Policy Governance Details

• Policy Title: By-laws of the Faculty of Humanities
• Approved by: Senate
• Date of Most Recent Approval: November 13, 2024
• Supersedes / Amends Policies Dated: 
  • January 12, 1983; June 12, 1985; December 11, 1985; September 10, 1986; December 9, 1987; July 1, 1987; January 11, 1989; June 13, 1990; June 12, 1991; September 15, 1993; November 8, 1993; May 25, 1994; September 11, 1996; November 5, 1997; May 26, 1999; December 13, 2000; October 9, 2002; February 11, 2004; June 15, 2005; June 3, 2009; December 9, 2009; June 6, 2012; May 13, 2015; January 13, 2016; June 7, 2017; May 13, 2020.
• Date(s) of Original Approval: n/a
• Responsible Executive: University Secretary and Chief Governance and Privacy Officer
• Policy-Specific Enquiries: University Secretariat

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Table of Contents

• Section I: The General Faculty
  • Membership
    • Ex Officio
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • Staff
    • Secretary
  • Meetings
  • Authority of the Faculty
• Section II: Committees
  • Advisory Committees
    • Dean’s Ad Hoc Committees
    • Dean’s Advisory Council
  • Standing Committees
    • General
    • Academic Planning Committee
    • Undergraduate Curriculum and Calendar Committee
    • Undergraduate Reviewing Committee
    • Undergraduate Awards Committee
    • Undergraduate Essay Prize Committee
    • Graduate Curriculum and Policy Committee
    • Graduate Awards Committee
    • Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Tenure and Promotion Committee
    • Nominating Committee
• Section III: Elections
  • Faculty Members
  • Student Members
  • Staff Members
• Section IV: Amendment to the By-laws
• Section V: Implementation

Section I: The General Faculty

(i) Membership

Ex Officio

• President
• Provost
• Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning
• Vice-President, Research
• Dean of the Faculty (Chair)
• Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies University Librarian, or delegate
• Associate Deans of the Faculty Assistant Dean (Studies)
• Director of Finance and Administration

Faculty

• All faculty members holding appointments at the rank of Lecturer or higher in the School of the Arts and the Departments of Greek and Roman Studies, Communication Studies and Media Arts, English and Cultural Studies, French, History, Linguistics and Languages, Philosophy, and such other Departments as may be added by action of the Senate.
• One faculty member from each of the other Faculties in the University.

Students

• One undergraduate student elected by and from each Department[1], for a one-year renewable term.
• One graduate student elected by and from each Department1 offering graduate work, for a one-year renewable term.
• The two Humanities student Senators.
• President of the McMaster Humanities Society or delegate.

Staff

• One member, from the regular full-time non-teaching staff of the Faculty, appointed for a two-year renewable term.

Secretary (non-voting)

• Secretary of the Senate and/or delegate

(ii) Meetings

1. The Faculty shall meet at least four times during the period September to June, inclusive. A notice of meeting and an agenda normally will be circulated at least one week before each meeting and must be circulated no later than forty-eight hours before each meeting.
2. A quorum for a regular meeting shall consist of those present at the meeting, provided that a notice of meeting and an agenda have been circulated at least one week before the meeting. For action on items not on the circulated agenda, and for meetings called on less than one week’s notice, a quorum shall consist of forty members, other than ex officio members.
3. Meetings of the Faculty shall be conducted in accordance with the rules and procedures of the Senate.
4. In the absence of the Dean of the Faculty, the Chair shall be one of the Associate Deans of the Faculty, or in their absence, a member of the Faculty designated by the Dean.

(iii) Authority of the Faculty

1. The Faculty shall, within its area of jurisdiction and subject to the constraints imposed by these By-laws, determine the various levels of responsibility within the Faculty and establish appropriate standing and ad hoc committees of the Faculty.
2. Under the authority of these By-laws, which are subject to approval and amendment by the Senate, the Faculty shall determine the functions and powers that may be delegated to subordinate bodies.

