Vol 2, Part 2, Chap 23: Colleges, Schools, and Departments

Chapter 23

COLLEGES, SCHOOLS, AND DEPARTMENTS

Section 23-01. Statutory Provisions

[For statutory provisions concerning the colleges, schools, and departments of the University see Volume 1, "Statutes," RCW 28B.20.130(1)(2)(4).]

Section 23-11. Campuses, Colleges, and Schools

The following campuses of the University of Washington were established by legislative action:
University of Washington, Seattle (1890)
University of Washington, Bothell (1989)
University of Washington, Tacoma (1989)
The following colleges and schools, originally authorized by distinct action of the Board of Regents in the year designated, have been established within the University of Washington, Seattle:

College of Arts and Sciences (1861)
College of Education (1878)
School of Pharmacy (1894)
College of Engineering (1898)
School of Law (1899)
College of Forest Resources (1907)
Graduate School (1909)
School of Business (1917)
School of Medicine (1945)
School of Dentistry (1945)
School of Nursing (1945)
College of Architecture and Urban Planning (1957)
School of Social Work (1958)
School of Public Affairs (1968)
School of Public Health and Community Medicine (1970)
College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences (1981)
Information School (2001)

BR, May 1955; and subsequent authorization; revised by Executive Order of the President, January 30, 2004.

Section 23-21. Delegation of Authority by the President

[For executive orders of the President granting general authority to the deans and the faculty of colleges, schools, and departments see Sections 12-24, 12-26, 13-21 to 13-24.]

Section 23-22. Establishment of Departmental Organization

A. Departmental organization within the following colleges and schools is affirmed by the President:

College of Architecture and Urban Planning
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Engineering
College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences
School of Business Administration
School of Dentistry
School of Medicine
School of Nursing
School of Pharmacy
School of Public Health and Community Medicine

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956: with Presidential approval., and subsequent updating

Section 23-23. Campuses, Colleges, Schools, and Departments: Definitions

For purposes of the University Handbook:

A. The word "campus" refers only to those listed in Section 23-11A.

B. The words "college" and "school" refer only to those listed in Section 23-11B.

C. The word "department" refers to any separately organized unit within a college or school which has been established by the Board of Regents or by the President, to any department-level interdisciplinary unit which has been established by the dean of a college or school, and to any department-level interdisciplinary unit involving two or more schools or colleges which has been established by the Provost.

D. An academic program is an area of specialization which has one or more of the following characteristics: has program as part of its title; grants a degree or a credential; has a sequence of courses with a common prefix; has been identified as a program by a distinct faculty action. Ordinarily, an academic program shall be smaller than an administrative unit such as a department and larger than the activities of a single faculty member.

Executive Order (unnumbered) of the President, May 31, 1956; revised October 1, 1982, revised January 30, 2004.

Section 23-24. The Graduate School: Definitions

A. In addition to its function in the advancement of research, the Graduate School has the function of supervising the content and level of programs leading to graduate degrees. It provides the services necessary for the processing of graduate student applications for admission to the University. It has jurisdiction over the completion of degree requirements by individual graduate students, and over the membership of committees charged with supervising advanced course programs and dissertations of students in the various fields of graduate study.

B. The term "graduate degree" designates all master's degrees and all doctor's degrees except those of Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Dental Surgery, Juris Doctor, and Doctor of Pharmacy.

C. The term "graduate student" designates only those students who have been admitted to the Graduate School.

D. A college, a school, or a department which has been authorized by the graduate faculty to offer a program of study leading to a graduate degree is termed "qualified."

Executive Order (unnumbered) of the President, May 31, 1956; revised June 26, 1968; October 1, 1982

Section 23-25. Presiding Officers of Colleges, Schools, and Departments

A. The presiding officer of the faculty in a college or school is its dean. (See also Section 12-24).

B. The presiding officer of the faculty in a department is its director or chair. (See also Section 12-26.)

Executive Order (unnumbered) of the President, May 31, 1956

Section 23-31. Delegation of Authority by the University Faculty

[For delegation by the University faculty of powers and duties to the faculties in colleges and schools, see Section 13-31, Subsection A.3.]

Section 23-41. Governing Body of a Campus, College, or School

The faculty of a campus, college, or school is its governing body, and under the provisions of this chapter may exercise direct control of its affairs or may delegate such control as it deems appropriate to an executive committee, council, or other committee or committees.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: both with Presidential approval.

