These are the bylaws for the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida State University. These bylaws were last approved on Feb. 12, 2025, by a majority of the applicable voting members of the department and on Feb. 13, 2025, by the College and the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement.
I. Bylaws
A. Adherence with Other Governing Documents. At all times, department policy shall adhere to and be consistent with all university policies found in the FSU Constitution, the BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement (if applicable to the college), the Faculty Handbook, and the Annual Memorandum on the Promotion and Tenure Process issued by the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement.
B. Bylaws Revision. Any three voting members of the department may propose an amendment to these bylaws. A proposed amendment must be submitted in writing to the voting membership at least one week prior to the department meeting at which the amendment is discussed. Adoption of a proposed amendment shall require a two-thirds vote. All voting on proposed amendments shall be conducted by secret mail ballot.
C. Substantive Change Statement. Faculty and staff members are expected to be familiar with and follow the Florida State University Substantive Change Policy as found on the university website.
II. Membership and Voting Rights
A. Faculty Membership. The faculty of the Department of Mathematics shall consist of those persons holding full- or part-time appointments at the rank of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, or Specialized Faculty.
B. Department Membership. In addition to the faculty defined in II.A above, the following are members of the Department of Mathematics: temporary academic appointees of the department, including postdocs, teaching assistants, and research assistants.
C. Faculty Voting Rights. The regular voting membership of the department shall consist of all department faculty in professorial ranks, excluding visitors, plus two elected Specialized Faculty Representatives (SFR). The SFR are described further in Appendix A.
D. Non-faculty Voting Rights. Members defined in section II.B. above have no voting rights.
III. Department Organization and Governance
A. Faculty Meetings. The department shall meet at least once each semester. Department meetings shall be called by the Chair or the Chair’s designated representative
- on the Chair’s own initiative,
- on the request of the Executive Committee, or
- on the written request of five voting members.
1. The Chair shall normally preside at department meetings. In the absence of the Chair, another voting member designated by the Chair shall preside.
2. The Chair shall prepare the agenda for each department meeting and distribute copies to the members at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. On the written request of three voting members, the Chair shall place an item on the agenda of the next department meeting.
3. Department meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, latest revision, except as otherwise provided in these bylaws.
4. At the beginning of the Fall semester, the Chair shall appoint a Secretary for a one-year term. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to record the minutes of department meetings. In the absence of the Secretary, the Chair shall appoint a voting member of the department to act as secretary. Minutes shall be distributed to all members, and made available to others upon request. Copies shall be kept on file.
5. A Parliamentarian shall be elected from the voting membership. The duties of the Parliamentarian shall be to rule on matters of parliamentary procedure at department meetings, and to appoint and chair the Elections committee. In the absence of the Parliamentarian, another voting member designated by the Parliamentarian shall serve in that capacity.
6. Each voting member of the department shall be expected to attend all department meetings. The Secretary shall record in the minutes the names of all voting members absent from each meeting.
7. Interested persons shall normally be welcome to attend department meetings, but the voting member- ship may exclude anyone other than a voting member by majority vote. Voting members are accorded the privilege of the floor in department meetings. With the consent of the voting membership, the privilege of the floor may be granted to others.
8. Half or more of the voting membership of the department shall constitute a quorum at a department meeting.
B. Department Chair Selection.
1. Procedures for Selection
a. At the beginning of the last year of an incumbent Chair’s regular term or upon the Chair becoming vacant from some other cause, the Elections Committee shall initiate the procedure for establishing a nominating committee. The Elections Committee, with the consent of the Dean, shall
(i) conduct an election to select a representative group of four faculty members from the department;
(ii) request that the Dean appoint a member from outside the department.
b. As soon as possible, the nominating committee shall propose a nominee, subject to the approval of the voting membership of the department in a poll conducted by secret ballot at least two weeks after the nominee is announced. If two-thirds of the membership approve, the committee shall submit the name of the nominee to the Dean for approval and appointment.
