Division of Powers and Responsibilities – Albright College

Division of Powers and Responsibilities

II.  Division of Powers and Responsibilities

A.   Principles of Participatory Governance

Participatory governance requires consultation and sharing of information with other administrators and faculty who may have an interest in the outcome of some effort in which an individual is involved, or whose offices may be affected by the results of such effort.  All should strive for as open a system of information sharing as possible, and should remember to bring others up-to-date with the activities of groups with which they participate.

Because it is important that, so far as possible, all interested persons and groups have adequate opportunity to participate in decision-making, the faculty has established the following principles of cooperative sharing of such matters:

  1. Proposed actions, recommendations, or reports of specific departments or activities must be referred to the appropriate person or group for comment and discussion prior to final action by the originating group.
  2. Should the originating group’s final action be in conflict with the comments or recommendations of the persons or groups which are the subject of the report, such conflict must be identified in the final report or action and the person or group having the dissenting opinions shall be invited to appear before the faculty or Faculty Executive Committee should the report be referred to either body.
  3. Should this consultation not occur, the proposed action, recommendation or report shall be considered to be void until such consultation has taken place.

The functioning of a quality academic program involves a mutual trust, cooperation, and division of responsibility among the Trustees, the Administration, the Faculty, and Student body.  The Board of Trustees recognizes the professional competence and responsibility of the faculty to provide leadership in the implementation and maintenance of a sound and high quality academic program and professional staff.

While the Board of Trustees retains these formal powers, in terms of practical convenience, it recognizes the following division of powers and responsibilities.

  1. The Board of Trustees reserves for itself powers as enumerated in the Board of Trustees’ Bylaws and the Charter of the College.  They include the following:
    1. To review, approve, or not approve the inauguration or termination of any major leading toward graduation.
    2. To review, approve, or not approve recommended changes in the general graduation requirements of the College.
    3. To review, approve, or not approve the addition or cancellation of any faculty staff lines.
    4. To review, approve, or not approve recommendations for promotion in rank and the granting of tenure.
    5. To receive annual, semi-annual, and, as needed, more frequent reports on the academic progress of the College, its specific departments, and the growth and improvement of its faculty in general from the administrative offices of the College.
    6. To receive in its Annual and Interim meetings a report on all academic changes that have been undertaken and approved by the faculty since its last Meeting.
    7. To originate any academic changes (in addition to the faculty) by referring any such proposed changes to the faculty for study and recommendation before final action.
    8. To review, approve, or not approve through the recommendation of the Chief Academic Officer, the faculty and the Registrar, each graduating class.
    9. To review, approve, or not approve through recommendation of the faculty Professional Council, the Chief Academic Officer and the President all applications for sabbatical leave.
  2. The faculty has certain delegated powers and responsibilities, including the following:
    1. To review, approve, or not approve any course additions, substitutions or cancellations recommended to it by its own Educational Policy Council that do not effect major changes in curricular policy.
    2. To recommend to the Board of Trustees through the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board, any major changes in academic policy affecting graduation requirements and the inauguration or the termination of any major leading to graduation.
    3. To review, approve, or not approve through the recommendations of its committees those changes of policy governing class attendance, withdrawal procedures, probationary or honors regulations, transfer of credit, change of course, or other such regulations that affect the normal academic life of the student.
    4. To recommend the graduating class for approval by the Board of Trustees.
    5. To assess faculty staffing needs and recommend to administration the creation of new faculty positions.
    6. To recruit and select, for recommendation to the administration, candidates for faculty positions.
  3. The Academic Departments have certain delegated powers and responsibilities, including the following:
    1. To determine, with approval of the Educational Policy Council, any specific departmental requirements for graduation not in variance with established faculty or Trustee policies already in effect.
    2. To determine the courses which shall be offered each academic semester in consultation with the Chief Academic Officer and the Registrar.
    3. To determine, with approval of the Educational Policy Council, the courses necessary to meet major and related field requirements of the department.
    4. To determine all course prerequisites.
    5. To determine all course descriptions provided in the Catalog of the College as long as these do not substantially alter the character of the courses as previously approved by the faculty.
  4. Procedural assumptions of the foregoing delegation are as follows:
    1. Any proposals for changes in major academic policies or procedures of the College described in the responsibilities of the Trustees above must be presented to the Board of Trustees in the normal procedures of its Annual or Interim meetings
    2. An academic department has the right to make any changes delegated to it in the above at any time during the academic year.  If such changes are to be included in the Catalog of the College in the succeeding year they must be given to the Registrar at a date he/she shall designate.