Faculty Assembly Bylaws - LSUHSC School of Medicine

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Approved 5/2/97
Revised 4/10/03

Version 2.3

Bylaws of the Faculty Assembly
Louisiana State University School of Medicine
in New Orleans

PREAMBLE

The mission of the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans is to promote development of the highest levels of intellectual and professional endeavor in programs of instruction, research and service in the field of medicine. Accordingly, the full-time Faculty of the School of Medicine seeks to attain that goal through the creation of an environment where academic excellence will flourish. Because the unified efforts of both the Faculty and Administration are essential in this common endeavor, the members of the Faculty have organized an Assembly with elected Delegates to serve as their representatives. The Delegates of the Assembly constitute a democratically-elected body designed to foster an active, informed Faculty and to promote communication between Faculty and the Administration.

The faculty of the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans (LSUSM-NO), within applicable rules and policies of the Dean of LSUSM-NO, the Chancellor of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans (LSUHSC-NO), the President of the LSU System, and the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State University and A & M College, do hereby effect through these bylaws the Faculty Assembly of the LSUSM-NO.

Article I.
Name.

Section 1. This organization shall be known as the Faculty Assembly of the LSUSM-NO, herein referred to as the Assembly.

Article II.
Purpose.

Section 1. The Assembly will serve as a representative voice of the faculty.

Section 2. The Assembly will provide a means of communication between the faculty and the Dean of the LSUSM-NO, herein referred to as the Dean. The Faculty Assembly, subject to the powers vested in the Dean, shall consider and make recommendations concerning all matters of general interest to the School of Medicine. The Assembly shall review and approve all changes in existing policies, or the establishment of new policies relating to matters of general LSUSM-NO interest when these policies are brought to the Assembly for consideration by the Dean or by its own members. The Assembly shall consider and make recommendations on any matters referred to it by the Chancellor of LSUHSC-NO.

Any recognized group within the LSUSM-NO community shall possess the privilege of presenting any suggestions to, or raising any problems for consideration by the Assembly, or by any of the standing committees of the Assembly. The "LSUSM-NO community" shall mean those individuals (as well as those groups all of whose members individually are) eligible for membership in the Assembly.

Section 3. The Assembly will accept and share responsibility with administration and students in all efforts to improve the stature and to accomplish the mission of the LSUSM-NO.

Section 4. The Assembly will communicate with the faculty assemblies of the Schools of Dentistry, Nursing, Allied Health Sciences and Graduate Studies at LSUHSC-NO.

Section 5. The Assembly will maintain, through their elected representatives to the Faculty Senate, a liaison with the Chancellor of LSUHSC-NO.

Article III.
Jurisdiction

Section 1. The Assembly may hear, consider, and advise the Dean on any matter of concern.

Section 2. The Assembly, upon its request, may be furnished by the Dean information appropriate to its consideration in such a matter.

Article IV.
Membership of the Faculty Assembly

Section 1. The Delegates of the Assembly shall consist of members of the Assembly elected in accordance with these bylaws (see Section V).

Section 2. Full-time faculty members of all departments are automatically granted membership in the Assembly and are invited and encouraged to participate. The term "Faculty" shall refer to the full-time members of the academic staff of the School of Medicine in New Orleans having the rank of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor or Instructor or comparable ranks in the full-time tracks of Research, Full-time Affiliated or Clinical appointments. The term "Members" of the Assembly shall refer to members of the full-time Faculty. The term "Delegate" shall refer to the members of the Assembly elected to represent the members of the Assembly.

Section 3. Members of the following departments are considered Basic Science Faculty: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Genetics; Cell Biology and Anatomy; Library; Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology; Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; and Physiology. Members of the following departments are considered Clinical Faculty: Anesthesiology; Dermatology; Family Medicine; Medicine; Neurology; Neurosurgery; Obstetrics and Gynecology; Ophthalmology; Orthopaedics; Otorhinolaryngology and Biocommunication; Pathology; Pediatrics; Psychiatry; Radiology; Surgery; and Urology. Full-time faculty with joint appointments in Basic Science and Clinical departments shall be classified as being either in a Basic Science or Clinical department according to their primary appointment.

Section 4. Except for meetings of the Executive Committee and closed sessions of the Delegates, all meetings of the Assembly and meetings of the Delegates of the Assembly, are open to all faculty including part-time and volunteer faculty. Only members of the Assembly are eligible to vote.

Article V
Election of the Delegates of the Assembly

Section 1. The Assembly shall elect twenty-four Delegates. Nine Delegates shall be members of the Assembly from Basic Science Departments and fifteen Delegates shall be members of the Assembly from Clinical Departments. A faculty member may serve as a Delegate to only one Faculty Assembly in the Health Sciences Center at any one time.

