Department of Classics Bylaws

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The department head is responsible to the College of Arts and Sciences for the conduct of departmental business. This responsibility is combined with the necessary authority to make decisions as to teaching assignments (including creation and maintenance of the long-term scheduling plan), committee appointments, apportionment of space (for offices, teaching, and research), expenditure of departmental funds, recommendations for hiring, tenure, promotions, and salary increases among department personnel, as well as to represent the department in matters involving other departments, persons, or agencies, and to implement the decisions of the department. Committee and faculty recommendations are normally followed by the head, although circumstances may require the head to exercise his/her own judgment. The head should inform the faculty as fully as possible of all decisions which concern them individually or the department as a whole. The head shall conduct annual personnel interviews with all voting members of the department. These interviews shall form the basis of the annual evaluation summary which will be on file both in the department and in the College of Arts and Sciences. The head shall also negotiate annually with each voting member of the department the departmental responsibilities to be undertaken during the academic year (see Appendix). The faculty will evaluate the head annually using the mechanism and forms provided by the office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

The faculty of the Classics department shall consist of all full-time academic personnel with the rank of Lecturer or above. All faculty members shall have voting privileges on departmental matters, except on those personnel decisions where considerations of academic rank restrict voting.

Department meetings shall take place at least twice a semester. All regular department meetings shall be held at a time designated at the outset of each term and during which no Classics classes will be scheduled. Special meetings may be called at any time by the department head or upon petition of the department head by at least one-third of the voting members at least four days before the proposed meeting. Meetings called by the voting members shall be limited to consideration of those items specified in the petition.

Department meetings shall be open to faculty, staff, students, and all observers who are members of the university community or residents of Tennessee.

The agenda for departmental meetings shall be distributed to the voting members at least four days before the meeting. Items may be placed on the agenda at the request of the department head or of the voting members.

A quorum for department meetings shall consist of a majority of the voting members who are eligible to attend.

Department meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

Summaries of department meetings shall be distributed to each voting member. Summaries shall include a record of attendance, votes taken, committee reports, new committee appointments, and other official business.

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General Principles

The standing committees of the department shall be: Curriculum, Prizes and Scholarships, and Speakers and Special Events.

The Prizes and Scholarships Committee shall be a committee of the whole chaired by the head. Except for the Prizes and Scholarships committee, each committee shall meet within one week of election and shall select one of its members as chairperson.

Except for the Prizes and Scholarships Committee, each committee shall report its activities at least once each semester and at other meetings as necessary.

Minutes of committee meetings shall be kept on open file by the chairpersons and shall be transmitted to succeeding chairpersons.

The Curriculum Committee

The Curriculum Committee shall review curricular offerings and degree requirements and shall review all changes in the curricula proposed by committee members or by other faculty or students.

The Curriculum Committee shall undertake the planning of any new programs the department wishes to propose.

The Prizes and Scholarship Committee

The Prizes and Scholarships Committee shall solicit, gather, and consider all applications and nominations for departmental scholarships and prizes.

The Prizes and Scholarships Committee shall determine the distribution of all departmental scholarships and prizes.

The Prizes and Scholarships Committee shall consist of the whole faculty of the department, and shall conduct its business at faculty meetings to be held in February and March.

Speakers and Special Events Committee

Speakers and Special Events Committee shall undertake the planning and execution of the normal events of the academic year, such as the Rutledge Memorial Lecture, as well as ad hoc events funded by the department or the Haines-Morris Lecture Endowment.

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Ad Hoc committees shall be appointed by the head as needed.

Any voting member of the faculty shall be eligible for service on an Ad Hoc Committee.

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The faculty committee to advise in the selection of a department head will be constituted in accordance with the language of the Faculty Handbook, section 1.4.4.

The faculty committee to advise the dean on the reappointment of the department head will be constituted in accordance with the language of the Faculty Handbook, section 1.4.6. The voting members of the faculty will select among themselves a chair to preside at the meeting in which the reappointment vote is taken.

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In a search for a new member of the departmental faculty, the head, in consultation with the tenured and tenure-track faculty (or “probationary faculty”), will appoint a search committee of at least three tenured or tenure-track faculty.

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Members of each standing committee shall be elected during the spring semester of each academic year of their service. Faculty members shall be elected by the faculty. On occasion the head may appoint students to become involved in committee work in an advisory capacity.

Names of candidates for the committees shall be placed in nomination at least two weeks prior to the final faculty meeting of the spring semester.

Elections will be held at the last departmental meeting of the spring semester, normally held in May.

The term of office for all positions on standing committees shall begin June1 and terminate the following May 31.

No one may be chairperson of more than one standing committee.

