The following statement on governance of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) is fashioned after the "Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities" that was developed by the American Association of University Professors, the American Council on Education, and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. It is intended to assist in clarifying the roles of the president, deans, and faculty, and in so doing, facilitate and foster communication and cooperation between these parties. The Statement includes a discussion on joint effort and the roles/responsibilities of the president, deans, faculty, and students. It is adapted from the "Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities," The University of Texas Regents' Rules and Regulations, and the UTHSC-H Handbook of Operating Procedures.
The inescapable interdependence among the administration (including deans and department heads), faculty, students, and others at the UTHSC-H requires that there be adequate communication among these constituencies, and full opportunity for appropriate joint planning and effort.
Joint effort will take a variety of forms appropriate to the kinds of situations encountered. In some instances, an initial exploration or recommendation will be made by the president or the deans with consideration by the faculty at a later stage. In other instances, a first and essentially definitive recommendation will be made by the faculty, subject to the endorsement of the deans, the president, The University of Texas (UT) System, and the Board of Regents. In still others, a substantive contribution can be made when student leaders are responsibly involved in the process. Important areas of action involve at one time or another the initiating capacity and decision-making participation of all the institutional constituencies, and differences in the weight of each voice, from one point to the next, should be determined by reference to the responsibility of each component for the particular matter at hand, as developed hereinafter.
The general educational policy (i.e., the objectives of an institution and the nature, range, and pace of its efforts) is shaped by the institutional charter or law, by tradition and historical development, by the present needs of the community, by the needs of the institution, and by the professional aspirations and standards of the Board of Regents, faculty, and administrators who are directly involved in its work. The interests of all these groups are coordinated and related, but unilateral effort of any group can lead to confusion and conflict. Consequently, it is essential to have a reasonably explicit statement on general educational policy that clarifies the roles of the individual parties and minimizes potential conflict and/or confusion. Additionally, operating responsibility/authority and procedures for continuing review should be clearly defined in official regulations.
When an educational goal has been established, it becomes the responsibility primarily of the faculty, led by the dean, to determine the appropriate curriculum and procedures of student instruction. However, other matters such as major changes in the size or composition of the student body and the relative emphasis to be given to various elements of the educational and research program may involve varying degrees of participation of the UT System, Board of Regents, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, accrediting bodies, administration, and faculty prior to a final decision.
Several aspects of the internal operations of the institution require joint effort of the Board of Regents, UT System, administration, faculty, and students. These areas include selecting the president, long-range/strategic planning, some aspects of budgeting, and determining priorities for the acquisition of physical resources.
Selecting a new president requires a cooperative search by the Board of Regents, UT System, faculty, and students with consideration given to opinions of others appropriately interested. The president should be equally qualified to serve both as an executive officer of the Board of Regents and the chief academic officer of the institution. When necessary, this dual role requires that he or she be able to interpret both to the Board of Regents and faculty the educational views and concepts of the other.
Framing and executinglong-range plans, one of the most important aspects of institutional responsibility, should also be a central and continuing concern of the academic community. Effective planning demands the broadest possible exchange of information and opinion among the constituencies of the university, and the channels of communication should be established and maintained by joint effort. Distinction should be observed between the institutional system of communication and the system of responsibility for decisionmaking.
Budgeting, or the allocation of resources among competing demands, is central in the formal responsibility of the Board of Regents and the administrative authority of the president and deans, and it affects the educational function of the faculty. Each component should therefore have an appropriate voice in determining the short- and long-range priorities and each should have access to analyses of past budgetary experience; reports on current budgets and expenditures; and short- and long-range budgetary projections. The nature of the authority and responsibility of each group will determine the flow of information and the scope of participation in decisions, and all should understand the function of each in budgetary matters.
Finally, joint effort is required for determining appropriate priorities for acquisition of physical resources. The Board of Regents, president, deans, and faculty should seek agreement on basic decisions regarding buildings and other facilities used for the educational work of the institution.
