Faculty Council

Duties

The Faculty Council will:

  1. Consider academic and other matters related to the faculty and to the School of Medicine, including educational programs;
  2. Provide input and make recommendations to the Dean on major issues related to the School;
  3. Call for nominations for membership to certain standing committees of the Dean, including the Admissions Committee, Promotions Committee, Executive Oversight Committee, and Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee. Review applications and appoint new members;
  4. Communicate with faculty at large about issues of importance; and
  5. Serve as a resource for faculty and departments wishing to bring issues of importance to the broader School community.

Composition

The Faculty Council will be an elected body representative of the faculty of Icahn School of Medicine. Representatives will hold the academic rank of Instructor or higher in the School and will hold full-time, voluntary or part-time faculty status. Department Chairs and Institute Directors will not be eligible to serve on the Faculty Council.

The Faculty Council will be comprised of elected representatives from the following constituencies:

  1. Academic Departments - Academic departments will elect voting representatives in accordance with the following formula:
    • Departments with over 1,000 full-time faculty: five representatives
    • Departments with 200 - 999 full-time faculty: four representatives
    • Departments with under 100 - 199 full-time faculty: three representatives
    • Departments with 40 - 99 full-time faculty: two representatives
    • Departments with under 40 full-time faculty: one representative. These representatives may be full-time, part-time or voluntary faculty.
  1. Institutes - Each Institute will elect one voting representative.
  2. Academic Affiliates - Elmhurst Hospital Center and Queens Hospital Center faculty will together elect one representative. The Bronx Veteran's Administration Hospital Center faculty will elect one representative.
  3. Voluntary Faculty – The Association of Attending Staff (AAS) will elect three voluntary faculty to represent the AAS. These representatives will have academic appointments in three different departments. The AAS representatives will be in addition to any voluntary faculty elected by their primary academic departments.

No faculty member may represent more than one of the constituencies listed above. No member can have more than one vote on the Faculty Council.

Departments may identify an alternate to attend meetings when the elected representative is unable to attend.

Chairs of the standing committees of the Faculty Council will serve as Ex Officio, non-voting members of the Faculty Council unless they are already elected as representatives to the Council.

Officers

The officers of the Faculty Council will consist of a President, a Past-President and a President-Elect.

The President and President-Elect will be elected by the voting members of the Council at the first Council meeting of the academic year. Eligibility to be elected President requires a minimum of two years of service as a Council representative. When the President-Elect assumes the title and role of President, the current President will assume the title and role of Past-President.

The Officers will serve on the Faculty Council Executive Committee. The President of the Faculty Council will be an Ex Officio member of a designated Board of Trustees Committee.

The President of the Faculty Council will preside over meetings of the Faculty Council and meetings of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council. The President-Elect will take minutes at both meetings and will be responsible for distributing Faculty Council minutes to the faculty at large electronically.

Term of Service

The terms of service of Faculty Council representatives will be two years in length. Representatives may be re-elected and may serve for an unlimited number of terms. Representatives will be expected to attend at least 50 percent of all Faculty Council meetings, i.e., at least three meetings per year.

The terms of service of Faculty Council Officers will be two years in length and are not renewable.

Meetings

The Council will meet a minimum of five times between September and June of each academic year. Special meetings may be called by petition of any 100 members of the electorate, ten members of the Council, a majority vote of the Executive Committee, or by the Dean.

The Dean will be invited to participate in at least one meeting per year, and will be afforded an opportunity to address any meeting.

The meetings of the Faculty Council will be open to the entire electorate at the discretion of the Faculty Council President.

Notice of the time, place and agenda of Faculty Council meetings will be distributed electronically to elected representatives and alternates.

Each elected representative will have one vote. An alternate may attend and vote only when the elected representative of the relevant constituency is not in attendance. A quorum for the purpose of the transaction of business will consist of one-third of the total votes of the Council. Attendance will be taken at every meeting and will be maintained by the President-Elect. If a representative attends fewer than 50 percent of meetings, the relevant constituency may replace that individual.

