BYLAWS
MOLECULAR AND MICROBIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

Passed October 2007

Updated May 2008

 

ARTICLE 1 VOTING AND MEMBERSHIP

Section 1 - Voting in the department
In departmental votes, a single vote may be cast by each tenured or tenure-track professor whose appointment is >50% in the Molecular and Microbiology Department (MMB). Other MMB faculty (term faculty, acting, affiliate, emeritus, visiting, part-time, research, and other non-tenure track faculty) are not eligible to vote at MMB faculty meetings or in MMB mail ballots.

Section 2 - Voting in departmental committees
Term faculty, as well as acting, affiliate, emeritus, visiting, part-time, research, and other non-tenure track faculty, may be asked to serve on departmental committees, and if so are eligible to vote in meetings of those departmental committees.

Section 3 - Service as Executive Officers
Only tenured faculty may serve as Chair. Only tenured and tenure-track faculty may serve as Directors of the Bioscience or Biology graduate programs. The other Executive Officers of MMB may be faculty of any rank, including tenured, tenure-track, or term faculty, as well as acting, affiliate, emeritus, visiting, part-time, research, and other non-tenure track faculty.

Section 4 - Voting on faculty promotions
Voting on promotion to tenure is limited to the tenured faculty who are eligible to vote in the department. Voting on promotion to full professor is limited to full professors who are eligible to vote in the department.

ARTICLE 2 MEETINGS

Section 1 - Scheduling and attendance
MMB faculty meetings will be held at regular intervals. Voting members will be notified of the meeting date, time, and place at least one week prior to any MMB meeting. Non-voting MMB faculty may attend MMB meetings unless specified otherwise in the meeting announcement (at least one week prior).

Section 2 - Procedures
Departmental faculty meetings will be governed by Robert's Rules of Order. A simple majority of the voting members shall constitute a quorum. The results of all departmental votes (whether by voice vote, show of hands, or mail ballot) will be recorded in the minutes. These minutes will be distributed to the faculty, or alternatively may be made publicly available by posting on the MMB web site, with the following exceptions. A few faculty meetings may have limited attendance, as described under Article 1, Section 4; Article 2, Section 1; and Article 5, section 3. In these cases, the minutes of meetings with limited attendance will be distributed only to faculty eligible to attend that particular meeting.

ARTICLE 3 DEPARTMENTAL ADMINISTRATION

Section 1 - Chair
The principle administrator of the department is the Chair, whose major responsibilities are described in the George Mason University Faculty Handbook and in these Bylaws.

Section 2 - Executive Officers
The Executive Officers of MMB are listed in Appendix A. Persons in these positions are appointed by the Chair and serve at the pleasure of the Chair. The names and contact information for the persons currently holding these offices will be posted on the MMB web site. Executive Officers of MMB provide substantial and essential services to students, and therefore service in the following Executive Offices will reduce the teaching load by one course per semester: Chair, Associate Chair, Graduate and Undergraduate Program Directors, Coordinators, and Advisors. The specific duties of these officers are delegated by the Chair and may be modified by the Chair at any time.

Section 3 - Coordinators for Specific Student Majors, Concentrations, and Certificates
Certain major, concentration and/or certificate programs may have faculty coordinators. These faculty coordinators are considered to be Executive Officers of MMB and are listed in Appendix A. In general, faculty coordinators provide a contact point for student and faculty questions regarding their program, including liaison with the MMB curriculum committee, with related units of the University, and with cooperative programs at affiliated institutions.  Faculty coordinators also implement program requirements (including approval of graduation applications, as well as waivers and substitutions where appropriate), and assist with student advising.

Section 4 - Teaching Assignments
In general, the authority to make teaching assignments resides with the Chair. This authority may be delegated (for example, to Associate Chairs), and may be constrained by these Bylaws. Teaching assignments in interdepartmental programs may also be subject to interdepartmental agreements.

