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New Mexico State University
College of Business: Faculty Administration

College of Business Bylaws

Preamble

The major objective of this document is to provide a framework within which the faculty of the College of Business participate in the educational policy and decision-making processes of the College. It is understood that these Bylaws are valid so long as they comply with the policies and procedures established by the Board of Regents and the Faculty Senate.

Article I

Name
This organization shall be known as the College of Business, New Mexico State University.

Article II

Membership
Section 1
The General Faculty of the College of Business shall consist of all persons appointed to a Department within the College of Business to a tenure or tenure-track position with the title of Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor. Unless otherwise stated, reference to the Faculty hereafter refers to the General Faculty. The General Faculty shall have legislative jurisdiction over broad policies affecting the College of Business's academic mission in regard to teaching, research, and service, including the definitions of purpose and objectives.
Section 2
The tenured and tenure-track faculty of the College of Business will decide which types and ranks of nontenure-track faculty may vote on (a) routine College matters, and (b) policy matters. Should a question arise whether an issue is "routine" or "policy," the tenured and tenure-track faculty will decide. In any event, nontenure-track faculty will not vote on any faculty personnel matters.

Article III

Objectives of the Faculty
Section 1
The Faculty will establish the mission and goals of the College of Business, maintain academic standards and develop procedures for achieving the mission and goals. Section 2
The Faculty will coordinate the policies of the College of Business with the other Colleges of New Mexico State University for the general welfare of the institution as a whole.

Article IV

Functions of the Faculty
Section 1
The Faculty shall vote in General Faculty meetings and transmit to the Dean its decisions concerning such general education policy matters as:

  1. requirements for admission to the college,
  2. requirements for students' maintenance in good standing,
  3. subject matter, courses, and curricula which pertain to the College's graduation requirements,
  4. academic degrees administered by the College.

Section 2
The Faculty shall address all matters referred to it by the Dean, appropriate College committees, and members of the Faculty.
Section 3
The Faculty shall vote in a General Faculty meeting and transmit its decisions to the Dean.

Article V

Meetings: Scheduling
Section 1
A regular Faculty meeting shall be held in the Fall and Spring semesters each academic year. Section 2
Special Faculty meetings may be called at the discretion of the Dean or upon recommendation of a simple majority of the Faculty. A petition signed by more than one fourth of the tenured and tenure-track faculty shall constitute a simple majority.
Section 3
All regularly scheduled Faculty meetings shall be called by written notice or e-mail to members of the Faculty not less than seven (7) days prior to the time set for the meeting. This notice should include an agenda. Emergency meetings to address unanticipated crisis situations may be called by the Dean without the seven day notice.
Section 4
Items for the agenda requiring action by the Faculty can be submitted in writing by Faculty to the Dean's Office up to five (5) working days prior to the meeting date. In the event an item is not included on the agenda, faculty may introduce new business from the floor.

Article VI

Meetings: Conduct
Section 1
The Dean, or his/her designated representative, will preside at all faculty meetings.
Section 2
A Secretary shall be appointed by the Dean. The Secretary shall notify members of meetings, keep complete minutes of each meeting, and make the minutes available to the Faculty via appropriate means within ten days following the meeting. The Secretary shall establish and maintain a complete file of the minutes of the meetings of this Faculty, together with reports submitted in writing at such meetings.
Section 3
A majority of the Faculty shall constitute a quorum. A simple majority of the votes cast is required for passage of any item of business presented to the Faculty for consideration with the exception of the amendment procedure described in Article IX. The presiding officer shall determine the nature of the voting procedure (i.e., voice, show of hands, secret ballot). Absentee voting is not permitted.
Section 4
Nontenure-track faculty will have voting privileges as outlined in Article II, Section 2.
Section 5
In the absence of special provisions in these Bylaws, meetings shall be governed by Roberts' Rules of Order.

