01.02-Governance

Disclaimer: All provisions in this policy statement are intended to be consistent with official college & university policies. Any contradictions are resolved in favor of the College or University policy. All SOHA policies are available on the School’s website under the About menu at https://www.health.txstate.edu/HA/

GOVERNANCE OF THE SCHOOL SOHA/PPS 01.02.01

01.         POLICY STATEMENT

          The SOHA Director is committed to not only managing the administrative affairs of the School, but also leading in a way that fosters an environment of shared governance.

02.         DIRECTOR

The Director implements within the School all policies of Texas State University, the Graduate College, the College of Health Professions, and the School Health Administration. As a leading faculty member and representative of the School, the Director speaks for the School, for its goals and standards, and for the importance of Health Administration studies in the general academic setting. The Director supervises the administrative routines of the School and fosters an environment of shared governance. Among other duties, the Director schedules and conducts School monthly faculty meetings, keeps School records, accounts for the absences of faculty and staff who must be away from the campus, directs the advising of majors, assigns office space, assigns faculty workload and service duties in the School, College, & University. In consultation with appropriate program directors, the Director schedules classes, plans and supervises registration, approves textbook orders, oversees the hiring of student employees, allocates funds for travel and other School obligations, and prepares the annual budget. The Director guides faculty and staff members in fulfilling their responsibilities toward students and colleagues and thus helps determine the overall success of the university. The Faculty Handbook outlines additional responsibilities of the Director.

03.         PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

03.01   All tenured faculty make up the personnel committee of the School. The personnel committee advises the Director on all personnel issues (tenure, promotion, merit, and hiring). The Director need not concur with personnel committee recommendations that are sent forward to higher administrative levels (e.g., hiring and tenure/promotion decisions).

03.02   Personnel committee members at one level do not recommend promotion for those at a higher academic rank. Personnel committee members are tenured faculty who are expected to attend and participate; they may vote if they have 1) an academic assignment at a rate of 50% or more and do not hold an administrative position outside of the College of Health Professions; 2) at least one year of service at Texas State since the official start date of their appointment; 3) experience teaching at least eight sections of courses at the college/university level. Tenured faculty who hold an academic assignment in a School at a rate of 50% or more and who do not hold an administrative appointment outside of their college are expected to serve on the Personnel Committee as non-voting members until they have met the remaining requirements.

03.03   In areas of T&P, non-tenure line faculty may be invited (as non-voting members) to participate in the discussion on the promotion of like faculty lines.

03.04   During Annual Performance Evaluations and Reappointments, a senior faculty member will serve as the Chair of the PC. The SOHA Director will orchestrate the meeting to advise and collect votes, but the Chair of the PC will collect comments to enter into the Faculty Qualifications system for the PC.

04.         VOTING FACULTY

Except for meetings and decisions that concern personnel issues (e.g., tenure, promotion, merit, and hiring), all faculty in the School of Health Administration are invited to attend monthly faculty meetings. Faculty who are hired on the basis of a percentage of full-time at a rate of 50% or more, and who do not hold an administrative appointment outside of their college, are invited to vote on all non-personnel issues. Lecturers hired per-course, or who teach less than 50% are invited to attend general faculty meetings, but they are not voting members.

05.         POLICY CHANGES

05.01 Temporary Policy Changes

To control class size and/or to balance the budget, and with at least one week’s notice to the faculty, the Director may make temporary changes in policies as required.

05.02 Amendments to the Policy Statement

Changes to this policy statement can be recommended at any time by the Director, School Personnel Committee, or petition from five or more faculty members. Changes or additions must be announced at least one week prior to their consideration and approved by two-thirds of the faculty present and voting at the monthly meeting during which the recommendations are considered. Each September the Director will provide all faculty members with a revised policy statement incorporating any changes from the previous year.