Departmental BylawsPhysics and Astronomy

Bylaws
Department of Physics and Astronomy
College of Arts & Sciences 
Texas Tech University

Last Updated March 12, 2025

 

1. Preamble
   1. Mission:
      1. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is committed to excellence in teaching, research, service, outreach and engagement. It strives to constantly improve research quality and productivity, research expenditures, faculty retention and success, along with optimizing student retention and success.
   2. Affirmation of Commitment to Shared Governance:
      1. Every member of the department is expected to contribute to shared governance. Departmental Committees assist department Chair to oversee management and leadership of shared governance, along with building strategic plans for faculty and student success.
   3. Additional Statement:
      1. The department is committed to following all TTU OPs that concern faculty and staff employment and duty. We strive to foster a productive, inclusive, and supportive culture.
2. Structure and Governance
   1. Definition of Faculty
      1. Faculty are defined as tenured and pre-tenured professors (all ranks), research professors, professors of practice who may or may not yet have continuing appointments, lecturers and senior lecturers who may or may not yet have continuing appointments, all of whom are on full-time appointments.
      2. Only full-time faculty can vote on general issues of departmental governance.
      3. Faculty can vote on action items presented for a vote during general faculty meetings.
      4. Voting privileges on promotions, tenure, and continuing appointments are specified in the department’s Promotion and Tenure Policy and Guidelines.
         
   2. Leadership Positions and Committees
      1. Department Chair
         1. Selection Process: The department chair serves at the will of the Dean, and selection of the department chair follows TTU and College policy and procedures.
            
         2. Chair absences: Whenever the chair cannot perform his/her duties, the associate chair serves as acting chair. The faculty, staff, and dean are regularly informed about those days. Approval from the dean is requested in advance for long absences, 2 except for personal emergencies, when same-day notice may be given. The acting chair is also expected to attend occasional college and university meetings to represent the department.
            
      2. Associate Chair
         
         1. Selection Process: The associate chair is appointed by the chair, with feedback from faculty.
         2. The role of the associate chair is to assist the department chair in the performance of various departmental duties; serve as acting chair when the chair is absent.
         3. The associate chair is to be considered for course release and additional compensation as deemed appropriate and agreed upon.
            
      3. Committees
         1. Departmental Committees and Subcommittees: 
            1. 1. Graduate Committee
                  1. Graduate Admission Subcommittee
                  2. Preliminary Exam Subcommittee
               2. Undergraduate Committee
               3. Scholarship Committee
               4. Faculty and Staff Affairs Committee
                  1. Teaching Evaluation Subcommittee
               5. Facility and Safety Committee
                  1. IT Subcommittee
            2. Selection Process:
               1. Committee and subcommittee chairs are appointed by the department chair. Committee members are selected by the committee chairs. Typically, a committee consists of at least three members (including the committee chair). Committees are normally formed and finalized before the start of the academic year. Committee service assignments are guided by principles of equitable service by department members.
            3. Responsibilities:
               1. Graduate Committee:
                  
                  1. Monitor and review graduate program (e.g., recruitment, admission, retention, student success, graduation rate).
                     
                  2. Make curricular decisions for the MS and PhD programs.
                     
                  3. Propose new courses or revisions to existing courses.
                  4. Revise and update the Graduate Handbook.
                  5. Administrate departmental PhD preliminary examines.
                  6. Produce updated data and document for graduate program reviews.
               2. Undergraduate Committee:
                  1. Monitor and review undergraduate program (e.g., recruitment, retention, student success, graduation rate).
                  2. Propose new courses or revisions to existing courses.
                  3. Make curricular decisions for the BS and minor program.
                  4. Produce updated data and documents for program review and state reporting.
               3. Scholarship Committee:
                  1. In Spring semesters, the Scholarship Committee, with the help of the scholarship coordinator, reviews scholarship applications, rates candidates, and decides scholarship and fellowship offers to current graduate and undergraduate students.
                  2. Recruitment fellowships from the Graduate School and the College are used as an effective tool for recruitment. The Admission Subcommittee, Department Chair, and Scholarship Committee work together and offer attractive scholarships to outstanding graduate program applicants.
               4. Faculty and Staff Affairs Committee:
                  1. Conduct teaching evaluations and annual performance evaluations for the faculty members, who are on tenure track or non-continuous-appointment (i.e., assistant professors, assistant professors of practice, lecturers, instructors, research professors).
                  2. Revise and update departmental T&P guidelines.
                  3. Prepare nomination dossiers for college/university faculty and staff awards.
               5. Facility and Safety Committee:
                  1. Coordinating with EH&S, identify and resolve health and safety issues to comply with all safety regulations.
                  2. Review and update departmental emergency evacuation procedure.
               6. Teaching Evaluation Committee:
                  1. Organize peer teaching evaluations and perform teaching effectiveness evaluations for faculty members, who are on tenure track or non-continuous-appointment, or are going for the promotion.
               7. IT Subcommittee:
                  1. Plan, install and maintain IT equipment and software to support departmental teaching, research and outreach activities.
         2. Ad Hoc Committees:
            1. Faculty Search Committees:
               
