The membership of the Graduate Faculty shall consist of the following: The President of the University of Missouri, the Chancellor, the Provost, all academic Vice Provosts, chairs of departments authorized to offer graduate degree programs, and other ranked members of the instructional and research faculty, who are accepted under the rules of the Graduate Faculty to assume the responsibilities and authorities delegated to it. Graduate Faculty membership will be granted automatically to individuals newly hired for a position of Assistant Professor or higher, provided they hold the highest degree typically awarded in their field. Their membership will be subject to reappointment regulations outlined in Article IV.D.
No person who is a candidate for a degree at the Missouri University of Science and Technology shall be eligible for membership in the Graduate Faculty.
Other than individuals holding the administrative positions enumerated in Article III.A., the qualifications for membership in the Graduate Faculty shall be:
The candidate shall hold the highest degree ordinarily awarded in his or her field. Exceptions can be made on the recommendation of the Membership Committee of the Graduate Faculty or upon two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at a regular meeting or a special meeting called for that purpose.
He or she shall hold a Tenured/Tenure-track position of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
He or she shall have shown evidence of activity in research or in creative or scholarly work beyond that comprised in earning his or her own higher degree. Such evidence may consist of:
Appropriate publications in refereed journals, or proceedings of technical or research conferences where the participants have been selected by a program committee.
An active research program which has either received support on the basis of a research proposal judged by competent scholars, or which the Membership Committee of the Graduate Faculty, after careful consideration, evaluates to be of high quality. If the program has been active for several years, it must have resulted in publications to be admissible as evidence.
Teaching and development of new courses at the graduate level, which may include the authorship of textbooks.
Associate Membership
A person not satisfying the above criteria for membership may apply to become an Associate member. Upon the recommendation of the Membership Committee and approval by the Graduate Faculty, associate membership will be granted. Examples of such persons are research, adjunct, or visiting professors, lecturers, etc. An Associate Member is a non-voting member with a term equal to the normal review period or the length of their stay at S&T, whichever is shorter.
In the above, "non-voting" refers only to deliberations of the entire Graduate Faculty. Associate members shall enjoy all other privileges and responsibilities of voting members, including the privilege to chair, serve on, and vote in graduate advisory committees.
Terminal Appointments
Any member of the Graduate Faculty who is granted Emeritus status shall retain their existing membership rights and privileges for the remainder of their affiliation with the University. Emeritus faculty who wish to resign their membership in the Graduate Faculty may do so by notifying the Vice Provost of Graduate Education.
Any member of the Graduate Faculty who terminates employment with the University shall retain Associate Membership status for two (2) years after their departure from the University. Should they wish to extend this appointment further, they will need to apply for Associate Membership as outlined in Article III.D.
Removal of Membership:
A Department Chair may request that a faculty be removed from Graduate Faculty Membership or Associate Membership if they are found to no longer be meeting the requirements of membership as outlined in Articles III.C., III.D. To do so, they must submit an official petition for removal of membership including evidence and justification for the removal to the Office of Graduate Studies. Review of the petition will follow the same guidelines as outlined for a member not receiving a recommendation by the Membership committee as outlined in Article IV.D.
President: The President of the Graduate Faculty shall be elected by the Graduate Faculty from among its members at the May meeting of the Graduate Faculty. The term of office shall be for one year beginning on the first day of the academic year following the election. If the President is vacated, the Secretary shall call a special meeting of the Graduate Faculty and elect a new President to serve the remainder of the term. The duties of the President shall be:
To preside at meetings of the Graduate Faculty.
To prepare an agenda for Graduate Faculty meetings.
To maintain current membership lists of the Graduate Faculty.
To appoint an acting Secretary to record the minutes of the Graduate Faculty meetings when the elected Secretary is absent.
To maintain files of Graduate Faculty minutes and committee reports or reference.
To be the Chair of the Graduate Council.
Secretary. The Secretary of the Graduate Faculty shall be elected by the Graduate Faculty from among its members at the May meeting of the Graduate Faculty. The term of office shall be for one year beginning on the first day of the academic year following the election. If the position of Secretary is vacated, the President shall call a special meeting of the Graduate Faculty and elect a new Secretary to serve the remainder of the term. The duties of the Secretary shall be:
To record the minutes of Graduate Faculty meetings.
To distribute copies of the minutes of Graduate Faculty meetings to members of the General Faculty.
To be the Secretary of the Graduate Council.
Parliamentarian. The Parliamentarian of the Graduate Faculty shall be appointed by the President of the Graduate Faculty. The parliamentarian of the Graduate Faculty shall also be the Parliamentarian of the Graduate Council. The duties of the Parliamentarian shall be:
To rule on points of order at Graduate Faculty and Graduate Council meetings.
To ensure that Graduate Faculty and Graduate Council meetings are conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order.
Purpose:
To provide a smaller representative body which is adequate to represent the opinion and philosophy of the membership of the Graduate Faculty.
To provide the President of the Graduate Faculty with a means of continuously sampling Graduate Faculty attitudes concerning policy and procedures between regular meetings of the Graduate Faculty.
To provide a forum for the development of changes in Graduate School procedures, policies, and programs, and to recommend action items to the Graduate Faculty.
Organization.
The Council shall consist of the President of the Graduate Faculty, as Chair, and one representative for each graduate degree granting program and from each department offering graduate courses (5000+ level) not otherwise represented.
In May of alternate years, the Graduate Faculty by departments or programs, shall elect one of their members to serve a two year term on the Graduate Council commencing with the start of the next academic year.
Committees:
At the beginning of each academic year, the Chair of the Graduate Council shall appoint a Membership Committee and designate one member as its Chair. The Membership Committee will be composed of departmental representatives serving on the Graduate Council. The Chair will aim to select at least one representative from an engineering department, one from a science department, one from a department associated with arts, humanities, and social sciences, and one from a business-related department. For each individual under review for graduate faculty membership renewal, the department chair may nominate a faculty member from the Graduate Council to serve as an advocate for the individual. The advocate’s role is to participate in the discussion when the candidate's dossier is considered by the Membership Committee. However, the advocate will not have voting rights when the Membership Committee makes its final recommendation to the Graduate Faculty.
As deemed necessary, and at the discretion of the Chair of the Graduate Council, other committees may be appointed from the membership of the Graduate Council or Graduate Faculty. Each committee must include at least one individual from an engineering department, one from a science department, one from a department associated with arts, humanities, and social sciences, and one from a business-related department.
C. Authority and Responsibilities
The Graduate Council shall be responsible for analyzing, evaluating, preparing, and presenting to the Graduate Faculty that information which is required for its intelligent consideration of topics upon which action is required.
The Graduate Council is an advisory body and possesses only that authority which is specifically delegated to it by the Graduate Faculty.
D. Chair of the Graduate Council. The President of the Graduate Faculty shall be the Chair of the Graduate Council. The duties of the Chair of the Graduate Council shall be:
To preside at Graduate Council meetings.
To appoint an acting Secretary to record minutes of Graduate Council meetings when the elected Secretary is absent to ensure that matters brought before the Graduate Council and their disposition are recorded for future reference.
To maintain current membership lists of the Graduate Council.
To bring before the Graduate Council any matter requested by a member of the Graduate Faculty.
To appoint and dissolve committees of the Graduate Council.
To maintain files of the approved minutes of Graduate Council meetings and reports of Committees of the Graduate Council for reference.
To present to the Graduate Faculty resolutions or referred items requiring action by the Graduate Faculty.
E. Meetings of the Graduate Council
A. Official meetings of the Graduate Faculty shall be of two types:
B. Conduct of Meetings
Updated May 2019