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Generalities

The following guidelines for performance evaluation are specific to the Department of Classics. They are designed to supplement the criteria and procedures for implementation set down for the University in general in the most recent Faculty Handbook and in the most recent Manual for Faculty Evaluation. These guidelines should inform and be reflected (A) in annual reviews by the head of individual faculty and (B) in intermittent reviews by the faculty, or components thereof, and by the head on specific, formally prescribed occasions when faculty are considered for the granting of tenure and promotions.

Faculty should be able to assume that discussions center on, and judgments follow from, performance in three areas—research, teaching, and service—and are based on evidence made available before and during deliberations.

Workload Statement

Research: Faculty members are engaged in ongoing research agendas with clear goals. Faculty members publish peer-reviewed articles and books. Faculty members also work toward producing professional presentations, and, where appropriate, acquiring external funding.

Teaching: The annual teaching load is 5 courses. Variation is available through annual discussion with the head. Examples of reasons for reduction are grant-writing, directing an extra-departmental program, and advising. Faculty members provide oversight and direction of undergraduate and graduate research including theses and dissertations.

Service: Faculty members, and to a larger degree tenured faculty members, participate in departmental governance and committees, college and university committees and taskforces, community outreach activities, and service to the profession. Faculty members’ advising duties are considered service to both the department and the college.

Annual Review and Retention Review

Annual Review of all faculty takes place in a timely way each spring semester, and uses as a reporting instrument the faculty workload form provided by the College, with any addenda that the faculty member feels are appropriate.

Annual Retention Review for probationary faculty is a separate process governed by section 3.11.3 and 4 of the Faculty Handbook. In this department, the review takes place by December 15 each year, unless an earlier date is required. The probationary faculty member should submit to the department head for timely distribution a current curriculum vitae and a summary statement containing separate paragraphs highlighting his or her accomplishments in the previous academic year and goals for the current academic year in the three areas of teaching, research, and service. The faculty member may include any other information that he or she deems relevant. The head will distribute this document to the tenured faculty in a timely way before the tenured faculty meets for the retention vote.

In the case of non-retention,  every effort should be made to notify the faculty member as soon as possible.

In addition to the quantitative measures articulated in the Workload Statement above, there are other measures that come to bear in order to “meet expectations” in the process of the annual review of faculty by the head.

Research:

1. Faculty members are expected to be engaged actively in a research program with clear goals.
2. In a three-year rolling total, faculty members are expected to publish one substantial article and make three conference presentations or their equivalent.
3. External funding is expected where it is appropriate to advance one’s research activity goals, and to an extent that is appropriate.

These are valuable considerations in the review process:

1. Does the research program have defined goals?
2. Are appropriate funding efforts undertaken?
3. Are publications appearing in appropriate and prestigious peer-reviewed outlets?
4. Are professional papers being presented at appropriate and prestigious venues?
5. Are graduate students and undergraduates involved in research?
6. Are there special considerations that need to be taken into account (such as length of time to produce a book, collecting long-term field data, and so on)?

Teaching:

1. Unless negotiated differently, the teaching load is five courses.
2. Quality of teaching is expected to be high.
3. Measurements of teaching quality should be multiple, and include student evaluation, peer review, self-assessment, and regular participation in the departmental curricular process. Faculty members are expected to oversee and direct student research, including theses and dissertations as appropriate.

The following are important considerations in the evaluation of teaching:

1. Are course offerings and content appropriate?
2. Are grading/evaluation techniques appropriate for course level?
3. Are teaching methods effective?
4. Is the information taught up-to-date and accurate?
5. Are new and relevant courses being developed?

Service:

Probationary faculty members are expected to participate in departmental activities. Tenured faculty members are expected to show leadership within the department, to participate, when asked, in the work of the college and the university, including outreach, and to put effort into the service of the discipline through the refereeing process and/or regional, national, and international organizations. The following considerations are important to evaluate service: 

1. Does professional service advance the department and university missions?
2. Does outreach improve community relations and/or provide educational opportunities to the general public?
3. Does outreach improve K-12 education?
4. Are one’s “fair share” of departmental, college, and university service duties undertaken?
5. Can one discern a difference between leadership and membership in campus and disciplinary committee work?

Promotion and Tenure

The department normally expects that candidates for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor have published at least a book or, in the judgment of the evaluators, the equivalent thereof (which may mean a number of articles, a combination of a number of articles and presentations, or a significant work of archaeological excavation). The candidate for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor is expected to have executed his or her teaching duties very well and to have performed service within the department. A candidate for promotion to Professor is expected to produce an additional research record of the same quantity as for tenure and of at least the same quality; a candidate for Professor should have performed very well in the classroom and contributed amply in service to the College and University as well as the profession.

Outside evaluation for tenure and/or promotion

The candidate for tenure or promotion shall submit to the head three external evaluators’ names, of whom at least two shall be consulted; through consultation with faculty eligible to vote, the head will identify at least two other external evaluators. At a minimum, the department requires four letters from external evaluators in support of an application for tenure or promotion.