The election of officers will be by secret ballot. All other votes will be by show of hands unless there is a request for a secret ballot. No votes will be accepted by proxy.

The procedure at meetings of the Faculty Council will be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.

Minutes will be taken at every meeting of the Faculty Council. Minutes will be distributed electronically to the faculty via e-mail and will also be posted on the School website.

Election of Council Representatives

Whenever possible, departments, institutes, the AAS and affiliates are encouraged to choose their representatives through an election process as described below. Under certain circumstances, selection of representatives through a process other than a formal election may be warranted.

Election Process
All full-time, voluntary and part-time faculty with appointments in the School of Medicine at the academic rank of Instructor or higher will be eligible to nominate and vote for faculty representatives. Department Chairs may seek nominations and present for vote a slate of candidates comprised of the three to five individuals receiving the most nominations.

Faculty are entitled to cast only one vote per election. The following rules will apply:

  1. With the exceptions noted below, nomination and voting will be for representatives from the Department in which the faculty member has his/her primary appointment.
  2. Faculty with joint primary appointments will select one of their two academic departments for purposes of voting.
  3. Faculty with membership in an Institute can vote either in their capacity as Institute members or through their primary academic department, but may not vote in both.
  4. Faculty based at the Bronx Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, Elmhurst Hospital Center and Queens Hospital Center can nominate and vote for representatives either from their home department or from another department at their affiliate institution.
  5. Voluntary faculty elected by their primary academic department will vote in their capacity as department members. Voluntary faculty elected by the AAS will vote in their capacity as representatives of the AAS.

The Office of the Dean will work to ensure that each department, the institutes, the AAS and the integrated affiliates are appropriately represented on the Faculty Council.

Committees of the Faculty Council

The Faculty Council is responsible for a number of standing committees. All policy statements recommended by the Committees of the Faculty Council must be approved by the Faculty Council prior to submission to the Dean.

Except as otherwise indicated, neither the standing committee chairpersons nor members of the standing committees are required to be elected representatives of the Faculty Council. Any standing committee chairperson who is not an elected representative to the Faculty Council will serve as an Ex Officio, non-voting member of the Faculty Council.

Certain standing Committee Chairs may, upon consultation with the Executive Committee, appoint a Committee Vice-Chair. Such Vice-Chairs may, at the discretion of the Executive Committee, be invited to attend meetings of the Executive Committee.

The chairperson of each standing committee will provide a verbal report at each meeting of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council, and will similarly report to the Faculty Council, including presenting recommendations for policy changes or other actions. Additional reports may be requested by the President of the Faculty Council.

Committee chairpersons will be responsible for facilitating committee deliberations and acting as spokespersons to convey committee decisions to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council. Except where specifically indicated, a chairperson is not empowered to act independently of his/her committee or of the Executive Committee.

Each committee chairperson will have the prerogative of requesting that the Executive Committee replace a committee member who fails to attend at least sixty percent of the meetings or otherwise fails to fulfill committee obligations. In the event that a committee member is unable to complete a term of service, the chairperson will request that the Executive Committee appoint another member of the faculty to complete the unexpired term.

A. Executive Committee

  1. Composition – The Executive Committee will consist of the President, the President-Elect, the Past-President and the Chairs of the standing committees of the Faculty Council.

  2. Charge to the Executive Committee
    The Executive Committee will:
    1. Prepare and distribute the agenda for Faculty Council meetings
    2. Prepare minutes of each Faculty Council meeting, submit minutes to members and post minutes on website
    3. Prepare minutes of Executive Committee meetings and submit to Faculty Council
    4. Receive minutes of all Faculty Council committees and transmit these minutes to the Faculty Council
    5. Transact all business of the Faculty Council between meetings
    6. Appoint members to ad hoc committees of the Faculty Council
    7. Appoint members to the Faculty Resources Committee of the Faculty Council
    8. Appoint members to the Faculty Disciplinary Tribunal and the Committee on Professionalism
    9. Recommend, upon the request of the Dean, members for any ad hoc committees of the Dean
    10. Appoint members to the Curriculum Committees and Promotion Committees of the Medical School and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and to the Executive Oversight Committee of the Medical School
    11. Receive and consider issues of concern to the Medical School and the Faculty Council that fall outside the jurisdiction of existing committees

B. Faculty Resources Committee: As its name implies, this standing committee is responsible for managing issues related to an array of faculty resources.