Section 23-42. Campus, College, School, and Department Faculties: Composition

A. Except for the Graduate School faculty, the faculty of each campus, college, school, or department is organized in the following manner.

It consists of those members of the University faculty, whether full-time or part-time, whose official appointments are to positions within it.
Its voting members are those of its personnel who are voting members of the University faculty under Section 21-32.

B. The graduate faculty consists of those members of the University faculty who have been designated by the Dean of the Graduate School, with the advice of committees established for this purpose.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 54, March 7, 1977; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: all with Presidential approval.

Section 23-43. Campus, College, and School Faculties other than the Graduate Faculty: Powers and Duties

In accord with Sections 13-23, 13-24, and 13-31, Subsection A.3, the President and the University faculty grant to the faculty of each campus, college, and school, with exception of the graduate faculty, the powers and duties enumerated below. This authority is subject, however, to the power of the Senate to determine policies which affect the general welfare of the University (Section 22-32, Subsection B) and to the procedures set forth in Sections 23-47 and 23-48 for the coordination of campuses, colleges, and schools. Except for the graduate faculty, the faculty of each campus, college, or school:

A. shall, with respect to academic matters,

determine its requirements for admission and graduation;
determine its curriculum and academic programs;
determine the scholastic standards required of its students;
recommend to the Board of Regents those of its students who qualify for the University degrees;
exercise the additional powers necessary to provide adequate instruction and supervision of its students;

B. shall, with respect to personnel matters, make recommendations to its chancellor or dean in accord with the provisions of Chapter 24 and of Section 25-41;

C. may, if it is departmentalized, delegate to the faculties of its several departments any of the powers and duties specified in paragraphs A and B of this Section.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: both with Presidential approval.

Section 23-44. The Graduate Faculty: Powers and Duties

In accord with Sections 13-23 and 13-31, Subsection A.3, the President and the University faculty confer upon the graduate faculty the powers and duties enumerated below. The graduate faculty shall:

A. determine requirements for the admission of graduate students;

B. recommend to the Board of Regents the designations of graduate degrees;

C. approve the requirements for graduate degrees;

D. determine which departments or undepartmentalized colleges or schools are qualified (Section 23-24) to give courses of study leading to graduate degrees;

E. determine those courses for which students may receive credit toward a graduate degree;

F. recommend to the Board of Regents those graduate students who qualify for degrees;

G. determine the scholastic standards required of graduate students;

H. promote research by members of the faculty.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956: with Presidential approval. (Subsection H added silently in 1956 edition)

Section 23-45. Campus, College, and School Faculties: Authority to Determine Organization and Procedure

A. Subject to the provisions of Section 23-46, the faculty of each campus, college, or school other than the Graduate School shall determine its own organization and rules of procedure except as stipulated in Subsections B and C. The organization and rules of procedure of a department may be determined by the department faculty, but shall be subject to review by the appropriate campus, school, or college faculty.

B. The University of Washington Bothell and the University of Washington Tacoma shall each have an elected faculty council or councils that shall advise their respective chancellors on matters affecting the general welfare of their respective campuses, matters of faculty promotion and tenure, and on matters involving academic policy, including priorities, resource and salary allocation, and budgets. In accord with Subsection A, the faculty of each campus shall determine for itself the organization and structure of its council or councils and the procedure by which the members are elected.

C. Each school or college shall have an elected faculty council or councils which shall advise the dean on matters of faculty promotion and tenure, and advise the dean on matters involving academic policy, including priorities, resource and salary allocation, and budgets. In accord with Subsection A, the faculty of each school or college shall determine for itself the organization and structure of its council or councils and the procedure by which the members are elected.

D. The Advisory Committee on Faculty Code and Regulations shall review each campus's, college's, or school's procedure to assure that the councils are established in conformity with the provisions of this section.

E. The Graduate School shall determine its own organization and rules of procedure. It may directly control its affairs or may delegate to a council, executive committee, or other committees any of its powers, provided that such council or committees shall be representative of the various fields of graduate study.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 80, December 11, 1989; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: all with Presidential approval.

Section 23-46. Prescribed Procedure in Campuses, Colleges, Schools, and Departments

[For Program Termination, see Section 26-41]

A. Except as provided in Subsections B and C, a proposed action or proposed rule of a campus, college, school, or department faculty under the authority of Sections 23-43 and 23-44 is effective if passed by a quorum majority of its voting members present at a meeting or responding by mail, or of its authorized council or committee, and if approved by the chancellor or dean. Approval by the chancellor or dean is not required in internal department matters.