2. Term of Office
a. The Chair’s regular term of office shall be three years, normally beginning in August.
b. An incumbent Chair shall serve at most two consecutive regular terms. A former Chair is eligible for nomination at the end of any subsequent Chair’s regular term.
3. Authorities and Duties of the Chair
The Chair shall provide strong leadership in attaining the objectives of the department and shall guide the department in professional matters. In addition to the duties described below, the Chair shall initiate actions designed to improve the stature and quality of the department and its activities.
a. The Chair shall serve as the chief administrative officer of the department.
b. The Chair shall call department meetings and prepare and distribute their agenda. The Chair, or a voting member designated by the Chair, shall preside at department meetings.
c. The Chair shall appoint any officers deemed necessary for the administration of the department, including the Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, the Director of Basic Mathematics, and various Area Directors (in accordance with E below), Coordinators and other administrators as needed, and shall assign their duties and announce such appointments to the department.
d. The Chair shall report regularly and promptly to the Executive Committee and the department all important actions performed in administering department affairs. Note: Non-italicized language is set by the university and should not be altered. Italicized language reflects the required bylaws element with the specifics determined by the unit faculty.
e. In conjunction with the Executive Committee, the Chair shall appoint departmental committees as provided in Section V.
f. The Chair shall be the principal financial officer of the department, and financial information shall be made available to voting members upon request.
g. The Chair shall in the spring semester evaluate each faculty member in the professorial ranks, whose line is in the department, in fulfilling professional obligations during the previous calendar year (January 1 through December 31) in accord with the faculty member’s assignment of responsibilities.
h. The Chair, with the advice of the Faculty Evaluation Committee, shall make recommendations to the Dean regarding the annual salary of each faculty member with lines in the department.
i. The Chair, with input from the Associate Chairs, shall be responsible for AOR (Assignment of Responsibilities) for each faculty member whose line is in the department.
j. The Chair, in conjunction with the Curriculum Committee and other committees, and the Associate Chairs, shall coordinate all facets of the academic programs of the department.
k. The Chair, or a voting member designated by the Chair, shall represent the department to external officers and bodies.
4. Removal of a Chair from Office
A petition, requesting the chair be removed, needs to be signed by a majority of the voting members of the department and then presented to the Dean. Within two weeks of receiving the petition, the Dean will chair a department meeting to consider the petition. Voting on the petition will be by a secret mail ballot vote. A two-thirds majority is required for removal.
C. Department Leadership and Committees.
1. The Associate Chair for Academic Affairs (ACAA) The Associate Chair for Academic Affairs assists the Chair in managing graduate faculty assignments and course schedules, and will
a. serve as member of the Executive Committee;
b. serve as member of the Curriculum Committee;
c. supervise and coordinate the scheduling of mathematics classes, with the assistance of the ACUS;
d. supervise and coordinate the teaching assignments of the faculty other than the specialized faculty, with the advice of the Directors, ACUS, and ACGS as needed;
e. manage the innovative hours system.
2. The Associate Chair for Graduate Studies (ACGS)
The Associate Chair for Graduate Studies assists the Chair in coordinating the graduate program, and will
a. serve as co-chair of the Curriculum Committee;
b. serve as Chair of the Graduate Committee;
c. coordinate recruitment, admission, financial aid, advisement, retention, and placement of graduate students;
d. supervise, with the assistance of any coordinators the Chair may appoint, the scheduling and performance of graduate assistant teaching; e. supervise graduate registration;
f. supervise the evaluation of graduate transfer credit for the department.
3. The Director of Undergraduate Studies
The Director of Undergraduate Studies assists the Chair in coordinating the undergraduate major programs, and will
a. serve as co-chair of the Curriculum Committee;
b. coordinate the recruitment, advisement, mentoring, retention, and placement of undergraduate math majors;
c. supervise undergraduate advisement and undergraduate math transfer credit.
