Section 1. Name

This organization shall be known as the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMD) at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Section 2. Composition

1. The Department is comprised of academic and clinical components. The Department shall be led by a Chair whose duties shall be to provide leadership and to manage and oversee the academic and clinical components, budget, faculty and staff, and inventory. The Chair reports to the Dean of the College of Health Affairs. The Department Chair must have an earned doctorate, a rank of associate or full Professor, and tenure.
2. Management and oversight of the clinical component shall be the responsibility of a Clinical Manager who reports to the Department Chair. The Department Chair shall also appoint an External Placement Liaison whose responsibility will be to place graduate students in practicum sites outside the university and to work with external practicum supervisors as they mentor graduate students under their supervision. The Clinical Manager at minimum must hold a master’s degree in speech-language pathology as well as the Certificate of Clinical Competence and Texas state licensure. The External Placement Liaison must hold the rank of clinical assistant, clinical associate or clinical full professor.
3. During times when the Department has a Chair whose discipline is outside the field of audiology, speech-language pathology or speech and hearing science, the Department shall have a Program Director whose responsibilities will be those typically reserved for the Department Chair. The Program Director is appointed by the Dean of the College of Health Affairs and must be a General Faculty member who may hold any academic or clinical rank.

Section 1. General Faculty

1. The General Faculty of the Department shall consist of all full-time faculty members within the Department (i.e., tenured and tenure-track academic faculty, clinical assistant, associate and full professors and lecturers).
2. Full-time faculty holding joint appointments with the Department as their administrative home (defined as at least 51% of their annual workload) shall be considered members of the General Faculty of the Department.
3. Part-time faculty and clinical supervisors, and persons on one-year appointments (OYAs) shall not be considered General Faculty.

Section 2. Voting Faculty

1. All full-time faculty members described in III.A. and III.B. shall have full voting rights on matters brought to a vote at committee meetings, faculty retreats or faculty meetings.

Section 1

See Appendix.

Section 1. General Guidelines

1. Faculty members meeting the requirements of III.A. and III.B. shall be eligible to serve on Department committees.
2. Committee members will be determined at a faculty retreat which shall take place the week before the commencement of a new academic year. Committee membership shall be on a voluntary basis. In cases where there are no volunteers for a committee, the Chair shall appoint any number of faculty members to the committee as he or she sees fit.
3. Each committee at the beginning of the academic year shall elect from the committee membership a chair to serve for that year.
4. Term length shall be one academic year. Faculty may serve as many consecutive terms as desired.
5. Committees are charged to keep minutes of all meetings and submit copies of minutes to the Chair.
6. Committee members who voluntarily vacate their position or fail to participate in committee meetings or activities shall be replaced by the Chair upon request from the committee chair.

Section 2. Standing Committees

Section 1. General Guidelines

1. The Department Chair has the authority to assemble special ad hoc committees as the Department’s needs may dictate.
2. Faculty members meeting the requirements of III.A. and III.B. shall be eligible to serve on ad hoc committees.
3. Committee members shall be appointed by the Department Chair.
4. Once impaneled, the ad hoc committee shall elect from its membership a chair to serve for the duration of the committee’s existence.
5. Term length shall be indefinite and determined by the nature of the committee’s charge.
6. The chair of the Committee shall be chosen from among its members.
7. Committees are charged to keep minutes of all meetings and submit copies of minutes to the Chair.
8. Committee members who voluntarily vacate their position or fail to participate in ad hoc committee meetings or activities shall be replaced by the Chair upon request from the committee chair.

Section 1. Annual Faculty Retreats

1. An annual retreat of the General Faculty shall be held at least one time per academic year during the week immediately before fall semester classes commence.
2. Faculty shall be given notice via email at least fifteen (15) working days prior to the Faculty Retreat. A tentative agenda shall be included with the announcement. A request for additions to the agenda shall be made at this time.
3. A reminder shall be sent via email at least five (5) working days prior to the Faculty Retreat. The final agenda will be included with this notification.

Section 2. Regular Faculty Meetings

1. Dates of Regular Meetings of the General Faculty for the fall semester shall be determined at the Annual Faculty Retreat.
2. Dates of Regular Meetings of the General Faculty for the spring semester shall be determined during the last Regular Faculty Meeting of the Fall Semester.
3. Faculty shall be given a reminder notice at least five (5) working days prior to the Regular Faculty Meeting. The tentative agenda will be included with the notice.
4. A final reminder shall be sent at least two (2) working days prior to the Regular Faculty Meeting. The final agenda shall be included with this reminder.
5. Faculty may petition the Chair to call a Special Faculty Meeting if 50% plus one of the General Faculty sign a petition requesting a Special Faculty Meeting. The Chair may call a Special Faculty Meeting at any time but must give at least five (5) working days’ notice of such meeting.

Section 3. Quorum and Voting

1. A quorum for any meeting (committee or faculty) shall consist of at least half of the General Faculty.
2. Only General Faculty as outlined in Article III, Section 2.A. may vote on issues brought before committees or meetings involving faculty.
3. Voting by email is permissible in special circumstances in which a formal meeting cannot be called within a reasonable timeframe. Electronic voting may be permissible as long as half of the faculty on the Committee or in the Department agree to such vote. In such cases, electronic voting will be open for a period of three (3) working days, closing at 5:00 p.m. local time on the third day.
4. Vote by proxy is not permitted.

Section 4. Parliamentary Procedure

1. Except as otherwise provided herein, or by unanimous consent of the members, the procedures governing the Department and its Standing Committees shall be in accordance with the rules contained in the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.

Section 1. Policy and Procedures

1. Policies and procedures for annual faculty evaluations and promotion and tenure shall follow the most recent version of the Department’s Comprehensive Faculty Annual Evaluation and Promotion and Tenure Policy.

Section 1. Ratification of and Amendments to the Bylaws

1. These Bylaws shall be reviewed, edited and drafted by the Bylaws Committee in a form that shall be distributed to the Department Chair.
2. Upon review by the Department Chair, these Bylaws shall be distributed via email to all General Faculty of the Department for a vote on ratification.
   1. General Faculty shall have at least three (3) working days to review the Bylaws before a vote is taken.
   2. A vote may be taken during a Regular Faculty Meeting or via email, at the Department Chair’s discretion.
   3. These Bylaws shall require an affirmative vote of 50%-plus-1 of the General Faculty in order to be ratified.
   4. Shall the Bylaws not be ratified, General Faculty should address their concerns to the Bylaws Committee chair via email. Any necessary changes will be made and then the ratification process will start anew.
3. Once ratified, amendments to the Bylaws may be proposed to the Bylaws Committee chair at any time by any of the Standing Committees, the Department Chair or individual General Faculty member(s).
   1. Upon review by the Department Chair, any proposed amendments to the Bylaws shall be sent to all General Faculty via email no less than fifteen (15) working days prior to a vote.
   2. Ratification of any amendments to these Bylaws may occur at any Regular Faculty Meeting or via email, at the Department Chair’s discretion.
   3. Ratification of any amendment to these Bylaws shall require an affirmative vote of 50%-plus-1 of the General Faculty.
4. These Bylaws and any amendments thereto become effective upon approval of the Dean of the College of Health Affairs and the Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.