The president, within the policies and regulations of the Board of Regents and under the direction of the executive vice chancellor, has general authority and responsibility for the UTHSC-H. He or she shares responsibility, primarily with the deans and executive vice presidents, for defining and attaininggoals, for administrative action, and for communications linking the components of the academic community. Some of these functions may also involve faculty.
As the chief planning officer of an institution, the president has a special obligation to innovate and initiate. Additionally, the president is largely responsible for maintaining existing institutional resources and creating new resources; has ultimate managerial responsibility for a large area of nonacademic activities; is responsible for public understanding; and by nature of his or her office, is the chief spokesperson of the institution. He or she should attempt to minimize the effects of adverse internal and external factors on the faculty in carrying out the missions of the institution.
It is the duty of the president to see that standards and procedures in operational use within the university conform to the policies established by the Board and to the standards of sound academic practice, and to assess institutional effectiveness and outcomes. The president will necessarily use the judgments of the faculty, but in the interest of academic standards, he or she may also seek outside evaluations by scholars of acknowledged competence.
It is incumbent upon the president to ensure that the interests of the institution, including at times the views of the faculty, are represented at the UT System level. Similarly, the deans, faculty, and staff should be informed of the views of the UT System and the Board of Regents.
Specifically, as prescribed in the Regents' Rules and Regulations, the president, with appropriate consultation, is expected to
Additionally, the president (on the recommendation of the dean) is responsible for the permanent or acting appointment of department chair, department heads, and their equivalents. Such department chair, department heads, and their equivalents serve without fixed terms and subject to the pleasure of the president of the institution. (Many of these responsibilities will normally be delegated by the president to the deans, executive vice presidents, or other appropriate individuals or groups.) The Board of Regents endorses the principle of reasonable faculty and student consultation in selecting administrative officers of the institution and the primary operating units, and expects the president, as he or she deems appropriate, to consult in the selection process with the representatives of the faculty and student body. However, the president will not be bound by nominations to administrative positions by campus selection committees.
The dean of each school within the UTHSC-H reports to the president and is the leading academic administrator in his or her profession on the campus. The dean is expected to provide leadership in the profession, school, HSC, and community regarding relevant educational and scientific issues and to ensure, along with the other school administrators, the excellence of the teaching, research, and service programs of his or her school.
The president delegates authority and responsibility to the dean within the limits set by the Regents' Rules and Regulations. The authority and responsibility of the dean is to provide administrative leadership for the schools and to develop plans for the future. In consultation with the faculty, the dean will advise the president on faculty appointments and promotion and tenure decisions; develop, propose, and administer the school budget, including individual salaries; administer students admissions; administer curriculum design, implementation, and evaluation; determine the progress of students through school; and recommend students for graduation. The dean is expected to promote an environment conducive to the academic goals and objectives of the faculty, including the development of human resources (students, faculty, and other employees), developing and disseminating new knowledge and, as appropriate, delivery of service. In most instances, the dean also is expected to support faculty judgment in areas in which they have a major role.
The dean is a major administrative officer of the UTHSC-H and as such is expected to support the president and his or her staff in carrying out the functions of the president's Office. The dean sits on the Executive Council and reviews all Health ScienceCenter-wide policies before implementation and periodically thereafter. The dean is in a position to bring his or her concerns, and those of the faculty, about Center-wide policies to the president and has the responsibility to do so. On the other hand, the dean has the responsibility to explain Center-wide policies to the faculty and to implement those policies once they are in place.
The duties of the faculty of the UTHSC-H include:
Members of the teaching staff also are expected to be available to discuss academic issues with students on a regular basis. Each faculty member's performance as a teacher, as a scholar, as an administrator, and as an individual is greatly valued by the university, for the work of the university is chiefly done in these four ways.