Section 5 - Course Coordinators
Certain undergraduate laboratory courses (those required for all Biology majors, and those offered to non-majors for general education credit) will have course coordinators. Service in this capacity is considered to be a teaching assignment (one course per semester). Course coordinators are responsible for updating the laboratory syllabus, updating the laboratory manual, and arranging for repair and replacement of laboratory equipment as necessary. Course coordinators also supervise and train the staff involved in ordering supplies and preparing laboratory materials. Course coordinators assist the Chair (or delegated representative of the Chair) in the recruitment and selection of laboratory instructors. Course coordinators are responsible for calling regular organizational meetings of the instructors who teach the laboratory sections, and for ensuring that uniform grading policies are applied to all of their laboratory sections.

ARTICLE 4 COMMITTEES

Section 1 - Committee membership
Both voting and non-voting MMB faculty of any rank are eligible to serve on standing and ad hoc committees, with the restrictions noted in Article 5 and Appendix B. Standing committee members will be nominated and elected (by majority vote at an MMB faculty meeting) in the Spring semester and will begin their term of service at the beginning of the following Fall semester. Vacancies (due to illness, study leave, etc.) will be filled by the same procedure whenever those vacancies occur.

Section 2 -Standing committees
MMB standing committees and their duties, as well as terms of service and eligibility, are listed in Appendix B. The number of members on these committees is not fixed, but rather is determined by the number of faculty elected to serve on each committee.

Section 3 - Ad hoc committees
Ad hoc committees may be created or eliminated at any time by the Chair (or his/her delegated representative). The charge to each ad hoc committee will be stated by the Chair (or his/her delegated representative). The members of Ad hoc committee members will be appointed by the Chair (or his/her delegated representative).

 

ARTICLE 5 FACULTY PERSONNEL ACTIONS

Section 1 - Appointments

A. Part-time Faculty
The Chair is responsible for hiring part-time faculty. The Chair may delegate this authority to other Executive Officers or committees. Relevant faculty (particularly course coordinators) should be consulted, if possible, prior to the appointments being made.
B. Full-time Term Faculty
The Chair is responsible for hiring full-time term (non tenure-track) faculty. The Chair may delegate part or all of this authority to other Executive Officers or committees. In any case, the Chair (or delegated representative) will appoint an ad hoc search committee for any new appointment of full-time term faculty. The search committee will advertise the position, choose which applicants to interview, conduct the interviews, and make a hiring recommendation to the Chair.

C. Tenure-track and Tenured Faculty
Definition and approval of a new tenure-track or tenured faculty position requires the advice and consent of the department, the Chair, and the Dean, preferably in that order, although any of these parties may initiate the process when unusual opportunities arise. The Chair is then responsible for appointing an ad hoc search committee (composed of voting faculty). The search committee will advertise the position; choose which applicants to interview; organize the candidate's visits; facilitate private meetings of the candidates with other faculty; conduct the interviews; and rank the candidates interviewed. This ranking will be reported and discussed at a meeting of the voting faculty. The voting faculty will make a recommendation to the Chair in the form of a motion passed by majority vote.
D. Transfer of Tenure-track and Tenured Faculty
Tenure-track and tenured faculty, who already have appointments within the College of Science at GMU, and who wish to transfer part or all of their appointment into MMB, may do so if (and only if) this transfer is approved by both the Chair and the Dean.

Section 2 - Annual Evaluations

A. Full-time Term Faculty
Full-time term faculty shall be reviewed annually by the Chair (or his/her delegated representative) . For term faculty with a single year term, the purpose of this review will be to determine whether or not to renew the contract, based on performance and departmental needs. For term faculty with a multi-year term, the purpose of the annual review will be to recommend an annual pay raise.
B. Tenure-track and Tenured Faculty
All Tenure-track and tenured faculty (including the Chair) will prepare an annual report in the fall, covering their activities and accomplishments in the previous academic year. These reports will be reviewed by the Evaluation Committee and/or the Chair (or his/her delegated representative). The detailed procedures are specified in Appendices B, C & D.
Section 3 - Promotion and Tenure