Section 2. Each year one-third of the Delegates of the Assembly shall be elected.

Section 3. All members of the Assembly shall be eligible for election as Delegates, with the exception of the Dean, the Associate Deans, the Assistant Deans, Department Heads, Departmental Chairpersons, co-Chairpersons and Center Directors. Eligibility for election shall be determined as of the date of election. If there is a change in a delegate's status during their tenure, that delegate may, at their own discretion, elect to complete their term or resign their position as a delegate.

Section 4. The procedures for the nomination and election of Delegates shall be administered by persons appointed by the Assembly for that purpose.

Section 5. The nomination of Delegates shall be held each year in April. Each member of the Assembly shall be mailed a nominating ballot. Each member of the Assembly may nominate one member of the Assembly from a Basic Science department and one member of the Assembly from a Clinical department. The deadline for the return of the nominating ballot shall be stated on the ballot and shall not be more than two weeks after the mailing of the ballot. Nominations received after the deadline for the return of nominating ballots shall not be considered. To be valid, a nominating ballot must be signed by the member of the Assembly making the nomination.

Section 6. Within one week after the deadline stated for the return of the nominating ballot each member of the Assembly who has been nominated shall be notified and must accept or decline the nomination in writing. The acceptance of a nomination shall imply a willingness to be a candidate and to accept the responsibility of operating an effective Assembly, including the assignment to working committees and the holding of elected offices. Only those members of the Assembly willing to be a candidate shall be listed on the ballot.

Section 7. The number of candidates shall be limited to not more than three times the number of seats to be filled. The nine members of the Assembly from the Basic Science departments receiving the most nominations shall be the candidates from the Basic Science departments. The fifteen members of the Assembly from the Clinical departments receiving the most nominations shall be the candidates from the Clinical departments. Ties shall be decided by lot.

Section 8. The election of Delegates shall be held each year in May. Each member of the Assembly shall be mailed a ballot. The ballot shall list, in alphabetical order in separate groups, the names of the candidate from the Basic Science departments and the names of the candidates from the Clinical departments. The deadline for the return of the election ballot shall be stated on the ballot and shall not be more than two weeks after the mailing of the ballots. Ballots received after this time shall be invalid. The ballot shall be returned to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Assembly in a self-addressed envelope included with the ballot. The return envelope shall have a space for the voting members name, department, and signature. A ballot returned in an unsigned envelope shall not be counted.

Section 9. Each member of the Assembly may vote for three candidates from the Basic Science departments and five candidates from the Clinical departments. The three candidates from the Basic Science departments who receive the most votes shall be Delegates from the Basic Science departments. The candidate from the Basic Science departments receiving the next highest number of votes shall be an Alternate Delegate from the Basic Science departments. The five candidates from the Clinical departments who receive the most votes from the Faculty shall be the Delegates from the Clinical departments. The candidate from the Clinical departments receiving the next highest number of votes shall be an Alternate Delegate from the Clinical departments. Ties shall be decided by lot.

Section 10. The Delegates shall serve for three years or until their successor is elected, and their terms of office shall begin on June 1.

Section 11. A Delegate desiring to resign shall submit his/her resignation in writing to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Assembly, who shall present it to the Executive Board.

Section 12. In the event that a Delegate resigns or is unable to fulfill his/her term, the Alternate for that year shall fill the remainder of the term. Should an Alternate slot become vacant, the President shall fill the vacancy by appointing the individual who failed to become Alternate by the smallest margin in the ballot election for that year.

Section 13. A Delegate may forfeit his/her elected office as a Delegate of the Assembly if that Delegate is absent from at least fifty percent of regularly scheduled meetings of the Delegates within an academic year. The Secretary-Treasurer may request that the Delegation vote to dismiss a Delegate because of absences; a simple majority determines dismissal. The Alternate elected the same year as the Delegate dismissed will fill the vacancy. The Delegate who has been dismissed will be notified of such action in writing by the Secretary-Treasurer.

Article VI.
Election of Officers

Section 1. The Delegates of the Assembly shall elect a President, President-elect, and Secretary-Treasurer from among the 24 Delegates and 6 Alternates. They shall also elect Basic Science and Clinical Science Representatives to serve on the Administrative Council of the School of Medicine. After the election of new Delegates in May, the President shall: 1) distribute a complete list of Delegates and Alternates for the following academic year to the incoming Delegates and Alternates, and 2) shall solicit at least two nominations for President-elect, Secretary-Treasurer and the two representatives to the Administrative Council. The nominator must ensure that the nominee is willing to serve in the capacity for which he or she is nominated. The two persons receiving the most nominations for each office will be placed on the ballot. Only Delegates with two or more years remaining as Delegates are eligible for nomination as President-elect. These officers shall perform the duties prescribed by these bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Assembly. Additional officers may be elected if necessary.