               1. All faculty searches for any vacant or new positions must first be approved by the Dean.
               2. The committees will comply with OP 32.16 Faculty Recruitment Policy.
               3. The Department Chair will assign the committee chair. Each search committee must consist of at least three faculty members.
3. Faculty Meetings:
   1. Scheduling
      1. The Department Chair announces scheduled monthly faculty meetings at the beginning of Spring and Fall semesters.
         
      2. Meeting reminders are sent to the faculty at least 1 week in advance, except in emergencies in which ad-hoc meetings are necessary.
         
      3. Topics discussed include (but are not limited to) departmental budgets, strategic planning, hiring, undergraduate and graduate program success, student enrollment, etc.
         
   2. Agenda
      1. The Department Chair provides a brief agenda in advance of each faculty meeting.
         
      2. Faculty members are welcome to contact the Department Chair and propose agenda items before meetings.
         
   3. Meeting Records
      1. Materials from the faculty meetings are available to faculty at the departmental “indico” page.
4. Voting Process & Eligibility
   1. Votes are collected through either secret paper ballot, electronic ballot, or in person voting during a faculty meeting, depending on the circumstances.
   2. Secret paper ballots are counted together by the Department Chair, associate chair and the unit coordinator, unless circumstances do not allow it.
   3. Votes are reported to the faculty by the department chair.
   4. Voting on departmental policies: according to each OP and Departmental Guideline.
   5. For more on voting details regarding faculty hiring, see Section IV.
   6. For more on voting details regarding faculty evaluation, see Section VI.
      
5. Faculty Hiring Procedures
   1. The faculty hiring process for tenure, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track positions will adhere to all University policies and procedures (found in OP32.16) and College’s Guidelines.
   2. The Chair appoints ad-hoc search committees.
   3. Search committees are responsible for writing and placing the job advertisement, managing the hiring process, and identifying semifinalists and finalists for the position.
   4. After all finalists have concluded their campus visits, the search committee produces a committee recommendation.
   5. The search committee chair presents the committee recommendation to the faculty in a faculty meeting, and the faculty discuss the qualification of candidates.
   6. For tenure-track positions, only tenure and tenure-track faculty members vote on the committee’s recommendation.
   7. For non-tenure-track positions, all full-time faculty, including lecturers and professors of practice, vote on the committee’s recommendation.
   8. The Chair will share the results of faculty votes with the Dean and proceed to make an initial offer to the most preferred finalist. If the most preferred finalist declines the initial offer, the Chair will make an offer to the next preferred finalist on the list, and so on.
      
6. Faculty Workload Policies
   1. Faculty workload policy and workload calculation are governed by the University policies (OP32.18). Faculty members are expected to maintain a standard teaching load, actively engage in scholarly research, and participate in departmental, college, and university services. 
      
   2. Teaching Assignments
      1. Faculty members will have opportunities to notify the Department Chair regarding their teaching preferences usually a few months before the semester starts.
      2. Scheduling of courses varies case by case, and there is no fixed rotation in teaching assignments.
      3. The Department Chair schedules teaching assignments based on course offering, faculty preference, teaching/research balance, career stage, and overall Teaching/Research/Service performance.
      4. Summer teaching assignments are subject to course offering, availability, and individual teaching performance.
         
   3. Research
      1. The Department is committed to fostering an environment that encourages and supports scholarly activities among its faculty.
      2. The department returns 100% of received F&A back to faculty members.
      3. Since the department does not retain F&A share, in general, it does not have special allocations for travel, except as stated in offer letters and included in startups, designated faculty endowments, or individual agreements. Other exception cases should be determined by the department chair.
         
   4. Service
      1. All faculty members are expected to make service contributions. Faculty service responsibilities include participation in departmental committees, college and university governance, and professional organizations.
      2. Service workload is specified in job offers and follows OP 32.18 Faculty Workload policies.
      3. Typically, no departmental service assignment is given to a new assistant professor in his/her first year. For years 2 and 3, departmental service is limited to one committee per year.
      4. The department encourages faculty to engage in service activities in their areas of expertise.
         