Faculty members are entitled to full freedom in research and in publishing the results, subject to the ethical requirements of the institution and the adequate performance of other academic duties. They are also entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but are expected not to introduce controversial matters that have no relation to their subject.
It is a specific and important duty of the faculty member to become acquainted with and to conform to all the rules and regulations relating to faculty and to the proper and orderly discharge of their work that are set forth in the Regents' Rules and Regulations and the institutional Handbook of Operating Procedures. It is also the specific duty of each member of the teaching staffs to consider the regulations and the routines in conforming to them and to propose what seem to be desirable changes in these regulations and routines to the appropriate faculty or official. Every member of a teaching staff has the right to propose changes in policies and procedures and to present arguments in support thereof. Every voting member of any faculty also has the right and the duty to propose changes and to participate in debate in faculty meetings. However, for communications with the legislature and other state agencies, the Board of Regents is the only proper channel through which recommendations concerning the administration of the System, as a whole or in any of its parts, should reach the legislature or other state agencies or officials.
The faculty also has a duty to cooperate with the administration in carrying out the purposes and policies of the Board of Regents. At the same time, administrative officers are expected to listen with an open and appreciative mind to criticisms and suggestions coming to them from members of the faculty.
The faculty will have a major role in the governance of their respective institutions in the following areas:
The administration should support faculty recommendations in these areas except for those circumstances in which there are compelling reasons that should be communicated to the faculty. Financial and resource limitations, delegated administrative responsibilities, the time element, and the policies of other groups, bodies, and agencies having jurisdiction over the institution may set limits to accepting and implementingfaculty advice.
Faculty also have a major role in certain matters related to faculty status such as promotions and tenure. The delegation of significant responsibility to faculty for faculty status is based on the premise that faculty judgment is central to general educational policy. Furthermore, scholars in a particular field or activity have the chief competence for judging the work of their colleagues, and, in such competence, it is implicit that responsibility exists for both adverse and favorable judgments. Therefore, faculty input is also important in consideration of appointments and reappointments. The Board of Regents, president, and dean should, on questions of faculty status as in other matters in which the faculty has a major role, concur with the faculty judgment except in rare instances and for compelling reasons that should be stated in detail.
The faculty should also participate in determining policies and procedures governing salary increases and in selecting a chair or department head. The chair or department head should be recommended by the dean for appointment following an established process that includes consultation with members of the department and of related departments.
The specific ways in which faculty participate in governance of the school will depend on the particular school's organization and culture. Participation may be facilitated by meetings of all faculty members and forming committees.
At the institutional level, the Interfaculty Council serves as the agency for faculty participation in governance.
There should be clearly established procedures that ensure appropriate communication among the faculty, administration, and Board of Regents and that are clearly understood. Examples of procedures that may be used are circulation of memoranda/reports by the Board of Regents, administration, and faculty committees; joint ad hoc committees; standing liaison committees; membership of faculty members on administrative bodies; and membership of faculty members on Boards.
Students have primary responsibility for attaining their own educational goals. In the classroom, students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study and for maintaining standards of academic performance established for each course in which they are enrolled. Students are expected and required to obey the law, to comply with institutional system rules, and to observe standards of conduct appropriate for an academic institution. Toward that end, each student has the responsibility to know and observe Health Science Center regulations concerning student conduct and discipline.
As members of the academic community, students have a distinctive role that qualifies them to share in the exercise of responsible authority on campus; the exercise of that authority is part of their education. Students are encouraged to individually or collectively express their views on institutional policy and on matters of general interest to the student body. These areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Student involvement in institutional government may include membership--voting and nonvoting--on institutional and school committees and councils. When they do not hold membership on these bodies, students may place matters for action on their agendas and are entitled to receive a prompt report on the disposition of those matters.
At the institutional level, the Student Intercouncil is the recognized forum of student opinion and the primary vehicle for student participation in the governance of the institution. The specific ways in which students participate in the governance of their school will depend on each school's organization and culture.
Updated 10/92
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