Faculty members are representatives of a profession whose services have been obtained by the University through its administrative officers on behalf of UTC and for the sake of UTC’s students. The privileges and responsibilities of the faculty in the governance of UTC are important and varied. The most direct responsibility of the faculty in the governance of UTC is to plan and develop the curriculum of UTC’s academic programs. The Board, through its Academic Affairs and Student Success Committee, shall consider the needs and interests of the faculty (as well as the administrative staff and students) in creating and sustaining UTC’s academic environment, including the creation, evaluation, continuation, and termination of academic programs. A less direct, but no less important, role of the faculty is to advise UTC’s administration about administrative matters that are intrinsically related to the well-being of UTC. These advisory matters include the:

• appointment, dismissal, evaluation, and reappointment of faculty, including probationary faculty
• promotion of faculty and the awarding of tenure
• evaluation of faculty performance
• grievances of faculty
• search for and hiring of the UTC Chancellor, Provost, deans, and department heads

The opinion of the faculty in these areas is invaluable. Its advice cannot be lightly given or peripherally received. Institutional success depends upon the mutual respect and sensitivity of the faculty and the administration. The basic principle of the relationship is that the faculty and the administration are colleagues in shared governance. The Board is the governing body for all campuses within the University of Tennessee System and has delegated respectively to the faculty and administration separate specific sets of responsibilities that can be successfully discharged only with the support and counsel of the other. It is the right and responsibility of faculty members to work collaboratively with administrators, professional support staff, and students in deliberations and decisions on university actions, policies, and positions on the matters listed above. The basic fundamentals of successful shared governance include:

• transparency and accessibility of information and responses of others
• adequate time to reflect on information and the responses of others
• opportunity to communicate collaboratively across all campus bodies
• consistency in the process of shared governance
• clear accountability for responsibilities at all levels
• consistent and clear communication among all levels of governance

1.4.1. The Full Faculty

The full faculty is composed of all full-time tenured, tenure track and non-tenure track faculty.

The full faculty reviews, considers and votes on issues of major importance. Issues of major importance are determined by the Faculty Senate President, in consultation with the Faculty Secretary, the Senate Executive Committee, the Parliamentarian, and, whenever possible, the body of the Faculty Senate.

1.4.2. Faculty Senate

The faculty role in campus-wide governance is through its representative body, the Faculty Senate, and responsibility for much of the business conducted on behalf of the faculty is delegated to the Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate is composed of elected faculty representatives as well as administrators with ex officio status. The Faculty Senate is authorized to recommend to the Chancellor for approval, policies and regulations related to the overall general requirements for admission, readmission, retention, graduation, and honors for the academic programs of UTC; and UTC’s educational standards and degree requirements, including planning, development, and recommendation of academic programs and their curricula. The Faculty Senate is also authorized to consider, advise, and recommend to the administration policies about a wide range of issues affecting the general welfare of the faculty.

Neither the full faculty nor the Faculty Senate have management or administrative functions either in themselves or through their committees, since such functions are expressly reserved for the President (as delegated by the Board) and through the President to the Chancellor. Nevertheless, the advice and recommendation of the full faculty and the Faculty Senate about all of the matters listed in the previous paragraph are considered carefully and seriously by all administrators.

Specific information about the organization, duties, and powers of the Faculty Senate can be found in the Faculty Senate Bylaws.

1.4.3. Faculty Role in Appointment of UTC Administrators

The Bylaws of the Board of Trustees provide that in a search to fill a vacancy in the UTC Chancellor position, the President’s advisory committee shall include faculty, staff, students, alumni, and representatives of the external constituencies of the campus to assist in identifying and screening candidates. In addition, the UTC faculty and the Faculty Senate render advice to the UTC administration about the appointment of the Provost, deans, and department heads. In addition, the faculty of each academic unit plays an important role in the evaluation of deans and department heads assigned to it and in the search of new persons to fill such positions as they become vacant. When these leadership positions become vacant, faculty members are invited and expected to serve on search committees, to interview prospective candidates and to submit evaluations of those candidates. This participation in the ongoing renewal of the leadership is one of the most important ways in which faculty judgment informs the administration of the University.

1.4.4. Faculty Role on Administrative Committees

Administrative committees play an important role in the governance of UTC. These committees, composed of students, faculty, staff and, in some cases, members of the community, are appointed yearly by the Chancellor and other administrators to assist in the development of institutional policy, procedure and practice. Faculty members are given an opportunity to indicate their preference of administrative committees on which they wish to serve.