LATINA & LATINO STUDIES PROGRAM

Bylaws

Bylaws of the Latina and Latino Studies Program

Adopted January 11, 2010/Amendments December 2017

Preamble

The Bylaws of the Latina and Latino Studies Program spells out the rules for the conduct of business not covered in the Faculty Handbook or the Chair’s Handbook of WCAS.  If a provision of the bylaws is in conflict with the Faculty Handbook or the Chair’s Handbook, the latter will take precedence.

Article 1 

• By the Program in Latina and Latino Studies is meant tenure-line faculty, professors of instruction, adjunct lecturers, undergraduate and graduate students who teach, major, minor, or concentrate in Latina and Latino studies. Most such faculty hold primary appointments in another department of the University.
• Core faculty in Latina and Latino Studies are those who have a teaching or administrative appointment directly in Latina and Latino Studies or who go through the procedure in 1.3 to commit to offering a regular course open to majors and minors and serve on an LLS committee.
• Core Faculty must be faculty with a tenure-line appointment or continuing-lecturer appointment. Visiting faculty and adjunct faculty whose appointments may reside entirely in Latina and Latino Studies program are not eligible for status as a Core Faculty member in Latina and Latino Studies. Faculty who wish to become Core Faculty will request this or may be nominated for inclusion.  Those who currently have no teaching appointment in Latina and Latino Studies must request from their home departments a commitment of at least one course per year that will be made available to the Latina and Latino Studies Program.  Those courses may be sponsored by the Latina and Latino Studies Program alone, cross-listed with another program or department, or housed in another department in communication with the Latina and Latino Studies Program.  Core Faculty are standing members of the Governing Committee.
• The Latina and Latino Studies Program is governed by a collaborative democratic decision-making process via a program Governing Committee. LLS Government Committee members  attend Governing Committee meetings faithfully, participate in the shared democratic governance of the program with full voting rights in accordance with WCAS rules, and may be asked to serve on an LLS subcommittee. They are typically appointed for 3-year renewable terms.
• Members of the Latina and Latino Studies Program Governing Committee are encouraged to speak with the Program Director and their home department chairs about making the annual course commitment to become Core Faculty, although this is not required No commitment can be made without the consent of the chair of the home department.
• Affiliated Faculty in Latina and Latino Studies are those who wish to have a formal tie to the program. The Latina and Latino Studies Program may choose to include courses offered by affiliated faculty to satisfy the major and minor requirements in Latina and Latino studies.  Affiliated faculty are not expected to contribute service to the Latina and Latino Studies program, and do not attend Governing Committee meetings. Affiliated faculty are encouraged to participate in public events sponsored by the Latina and Latino Studies program.
• Core faculty and LLS Governing Committee faculty are voting members in the Program. They are entitled and expected to participate in governance and vote on matters involving the curriculum, defining the major and minor, programming planning, and other elements of the program’s running. However, in accordance with WCAS rules, only tenure-line faculty vote on tenure-line external appointments.  

Article 2: The Office of the Director

• 2.1 The director of the Program is typically appointed for a multi-year term by the Dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, who polls individual members of the Governing Committee for advice.
• 2.2 In advance of the dean’s actions the Governing Committee members may consider their own poll for the office of director. The results are reported to both  the committee and to the dean.
• 2.3 The director is the chief executive officer of the program. S/he presides over Governing Committee meetings and is eligible, subject to program approval, to serve as chair of any one of the standing sub-committees.  The chair is an ex officio member of all program sub-committees.  The director appoints the members of the standing and ad hoc committees.
• 2.4 In consultation with the faculty, the director is responsible for the assignment of faculty and teaching assistants to particular courses. S/he also coordinates with necessary departments and programs the teaching commitments of the Core faculty. 

Article 3: Program Sub-Committees

• 3.1 The Honors Program committee consists of three core faculty who set procedures for evaluating and nominating undergraduate students for Honors in WCAS college.  The chair will report to the WCAS Committee on Honors on a yearly and timely basis.  The committee will also evaluate and select the Outstanding Senior Thesis Prize on a Latino Studies Topic and report the winner to the WCAS College.
• 3.2 Curriculum committee will be convened as necessary to review and update the major and minor in consultation with the Latina and Latino Studies Student Advisory board.
• 3.3 Post-Doctoral committee, when a post-doc position is available, consists of three core faculty who in cooperation with the director will review the post-doctoral applicants.  The top candidates will be submitted for final selection by the Dean’s office
• 3.4 Additional committees may be created to address specific needs as deemed necessary by the director.

Article 4: Appointments

• 4.1 Appointments for inclusion of new core or affiliated faculty from the existing Northwestern faculty will be presented to the LLS Governing Committee and voted on for approval.  A two-third majority vote is required for recommendation. The Governing Committee will propose new members to the Dean as needed or desired. 
• 4.2 If the program finds itself in the situation of choosing among several candidates for an external faculty hire, it shall employ a combination of Approval Voting and Borda count.  This procedure will be followed when there is more than one fully qualified and supported candidate, each of whom receives two-thirds majority of the Approval votes.  The Borda count will rank the candidates.
• 4.3 The reappointment process for Professors of Instruction who are 100% FTEs in LLS shall follow the procedures established by Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

Article 5: Procedural Matters

• 5.1 The Governing Committee will typically meet at least once a quarter. Additional meetings may be called by the director or at the request of Governing Committee faculty. 
• 5.2 The agenda will be circulated prior to the meeting.
• 5.3 Proxy votes: proxy votes will be permitted when a voting faculty member is away for unavoidable matters, such as illness or professional obligations, and the voter has had an opportunity to familiarize him/herself with the relevant materials.  A proxy ballot will be given in writing to the chair along with a statement about the candidate to be read aloud by the director.
• 5.4 Changes to the bylaws will be allowed with two-thirds approval of the voting members.

Adopted January 11, 2010/Amendments December 2017