4. The Director of Basic Mathematics assists the Chair in coordinating the basic mathematics service courses, and will
a. serve on the Curriculum Committee;
b. coordinate the teaching assignments of the specialized faculty;
c. supervise and coordinate the scheduling of basic mathematics classes, with the assistance of any coordinators the Chair may appoint;
4. Area Directors
The Area Directors shall be appointed by the Chair and assist the Chair with primary overall responsibility for the graduate academic program in their respective graduate Areas. They will
a. serve on the Graduate Committee;
b. serve as academic advisors for graduate students in their respective graduate program Areas, until a Doctoral Committee is appointed;
c. advise the Associate Chair for Academic Affairs on graduate course offerings and teaching assignments in their respective Areas;
d. coordinate the development of the graduate curriculum in their Area;
e. collaborate with the ACGS on recruitment, admissions, financial aid, and job placement efforts for graduates in their Area.
Standing Committees
Each standing committee described herein shall include in the minutes of its meetings all major actions taken and final decisions made. Minutes of standing committees shall be kept on file.
5. Executive Committee
a. The Executive Committee shall act as the principal coordinating and policy making body of the department, and shall advise the Chair on general matters. In conjunction with the Chair, the committee shall seek to promote the stature, image, and support of the department, both within the university and on state, regional, and national levels.
b. The membership of the committee shall consist of at most 7 members including the Chair, the Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, 3 voting members of the department elected, usually in the fall semester, to serve staggered two-year terms, and up to two other voting members of the department appointed by the Chair for one-year terms to provide representation for the various research disciplines within the department. The Chair shall serve as chair of the committee.
c. The committee shall advise the Chair with respect to the following: the allocation of resources, including secretarial help, office space, travel funds, and funds for colloquium speakers; the appointment of departmental committees; the determination of graduate course offerings and teaching assignments.
d. The committee shall be charged with the recruitment of new faculty.
e. The committee shall advise the Chair regarding faculty teaching loads, taking into account the evaluations of the Faculty Evaluation Committee.
f. The committee shall propose changes, if needed, to the policy for the allocation of summer teaching positions; this policy shall be subject to the approval of the department.
g. The committee shall meet on a regular basis, and a majority of its members shall constitute a quorum.
6. Faculty Evaluation Committee
The Department’s permanent faculty are divided into two groups: the graduate faculty and the specialized faculty.
The Faculty Evaluation Committee (FEC) shall evaluate the effectiveness of each permanent faculty member in fulfilling professional obligations. For graduate faculty members, the FEC shall evaluate research, teaching, service, and other professional activities insofar as appropriate to the Assignment of Responsibilities. For specialized faculty members, the FEC shall evaluate the effectiveness in fulfilling professional obligations.
6.1 Evaluation of the Graduate Faculty
a. For evaluation of the graduate faculty, the membership of the FEC shall be determined as follows:
(i) The Chair of the department shall serve as Chair of the committee.
(ii) Six members from the ranks of professor and associate professor with tenure and lines in the department shall be elected by the voting members with lines in the department; three of these members shall be sequentially elected each year for two-year terms.
(iii) The voting members should elect a committee with a fair representation of the research disciplines within the department.
b. Elections to the Faculty Evaluation Committee shall normally be held at the beginning of the spring semester.
c. The committee serves as an advisory committee to the Promotion and Tenure Committee, and shall be responsible for pre-screening the candidates and for providing specific written recommendations regarding promotion and tenure to the Promotion and Tenure Committee.
d. The committee shall be charged with any required peer evaluation of graduate faculty except for promotion and tenure. The committee evaluations are advisory to the Department Chair, who makes the final evaluation of each faculty member.
e. When a member, or his or her partner or relative, of the committee is being evaluated, that member shall be absent from the committee’s deliberation and voting.
f. The criteria for evaluation and the procedures of the committee, including procedures for appeal of its decisions, shall be ratified by the department; they must conform to the university’s and college’s principles, practices, and procedures and those specified in the Collective Bargaining Agreement; and they shall be appended to the bylaws.
