print pdf version

BY-LAWS OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL OF WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

(b)    The term Academic Council (sometimes referred to as the Council) means the president, the professors, and the tenured associate professors, and three tenure-track faculty members, one from each division, and each elected at-large by all tenure-track members.   Other members of the faculty and officers of the University may be elected thereto by vote of the Board of Trustees.  Faculty in the above categories who are on less than half-time appointment may attend Council meetings without vote.

 The following procedures govern the election of the three tenure-track members of the Academic Council.

1.   The term is two years. Part II of the Standing Rules of the Faculty governs the election procedure. The timing of the election occurs subsequent to the elections for the standing committees of the faculty. (See Part II, Section 203 of the Standing Rules.

2.   Faculty eligible for election include all tenure-track faculty members who have not previously served on Council or who, during the first year of the term, will not be in the first or the last year of service, who are not scheduled for a tenure decision, and who will not be on sabbatical or leave. If a person becomes ineligible to serve the second year of the term by virtue of being scheduled for a tenure decision or being on sabbatical or leave, a successor will be elected to serve a full two-year term.

3. Election for this two-year term does not affect eligibility for election to other committees governed by the Standing Rules of the Faculty, Section 303 Committee Membership and Service Relief.

(c) The term faculty means the President, the professors, the associate professors, the assistant professors, the instructors, the lecturers, and such others as may be constituted members thereof by the Board of Trustees.

(d) The term on active duty means not absent on sabbatical leave or other leave of absence.

(e) The term telling procedural error means one that materially contributed to a decision.

(f) The term decision in bad faith means a decision in which the outcome was predetermined before consideration of the evidence.

(g) The term improper consideration refers to criteria that, for example, either violate academic freedom or applicable laws or policies regarding discrimination in employment.

(h) The term decision without giving adequate consideration to the relevant evidence means that the decision was not informed by or did not take into account all the relevant evidence regarding the performance of a candidate in the areas of scholarship, teaching, and colleagueship in order to arrive at a reasonable evaluation of the candidate’s record, and did not employ relevant and appropriate criteria. It does not mean that the decision makers must address either in writing or orally every argument that is brought before them by outside reviewers or students, or that they must come to a conclusion that is merely the sum total of, or necessarily consistent with, those of outside reviewers or of student evaluations.

(i) In this document, items f through h are referred to as the three inappropriate criteria.

Sec. 102. Organization of Meetings

(a) Role of President. The president calls the meetings of the Academic Council and presides at them, but does not vote, except when doing so will affect a decision.

(b) Number of Meetings. The Academic Council meets at least once per semester, and more often as needed.

(c) Notice. The president gives five days’ notice of meetings, except as required by emergency. When concurrence by ballot is called for, notice includes the agenda and necessary papers.

(d) Quorum. A quorum shall consist of one-half of the Academic Council on active duty.

(e) Rules. The rules of parliamentary procedure as stated in the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, shall govern in all cases to which they are applicable.

(f) Secretary. The Office of the Academic Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the minutes of the Academic Council. The minutes shall include the count of all written ballots or show of hands and the results of voice vote.

Function of the Academic Council

Sec. 103. Function.  Within the framework established in the by-laws of the Board of Trustees, the Academic Council establishes its by-laws and guidelines for the review and evaluation by faculty of candidates for faculty appointments, reappointments, promotions, and promotions conferring tenure by enacting faculty legislation governing these processes. It receives reports from the Advisory Committee and the Review and Appeals Board about the outcome of recommendations for faculty appointments, reappointments, and promotion. The Academic Council also receives reports from the Advisory Committee and the Review and Appeals Board, as well as from the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the President about the workings of the appointment, reappointment, promotion, and tenure review and evaluation process.

Part II. The Review and Appeals Board

Sec. 201. Composition. The Review and Appeals Board is a standing committee of the Academic Council. It shall consist of 30 tenured members of the Wesleyan faculty—10 from each of divisions one, two, and three—elected from the tenured faculty with full-time appointments. Five from each of these divisions are elected by the tenured faculty of their respective divisions, the remaining five by the tenured faculty at large. A maximum of two tenured faculty members from any one department may serve on the Review and Appeals Board. The president, the vice president for academic affairs, the academic secretary, and members of the Advisory Committee are entitled to attend all the meetings of the board, with voice but without vote.

