BYLAWS OF THE IUPUI LIBRARY FACULTY

• Preamble
1. Name
2. Membership
3. Officers
4. Meetings
5. Elections
6. Representatives to other bodies
7. Executive Board
8. Committees
9. Parliamentary Authority
10. Amendments
11. Ethics Statement

Believing in the missions and goals of the various schools on the IUPUI campus, the Library Faculty is dedicated to fulfilling the varied information needs of these schools by collecting, organizing and disseminating recorded knowledge in all of its forms, and to providing access to these resources by committed library service.

 The Library faculty accepts the responsibility for maintaining high standards of performance and for participating in the development of library services.
 
The Library faculty affirms the necessity for communication with all libraries throughout the library system.
 
The Library Faculty is committed to the concept of academic freedom and recognizes that such freedom attaches to all aspects of a librarian's professional conduct.

I-1.  The official name of this body shall be the IUPUI Library Faculty, hereinafter referred to as the Library Faculty.

II-1.   The Library Faculty shall be composed of all persons located on the Indianapolis and Columbus campuses who have been appointed as librarians with the rank of Affiliate Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Associate Librarian or Librarian. The Library Faculty shall also include all persons on these campuses who have been appointed as librarians with adjunct, visiting, or part-time rank of Affiliate Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Associate Librarian, or Librarian.

II-2.   Library faculty members shall have the right to vote and the right to hold office.

III-1.   The officers of the Library Faculty shall consist of the elected officers -- Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson /Chairperson Elect, and Secretary.

III-2.   An election of officers shall be held yearly and they shall serve one-year terms, with the exception of the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson Elect who shall serve a two-year term. The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson Elect shall assume the office of Chairperson in the second year of his/her term.

III-3.   It shall be the duty of the Chairperson, with the advice and consent of the other officers, to lead the Library Faculty in fulfilling the purposes stated in the Preamble, to appoint committees, to conduct the affairs of the Library Faculty, and to chair the meetings.

III-4.   It shall be the duty of the Vice-Chairperson /Chairperson Elect to act as Chairperson in the temporary absence of the Chairperson and to succeed to this office in the case of permanent absence or disability of the Chairperson.

III-5.   It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a record of the transactions of all meetings, to send all necessary notices, to take care of all necessary correspondence, and to render a report of any financial transaction.

III-6.   The Chairperson, with the consent of the Executive Board, shall have the power to appoint successors for the other officers if they are unable to serve their terms.

III-7.   In the event that the processes specified by the Bylaws cannot be adhered to, the Chairperson shall have the power to appoint temporary successors for committee members and for elected representatives to other bodies. These appointments shall become permanent when confirmed by the Executive Board.

IV-1.   The Library Faculty shall meet four times a year.

IV-2.   The officers shall meet at least one time prior to each of the Library Faculty meetings and at the call of the Chairperson. If, at the officers meeting, it is determined that there is no significant faculty business, the scheduled Library Faculty meeting may be canceled. Additional Library Faculty meetings may be called at the discretion of the Chairperson.

IV-3.   The last regular meeting of the academic year shall be known as the annual business meeting and shall be for the purpose of approving the slate of candidates, receiving reports of officers and committees, and for handling any other business that may arise.

IV-4.   All Library Faculty members shall be notified in advance of the purpose, time and place of all general meetings.

IV-5.   Thirty-three percent of the membership shall constitute a quorum.

IV-6.   Any question shall be voted on by a show of hands and be so ruled by a majority of members present. A vote by ballot can be ordered by a majority vote or by the Chairperson.

V-1.   Elections shall be conducted by secret marked ballot and concluded by May 31.  Electronic voting shall be permitted.  Before election at the annual business meeting, additional nominations from the floor shall be permitted. In the event of a tie, the Nominating Committee shall conduct a run-off election by mail ballot or electronic ballot.

V-2.   Newly elected officers shall assume their duties on July 1.
V-3.   Upon the completion of the election process, ballots shall be destroyed.

VI-1.   The Library Faculty representatives to other bodies or committees shall be elected by the Library Faculty in accordance with procedures adopted by the Bylaws of the governing body to which the individual is to be elected.

VI-2.   In the absence of procedures of the governing body, the Nominating Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates for each position to be voted by secret ballot. The candidate receiving the greatest number of votes shall be the representative. The candidate receiving the second highest number of votes shall be the alternate. In the event of a tie, the Nominating committee shall conduct a run-off election by secret ballot.
 
VI-3.   Upon the completion of the election process, ballots shall be destroyed.

VI-4.   The Library Faculty has one representative serving a two year term on the IUPUI Campus Wide Promotion and Tenure Committee. The representative shall be elected as part of the regular IUPUI Library Faculty Elections which are conducted during the last meeting of the term and the term of office shall begin on December 1st of that election year. The librarians' representative to the IUPUI Campus Wide Promotion and Tenure Committee shall be tenured, and to the extent practicable, should hold appointment at the rank of professor or librarian. The Nominating Committee should, whenever possible, seek candidates by alternating between the two library groups; the professional schools' (i.e. Dental, Law, Medicine) libraries and the University Libraries. The name of the elected representative shall be forwarded to the IUPUI Dean of the Faculties by the Chairperson of the IUPUI Library Faculty before November 1st (in the year of an election). If this elected representative is unable to complete his/her term, the Chairperson of the Library Faculty should notify the Nominating Committee to prepare a slate of qualified candidates for a special election. The special election should be held at the discretion of the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee of the Library Faculty.
 
