edition].

Section 23-45 Campus, College, and School Faculties: Authority to Determine Organization and Procedure

Subject to the provisions of Section 23-46, the faculty of each campus, college, or school other than the Graduate School shall determine its own organization and rules of procedure except as stipulated in Subsections B and C of this section. The organization and rules of procedure of a department may be determined by the department faculty, but shall be subject to review by the appropriate campus, school, or college faculty.
The University of Washington Bothell and the University of Washington Tacoma shall each have an elected faculty council or councils that shall advise their respective chancellors on matters affecting the general welfare of their respective campuses, matters of faculty promotion and tenure, and on matters involving academic policy, including priorities, resource and salary allocation, and budgets. In accord with Subsection A, the faculty of each campus shall determine for itself the organization and structure of its council or councils and the procedure by which the members are elected, subject to the provisions of Subsection D below.
Each school or college shall have an elected faculty council or councils which shall advise the dean on matters of faculty promotion and tenure, and advise the dean on matters involving academic policy, including priorities, resource and salary allocation, and budgets. In accord with Subsection A, the faculty of each school or college shall determine for itself the organization and structure of its council or councils and the procedure by which the members are elected, subject to the provisions of Subsection D below.
Every elected faculty council of a campus, school, or college shall be subject to the following provisions:
1. Voting members of elected faculty councils must be voting members of the faculty, elected by the voting faculty of their respective units;
2. Chancellors, vice chancellors, deans, vice deans, associate deans, assistant deans, and directors or chairs of departments may not appoint or propose members to elected faculty councils;
3. Chancellors, vice chancellors, deans, vice deans, associate deans, assistant deans, and directors or chairs of departments may not be voting members of their respective elected faculty councils, but they may be non-voting ex-officio members;
4. The chair of each elected faculty council must be a voting member of the council and shall set the agendas and preside over meetings;
5. The membership roster of each elected faculty council shall be published electronically.
The Advisory Committee on Faculty Code and Regulations shall review each campus’s, college’s, or school’s procedure to ensure that the councils are established in conformity with the provisions of this section.
The Graduate School shall determine its own organization and rules of procedure. It may directly control its affairs or may delegate to a council, executive committee, or other committees any of its powers, provided that such council or committees shall be representative of the various fields of graduate study.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 80, December 11, 1989; S-A 115, June 15, 2007; S-A 146, June 26, 2019; S-A 167, July 17, 2023: all with Presidential approval.

Section 23-46 Prescribed Procedure in Campuses, Colleges, Schools, and Departments

[For Program Termination, see Chapter 26, Section 26-41]

Except as provided in Subsections B and C, a proposed action or proposed rule of a campus, college, school, or department faculty under the authority of Sections 23-43 and 23-44 is effective if passed by a quorum majority of its voting members present at a meeting or responding by mail, or of its authorized council or committee, and if approved by the chancellor or dean. Approval by the chancellor or dean is not required in internal department matters.

“Quorum majority” means:
1. In the case of a vote taken at a meeting, a majority of those members voting at a meeting at which at least half the members entitled to vote are present; and
2. In the case of a vote taken by mailed (written) ballots, a majority of those voting, provided that at least half of the members entitled to vote have cast ballots.
When conducting a mail ballot, as described in Subsection A, campus, school, and college faculties (but not departmental faculties) shall have a choice either to require a quorum majority or to follow Faculty Senate procedures as described in Chapter 29, Section 29-36, Subsection D. Under these procedures proposed actions or rules of a campus, school, or a college, except as stated in Subsection D, shall become effective in the case of a mail ballot either if approved by an affirmative majority vote of the eligible voting members of the faculty, or by a two-thirds majority vote of those casting ballots, provided that at least 45% of the eligible faculty members cast ballots. Campus, school, and college faculties shall decide, by means of a quorum majority vote, whether to change their rules for procedures governing mail ballots.
When a proposed action concerns a faculty employment recommendation, such as appointment, reappointment, tenure, or promotion, it will be effective only if passed by a majority of all eligible voting members of the unit, and in accordance with the appropriate procedures as specified in Chapter 24, Sections 24-51 to 24-55 and Chapter 25, Section 25-41.
Campuses, colleges, schools, and departments may vote by mail in matters of faculty employment, provided that they use specific procedures they have adopted and published and that these procedures provide for:
1. Reasonable opportunity for each faculty member of the unit to study all information relevant to the employment action,
2. Secrecy and security of the ballot, and
3. Security and impartiality of the ballot count.
In a departmentalized school or college, the chair or director of a department shall transmit to the dean for approval a copy of any action by the department which may affect college or school policy. Chairs or directors who do not concur in the action may also submit their own recommendation.
Subject to the provisions of Subsections A, B, C, D and E above, and of Sections 23-47 and 23-48, a proposed action or rule of a campus, college, school, or department becomes effective at the time indicated in the action or rule.
When requested by one or more voting members of a campus, college, school, or department faculty the vote upon any matter before it shall be by secret ballot.
Upon request, chancellors, deans, or chairs shall provide a member of their own faculty with information concerning salaries, teaching schedules, salary and operations budget requests, appropriations, allotments, disbursements, and similar data pertaining to the relevant campus, college, school, or department.

Section 13-31, S-A 20, April 16, 1956; S-A 43, November 14, 1972; S-A 56, February 21, 1978; S-A 74, January 2, 1987; S-A 115, June 15, 2007; S-A 164, May 9, 2023: all with Presidential approval.

Section 23-47 Coordination Among Campuses, Colleges, and Schools

In exercising its authority under the provisions of Sections 23-43 and 23-44, the faculty of a campus, college, school, or department shall carefully consider the effect of its actions upon other campuses, colleges, schools, and departments. The chancellor of a campus and the dean of a college or school considering any action shall consult with the chancellor of each campus and the dean of each college or school which may be affected by it.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: both with Presidential approval

Section 23-48 Procedure for Adoption and Coordination of Policies and Procedures by Campuses, Colleges, and Schools

When faculty action is taken under the provisions of Sections 23-43 to 23-46, and the action so taken deals with admissions, scholastic standards, curriculum, graduation, honors, personnel policy, schedules, registration, or student discipline, the chancellor or dean shall file copies of it with the President and with the Secretary of the Faculty for transmittal to the appropriate faculty committee, or if there is no other appropriate committee, to the Senate Executive Committee. The effective filing date for proposals received after May 15 and before September 15 shall be considered to be September 15.
The action becomes effective 60 days after such filing of copies, unless:
1. It has been approved at an earlier date by both the President and the faculty committee, in which event it becomes effective upon such approval; or
2. The President within the 60-day period suspends its effect, in which event the President shall notify the faculty committee to which the matter has been assigned; or
3. The faculty committee within the 60-day period suspends its effect on grounds either:
  1. That it fails to conform with general University policy or regulations; or
  2. That it requires review by other campuses, colleges, or schools which may be affected by it, and refers the matter to the President for final decision.
When a matter is so referred to the President by a faculty committee, the President, after a hearing, shall decide whether the proposed action becomes effective. In so doing the President may employ whatever procedures the President deems necessary or helpful.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 27, March 31, 1961 [This section was entitled “Coordination Among Colleges and Schools: Procedure” in 1956, 1964, and 1969.]; S-A 115, June 15, 2007; S-A 164, May 9, 2023: all with Presidential approval.

For related information, see:

Executive Order No. VI, “Campuses, Colleges, Schools, and Departments: Definitions”
Executive Order No. VII, “The Graduate School: Definitions”
Executive Order No. VIII, “Presiding Officers of Colleges, Schools, and Departments”

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