Sec. 202. Term.  Members are elected to serve three-year terms and may not serve for more than three years in any six-year period.

Sec. 203. Election.  Members of the Review and Appeals Board shall be elected before April first of the academic year preceding the beginning of their term of service in accordance with provisions set forth in the "Guidelines for Election to the Review and Appeals Board."

Sec. 204. Attendance.

(a) Attendance by elected members of the Review and Appeals Board, as well as by those entitled to attend under Section 201, shall be considered a professional responsibility to faculty colleagues and to the University.

(b) Tenured members of departments whose candidates are under review shall be invited, with voice but no vote, to Review and Appeals Board meetings at which their candidates are being considered for promotion and/or tenure. Before the RAB begins its deliberations, all members of such departments and programs, including members of the RAB, as well as RAB members from any other department or core members of program that have submitted a letter evaluating the candidate’s dossier will be excused.  RAB members excused under this provision will play no further role in the case.

Sec. 205. Vacancies. A faculty member who is elected to the Review and Appeals Board but who will not be on duty for one semester of his or her elected term will be replaced for that semester by a faculty member from his or her division who received the next largest number of votes.

Sec 206. The Organization of the Review and Appeals Board

(a) Chair. The Review and Appeals Board shall elect a chair from its own membership, who shall be a full professor and shall serve for a term of one year and be eligible to be elected for a second, successive one-year term. The chair, in consultation with the vice-chair of the Advisory Committee, shall call the meetings of the Review and Appeals Board, and shall establish its agenda and presides over its proceedings.

(b) Meetings. The chair shall give five-days notice of Review and Appeals Board meetings and include in the call to the meeting the list of agenda items, tenure and promotion material, and all other necessary papers.

(c) Quorum. A quorum shall consist of two-thirds of the Review and Appeals Board members eligible to vote in a case.

(d) Rules. The rules of parliamentary procedure as stated in the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, shall govern the Review and Appeals Board in all cases to which they are applicable. See the "Review and Appeals Board Guidelines for the Standing Rules Governing Appeals Procedures."

(e) Votes. In all votes regarding promotion or promotion conferring tenure, abstentions will count as if they were negative votes. The president shall report the vote when making recommendations to the Board of Trustees.

(f) Secretary. The Office of the Academic Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the minutes of the Review and Appeals Board. The minutes shall include the count of all written ballots or show of hands and the results of voice vote.

Part III. The Advisory Committee

Sec. 301. Functions. A standing committee of the Academic Council, called the Advisory Committee, meets regularly with the president, consults with departments, drafts legislation for consideration by the Academic Council, and advises the president on matters pertaining to appointments, reappointments, and promotions in the faculty, and reports its advice to the council. In the case of promotions conferring tenure, that advice, if positive, constitutes a motion for the Review and Appeals Board’s concurrence. The Advisory Committee also acts as a conference committee on behalf of the Academic Council for conference with the Board of Trustees.

Sec. 302. Composition. The Advisory Committee consists of nine tenured members: three members from each of the three divisions. All must be on full-time appointments. At least three must be professors, one from each division, and at least three must be associate professors, one from each division. One professor and one associate professor from each of the divisions shall be elected by the tenured members of that division, and one member from each division shall be elected by all the tenured faculty of the University. No more than two members may come from the same department. The Advisory Committee may, for brief periods occasioned by the abstentions of members for cause, enlist one or two faculty members who have served on the committee previously and who shall be selected from the same division as the absent member in order of the most recent date of prior service to provide an adequate number of members to vote on a tenure decision, and to participate in the review leading up to that vote.

Sec.  303. Term. The regular term of service of tenured faculty elected to the Advisory Committee shall be three years. Members shall serve a maximum of three years in any six-year period (the period to begin in their first semester of service).  If the three-year limit is reached at the end of the fall semester, the member shall continue service until the end of that academic year. 

Sec. 304. Elections: 

304a. Date of Election. The annual election of members of the Advisory Committee shall take place before April first of the academic year preceding that in which the term of service on the committee is to begin. Notice will be in accord with Section 102c.