   5. Outreach/Engagement
      1. Faculty members are encouraged to actively participate in outreach and engagement efforts to fulfill the department mission and contribute to the broader community.
7. Faculty Evaluation
   1. Annual Performance Evaluations
      1. Each faculty member completes his/her Annual Faculty Report (AFR) each year by January 31.
      2. Annual Performance Evaluations are performed by the Department Chair, summarizing T/R/S performance on each faculty member’s AFR. Each faculty member is welcome to discuss the evaluation with the department chair before signing his/her AFR.
      3. For the first three years of a new faculty member, the Faculty and Staff Affairs Committee writes a comprehensive annual evaluation report in Spring semester. The faculty member may submit a (signed and dated) written response to the committee report within seven days after receiving the report.
         
   2. Peer Teaching Evaluations
      1. The department commits to follow the College Guideline (COP 7.1: Peer Teaching Evaluations) and conduct peer teaching evaluations on a regular basis.
      2. Peer Teaching Evaluations are organized by the Teaching Evaluation Committee. Typically, individual peer teaching evaluation is performed by experienced faculty once a year for each faculty member, who is on tenure track or non-continuous-appointment.
      3. Peer Teaching Evaluations for tenured faculty members are performed at the request of the Department Chair.
         
   3. Third Year Review
      1. The department follows the College and the University (OP 32.38) policies and procedure for Third Year Review.
      2. See departmental guideline - “Guidelines: Pre-Tenure Reviews”.
         1. The Faculty and Staff Affairs committee produces a written report with the inputs from the faculty mentor and other faculty members.
         2. The report is finalized around Feb 15 and shared with tenured faculty and the candidate.
      3. Tenured Faculty may vote on the tenure-track faculty third year review; Tenured Faculty and those holding continued appointments may vote on the nontenure-track faculty undergoing 3rd-year review towards continuing appointment. The tenured faculty will meet to discuss candidate’s progress toward T&P and vote by March 15.
         
   4. Tenure & Promotion
      1. The tenure and promotion review process for tenure-track faculty members will follow the policies set forth by the College, the University (OP 32.01), and the Department.
      2. Voting policy:
         1. The candidate’s dossier is available to tenured faculty at least two weeks before the meeting.
         2. Tenured faculty will meet to discuss whether or not the candidate is making satisfactory progress toward T&P; voting is anonymous; only tenured faculty can vote for tenure.
         3. Only faculty with full professor rank can vote on promotion cases.
            
   5. Comprehensive Performance Evaluations
      1. Tenured faculty members will undergo comprehensive performance evaluations every 6 years, in accordance with the policies outlines by the College and the University (OP 32.31).
      2. The Faculty and Staff Affair’s Committee performs CPEs and the department chair submit the evaluations to the Dean.
8. Resource Allocation
   1. Office Space
      1. The Department Chair assigns office spaces in an equitable manner, based on office space availability, needs, and faculty performance.
   2. Computer Equipment
      1. Computer equipment in a research lab is supported by external funds secured by faculty, except for the case of new faculty who are supported by startups. Computer equipment primarily for teaching will be purchased and maintained by the department.
   3. Research Travel Funding
      1. Research travel funding Is normally covered by faculty grant awards. In some cases, however, the department will subsidize travel expenses if the main purpose of the trip is promoting the department or recruiting students. In addition, for graduate students, the department may fully or partially fund a student's travel to a conference once a year, subject to funding availability.
9. Scholarship and Endowments Management
   1. The department follows college and TTU policies regarding scholarships and endowments (OP 30.02). Currently, the spendable funds from the endowments are managed and budgeted by the Department’s Business Manager. However, this may be subject to change as the Scholarship platform used by the university dictates to a centrally budgeted process within the Financial Aid and Scholarship department.
   2. Endowed scholarship and fellowship funds are distributed according to the donor’s wishes, and the guidelines are followed closely to ensure that we award the funds as the donor intends. Most of the department’s scholarships and fellowships are awarded by the scholarship committee. A few, however, are selected differently, as required by the donors.
   3. The Scholarship Committee oversees the process of awarding scholarships and fellowships to undergraduate and graduate students. The scholarship coordinator will reach out to the recipients with offer letters, thank you note instructions, and any other information or paperwork required by the Financial Aid and Scholarship Department. 
10. Amendment of the Bylaws
    1. The department will review the entire document every 5 years. The Faculty and Staff Affairs Committee will propose any recommended amendments to the faculty. The faculty will vote, and amendments will be ratified through a positive majority.
    2. An individual faculty member who wishes to propose an amendment to the Bylaws must submit the proposal in writing to the Faculty and Staff Affairs Committee, which will discuss the amendment and decide whether it can be put to faculty vote.