Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee (DFAC)

Article I. Name

The name of this organization shall be the Faculty Organization of the College of Medicine of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, hereinafter referred to as FCM.

Article II. Purpose

The purposes of the organization are to:

• Promote and facilitate communication among the members of the faculty and the College of Medicine administration
• Afford faculty members opportunities to review and discuss policies and programs of the College of Medicine
• Allow faculty a voice relative to the policies of the College of Medicine through designated faculty representation on the Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee (DFAC)
• Periodically advise the Dean concerning the efficacy of the committee structure in the College of Medicine
• Make recommendations through the DFAC concerning the membership and Chairpersons to the standing committees of the College of Medicine
• Make recommendations through the DFAC concerning the membership of any ad hoc committees whose membership includes representatives from the faculty

Article III. Membership

• Voting Members - Membership in FCM shall be open to all persons holding regular Full-Time or Part-Time faculty appointments (i.e., instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor) in the College of Medicine in Memphis
• Non-voting Members - Emeritus faculty and volunteer faculty with a faculty appointment are eligible for non-voting membership
• Ad Hoc Membership - The President of the Faculty Senate of the Health Science Center in Memphis is given an ad hoc membership to the DFAC
• Membership Dues - There shall be no dues assessment for FCM membership

Article IV. Meetings and Voting

Meetings

1. General meeting - There shall be one general meeting of FCM per year, held in the Spring. The time and place of the meeting will be designated by the Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee, and notice of the meetings must be given at least two weeks in advance.
2. Special meetings - Special meetings may be called by the president, or may be held in response to a written request by twenty (20) members of FCM, or in response to a request by the Dean of the College of Medicine. Written notice of the special meetings stating the time and place and purpose of the meeting must be given at least five (5) working days prior to the meeting.
3. Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee (DFAC) meetings
   1. Regular Meetings - The DFAC shall hold no fewer than eight (8) monthly meetings per year at a regular time and place selected by the DFAC
   2. Called Meetings - Called meetings may be held at the request of the president, in response to a request of the majority of the members of the DFAC, or in response to a request by the Dean of the College of Medicine. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated and no other business shall be transacted at such called meetings

Voting

1. For general meetings a quorum shall consist of 50 members of FCM
2. Issues before FCM shall be decided by a simple majority vote of the members present. There will be no proxy voting at the General Meeting

Elections

1. Nominating Committee: A nominating committee consisting of no fewer than 3 DFAC members shall prepare a slate of candidates for officers of the organization with no fewer than 2 candidates per position. The slate of candidates shall be distributed with the notice of the Spring meeting, two weeks prior to the date of the meeting. Nominations will be accepted from the floor.
2. Voting: New officers of FCM shall be elected by majority vote and will assume their duties at the close of the Spring meeting.

Rules of Order

Roberts Rules of Order shall govern at all meetings of FCM, unless they conflict with the Bylaws of FCM.

Article V. Officers and their Duties

Officers

1. The officers of FCM shall be a president, vice president/president-elect, and secretary
2. Officers shall be elected by majority vote of FCM members at the Spring General Meeting per Article IV, C
3. An administrative term shall be twelve (12) months. Officers may not serve more than two (2) terms except for the secretary who may serve no more than four (4) terms

Duties of the Officers

The president shall:

• preside at all meetings
• interpret the Bylaws with the parliamentarian
• cast the deciding vote in case of a tie (president may not abstain in a tie situation)
• appoint a nominating committee and appoint the nominating committee chairman
• supervise the affairs of the organization
• be empowered to appoint a replacement for a vacated elected officer of FCM (to fill the unexpired term) with approval of the DFAC
• be an ex officio member of the Faculty Senate

The president-elect shall:

• become president if the president vacates
• preside at meetings if the president is absent
• accept any administrative responsibility requested by the president or Dean
• be an ex officio voting member of the College of Medicine Council

The secretary shall:

• keep minutes of all sessions of the DFAC and general membership meetings
• record attendance at meetings in books for this purpose
• notify the DFAC of any meetings, and prepare notices of general meetings for distribution
• keep the official minutes book and original Bylaws of FCM
• be responsible for publication of the Minutes of DFAC and the General Faculty Meetings

The Dean shall be parliamentarian.

Article VI. Committees

There shall be two (2) committees of FCM:

1. Committee-on-Standing-Committees: The Committee-on-Standing-Committees will be appointed by the president. The charge is to provide the Dean with names of faculty to serve on College or Campus-wide-Committees
2. Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee (DFAC): The DFAC will be composed of the elected officers - president, vice president/president-elect, secretary, and elected members from each College of Medicine department/division/or unit designated by the Dean of the College of Medicine that has full or part-time faculty members. Past presidents shall be ex officio members of the DFAC for the two years following their term of office (this is not intended to replace the elected member of the committee from the past president's department).

Election of Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee Members

Each department and other eligible unit shall elect one representative to the FCM Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee. The election of such representative will be held in May. The term of office of Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee members elected by departments/divisions/units shall be two (2) years and renewable.

Duties of Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee Members

• to ascertain and represent the viewpoints of the faculty of their departments or units at Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee meetings
• to suggest topics for inclusion on the agenda of the College of Medicine Executive Committee or Council or both
• to determine faculty viewpoints on prospective College of Medicine policies and programs and to inform the FCM
• to transmit to their department members information concerning FCM Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee meetings and other matters
• to select an alternate to attend meetings of the Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee when the elected member is unable to attend

Article VII. Amendments

These bylaws may be amended by a majority of those present and voting at any general meeting, provided notice of the proposed change(s) is given at least two weeks (14 days) prior to such meeting. Changes are subject to approval by the Dean, the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.

Article VIII. Logistical Support

The secretary of FCM shall be responsible for preparing notices of meetings. The Dean's office will be responsible for distribution of meeting notices and other necessary information, and may provide secretarial or staff support to FCM for limited periods of time.

Article IX. Authorization of FCM

FCM is reinstituted and organized according to the document - Organization and Structure of the College of Medicine, dated March 5, 1985, (see Appendix A), issued by the Dean of the College of Medicine, and approved by the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Article X. Dissemination of Information

The minutes of the FCM meetings, after approval by the Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee, will be distributed to the COM faculty and posted on FCM Web Site.

The president of DFAC will prepare an Annual Report that will be disseminated among faculty and published on the FCM web site.