A. Renewal of Term Faculty
For full-time term faculty with a multi-year term, contract renewals shall be made by the Chair upon the recommendations of an ad hoc renewal committee. The renewal committee will review the departmental needs, the candidate's job description and performance, and recommend any necessary changes by the middle of the semester prior to the contract expiration date.
B. Renewal of Tenure-Track (untenured) Professors
The Chair will notify the faculty member whose contract must be considered for renewal inAugust or early  September. The Chair will appoint an ad hoc renewal committee (composed of three tenured faculty), to collect all pertinent information and report to the tenured faculty. The committee will solicit a current curriculum vitae, including a cumulative statement of research, teaching and service since appointment, copies of grants and publications, course syllabi, and any other appropriate supporting material. The Chair will convene a meeting of the tenured faculty. Prior to the departmental meeting, the renewal committee will meet to discuss the file, take a committee vote, and compose a letter to the Chair summarizing their conclusions. This letter and the materials collected by the renewal committee, as well as student evaluations and annual reports, will be available for inspection by the tenured faculty for at least the day of the meeting, and in the meeting itself. The renewal committee will lead the discussion, following which the tenured faculty will recommend either a renewal or no renewal, by secret ballot. The Chair will forward the renewal committee letter, the departmental vote, andhis/her own recommendations, to the Dean.
C. Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure
The Chair will notify the faculty member who is eligible for promotion to associate professor with tenure in August or early September, and will discuss the university procedures with the candidate. The Chair will appoint an ad hoc promotion committee (composed of three tenured faculty), who will be responsible for helping to assemble the candidate's file, reviewing the contents of this file, and developing a list of ten or more potential outside reviewers. The candidate may review and remove no more than 20% of the names from the final list of outside reviewers. The promotion committee will then annotate the final list of reviewers, to summarize their qualifications and relationship to the candidate. After consultation with the faculty, the Chair will write to the outside reviewers and ask for a confidential evaluation of the candidate's qualifications for promotion. The committee will also solicit a current curriculum vitae from the candidate, including a cumulative statement of research, teaching and service since appointment, copies of grants and publications, course syllabi, and any other appropriate supporting material. Before the meeting of the voting faculty, the candidate will present a public seminar summarizing his/her current research. The Chair will then convene a meeting of the tenured faculty. Prior to the departmental meeting, the promotion committee will meet to discuss the file, take a committee vote, and compose a letter to the Chair summarizing their conclusions. This letter and other materials collected by the promotion committee, as well as student evaluations and annual reports, will be available for inspection by the tenured faculty for at least the entire day of the meeting, and in the meeting itself. The promotion committee will lead the discussion, following which the tenured faculty will vote by secret ballot for or against promotion, and (in a separate motion) for or against granting of tenure. The Chair will forward the promotion committee letter, the departmental vote, and his/her own recommendations to the Dean.

D. Promotion to Full Professor
The procedures for promotion to Full Professor are generally similar to those for associate professor, except that only Full Professors are eligible to vote (in the promotion committee, and in the departmental motion for promotion to Full Professor). These meetings (of the promotion committee and departmental consideration of promotion to full professor) are usually limited to Full Professors, except the participants have the option of inviting specific Associate Professors to participate in the discussion. If the departmental chair is an Associate Professor, then the Chair may attend these meetings, and may still write the chair's letter, but may not vote. If the departmental chair is being considered for promotion to Full Professor, then the Faculty Evaluation Committee will be responsible for appointing the ad hoc promotion committee (composed of three Full Professors), and the chair of the promotion committee will then act as chair during the subsequent departmental meeting of all Full Professors and will write the chair's letter to the Dean.

Section 4 - Study Leave
Tenured faculty are eligible for study leaves. Written applications for study leave will be sent to the Chair during the fall semester of the academic year prior to the proposed leave. The Chair may (or may not) choose to rank these proposals, but in either case he/she must forward all proposals for study leave received, for further consideration by the Dean.

Section 5 - Emeritus Rank
Tenured professors may be considered for the rank of Emeritus upon their retirement. If an individual faculty member is contemplating retirement, or has already retired, and wishes to be considered for Emeritus rank, then they should send a written request to the Chair, who will draft an appropriate letter to the Dean. Emeritus faculty may or may not, receive departmental resources such as office space, individual mail boxes, or laboratory space.

ARTICLE 6 BUDGET.

Section 1 - Administration
The authority to spend departmental funds resides with the Chair. The Chair may delegate part or all of this authority to Executive Officers and/or Standing Committees.