6.2 Evaluation of the Specialized Faculty
a. For evaluation of the specialized faculty, the membership of the FEC shall be determined as follows:
(i) The Director of Basic Mathematics shall serve as Chair of the committee.
(ii) The Chair of the department shall serve as non-voting member of the committee.
(iii) Three members of the specialized faculty with appointments in the department shall be elected by the specialized faculty with appointments in the department. One of these members shall be sequentially elected each year for overlapping three year terms. Preference shall be given to members with at least three years of experience on the department’s faculty. The specialized faculty should elect a committee that fairly represents the diversity of the specialized faculty.
b. Election of specialized faculty shall normally be held near the beginning of the spring semester.
c. The committee shall be charged with any required peer evaluation of Specialized Faculty. The committee evaluations are advisory to the Department Chair, who makes the final evaluation of each faculty member.
d. When a member, or his or her partner or relative, of the committee is being evaluated, that member shall be absent from the committee’s deliberation and voting.
e. The criteria for evaluation and the procedures of the FEC will conform to the principles, practices, and procedures of the FEC insofar as they are appropriate to the Assignment of Responsibilities for the Specialized Faculty.
f. The committee chair shall solicit input from those graduate faculty members who work with the SF for the evaluation of the SF.
7. The Promotion and Tenure Committees
7.1 The members of the department with the rank of tenured full professor or tenured associate professor form the department’s committee for promotion to associate professor and for tenure.
7.2 The members of the department with the rank of tenured full professor form the department’s committee for promotion to full professor.
7.3 The FEC for the evaluation of the specialized faculty shall serve as the department’s promotion committee for promotion in the specialized faculty ranks.
7.4 The Faculty Evaluation Committee serves as an advisory committee to the Promotion and Tenure Committees.
8. Curriculum Committee
8.1. The Curriculum Committee shall be responsible for the maintenance and coordination of academic programs and activities of the department.
8.2. The committee shall be determined as follows:
a. The Director of Undergraduate Studies shall serve as co-chair of the committee and lead the maintenance and coordination of the undergraduate curriculum;
b. The Associate Chair for Graduate Studies shall serve as co-chair of the committee and lead, with the assistance of the Area Directors, the maintenance and coordination of the graduate curriculum;
c. The Associate Chair for Academic Affairs shall serve as member of the committee;
d. The Director of Basic Mathematics shall serve as a member of the committee;
e. the Department Chair, with advice of the co-chairs, shall appoint a graduate teaching assistant and an undergraduate student majoring in the department;
f. the Department Chair may appoint additional voting members to the committee to provide a fair representation of the various academic programs.
8.3. The committee shall periodically review course offerings and degree requirements, making recommendations for changes it deems appropriate. Such changes, as well as those for changes in course content, shall be subject to the approval of the voting membership.
8.4. The committee shall consider recommendations from members of the department regarding course offerings and degree requirements. 8.5. The committee shall consider requests from the faculty for additions, deletions, or substantial changes to the Department’s graduate or undergraduate major programs, and make a recommendation to the voting faculty. Any such changes must be approved by a majority vote in a secret ballot of the voting membership.
8.6. The committee shall supervise the administration and evaluation of departmentally administered tests for credit by examination.
9. Elections Committee
9.1 The Elections Committee shall conduct department elections, referenda, polls, and straw votes. The committee shall be responsible for the preparation, distribution, and tabulation of ballots, and for announcement of the results.
9.2 The committee shall consist of at least three voting members of the department; members shall serve one-year terms.
9.3 Procedures of the committee concerning conduct of department elections shall be subject to the approval of the voting membership.