304b. Method of Election.  Elections for the Advisory Committee shall be conducted by the Office of the Academic Secretary following a set of procedures, approved by the faculty on May 3, 1995, providing for approval voting. A winning candidate must receive a number of votes equal to or greater than 50 percent of all ballots returned. If no candidate attains this, a runoff ballot shall be circulated with the names of the top candidates, whose votes, when combined, account for at least 50 percent of all ballots returned.

Sec. 305. Vacancies. A vacancy in the membership of the Advisory Committee arising before the expiration of a regular term of service shall be filled by the election of a member who shall be elected to serve out the uncompleted academic year and two additional academic years; except that whenever a member of the Advisory Committee is to be absent on sabbatical leave or other leave of absence for a period of one semester, a member of the Academic Council shall be elected to take his/her place for the entire academic year in which the leave occurs. Vacancies shall be filled as soon as they occur, or by election in the manner prescribed in Sec. 304b.

Sec. 306. Meetings. The Advisory Committee shall normally meet once each week during the academic year, at the call of the president or his/her designee, who prepares the agenda and chairs the meetings. Additional representatives of the administration may attend regular meetings of the committee, at the president’s request after consultation with the committee. The Advisory Committee’s final vote and recommendation on an appointment or a promotion may, at the request of the committee, be to the president alone, and shall in any case be delivered with no faculty members present other than the members of the committee.

Sec. 307. Vice-Chair. The Advisory Committee shall elect each year one of its members as vice-chair. He/She may propose items for the agenda of regular meetings, and may convene special meetings of the committee, provided the president be informed of such meetings in advance, and of the agenda.

Sec. 308. Committee Secretary.  The Office of the Academic Secretary shall serve as secretary to the committee and keep a record of its proceedings and decisions.

Part IV. Faculty Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Procedures

Sec. 401. Initiative for Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure. Nominations for appointment and promotion, including appointments and promotions conferring tenure, may originate with the president of Wesleyan University, or with departments through the president. (Note: by-laws that have been adopted by the Board of Trustees provide that only the president of the University has the power to make faculty appointments, subject to trustee approval of appointments conferring tenure. These trustee by-laws empower the president to make an independent judgment concerning each faculty appointment and the president is not bound by evaluations of candidates made by the faculty or by representations made by faculty members to candidates.)

If a nomination for a faculty appointment or promotion, including appointments or promotions conferring tenure, originates with the president, he/she consults the Academic Council members (or, if none, the highest ranking member or members) in the department or departments concerned before presenting the nomination to the Advisory Committee. The Academic Council members (or, if none, the highest ranking member or members) in a department represent that department in recommending appointments, promotions, and tenure to the Advisory Committee.

Sec. 402. Advice and Concurrence. The president seeks advice from the Advisory Committee before making appointments or promotions or reporting them to the Board of Trustees. The Advisory Committee seeks the concurrence of the Review and Appeals Board on positive recommendations for appointments and promotions conferring tenure.

Sec. 403. Procedure When There Is Agreement. When the department and the Advisory Committee are in agreement with respect to a tenure recommendation,

(a) and the recommendation is positive, the case shall be forwarded to the Review and Appeals Board, where a simple majority of those present and eligible to vote shall be required for non-concurrence, based on whether the Advisory Committee made a telling procedural error or made its positive recommendation based on any of the three inappropriate criteria. If the Board votes non-concurrence, it shall remand the case to the Advisory Committee to address the procedural matters specified by RAB (see sections 101e through 101i).  Alternatively, should the Board choose, by a two-thirds vote of those present and eligible to vote, it may review the case itself instead of remanding it to the Advisory Committee. If the Board remands the case to the Advisory Committee, the chair of the Board shall send to the Advisory Committee a statement indicating his or her understanding of the reasons for the Board’s decision.

(b) and the recommendation is negative, the Review and Appeals Board and the President are so informed.

Sec. 404. Review of Negative Departmental Recommendation Concerning Reappointment, Promotion, or Tenure: 

404a. Information and Criteria. When a department declines to recommend a faculty member for tenure, reappointment, or promotion, including a promotion conferring tenure, it will forward its decision to the Advisory Committee for its review. Upon request from the candidate, the department will also provide the candidate a written summary of the reasons for its negative recommendation. In reviewing a case, the Advisory Committee will examine the reasons given for the department’s decision and will have access to all evaluations solicited by the department as well as all other materials considered by it. Additionally, the Advisory Committee may seek new information; it will meet with the candidate and her/his Wesleyan faculty or administrative counselor, if the candidate so chooses; and it will invite tenured members of the department to meet with it.