Section 2 - Reporting
The Chair will distribute a written report on the budget to the MMB faculty at the beginning of the fall semester and again at the beginning of the spring semester. The fall semester report will include an itemization of how departmental funds were spent in the previous academic year, as well as a planned allocation for the coming academic year. The spring semester report will include an itemization of funds spent or committed to date, as well as a planned allocation for the remainder of the academic year.

Section 3 - Approval
The fall and spring budgets are subject to amendment from the floor, and become effective if approved by a simple majority vote in an MMB faculty meeting. In cases where an approved budget is not available (for example, in July and August), the Chair is authorized to spend departmental funds as they see fit.

 

ARTICLE 7 ADOPTION, AMENDMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BYLAWS

Section 1 - Initial adoption
After discussion and amendment, the articles of these Bylaws will be adopted by 2/3 vote of MMB faculty. The appendices will be adopted by a simple majority. When adopted, these Bylaws take effect immediately.

Section 2 - Subsequent Amendment of Articles and Sections
After passage, the subsequent amendment of the text of these bylaws (articles and sections) shall require a 2/3 vote at a single MMB faculty meeting.

Section 3 - Subsequent Amendment of Appendices
After passage, the subsequent amendment of the appendices of these bylaws shall require a simple majority vote at a single MMB faculty meeting.

Section 4 - Distribution.
The currently effective version of these MMB bylaws will be posted on the MMB web site.

APPENDIX A - EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

1. Chair
2. Associate Chair
3. Director of the Biosciences Ph.D. Program
4. Director of the Biology M.S. Program
5. Medical Technology Program Coordinator
6. Graduate Coordinator
7. Undergraduate Advisor
8. Library & Seminar Coordinator
9. Radiation Safety Officer
10. Laboratory Safety Officer for the Fairfax Campus
11. Laboratory Safety Officer for the Prince William Campus

 
APPENDIX B - STANDING COMMITTEES

1. Curriculum Committee
The Curriculum Committee is responsible for receiving and reviewing all proposals for new or revised courses taught by MMB faculty, and making recommendations to the faculty concerning these proposals. The committee also assists in preparing course revision applications that comply with the current requirements of the COS Curriculum Committee, and assists in the maintenance of complete records of course proposals that were forwarded to COS. Membership: faculty of all ranks (including term and research faculty). Members serve staggered three year terms and may not succeed themselves.
2. Faculty Evaluation Committee
The Faculty Evaluation Committee is responsible for preparing a written annual report on the Chair's performance, based on the Chair's individual annual report (described in Appendix C), as well as material requested from the MMB faculty. The Faculty Evaluation Committee is also responsible for coordinating the annual review of tenured and tenure-track faculty in the fall, and presenting an annual report to the faculty in the spring, as described in Appendix C. Membership: tenured and tenure-track faculty only.  Members serve staggered three-year terms and may not succeed themselves.
3. Organizational Committee
The Organizational Committee is responsible for submitting nominations for vacancies on Standing Committees in the spring semester, and for ensuring that all individuals nominated are eligible and willing to serve. If (and only if) specifically requested by the Chair. The Organizational Committee may also arrange nominations as needed for specific MMB Executive Offices. The Organizational Committee is also responsible for preparing proposed amendments to these Bylaws. Such amendments may be prepared in response to a request from the Chair, or from the Organizational Committee itself, or in response to a motion (passed by majority vote) of the departmental faculty. Membership: tenured and tenure-track faculty. Members serve staggered three-year terms and may not succeed themselves.

4. Liason Committee
The Liason Committee is responsible for organizing and maintaining formal contact with outside units and programs. Members of the Liason Committee will serve as the MMB representatives on the COS Council, and in other positions as needed. Members of the Liason Committee will decide who serves in which of these roles, will coordinate with each other if needed to replace each other at specific meetings, and will help to present a brief report at MMB faculty meetings.  Membership: faculty of all ranks (including research and term faculty). Members serve two-year terms and may succeed themselves.
5. Graduate Committee
The Graduate Committee is responsible for coordinating admissions and financial support decisions in the Biosciences and Biology graduate programs. Members of this committee will ordinarily include the Associate Chair, the  Director of the Biosciences Ph.D. Program, the Director of the Biology M.S. Program, and the MMB Graduate Coordinator.  Membership: faculty of all ranks, as appropriate to their individual executive offices. Members serve three-year staggered terms and may succeed themselves.