"Quorum majority" means:

in the case of a vote taken at a meeting, a majority of those members voting at a meeting at which at least half the members entitled to vote are present; and
in the case of a vote taken by mailed (written) ballots, a majority of those voting, provided that at least half of the members entitled to vote have cast ballots.

B. When conducting a mail ballot, as described in Subsection A, campus, school, and college faculties (but not departmental faculties) shall have a choice either to require a quorum majority or to follow Faculty Senate procedures as described in Section 29-36, Subsection C. Under these procedures proposed actions or rules of a campus, school, or a college, except as stated in Subsection C, shall become effective in the case of a mail ballot either if approved by an affirmative majority vote of the eligible voting members of the faculty, or by a two-thirds majority vote of those casting ballots, provided that at least 45% of the eligible faculty members cast ballots. Campus, school, and college faculties shall decide, by means of a quorum majority vote, whether to change their rules for procedures governing mail ballots.

C. When a proposed action concerns a faculty employment recommendation, such as appointment, reappointment, tenure, or promotion, it will be effective only if passed by a majority of all eligible voting members of the unit, and in accordance with the appropriate procedures as specified in Sections 24-51 to 24-55 and 25-41.

D. Campuses, colleges, schools, and departments may vote by mail in matters of faculty employment, provided that they use specific procedures they have adopted and published and that these procedures provide for:

reasonable opportunity for each faculty member of the unit to study all information relevant to the employment action,
secrecy and security of the ballot, and
security and impartiality of the ballot count.

E. In a departmentalized school or college, the chairperson or director of a department shall transmit to the dean for approval a copy of any action by the department which may affect college or school policy. If the chairperson or director does not concur in the action, he/she may also submit his/her own recommendation.

F. Subject to the provisions of Subsections A, B, C, D and E, and of Sections 23-47 and 23-48, a proposed action or rule of a campus, college, school, or department becomes effective at the time indicated in the action or rule.

G. When requested by one or more voting members of a campus, college, school, or department faculty the vote upon any matter before it shall be by secret ballot.

H. Upon request, the chancellor of a campus, the dean of a college or school, or the chairperson of a department shall provide a member of his or her faculty with information concerning salaries, teaching schedules, salary and operations budget requests, appropriations, allotments, disbursements, and similar data pertaining to his/her campus, college, school, or department.

Section 13-31, S-A 20, April 16, 1956; S-A 43, November 14, 1972; S-A 56, February 21, 1978 and S-A 74, January 2, 1987; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: all with Presidential approval.

Section 23-47. Coordination Among Campuses, Colleges, and Schools

In exercising its authority under the provisions of Sections 23-43 and 23-44, the faculty of a campus, college, school, or department shall carefully consider the effect of its actions upon other campuses, colleges, schools, and departments. The chancellor of a campus and the dean of a college or school considering any action shall consult with the chancellor of each campus and the dean of each college or school which may be affected by it.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: both with Presidential approval.

Section 23-48. Procedure for Adoption and Coordination of Policies and Procedures by Campuses, Colleges, and Schools

[This section was entitled "Coordination Among Colleges and Schools: Procedure" in 1956, 1964 and 1969.]

A. When faculty action is taken under the provisions of Sections 23-43 to 23-46, and the action so taken deals with admissions, scholastic standards, curriculum, graduation, honors, personnel policy, schedules, registration, or student discipline, the chancellor or dean shall file copies of it with the President and with the Secretary of the Faculty for transmittal to the appropriate faculty committee, or if there is no other appropriate committee, to the Senate Executive Committee. The effective filing date for proposals received after May 15 and before September 15 shall be considered to be September 15.

B. The action becomes effective 60 days after such filing of copies, unless:

it has been approved at an earlier date by both the President and the faculty committee, in which event it becomes effective upon such approval; or
the President within the 60-day period suspends its effect, in which event he shall notify the faculty committee to which the matter has been assigned; or
the faculty committee within the 60-day period suspends its effect on grounds either
a. that it fails to conform with general University policy or regulations, or
b. that it requires review by other campuses, colleges, or schools which may be affected by it, and refers the matter to the President for final decision.

C. When a matter is so referred to the President by a faculty committee, the President, after a hearing, shall decide whether the proposed action becomes effective. In so doing the President may employ whatever procedures he or she deems necessary or helpful.

Section 13-31, April 16, 1956; S-A 27, March 31, 1961; S-A 115, June 15, 2007: all with Presidential approval.