9.4 The committee is responsible for the election of the departmental Faculty Senator.
10. Graduate Committee
10.1 The Graduate Committee is responsible for recruitment, admission, financial aid and retention of graduate students.
10.2 The committee shall consist of at least five members, determined as follows:
a. The Associate Chair for Graduate Studies shall chair the committee.
b. The Area Directors shall serve on the committee and coordinate the admission and financial aid for the students in their area.
c. the Chair may appoint additional voting members to the committee.
11. Other Committees In conjunction with the Executive Committee, the Chair shall annually appoint a Doctoral Qualifying Examination Committee, a Library Committee, and any additional committees needed to conduct the affairs of the department.
D. Faculty Senators.
1. Faculty senators with staggered two year terms shall be elected from among the graduate faculty by the regular voting faculty.
2. Each Spring the regular voting faculty will select on a paper ballot as many candidates as they wish from a list of graduate faculty who have agreed to stand for election. The candidate with the most votes will be elected for a two year term, and the candidate with the second most votes will serve a one year term as Alternate. A coin flip will settle a tie.
E. Faculty Recruitment. Graduate Faculty recruitment is the responsibility of the Executive Committee, as described in III.B.5. The Department Chair, with the advice of the Executive Committee, shall appoint a search committee for each advertised open position. The search committee will write the ad subject to the chair’s approval, and review applications to narrow the applicants to a short list to present to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will then decide on finalists to invite for interview. The graduate faculty will have access to the applications and will be invited to participate in the interview process. Faculty will be encouraged to share their views with members of the Executive Committee, who will then decide on offers. The Department Chair will transmit this recommendation to the Dean.
Specialized Teaching Faculty recruitment is the responsibility of the Director of Basic Mathematics (DBM), subject to the approval of the Department Chair. The DBM will form a search committee including current Specialized Teaching Faculty in the Department to write the ad and review the applications. The search committee will identify a list of finalists for interview, and solicit the opinions of the other Specialized Teaching Faculty of the Department. The committee will then make a recommendation to the Department Chair of a ranked priority list for offers, for transmission to the Dean.
F. Unit Reorganization. Unit reorganization shall be carried out by means of the amendment process to these bylaws, as described in I.B.
IV. Curriculum
The curriculum is overseen by the Curriculum Committee as described in section III.C.8.
V. Annual Evaluation of Faculty on Performance and Merit
(See also Appendix B.)
A. Peer Involvement in Annual Performance and Merit Evaluation. Each faculty member’s performance will be evaluated relative to his or her assigned duties. Each faculty member’s performance will be rated annually using the following university rating scale:
Exceeds Expectations
Meets Expectations
Official Concern
Does Not Meet Expectations
Annual evaluation and merit evaluation shall be carried out by the Faculty Evaluation Committee as described in III.C.6.
B. Criteria for Evaluation of Tenure-track Faculty. Faculty are evaluated annually by the FEC in the areas of
1) Teaching.
2) Scholarship/Research.
3) Service.
Faculty Annual Evaluations will occur during the spring semester of each year. The evaluator reviews all documentation/data submitted by each faculty member as well as pertinent information from other sources as applicable, including peer review, and completes the Annual Evaluation Summary Form indicating one of the five performance rating categories below. For faculty who are meeting expectations, there are two categories:
- Meets Expectations The faculty member reliably completes assigned responsibilities in a manner that is both timely and consistent with the expectations of the University.
- Exceeds Expectations The faculty member exceeds expectations by virtue of demonstrating noted achievements in one or more of the areas of teaching, research, and service, as assigned.
If an individual’s overall performance rating falls below Meets Expectations, specific suggestions for improvement should be provided to the employee. There are two performance-rating categories for individuals who are not meeting expectations:
- Official Concern This describes an individual who demonstrates the requisite knowledge and skills in his/her field of specialty but is not completing assigned responsibilities in a manner that is consistent with the standards of the university.
- Does Not Meet Expectations This describes an individual who fails to demonstrate with consistency the knowledge, skills, or abilities required in his/her field of specialty or to complete assigned responsibilities.
C. Criteria for Evaluation of Specialized Faculty. Specialized faculty are evaluated annually by the FEC in the areas of:
1) Teaching.