1. 1. The General Faculty shall be responsible for making recommendations to the Senate, the Undergraduate Council, the Graduate Council and other bodies on any appropriate matter which shall include:

1. 1. 1. revisions of these By-laws;
      2. approval of new programs of study, and major revisions in programs of study;
      3. new or revised general requirements for degrees;
      4. substantive revisions of admission regulations and requirements;
      5. establishment of new Departments, and the establishment of committees of instruction for the implementation and administration of approved interdisciplinary or interdepartmental programs of study.

1. 2. At the request of the Dean of the Faculty, or of any ten or more members of the Faculty, a special meeting of the General Faculty may be called; for such a special meeting, the quorum shall be forty members, other than ex officio members.
   3. A special meeting of the General Faculty with power to overrule any Committee of the Faculty (except the Tenure and Promotion Committee) shall be called at the written request of ten or more members of the Faculty; for such a special meeting, the quorum shall be forty members, other than ex officio members.

3. Minutes of the standing committees of the Faculty (excluding the Tenure and Promotion Committee) shall be available to all members of the General Faculty, except that student members of the General Faculty shall not be entitled to receive minutes of standing committees which have no student members.

Section II: Committees

A. Advisory Committees

(i) Dean’s Ad Hoc Committees

The Dean of the Faculty may appoint Dean’s Ad Hoc Committees for assistance and advice, or as requested by the Faculty. The Faculty shall be informed of the function and composition of all such committees.

(ii) Dean’s Advisory Council

Functions

To advise the Dean of the Faculty on budget and related matters; to exchange information on, and to co-ordinate, Departmental policies and procedures; to assist in the dissemination of information about Faculty policies as established by the General Faculty and University policies as established by the Senate and other appropriate bodies; and to nominate candidates for election, by the Faculty, as members of the Nominating Committee, in accordance with the provisions of Section III, A, (i).

Composition

Chair:

• Dean of the Faculty.

Ex Officio:

• Associate Deans of the Faculty.
• Assistant Dean (Studies).
• Chairs of all Departments in the Faculty.
• Director, Global Peace and Social Justice Program.
• Director, Gender and Social Justice Graduate Program.
• Director, MELD Programs.

Consultants (non-voting):

• Director, Administration.
• Director, Information Technology.

B. Standing Committees

General

1. The President, the Provost and the Dean of the Faculty are ex officio members of all committees, except that the President and the Provost are not ex officio members of the Tenure and Promotion Committee and the Undergraduate Awards Committee.
2. The Committees listed below, and such other committees as the General Faculty may establish, shall meet at the call of the Chair; unless otherwise specified in these By-laws, a quorum shall be one-half of the voting members, provided that at least one-half of the elected members are present.

(i) Academic Planning Committee

Functions

To act on the General Faculty’s behalf in cases of time-sensitive academic matters within the Faculty, including responses to changes to the university’s academic regulations that impact the Faculty. APC also contributes to the development and review of the Faculty’s long-range strategic plans.

Composition

Chair:

• Dean of the Faculty.

Ex Officio:

• Associate Deans of the Faculty Chairs of all Departments.
• Director, Global Peace and Social Justice Program.
• Director, Gender and Social Justice Graduate Program.
• Director, MELD Programs.
• Chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum and Calendar Committee.

Faculty:

• One member selected by the Associate Dean Graduate Studies and Research from the Humanities members on Graduate Council for a one-year renewable term.
• Two members elected by and from the Faculty at large for staggered, two-year terms.

Consultants (non-voting):

• Assistant Dean (Studies).
• Director, Finance and Administration.
• Director, Information Technology.
• Research Support Facilitator, Humanities.

Observers:

• The non-teaching staff person who is the member of the (non-voting) General Faculty.
• Members of the Faculty (if any) who are members of the University Planning Committee.