VI-5.   Library Faculty members may be appointed by the Executive Board to serve in any capacity with other organizations at the request of such organizations or of the Dean of the University Libraries.

VII-1.   The Executive board shall consist of the elected officers named in Article III of the Bylaws and the immediate past Chairperson. Each library, i.e. University, Medical, Dental, and Law, shall be represented on the Executive Board. In the event that the Executive Board, consisting of the elected officers and immediate past Chairperson, does not include a librarian from each one of these libraries, then each unrepresented library shall elect a librarian to serve as an additional member of the Executive Board. The name of this representative must be presented to the Chairperson at least one month prior to the first meeting of the academic year.

VII-2.   The Executive Board shall be the governing body of the Library Faculty. It shall conduct all business of the library Faculty not otherwise provided for.

COMMITTEES

VIII-1.   Committees shall be appointed by the Chairperson with the advice and consent of the Executive Board with the exception of the IUPUI Librarians Promotion and Tenure Committee which is to be elected as specified in section VIII-5(b). The Chairperson shall be an ex-officio member of all committees, except the Nominating committee.  Committee appointments shall be for one (1) year, except as otherwise noted.
 
VIII-2.   The Nominating Committee shall be composed of three (3) members appointed by the Chairperson within 30 days following the annual business meeting.

VIII-3.   The Bylaws Committee shall be composed of three (3) members. At least one (1) member of the Bylaws committee shall have served on the Bylaws committee the preceding year. It shall be the duty of the Bylaws Committee to receive or originate amendments to the Bylaws in accordance with Article X.

VIII-4.   The IUPUI Library Faculty Standards Committee shall be composed of four (4) members, at least two of whom shall be tenured; one (1) from University libraries, one (1) from Medicine, one (1) from Dental, and one (1) from Law. In addition, the IUPUI representative to the Indiana University librarians Standards Committee shall be an ex-officio member. At least one member of the Library Standards committee shall have served on the same committee the preceding year. It shall be the duty of the Faculty Standards Committee to review existing guidelines for general responsibilities, privileges and compensation of the Library Faculty and make recommendations where appropriate; to review policies and procedures regarding appointment, promotion and tenure criteria, performance evaluation and make recommendations where appropriate; and to review, as requested by the Library Faculty, any other matters relating to faculty development and make recommendations where appropriate.

VIII-5(a)  The IUPUI Librarians Promotion and Tenure Committee shall be composed of five (5) tenured, voting librarians, at least two (2) members from the University Library, one (1) member each from the Indiana University School of Medicine Libraries and the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis Ruth Lilly Library and one (1) member at large.  Directors/Deans of campus libraries are excluded from serving on the committee.  It shall be the duty of the committee to exclusively examine and review the dossier of each librarian containing all recommendations and relevant materials.  The committee shall appraise each dossier relative to the approved criteria and prepare a detailed statement justifying its recommendations related to tenure, rank, and in third-year review cases, on successful progress towards tenure. 

VIII-5(b)  Individual IUPUI libraries (Ruth Lilly Law Library, IUPUI University Library, and the Ruth Lilly Medical Library) shall elect members to the IUPUI Librarians Promotion and Tenure Committee by May 31 and those elected members shall begin serving on July 1.   All library faculty shall elect the one (1) at-large member.   The initial IUPUI Librarians Promotion and Tenure Committee shall be comprised of five (5) elected members; two (2) from the University Library, one (1) from the Law Library, one (1) from the Medical Library, and one (1) at-large member.  One (1) University Library member shall be elected for a term of two (2) years, and one (1) University Library member shall be elected for an initial term of one (1) year.  In addition, the initial at-large member shall be elected for a term of one (1) year.  Both Law Library and Medical Library members shall be elected for two (2) year terms.  After the expiration of the initial one (1) year terms, all members shall be elected for two (2) year terms.

IX-1.   Robert's Rules of Order, latest edition, shall govern the Library Faculty in all cases to which it can be applied and in which it is not inconsistent with the Bylaws, or special rules of order of the Library Faculty.

X-1.   Proposals for amending the Bylaws may originate with any member of the Library Faculty and shall be submitted to the Bylaws committee who shall inform the members in writing prior to the meeting.

X-2.   A proposed amendment shall be discussed at one or more of the general meetings of the Library Faculty before a vote is taken.
 
X-3.   A proposed change shall be effective when approved by a majority of those present.

XI-1.   The members of the Library Faculty shall be governed by the current Statement on Professional Ethics, approved by the American Library Association.

Created:  7 November 1996 (MCB)
Last modified:  9 February 2008 (CMM)
Comments:  IUPUI Library Faculty Secretary <libfac@iupui.edu>