2) Service.
The same criteria as described in section V.B for tenure track faculty are used here, except there is no research assignment.
VI. Promotion and Tenure
A. Progress Toward Promotion Letter. Each year, every faculty member who is not yet at the highest rank for their position will receive a letter that outlines progress toward promotion and/or tenure.
B. Third Year Review for Tenure-track Faculty. Tenure-track faculty in their third year of service will receive an evaluation of their progress in meeting the department’s expectations for promotion and tenure. The Department Promotion and Tenure Committee, or a subcommittee designated by this committee, conducts an in-depth review of progress toward promotion and tenure.
C. Peer Involvement in Evaluation of Promotion and Tenure of Faculty. Faculty are evaluated by the FEC for promotion, advisory to the Chair and the Promotion and Tenure committees.
D. Criteria for Promotion and Tenure of Tenure-track Faculty.
To warrant promotion to Associate Professor with tenure, the Department expects the successful candidate to have established a national/international reputation in his or her research specialty with regular scholarly publications in peer-reviewed archival journals of high quality. Evidence of such a reputation should be confirmed by outside review letters written by experts invited by the Chair to evaluate the candidate’s body of work while an Assistant Professor. The Department also expects the successful candidate to have demonstrated excellence in teaching a variety of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, as evidenced by peer-review of teaching (classroom visitations), student reviews, and, when appropriate, creative and timely course development. The successful candidate should have demonstrated an ability to work with graduate students and an interest in training students for the doctoral degree. The overall record of the successful candidate should instill confidence among the tenured faculty that the candidate will continue to pursue excellence in research and creative activity with the promise of gaining a national/international reputation sufficient for eventual promotion to Full Professor at the appropriate time.
The successful candidate for promotion to Full Professor should have demonstrated over his or her tenure as an Associate Professor the promise implicit in promotion to Associate Professor, having gained national/international recognition for scholarly work completed since the last promotion, continued excellence in teaching, significant work among graduate students, and significant contributions to the service needs of the Department, College, University, or discipline.
E. Criteria for Promotion of Specialized Faculty.
Promotion will be attained through meritorious performance of assigned duties in the faculty member’s present position. Promotion to the second rank shall be based on recognition of demonstrated effectiveness in the areas of assigned duties. Promotion to the third rank shall be based on superior performance in those areas. Promotion decisions shall take into account annual evaluations, annual assignments, and evidence of sustained effectiveness relative to opportunity and according to assignment.
For the Teaching Faculty, promotion decisions shall take into account:
- evidence of well-planned and delivered courses, including student success rates
- letters from faculty members who have conducted peer evaluations of the candidate’s teaching
- summaries of student course evaluation data
- performance in assigned service roles supporting the teaching mission of the University
- appropriate participation in, or leadership of, curriculum or course development and instructional innovation
For the Research Support Faculty, promotion decisions shall take into account evidence of research support contributions and effective service, as attested by feedback from departmental members.
Appendix A. Specialized Faculty Representatives
The full-time specialized faculty of the department shall elect two Specialized Faculty Representatives with staggered two year terms, plus one Alternate with a one year term.
- Only full-time specialized faculty of the department are eligible to serve as Representative.
- Election of Representatives shall normally be held near the beginning of the Spring semester.
- The Representatives will have all the departmental rights and responsibilities given to other regular voting members, except that (a) they are not eligible to serve on, or vote in elections of, the Executive Committee, and (b) they are not eligible to serve on, or vote in elections of, the Faculty Evaluation Committee that evaluates the graduate faculty.
Appendix B. Criteria for merit-based salary adjustments for faculty
Merit-based salary adjustments shall be recommended by the Chair with advice from the FEC for tenure-track faculty and from the FEC for specialized faculty. The Chair’s recommendation shall be based on the annual peer evaluations performed by the FEC in accordance with individual Assignment of Responsibilities