The review by the Advisory Committee, however, will not be de novo and the Advisory Committee will not substitute its judgment about the merits of the case for the judgment of the department. The Advisory Committee’s role during this review is limited to determining whether or not the department made a telling procedural error or made its recommendation based on any of the three inappropriate criteria. [For definitions, see Sec. 101.]

404b. Tenure Case.  In a case involving the conferral of tenure, should the Advisory Committee determine that the department made a telling procedural error, it will either remand the case to the department or rectify the error itself. When the error has been rectified by either of these agencies, if the department’s recommendation remains negative, the Advisory Committee will complete its review and will either sustain the department’s negative recommendation or forward the case to the Review and Appeals Board for its concurrence with a positive recommendation of the Advisory Committee. Should the Advisory Committee determine that the department made its recommendation based on any of the three inappropriate criteria, it will either remand the case to the department or forward the case to the Review and Appeals Board for its concurrence with a positive recommendation of the Advisory Committee. In cases that the Advisory Committee forwards to the Review and Appeals Board with a positive recommendation but in which the department’s recommendation is negative, concurrence of the Review and Appeals Board requires an affirmative vote of two-thirds of those present and eligible to vote.

404c. Non-tenure Case.  In a case not involving the conferral of tenure, should the Advisory Committee determine that the department made a telling procedural error, it will either remand the case to the department or rectify the error itself. When the error has been rectified by either of these agencies, if the department’s recommendation remains negative, the Advisory Committee will complete its review and will either sustain the department’s negative recommendation or recommend to the president that the candidate be reappointed and/or promoted. Should the Advisory Committee determine that the department made its recommendation based on any of the three inappropriate criteria, it will either remand the case to the department or recommend to the president that the candidate be reappointed and/or promoted. The Committee shall report its actions to the Review and Appeals Board, for review but no vote.

Sec. 405. Appeals by a Department:

Sec. 405a. Where to Direct an Appeal.   A department whose positive recommendation for reappointment or promotion, including promotion conferring tenure, will not be forwarded by the Advisory Committee to the Review and Appeals Board for its concurrence, must direct any appeal to the Review and Appeals Board.

Sec. 405b. Timing of Intent-to-Appeal Notification by a Department.  In order to exercise its right to appeal a negative recommendation by the Advisory Committee, a department must notify the Office of Academic Affairs of its decision to appeal no later than 30 days following its receipt of written notification that its positive recommendation will not be forwarded to the Review and Appeals Board for its concurrence. The Advisory Committee will provide the department a written copy of its negative recommendation to the Review and Appeals Board.

Sec. 405c. Standing Rules Governing the Hearing of Cases.  It shall be the responsibility of the chair of the Review and Appeals Board to propose to that board standing rules governing the hearing of cases involving an appeal. Members of the Review and Appeals Board can also propose changes in the standing rules. The purpose of these rules shall be to insure that procedures focus on the relevant issues, employ the appropriate standards, and give adequate weight to the various parties in a case. The Review and Appeals Board shall adopt these rules on the basis of a majority vote.

[Also see "Review and Appeals Board Guidelines for the Standing Rules Governing the Appeals Procedure."] 

Sec. 405d. Information and Criteria.  The Review and Appeals Board shall determine whether the Advisory Committee made a telling procedural error or made its negative recommendation based on any of the three inappropriate criteria. In reviewing the Advisory Committee’s procedures and judgment in the case, the Review and Appeals Board will examine the reasons given for the Advisory Committee’s negative recommendation and will have access to all evaluations solicited by the Advisory Committee as well as all other materials considered by it. The Review and Appeals Board will receive a written report from the Advisory Committee summarizing its procedures and findings in the case.