Article VII

Overview of Committees
Section 1
To facilitate the accomplishment of the Faculty's specified functions, the following Standing Committees will be maintained:
Assurance of Learning (previously Assessment)
Budget, By-laws, and Policy Review
Faculty Council
Graduate
Promotion and Tenure
Strategic Planning
Student Recruitment and Placement
Undergraduate
Section 2
In addition to the named Standing Committees, the Dean may request such Voluntary Teams or Task Forces as deemed necessary. Recommendations for Voluntary Teams or Task Forces may also originate in either the Executive Council or Faculty Council.
Section 3
The faculty members that serve on a Standing Committee created by this Article shall be appointed by the Department Head of each department, except for the members of the Faculty Council, Promotion and Tenure, and Budget, Bylaws, and Policy Review Committees. The members of those three committees shall be elected, as provided in Article VIII.
Appointments to Standing Committees by the Department Heads should be done with the consensus of the departmental faculty. If at least 10% (but no less than two) of the General Faculty in a department request in writing that an election be held with respect to any particular Standing Committee membership, then that committee member will be elected by the General Faculty of that department.
Section 4
Standing Committee membership selections are to be held within ten business days after faculty return to work in the Fall semester. If an election is required, a simple majority of the votes cast is required for election to membership of the aforementioned Standing Committees.
Section 5
The term of office for all Standing Committees shall begin at the start of the next academic year.
Section 6
Unless specified otherwise in these Bylaws, the following rules for committee membership are in effect:

  1. Each member selected to a Standing Committee shall serve a term of two years, unless he/she is selected to fill an un-expired term or one-year term as described in (e), below.
  2. No faculty member shall be required to serve more than two Standing Committees of this Faculty.
  3. No more than two members of a College Department may be members of any Standing Committee.
  4. Unless otherwise specified by the Bylaws, no faculty member shall serve more than two consecutive terms on a given Standing Committee.
  5. The membership of each committee shall be staggered to help ensure continuity from year to year – upon their selection, the members of the new Standing Committee shall reach an agreement regarding which members will hold one versus two year memberships (approximately one-half each). The terms of each member shall be reported to the Dean's Office along with the notification of the new Chair of the committee (see section 8 below).
  6. These rules may be excepted where membership on the Promotion and Tenure Committee is concerned, for purposes of keeping that committee composed of tenured faculty with the rank of professor.

Section 7
Any vacancy occurring in the membership of a Standing Committee shall be filled by the appointment process described in Section 3, above.
Section 8
The Chair of each committee is to be selected by the membership of the new committee. This selection is to be accomplished shortly after the election and the Dean notified of the selection no later than 14 days after the committee is elected. Further, the Dean's Office will distribute a list of committee chairs, members, and members' terms within 30 days of the committee's election of its Chair.
Section 9
Each Standing Committee, other than the Promotion and Tenure Committee and Faculty Council where confidential matters (such as academic appeals) are concerned, is to make the minutes of each meeting available via electronic means to the Faculty no later than two weeks following committee meetings. The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall follow the procedures listed in the NMSU Policy Manual with regard to its recommendations to the Dean.
Section 10
The Chair of each Standing Committee, other than the Promotion and Tenure Committee and the Faculty Council where confidential matters (such as academic appeals) are concerned, is responsible for presenting an oral report of the committee's activities at the Spring Faculty meeting.
Section 11
The Chair of each Standing Committee is responsible for preparing a final written report of the committee's activities and making it available via appropriate means to the Faculty within 30 days of the election of new Standing Committees.
Section 12
Membership on Voluntary Teams or Task Forces shall be from the General Faculty at their discretion. The term of membership shall be until the Voluntary Team or Task Force disbands upon completion of its charge, or earlier, at the discretion of the faculty volunteer(s). The chair of each Voluntary Team or Task Force will be elected by the membership. Reports by the chair will be disseminated to the Faculty in accordance with the rules for Standing Committees under Sections 9, 10, and 11.

Article VIII

Standing Commmittees
Section 1 Assurance of Learning Committee (previously Assessment Committee)

  1. The Assurance of Learning Committee shall consist of one faculty member from each Department and, as ex-officio member, the Associate Dean for Academics of the College of Business.
  2. The Assurance of Learning Committee will maintain goals consistent with AACSB standards, namely,
    1. To systematically measure student learning achievement against specified learning goals for the purpose of improving student learning and development.
    2. To assist the College of Business and its faculty members to improve programs and courses.
    3. To assure external constituents, such as potential students, regents, public officials, supporters, and accreditors, that the college is striving for continuous improvement of its students, programs, and courses.
  3. The responsibilities of the Assurance of Learning Committee are:
    1. To work in conjunction with the Graduate and Undergraduate Committees to establish, monitor, and revise student learning goals and objectives in each degree program.
    2. To work with the Graduate and Undergraduate Committees to select techniques to be used to assess student learning goals and objectives.
    3. To assist the Graduate and Undergraduate Committees in implementing assessment techniques and interpreting results.
    4. To communicate the results of assessment activities on an annual basis to the faculty and to the Associate Dean for Academics for inclusion in annual reports such as that required by AACSB.
    5. To be a resource for the College of Business in terms of research on current trends in assessment activities in higher education generally and business colleges in particular.