(ii) Undergraduate Curriculum and Calendar Committee

Functions

To co-ordinate all curriculum matters in the Faculty in consultation with individual Departments and the Faculty’s Academic Planning Committee; to consider curriculum changes requested by Departments and other academic areas, and to attend to the resultant calendar changes; to approve requests from Chairs of Departments for the waiving of final examinations and for the limiting of course enrolments; to recommend to the General Faculty the next session’s curriculum as it pertains to the Faculty of Humanities; to make recommendations to the Faculty’s Academic Planning Committee on matters of curriculum policy; and to undertake periodic reviews of Departmental curricula policies in relation to the Faculty’s curriculum policies and the University’s academic regulations.

Composition

Chair:

• To be elected by and from the Committee.

Ex Officio:

• Dean of the Faculty.
• Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies Assistant Dean (Studies).

Faculty:

• Four members representing four Departments, appointed by the Nominating Committee for staggered three-year terms.
• When there is no member of the committee from a Department making a proposal, a representative of that Department shall have the rights of other members, including voting, while the Department’s proposal is under consideration.

Students:

• One undergraduate student elected by and from the student representatives on the General Faculty.

Consultant (non-voting):

• Calendar and Convocation Co-ordinator

(iii) Undergraduate Reviewing Committee

Functions

To establish and review guidelines related to the adjudication of petitions for special consideration, including applications for reinstatement and requests for deferred examinations.

Composition

Chair:

• To be appointed annually by the Nominating Committee, from among the members of the Committee.

Ex Officio:

• Dean of the Faculty.
• Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies.

Faculty:

• Three members, appointed by the Nominating Committee for staggered three-year terms.

Consultant (non-voting):

• Assistant Dean (Studies).

(iv) Undergraduate Awards Committee

Functions

To recommend to the Undergraduate Council, with respect to students who have fulfilled the requirements, the awards of those prizes and scholarships which are restricted to students registered in the Faculty, and to submit recommendations to the Undergraduate Council concerning the establishment of new awards and other related matters.

Composition

Chair:

• Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies.

Faculty:

• Three members, appointed by the Nominating Committee for staggered three-year terms.

Consultant (non-voting):

• Director, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships.

(v) Undergraduate Essay Prize Committee

Functions

To evaluate undergraduate submissions for the two Humanities Essay Prize competition and to adjudicate the results and submit them to the Associate Dean of the Faculty. The Chair will determine the number of faculty members needed to judge the submissions. Normally the Chair will perform a co-ordinating function and may participate in the process at their discretion.

Composition

Chair:

• To be appointed annually by the Nominating Committee, from among the members of the Committee.

Ex Officio:

• Dean of the Faculty.

Faculty:

• Eight faculty members, including the Chair, appointed by the Nominating Committee for staggered three-year terms.

Consultant (non-voting):

• Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies.

(vi) Graduate Curriculum and Policy Committee

Functions

To make recommendations to the Faculty on matters of graduate policy, on curriculum changes arising from consideration of Departmental proposals and from the curriculum policies adopted by the Faculty, and on new programs and fields of study, arising from Departmental proposals. To report to the General Faculty and Graduate Council at least annually. To review and update its operating procedures on a regular basis and to file a copy of these procedures with the Office of the Dean and with the Associate Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies.

Composition

Chair:

• Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.

Ex Officio:

• President Provost.
• Deans of the Faculty.
• Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Associate Dean Graduate Studies and Research.

Faculty:

• The three faculty members who are also members of Graduate Council.
• Additional faculty members to provide representation from each Department / Area offering graduate work in the Faculty, appointed by the Nominating Committee for staggered three-year terms.

Students:

• Two full-time graduate students, one Ph.D. student and one Master’s student, elected annually by and from the Ph.D. and Master’s students respectively from the graduate student representatives chosen by the departments. (No two students may be from the same Department).

Quorum:

• Two voting faculty members in addition to the Chair, and not including the President, Provost or Faculty Deans.

Secretary (non-voting):

• Graduate Registrar and Secretary of the School of Graduate Studies or delegate.