 
APPENDIX C  - ANNUAL EVALUATION PROCEDURES FOR TENURED AND TENURE-TRACK FACULTY

Each tenured and tenure-track faculty member will prepare an annual written summary of their activities and accomplishments. This report will cover activities and accomplishments from the preceding fall, spring, and summer semesters. Faculty who wish to do so may simply list their activities on a template provided by the department. Such a list of activities will be considered a satisfactory annual report if transmitted to the Chair or the Evaluation Committee by the close of business, September15th. Optionally, individuals may also score their reports based on the currently effective guidelines, and submit the written summary and scores to the Evaluation Committee by September 15th.

The Evaluation Committee will review faculty reports and determine if the self-scores conform to the guidelines. If changes appear warranted, the Evaluation Committee will determine a new score by majority vote and forward it, along with a written explanation of the reason for the change, as well as the Faculty self-reports and scores, to the Chair and the faculty member by the close of business, Sept 25th.

All faculty whose scores have been changed will have 10 days to forward a brief, written rebuttal to the Evaluation Committee and the Chair by the close of business, Oct  5.

Final scores are determined by the Chair, except that final scores can not lie outside the range between the self and Evaluation Committee scores. The Chair prepares a letter to the Dean, which includes the final score and a salary recommendation. In most cases, the salary recommendation should be proportional to the final score, although other factors (such as equity with faculty of comparable rank) may also be considered. A draft of this letter and salary recommendation will be made available for review by the faculty member before transmittal.

As part of their annual report to the department in the spring semester, the Evaluation Committee will prepare a scatter plot showing the correlation between (i) self scores, Evaluation Committee scores, and final scores; (ii) final scores and the salary recommendations of the Chair; and (iii) salary recommendations of the Chair and the salary raises approved by the Dean.  This report will not identify individual faculty names or ranks.

 

APPENDIX  D - ANNUAL EVALUATION GUIDELINES FOR TENURED AND TENURE-TRACK FACULTY

1. Guidelines for scoring Workload (research/teaching/service) in the past academic year
MMB faculty are expected to maintain a balanced program of teaching, research, and service. Each of these contributions will be rated on a decimal scale from 5.0 (best) to 1.0 (worst). The weighting of each individual contribution will be set at the end of the reporting period, in proportion to the individual workload, as described below. As a general rule, the standard teaching load in MMB is expected to be 2:2 (two lecture courses per semester), although this load may be modified by service, course coordinatorships, research buyouts, teaching seminars, and so on. Faculty with this standard teaching load of four lecture courses per year (12 didactic hours), who are engaged in a normal level of service should use a weighting of 40% research, 40% teaching, and 20% service in scoring their annual evaluations. Faculty teaching a larger (or smaller number) of didactic hours should increase (or decrease) the teaching weight proportionately (with a complementary change in the research weight). For example, an individual teaching 6 didactic hours per year would have a weighting of 60% research, 20% teaching, and 20% service. For purposes of this calculation, teaching a team-taught course counts as a fraction of the total course didactic hours, and serving as course coordinator counts as two didactic hours. Faculty engaging in a higher level of service (such as Associate Chair, or the Editor of a national journal, or comparable position) may increase their service weight up to a maximum of 50% in proportion to their actual service workload. Decreases in service weight below 20% will not normally be allowed, with the following exceptions: all untenured (tenure-track) faculty, as well as tenured faculty on study leave, leave of absence, or research buy-outs, during part or all of the annual review period, may choose to lower their service weights in proportion to their actual service workload (i.e., down to a minimum of zero).  A statement of justification for the proposed research, teaching, and service weights should be included in the individual faculty member's annual report. These weights are subject to review by the Evaluation Committee and the Chair and may be disallowed if not sufficiently justified.