Section 2 Budget, Bylaws and Policy Review Committee

  1. The Budget, Bylaws and Policy Review Committee shall consist of one faculty member from each Department. The Associate Dean shall serve as an ex-officio member.
  2. The committee shall
    1. review the College’s annual operating budget and all budget proposals and recommend any needed changes to the Dean;
    2. review all budget proposals that flow to the University Budget Committee from the College, and provide a written recommendation to the Dean concerning said budget proposal;
    3. periodically review and make recommendations concerning the College’s financial resources;
    4. periodically review and make appropriate recommendations concerning the College’s human resources, diversity, and facilities.
    5. review the College's Bylaws annually and recommend any changes to the Dean and Faculty;
    6. facilitate the review of twenty percent of the College's Policies annually by appropriate Committees and/or Administrators and recommend any changes to the Faculty.

Section 3 Faculty Council

  1. The Faculty Council shall consist of two members from each academic department, elected by the respective department members.
  2. The Faculty Council shall:
    1. organize Faculty Forums on topics of concern to the faculty and administration of the College of Business;
    2. serve as a liaison between the faculty and administration of the College of Business;
    3. serve as the academic appeals board within the College of Business;
      1. The Faculty Council will hear any academic appeal that has been forwarded to it through proper procedures (NMSU Student Code of Conduct).
      2. The subset of the Faculty Council hearing any particular appeal will consist of three of the ten faculty members and two students. None of these five individuals will be from the department from which the appeal originated. The Faculty Council will choose three students from a list of students (provided by the advising center) with a 3.5 or better grade point average. For any particular appeal, the Faculty Council will choose two of these three to hear the appeal.
      3. The Board shall transmit its recommendation directly to the Dean.
    4. promote teaching and research excellence within the undergraduate and graduate programs in the College. In furtherance of this goal, the Faculty Council shall make recommendations to the Dean concerning various College and University teaching, research, and service awards, as well as the allocation of special funds created for the support of faculty activities.
    5. serve other functions as assigned by the Dean or the Faculty.

Section 4 Graduate Committee

  1. The Graduate Committee shall consist of one graduate faculty member from each department in the college and one MBA student elected from the Graduate Business Students Association. The Associate Dean and the MBA Director shall be ex-officio members.
  2. The major function of the Committee is to provide guidance from the faculty concerning MBA matters. Primary responsibility for programs other than the MBA will remain in the separate Departments that administer such programs. Consistent with its major function, the Committee shall:
    1. aid in building a quality program of instruction by reviewing all new course proposals, course and degree changes, and course deletions from the MBA program.
    2. develop and recommend policies and practices concerning the MBA program; monitor these to ensure that they are meeting the needs of our several constituents; and ensure that the program is in keeping with AACSB guidelines and current thinking at other leading universities.
    3. transmit all major programmatic MBA issues to the General Faculty in the form of recommendations. This will include new majors, degrees, changes to the core curriculum, and other issues that impact the entire College.
    4. transmit recommendations directly to the Dean regarding MBA matters such as course additions, modifications, and deletions which do not impact the entire College.
  3. Additionally, the Committee shall:
    1. promote collaboration among the College graduate programs in areas such as student advertising, outcomes assessment, and distance education.
    2. receive reports as necessary from the Library Liaisons, and take such actions as may be necessary concerning the College’s library collection.
    3. periodically review information and student resources as they relate to the graduate programs.
  4. The Committee may initiate recommendations or study recommendations that originate from within the College.