(vii) Graduate Awards Committee

Functions

To recommend to the Associate Dean Graduate Studies and Research the award of those internal scholarships and prizes restricted to eligible students in the Faculty.

Composition

Chair (non-voting):

• Associate Dean, Graduate Studies and Research.

Membership:

• Three graduate chairs drawn from the graduate chairs in the Faculty, membership on the committee to rotate annually.

(viii) Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Functions

Advise the dean in setting the Faculty’s goals and priorities with respect to EDI, particularly in the context of the university’s EDI strategy; act as a resource within the Faculty for suggestions and ideas regarding EDI strategies and initiatives; engage with students and other stakeholders about EDI strategies and initiatives; and liaise with the EIO.

Composition

Chair:

• Dean of the Faculty.

Faculty:

• Each Department will contribute one full-time faculty member; the Director of Finance and Administration will solicit nominations for two full-time staff members. All terms will be two years (renewable).

(ix)      Tenure and Promotion Committee

Functions

To consider recommendations for the granting or withholding of tenure or permanence and for promotion to Associate Professor. For each candidate, the Committee shall recommend to the Senate Committee on Appointments that tenure or permanence and/or promotion be granted, that the tenure- or teaching-track appointment be allowed to lapse, that the period of the tenure- or teaching-track appointment be extended, or that no action be taken on the case. To consider recommendations for promotion to Professor from Chairs of Departments. For each candidate, the Committee shall recommend to the Senate Committee on Appointments that promotion be granted or withheld. The Chair shall convey the Committee’s recommendations to the Senate Committee on Appointments.

Composition

Chair:

• Dean of the Faculty.

Faculty:

• Six tenured of the full-time faculty elected from those holding the rank of Professor or Associate Professor, to be elected for staggered three-year terms by the full- time members of the Faculty. Of these at least three shall be Professors and at least two shall be Associate Professors, with no more than two of the elected members from the same Department, excluding the Dean.

Quorum:

• Dean of the Faculty, and all other members save one.

(x) Nominating Committee

Functions

To prepare nominations for the election to Faculty standing committees, the Graduate Council, the Undergraduate Council, and the Senate, of faculty members from the Faculty. To nominate representatives of the Faculty to those other Faculties in which the Faculty has representation. To appoint members to Faculty Committees, e.g., Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, etc.

Composition

Chair:

• Dean of the Faculty.

Ex Officio:

• Dean of the Faculty.

Faculty:

• Three Chairs or Directors from the Faculty of Humanities elected annually.
• Associate Deans of the Faculty.

Consultant (non-voting):

• Secretary of the Senate, or delegate.

Section III: Elections

A. Faculty Members

1. An election to fill vacancies on Faculty standing committees shall be held between April 15 and May 15 each year. The Nominating Committee of the Faculty shall prepare nominations for all such committees, except for the Nominating Committee (see Section II, A.(ii)). These nominations, except nominations for the Nominating Committee, shall be circulated to the members of the Faculty, who may add additional names, provided that such nominations are signed by at least three faculty members of the Faculty. The election shall be conducted by the Secretary of the Senate by means of ballots mailed to the University address of each faculty member.
2. It is the responsibility of the Faculty Dean to ensure that faculty members are aware of the opportunities to participate in Faculty governance and understand how to get involved. Communications about the Faculty’s standing committees and the nomination process will be shared during the fall term in advance of the annual meeting of the Nominating Committee. Self-nominations for appointed committee may be submitted to the Dean by January 1 for consideration by the Nominating Committee. The University Secretary accepts additional nominees for elected committees as outlined in III (A).
3. The Nominating Committee of the Faculty shall nominate representatives of the Faculty to those other Faculties in which the Faculty has representation. The election, if necessary, shall be held in conjunction with the elections of committees of the Faculty.
4. The Nominating Committee of the Faculty shall prepare nominations for the election to the Graduate Council, the Undergraduate Council, and the Senate of faculty members from the Faculty. These nominations shall be circulated to the members of the Faculty, who may add additional names, provided that such nominations are signed by at least three faculty members of the Faculty. The election shall be conducted by the Secretary of the Senate by means of ballots distributed to the University e-mail address of each faculty member.
5. In the election of faculty members from the Faculty to the Senate, of the six allotted seats, at least one shall be filled by a professor and at least one by an associate or assistant professor.
6. If a position on a Standing Committee, except for the Tenure and Promotion Committee, becomes vacant, the Nominating Committee shall have the power to fill that vacancy for the remainder of the vacated term. In the case of the Tenure and Promotion Committee, a by-election shall be held to fill the position for the remainder of the term.
7. Retiring committee members shall be replaced by newly elected members as soon as possible.
8. The terms of Standing Committee members and Chairs shall be two years, unless otherwise specified.