Sec. 405e. Tenure Cases. In a case involving a departmental appeal of a negative recommendation by the Advisory Committee, should a simple majority of the Review and Appeals Board members present and eligible to vote determine that the Advisory Committee made a telling procedural error or that it made its negative recommendation based on any of the three inappropriate criteria (see sections 101f through 101i), the Board shall remand the case to the Advisory Committee to address the procedural matters specified by RAB (see sections 101e through 101i). If the Board remands the case to the Advisory Committee, the chair of the Board shall send to the Advisory Committee a statement indicating his or her understanding of the reasons for the Board’s decision. Alternatively, the Board, by a two-thirds vote of those present and eligible to vote, may choose to review the case itself instead of remanding it to the Advisory Committee. If it reviews the case itself, the Review and Appeals Board may recommend to the president by a two-thirds vote of those present and eligible to vote that the department’s positive recommendation be enacted.  The President may decline to accept the Review and Appeals Board’s positive recommendation, but must so report to the Board of Trustees.  If the Review and Appeals Board remands a case to the Advisory Committee and the Advisory Committee reaffirms its negative decision, the department retains the right, in the manner described in sections 405a and 405b, to appeal the new decision to the Review and Appeals Board. In this situation, the Review and Appeals Board by a two-thirds vote of those present and eligible to vote, may initiate its own hearing of the case.

For its deliberations and votes, the Board will excuse members of the Department and core members of such program(s) bringing the appeal, including elected members of the Board from the department and program(s) as well as all those excused under Section 204(b).

In cases in which a college, program, or ad hoc committee makes or joins in a recommendation, references to a department also pertain to them.

Sec 405f.  Notification to Candidates.  If the Review and Appeals Board concurs with the negative recommendation of the Advisory Committee, the candidate, upon receiving notification of this concurrence, may, upon request, receive a written summary of the Advisory Committee’s reasons for its recommendation.

Sec. 406. Appeals by Candidates.  Should the Advisory Committee determine that the department did not make a telling procedural error and did not base its negative recommendation on any of the three inappropriate criteria, the candidate has no right to have the case reconsidered by the department. A candidate has no right of appeal to the Review and Appeals Board or to the Faculty Committee on Rights and Responsibilities of a negative recommendation for tenure, reappointment, or promotion, made by the department or the Advisory Committee. A department, however, may appeal a negative recommendation by the Advisory Committee according to Sec. 405 above.

See Flow Diagram for Review of Cases Conferring Tenure.

Other Personnel Actions:

Sec. 407. Review by Review and Appeals Board.   When it is reported to the Review and Appeals Board that a department will not appeal a negative recommendation of the Advisory Committee, the Review and Appeals Board may initiate a review of the case if a majority of board members present and eligible to vote on the case recommend doing so. Such review will be limited to discussion of reports by the department and the Advisory Committee of their respective findings and recommendations. As a result of the review, the Review and Appeals Board may remand the case in question to the Advisory Committee for further deliberation and subsequent report to the Review and Appeals Board, but the board may not, as a result of this review, recommend reappointment, promotion, and/or tenure to the president.

Sec. 408. Administrative Appointments.  For administrative appointments primarily concerning academic affairs (Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Dean of the College, and Librarian, for example), the President normally asks the concurrence of the Review and Appeals Board in his/her recommendations.

Sec. 409. Appointments and Promotions Not Conferring Tenure.  The president reports to the Review and Appeals Board non-tenure appointments he/she has made or intends to make. The president also reports non-tenure promotions and promotions to the rank of professor that do not newly confer tenure.

Sec. 410. Summer Appointments and Emergencies.  During the summer, or in emergencies, non-tenured appointments and promotions are made by the president with the concurrence of the appropriate department chair. In extraordinary circumstances, the president may recommend a tenure appointment during a recess of the University after seeking concurrence of as many members of the Advisory Committee and the Review and Appeals Board as are readily available.

Part V. Faculty Appointment Contracts

Sec. 501. Intention.  In framing the following regulations the Academic Council intends to act in accord with the 1940 Statement of Principles of the American Association of University Professors.

Sec. 502 Criteria.   Teaching, scholarship, and colleagueship are the three basic criteria by which a candidate for appointment, reappointment, and promotion to the high ranks should be judged. Both performance and promise in these categories should be evaluated.

Sec. 502a. Teaching.  For purposes of evaluation, teaching refers primarily to classroom performance and promise as evaluated by students and other teachers. The influence on and contribution of the candidate to the teaching of his/her colleagues should also be considered. Supplementary evidence might include a candidate’s contribution to formulating new or improved courses, programs, or teaching techniques and also his/her availability to and effect on students as a counselor.