Section 2. The Delegates shall meet in August to vote for officers and Administrative Council representatives. The election will be written ballot, which will be tabulated by the Secretary-Treasurer.

Section 3. The officers elected by ballot will serve for one year or until their successors are elected, and their term of office shall begin at the close of the meeting at which they are elected. When a Delegate has served a full term as President-elect, that Delegate shall automatically become the President for the next term.

Section 4. No Delegates shall hold more than one office at a time, and no Delegate shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office. The President may not be elected President-elect for the succeeding term.

Section 5. If the President's office becomes vacant, the President-elect shall fill the vacancy and shall continue his/her own term as President. Vacancies in the office of the President-elect or Secretary-Treasurer shall be filled by a vote of the Delegation. Nominations for such elections shall be made by the President and by any member of the Delegation.

Section 6. Among the duties of the Basic and Clinical Science Representatives is the responsibility to attend the meetings of the Medical School Administrative Council and to report pertinent information to the delegation.

Article VII.
Meetings of the Delegates of the Assembly

Section 1. Meetings of the Delegation shall be attended by all Delegates and Alternates and shall be open to all members of the Faculty. The regular meetings of the Delegates shall be held once each month unless otherwise ordered by the President, the Executive Board, or by a majority of the Delegates.

Section 2. Special meetings of the Delegates may be called by the President or by the Executive Board and shall be called by the President upon the written request of a majority of Delegates.

Section 3. Two thirds of the 24 Delegates shall constitute a quorum.

Section 4. Faculty and guests invited by the President or by the Executive Board shall be eligible to speak to the Delegates.

Section 5. Upon majority vote of the Delegates, the Delegates may go into closed session if sensitive or personal items are to be discussed.

Section 6. The Delegates shall meet with the Assembly at least twice a year. The agenda of those meetings shall be determined by the President of the Assembly. The Delegates shall regularly post minutes of their meetings and other summaries of their activities.

Section 7. The regular meeting of the Assembly in the spring shall be known as the Annual Meeting and shall be for the purpose of presenting a formal report to the Assembly summarizing the actions and recommendations of the Delegates since the last annual meeting.

Article VIII.
Executive Board

Section 1. The President, President-elect and Secretary-Treasurer plus one Delegate who shall serve as the Basic Science Representative to the Administrative Council and one Delegate who shall serve as the Clinical Science Representative to the Administrative Council shall constitute the Executive Board.

Section 2. The Executive Board shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Assembly between meetings, fix the time and place of meetings, make recommendations to the Assembly, and shall perform such other duties as are specified in these bylaws. The Executive Board shall be subject to the orders of the Assembly, and none of its acts shall conflict with action taken by the Assembly.

Section 3. Unless otherwise ordered by the Executive Board, regular meetings of the Executive Board shall be held once each month prior to the regular meeting of the Delegates. Special meetings of the Executive Board may be called by the President and shall be called upon the written request of three members of the Board.

Article IX.
Committees

Section 1. The Executive Board shall serve as a Committee on Committees to recommend membership in the standing committees of the School of Medicine.

Section 2. The Executive Board shall appoint standing or special committees as they deem necessary. These committees shall report to the Delegates of the Assembly.
Article X.
Parliamentary Authority

Section 1. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Assembly in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order the Assembly shall adopt.

Section 2. The President-elect shall serve as parliamentarian. The parliamentarian shall be prepared to advise the Delegates and the Assembly on points of order in accordance with the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order the Delegates or the Assembly shall adopt.

Article XI.
Amendment of Bylaws

Section 1. These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting of the Assembly by a two-thirds vote, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting.

Article XII.
Election of Representatives to the LSU Health Sciences Center Faculty Senate

Section 1. All Assembly representatives to the LSUHSC-NO Faculty Senate (Senators) must be full time clinical or basic science faculty holding the rank of Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor. Prerequisite rules governing selection of Delegates of the Faculty Assembly shall apply to selection of Representatives to the LSUHSC-NO Faculty Senate. The Assembly must elect five Senators whose primary academic appointment is in a clinical department and three Senators whose primary appointment is in the basic sciences. Senate appointments are for three years each. The rights and duties of the Senators are outlined in the bylaws of the LSUHSC-NO Faculty Senate. The selection of Senators shall be held each year in May. Representatives shall be chosen from the Basic Science and Clinical Science Delegates, Alternates to the Faculty Assembly, or from the Assembly at large. This shall be done by a vote of both the Delegates and Alternates to the Faculty Assembly.

Section 2. Representatives shall serve for three years or until their successor is elected, and their terms of office shall begin on June 1 of that year.