B. Student Members

1. Chairs of Departments shall have the responsibility for organizing elections of undergraduate student members and for ensuring a fair and democratic selection.
2. Election of undergraduate student representatives to the General Faculty shall be held no later than March 15 for a term beginning September 1.
3. The student representative on Undergraduate Council shall be elected by and from the student members of General Faculty. The Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies and/or delegate will be responsible for organizing the elections to the UGC. If no elected undergraduate student representative is willing to serve on UGC, the Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies and/or delegate shall appoint the student representative, looking first to the General Faculty and beyond if no General Faculty student member is willing.
4. Graduate Student Representatives:
   1. brad Each department shall elect one Master’s candidate and one PhD candidate, creating a pool of graduate student representatives. The Chair of a Department or their designate shall have the responsibility for organizing the elections of graduate student members.  If a department is unable to elect either an Master’s or a PhD representative, the Chair or designate shall appoint a graduate student(s).
   2. From the pool of graduate student representatives, two representatives (one Master’s and one PhD) shall be elected to the Graduate Curriculum and Policy Committee for a one-year term, renewable once.
   3. From the pool of graduate student representatives, two representatives (one Master’s and one PhD) shall be elected to the Graduate Council for a one-year term, renewable once.
   4. Each department shall elect one graduate student representative to the General Faculty, from the two graduate student representatives elected by the department. This appointment is for a one-year term, renewable once.
   5. The Associate Dean Graduate Studies and Research is responsible for organizing the elections to Graduate Council and the Graduate Curriculum and Policy Committee.
   6. If no elected graduate student representative is willing to serve on these bodies, the Associate Dean Graduate Studies and Research shall appoint the graduate student representative from the Humanities graduate students at large.
5. Election of graduate student representatives by the departments shall take place no later than September 15. The election to choose graduate student representatives to GCPC and GC shall take place one week after the election of graduate student representatives to the department.
6. If a position held by an undergraduate student member on any committee of the Faculty becomes vacant, the Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies shall convene the student members of General Faculty to elect a student member of General Faculty to fill that position for the remainder of the vacated term. If a position held by a graduate student member on any committee of the Faculty becomes vacant, the Associate Dean Graduate Studies and Research of the Faculty shall convene the graduate student members of General Faculty to elect a student member of General Faculty to fill that position for the remainder of the vacated term.

C. Staff Members

1. The appointment of the regular full-time, non-teaching staff member of the Faculty shall be carried out by the Office of the Dean. A call for nominations is to be issued bi-annually to all full-time members of the non-teaching staff. Efforts will be undertaken to achieve broad representation from different units.

Section IV: Amendment to the By-laws

1. Any amendment to these By-laws shall require the approval of the Senate.
2. A recommendation to the Senate for any amendment to any By-law, or for any new By-law, shall be made only after the proposed change in the By-laws has been approved by the General Faculty. Notice of motion to request such amendment shall be given at a previous meeting of the General Faculty, or in writing to all members of the General Faculty at least four weeks in advance of the voting.

Section V: Implementation

1. The date of effect for these By-laws shall be the date upon which they received approval from the Senate.

Notes

[1] All references to Departments include the School of the Arts and the Gender and Social Justice graduate program.

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