Evaluation of Information

The department head will provide to faculty members who are eligible to vote all the materials submitted to him/her in a given case at least one week before the date for evaluation of such information and voting.

Additional information may be submitted during the week prior to voting if a request by faculty member eligible to vote is transmitted through the department head to the individual whose case is being considered.

To ensure thorough consideration of all relevant information in a given case, all voting faculty members should come to the meeting both prepared and willing to present arguments for and/or against the candidate.

On request of the candidate, he/she will be permitted to address a meeting of those eligible to vote in the case in question, but he/she may not be present at the vote.

Voting

In accordance with section 3.11.5 of the Faculty Handbook, the tenured faculty will meet to discuss the candidate’s application for tenure. This meeting will be chaired by a member chosen by the group. After discussion, voting will follow by secret ballot. The ballot will be marked “yes,” “no,” or “abstain.” The chair of the meeting is responsible for making and transmitting to the candidate and to the head a formal record of the faculty deliberation and the vote.

To be recommended for retention, tenure, or promotion, the faculty member must receive a majority of “yes” votes from those eligible to vote.

University policies governing the appointment of non-tenure-track faculty, including Lecturers, are outlined in sections 4.1 and 4.2 of the Faculty Handbook. In a search for a new Lecturer, the Head, in consultation with the tenured and tenure track-faculty, will appoint a search committee of at least three tenured or tenure-track faculty. Although they are not required to do so, Lecturers have the option of participating in departmental governance. They may also engage in academic advising, assisting student organizations, and supervising undergraduate research.

1. Unless negotiated differently, the teaching load is eight courses.
2. Quality of teaching is expected to be high.
3. Measurements of teaching quality should be multiple, and include student evaluation, peer review, and self-assessment.

The following are important considerations in the evaluation of teaching:

1. Are course offerings and content appropriate?
2. Are grading/evaluation techniques appropriate for course level?
3. Are teaching methods effective?
4. Is the information taught up-to-date and accurate?

The annual performance review for retention should be based on the quality of the individual’s instruction. No service or scholarship is expected of contingent faculty. In the case of non-retention, every effort should be made to notify the faculty member as soon as possible.

The Department may designate certain contingent faculty as “Distinguished Lecturers.” There shall be two categories of Distinguished Lecturer:

1. As a term appointment for persons who have distinguished themselves in careers in research, high school teaching, university teaching, and other fields related to Classics. Distinguished Lecturers who meet these criteria should be hired with the title. They would offer departmental lecture series or courses during an academic year. These appointments shall be made by the Head upon the advice of an ad hoc committee convened by the Head for this purpose.
2. As a promotion for Lecturers currently serving in the Department.
   Promotion from Lecturer to Distinguished Lecturer shall be reserved for those Lecturers who have distinguished themselves during their tenure at UTK in teaching, research, and public service. To be eligible for promotion to Distinguished Lecturer, a Lecturer must have completed the Ph.D.; have a minimum of three years at the rank of Lecturer in the Department; and have demonstrated excellence in teaching and service, as well as a commitment to scholarship. Annually, the Head shall solicit from full-time, tenure track faculty nominations for promotion to Distinguished Lecturer. The Head shall also notify Lecturers annually that they can apply for promotion to Distinguished Lecturer. Lecturers who wish to be considered must submit a portfolio for departmental review. The Head shall make the promotion to Distinguished Lecturer after review by the Department’s Tenure and Promotion Committee and other faculty advice as the Head deems appropriate.

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These bylaws must be ratified by a majority of the voting members of the faculty and will become effective immediately upon ratification.

These bylaws may be amended by a majority of the voting members of the faculty at a department meeting, provided that the text of the proposed amendment has been printed in the agenda for the meeting.

Here follows a list of activities and responsibilities that will be covered by individual faculty members following negotiations between head and individual faculty members. The list is not intended to be exhaustive. One of the purposes of this list is to remind the faculty of the many things the department considers worthy of its attention in the course of the academic year.

• Advising Coordinator
• Advisor to Eta Sigma Phi and Classics Club
• Associate head of the department
• Coordinator of first- and second-year Latin
• Curator of the slide collection and of other images
• Dean’s Advisory Council representative
• Departmental representative to the East Tennessee Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America
• Editor of the Newsletter
• Latin Placement Coordinator
• Liaison to the Anthropology program
• Liaison to the History program
• Liaison to the area high-school teachers
• Liaison to the Departmental Advisory Board
• Library representative
• Member of the Faculty Senate, if elected
• Members (2) on Committee to review head’s teaching
• Representative to the Arts and Sciences Advising Center
• Representative to the American School of Classical Studies in Athens