Sec. 502b. Scholarship.  Refers to intellectual power, depth and breadth of knowledge, originality and skill in research, creativity and significance of executed work, past contributions to knowledge, and promise of future growth. Published, performed, and executed works, important as a contribution to knowledge and understanding, are also the clearest measure of their author’s scholarship. Other evidence might include mastery of skills and disciplines outside the candidate’s field.

Sec. 502c. Colleagueship.  Refers to contributions to the collegial life of the faculty as a community of scholars. Of particular importance is effectiveness in stimulating the thinking of colleagues, and encouragement and constructive criticism of their work, both on the more formal occasions when faculty meet for serious discussion and in day-to-day associations with colleagues inside or outside the department. More generally, the value of a colleague is a measure of his/her participation in the intellectual life of the University beyond the classroom and beyond special research interests, and of the colleague’s share in establishing the conditions for sustaining a stimulating intellectual atmosphere at Wesleyan.

Sec. 502d. Additional Considerations.  Besides these basic criteria, each case involves special factors that must be evaluated individually. Although tenure should not be considered a reward for administrative or committee work, the skills or wisdom so demonstrated may answer real needs of the University. These and other special aptitudes or achievements may strengthen the case for a candidate.

These general University criteria are meant to be interpreted by departments and programs in the specific terms appropriate to their fields and disciplines. Such interpretations, which may be in writing, should be communicated by department and program chairs both to faculty members when hired and to the administration.

Sec. 503. Notification.  All notices of appointment, reappointment, promotion, or termination of appointment are made in writing by the president or his/her designee, and thus become valid, except that appointments or promotions to tenured positions become valid only when they have been approved by the Board of Trustees. No oral assurances shall be binding.

Sec. 504. Appointments Without Tenure: 

Sec. 504a. Ranks. The ranks of instructor, assistant professor, and lecturer do not carry tenure. In exceptional circumstances, the rank of associate professor may be granted without tenure.

Sec. 504b. Initial Appointments.  Initial appointments shall normally be made for terms of four years.

Sec. 504c. Reappointments.  Before the end of the third year of an initial appointment of four years, a decision shall be made either to terminate the appointment at the end of the fourth year or to reappoint. Such reappointment shall normally be for four years, unless the faculty member has taught full-time at another institution before coming to Wesleyan.

Sec. 504d. Total Length of Appointments and Reappointments. The total period of full-time service as an instructor and/or assistant professor and/or lecturer and/or associate professor without tenure at Wesleyan, together with the years of full-time college or university teaching elsewhere, shall not exceed eight years, except that, if the years of full-time college or university teaching elsewhere amount to more than four, the period of service at Wesleyan may run to four years.

[Also see "Advisory Committee Policy on the Total Length of Appointments and Reappointments," included under "Advisory Committee Policies."]

Sec. 505. Appointment and Promotion to Ranks Conferring Tenure: 

Sec. 505a. Timing of Promotions Conferring Tenure.  Promotions conferring tenure may be made at any time. Decisions on such promotions must be made by the end of the seventh year of the appointee’s full-time college or university teaching, except that, if the years of the appointee’s full-time college or university teaching elsewhere amount to four or more, the decision may be made as late as the end of the third year of his/her appointment at Wesleyan.

Sec. 505b. Terms and Criteria for Associate Professor.  Appointments and promotions to the rank of associate professor shall normally be without limit of time. Such an appointment or promotion shall be made only if it is expected that the faculty member will qualify for a professorship in due course. [For further details see sections 502, 502a-d, and 505c.]

Sec. 505c. Promotion to Professorship.  Promotion to a professorship will depend mainly on the candidate’s performance since receiving tenure. There should be significant additional scholarly and/or artistic accomplishments. Teaching done after receiving tenure should be at least as good as teaching done before that time. The candidate should have continued to make collegial contributions. [For further details see sections 502, 502a-d.]

Part VI. Amendment and Publication of Academic Council By-Laws 

Sec. 601. Amendment.  These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of members present at any meeting of the Academic Council, provided that notice shall have been given at least five days in advance of the meeting, and provided that the members in attendance constitute a quorum. Voting shall be by ballot.

Sec. 602. Publication.  Copies of the “Academic Council By-Laws” shall be available at all times to the faculty. Each new member of the faculty shall receive a copy of these by-laws upon his/her appointment to the faculty. When these by-laws are amended, each member of the faculty shall receive a copy, duly revised.