2. General guidelines for scoring Research, Teaching, and Service
If a single accomplishment fulfills more than one criteria, then it may be counted more than once, unless explicitly stated otherwise. As an example under Research, a single paper in Nature may be counted as a "peer reviewed publication" (level 3) and also as an "article in a high impact journal" (level4), but not as an "additional item from the 4.0 list" (level 5, because it has already been counted). As an example under Service, membership in certain departmental committees (Liason, Graduate) requires additional service as an Executive Officer or member of a University Committee. Service on one such committee would thus qualify for level 3 (any two items) but not level 4 (any three items).

3. Guidelines for scoring Research Accomplishments in the past academic year
Score = 1.0 No evidence of research/scholarly activity.

Score = 2.0 One or more of the following: presentation or poster at a national or international scientific conference, not peer-reviewed publication in press or published, extra-mural grant proposal submitted, intra-mural funding awarded (GRAship, etc).

Score = 3.0 At least one of the following: peer-reviewed publication in press or published, extra-mural grant proposal (or contract) of any size awarded (or active).

Score = 4.0 At least two of the following: peer-reviewed publication in press or published, extra-mural grant proposal (or contract) of any size awarded (or active), PI or co-PI on a large (>$500,000 per year) current grant or contract, author of an article in a high impact  journal (published or in press).

Score = 5.0 Qualifies for a score of 4.0, plus any one of the following: lead PI on grant or contract with indirect costs, author of book published or in press, keynote speaker at national or international conference, or any additional item from the 4.0 list.

3. Guidelines for scoring Service in the past academic year.
Score = 1.0 Did not serve on any departmental committees or Executive Offices. Did not present any evidence of other service at any level.

Score = 2.0 One of the following: service on any departmental committee (standing or ad hoc) or departmental Executive Office, judge a science fair, serve at a University Open House, interview students for admission, advise 10 or more undergraduate students.

Score = 3.0 Any two of the items listed for a score of 2.0, or one such item plus any one of the following: officer in a state scientific or educational organization, scientific or educational presentation at a departmental, local, state, or regional conference or seminar, member of a COS or University committee, invited reviewer of a grant proposal or publication manuscript.

Score = 4.0 Any three of the items listed for a score of 2.0 or 3.0, or two such items plus any one of the following: officer in a national or international scientific society, Chair or Associate Chair of the Department, invited member of a grant or fellowship review panel, editor or associate editor of a scientific journal, or chair of a COS or University committee.

Score = 5.0 A total of four items listed for scores of 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0.

4. Guidelines for scoring Teaching Evaluations and Activities in the past academic year
The teaching score is the average of the "teaching evaluation score" and the "additional teaching activity score".  Teaching evaluations: To qualify for a teaching evaluation score higher than 1.0, faculty must submit a course report for each of their formal lecture and laboratory courses (i.e. excluding seminars and individualized sections) they taught during the rating period, including: 1) Course title, prefix & number, semester taught; 2) final grade distribution; 3) Names of team teachers and guest lecturers; 4) Mean of the students' "overall" numerical evaluations of the course; and 5) the type of course (core, non-major, lower division, upper division, graduate, laboratory, workshop, etc).  The teaching score for each course is calculated as the average of  the means of the first 15 questions on the course evaluation form. The faculty member's teaching evaluation score is then calculated as the average of the scores for their courses.  Additional Teaching Activities: The "additional teaching" performed during the past academic year is calculated as follows: (the number of graduate or undergraduate individualized study or research sections taught, including laboratory rotations) + (number of graduate student committees served in any capacity) + (number of graduate committees served as Chair or Research Advisor) + (number of volunteer student research interns actively working in the lab without course credit) + (number of new lab exercises created and taught) + (number of semesters served as course coordinator) + (the number of new courses created and taught) + (number of teaching awards received) + (number of awards received by students in the lab).  To document a volunteer student research intern, list their full name, GMU ID number, student status, period worked, and project title.

Score = 1.0 Additional teaching = 0.

Score = 2.0 Additional teaching = 1.

Score = 3.0 Additional teaching = 2-3.
Score = 4.0 Additional teaching = 4-7
Score = 5.0 Additional teaching = 8 or more.