Section 5 Promotion and Tenure Committee

  1. The College Promotion and Tenure Committee shall be selected according to the following rules:
    1. The College Committee will consist of five tenured full professors with one member elected from each of the five departments in the College of Business
    2. The name of each full professor in a department shall be placed on the ballot for each department from which a committee member is to be selected (unless a faculty member declines to be considered) and the tenured and tenure-track faculty from the college will elect the member from each department by secret ballot.
    3. Members of the College Committee will serve two-year staggered terms.
    4. The elections will be held during the first full week of class in the fall semester of each year with the Economics Department and Accounting & BCS Department having their departments' committee member elected in odd numbered years and the Marketing, Management and Finance Departments having their departments' committee member elected in even numbered years.
    5. Unexpected vacancies will be filled by a special college election.
    6. If there are no tenured, full professors in a department that department will nominate two or more full professors from the college as a whole to be placed on the ballot for that department and the college will elect the committee member from those nominees.
  2. This Committee shall:
    1. review the documentation file of each tenured or tenure-track candidate for promotion or tenure and make an independent recommendation concerning the application to the dean of the college;
    2. review departmental procedures and processes related to promotion and/or tenure and report to the dean of the College those departments (if any) that have not followed their own internal procedures or those of the college or university; and,
    3. periodically review the College procedures and guidelines regarding tenure and promotion for consistency with any changes made to university promotion and tenure policies and if appropriate, recommend changes to the College procedures.

Section 6 Strategic Planning Committee

  1. The Strategic Planning Committee shall be composed of one faculty member (nominated by the departments) from each of the departments, the Dean and Associate Deans of the College, and a staff representative (selected by the Dean).
  2. The Strategic Planning Committee shall:
    1. review and recommend changes to the strategic goals, plan and indicators for the College;
    2. ensure that the strategic goals, plan and indicators for the College are consistent with those of the University;
    3. solicit and forward input to the committees and administrators who are responsible for various components of the strategic plan, and
    4. monitor performance against objectives of the College.

Section 7 Student Recruitment and Placement Committee
(to be added)
Section 8 Undergraduate Committee

  1. The Undergraduate Committee shall consist of one faculty member from each Department and, as ex-officio members, the Associate Dean of the College of Business, a representative of the Advising Center, and a student of the College of Business
  2. This Committee shall act as an agent to avoid proliferation of BBA undergraduate courses and to build a quality program of instruction by reviewing all suggested undergraduate courses and degree changes, additions, and deletions.
  3. Other responsibilities of this Committee are:
    1. To promote collaboration among the College undergraduate programs in areas such as student advertising, outcomes assessment, and distance education.
    2. To periodically review information and student resources as they relate to the undergraduate programs.
  4. This Committee may either initiate studies or act upon recommendations received from the Dean, academic units, other duly organized committees, or individual members of the Faculty.
  5. The Committee shall transmit all programmatic issues to the General Faculty in the form of recommendations, such as for new majors or degrees, core curriculum, and issues that impact the entire College.
  6. The committee shall transmit recommendations directly to the Dean regarding matters such as course additions, modifications, and deletions which do not impact the entire College.
  7. All relevant committee recommendations shall be prepared and submitted in sufficient time to be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the faculty.
  8. At times of major review of college curriculum the Committee will be expanded to two faculty members from each department.

Article IX

Amendments to the Bylaws
Section 1
These Bylaws shall be in effect after adoption by a simple majority vote of a quorum of the General Faculty at a called faculty meeting or by ballot distributed to the General Faculty at a called faculty meeting or by ballot distributed to the General Faculty and approved by the Dean. A quorum exists when a majority of the members of the Faculty are present at a meeting of the Faculty.
Section 2
Motions to amend these Bylaws may occur at any called meeting of the General Faculty at which a quorum is present. Proposals to amend and voting on the amendments should be consistent with the voting on issues under Article VI. A simple majority vote is required by amendment.
In addition, routine changes of the Bylaws may be proposed by any of the parties identified in Section 3 by sending a written (or email) notification of the proposal to all of the faculty and having a vote by ballot no sooner than fourteen days after the notification is sent out. A two-thirds majority of the votes cast is required in order for an amendment to be approved by means of this process. However, with respect to any particular amendment that is proposed in this manner, upon written request by at least 8% of the faculty a vote at a General Faculty meeting will be required to amend the Bylaws.
Section 3
Amendments may be proposed by any duly constituted committee, the Dean, or one-fourth of the Faculty members.
Section 4
A copy of the proposed amendment(s) must be given to the Faculty by the Dean at least seven days prior to the date of the meeting at which the proposed amendment(s) is/are to be voted upon.