  1. Composition – The Faculty Resources Committee will consist of up to nine faculty at the rank of Instructor or above, and will be broadly representative of the academic departments and institutes. Full-time, voluntary and part-time faculty may serve.

  2. Appointments – The chairperson and eight additional faculty members will be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council. A Vice-Chair may be appointed with the approval of the Executive Committee. The Chair and other members will serve three-year terms. Terms of appointment are renewable.

  3. Charge
    The Faculty Resources Committee will:

a. Review and make recommendations to the Faculty Council on:

1. Infrastructure resources, e.g., library, information technology, shared research facilities
2. Quality of life resources, e.g., benefits, housing, day care, parking, security

b. Review and make recommendations to the Faculty Council on policies relating to resources affecting faculty.
c. Accept input from the faculty at large concerning institutional resources, investigate concerns and make recommendations to the Faculty Council.

C. Committee on Professionalism

  1. Composition – The Committee on Professionalism will consist of five full-time faculty members at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor.  At least one will be a professor with tenure, who will be appointed Committee Chair.  Members will represent both clinical and research disciplines, with a minimum of two from basic science departments.  No two members will be from the same department. Members can be but do not have to be Faculty Council representatives.

    If the Committee Chair determines that additional expertise is needed for review of a particular case, the Chair may appoint additional members, for a total odd number of members. 

    The complainant may challenge in writing to the Committee Chair the participation of any member, with an explanation of the basis for the request.  The Chair will have the discretion to accept or deny the request except under the following circumstances:  If the complainant challenges participation by the Committee Chair, then the Faculty Council President will determine whether recusal of the Chair is warranted.  If the President concludes that recusal is appropriate, then the President will assign another Committee member at the rank of tenured professor to replace the Committee Chair for that particular case; if a tenured professor from the committee is unavailable, the Council President may assign another tenured professor to serve as Committee Chair for the case

  2. Appointment – The President of the Faculty Council will appoint members to the Committee, and will designate a tenured professor to serve as Committee Chair. Consideration will be given to selecting at least one member with expertise in mediation and/or in counseling.

    The term of appointment for both the Committee Chair and the other two permanent members will be three years, with the possibility of renewal.

  3. Charge The Committee on Professionalism will:

a. Undergo formal training to recognize different types of unprofessional behavior, refer complaints as appropriate to other committees, and adjudicate cases;
b. Provide a forum for considering allegations of unprofessional behavior made by any faculty member about another faculty member. The complaint can be made to any of the five permanent members of the Committee;
c. Consult with Mount Sinai’s Legal Affairs, Human Resources, Dean’s Office or other staff as needed to ensure appropriate review and disposition of cases;
d. As appropriate, report in writing on Committee findings and recommendations to:   the complainant; the complainant’s Department Chair; the Department Chair of the accused faculty member; and the Dean of the School.  The report may include a plan of action where appropriate;
e. Complement existing committees, e.g., the Hospital Professionalism Committee and Committee on Ethical Practices in Research, by referring cases and issues to these committees as appropriate. The Committee on Professionalism will not review cases that fall under the purview of other committees or offices, nor will it consider cases in which a review and determination have already been made by such committees or offices; 
f. Advise Department Chairs, Institute Directors and faculty about practicing professionalism and creating a culture of professionalism; and
g. Develop and support an infrastructure that promotes professional behavior;

D. Faculty Disciplinary Tribunal

  1. Composition – The Faculty Disciplinary Tribunal will consist of seven members and three alternates. The members will include one Department Chairperson (who will serve as chair of the Disciplinary Tribunal), three Professors, two Associate Professors and one Assistant Professor. In the chairperson's absence, one of the Professors will assume the role of chair of the Disciplinary Tribunal. The chair of the Disciplinary Tribunal may be a member of a Basic Science or Clinical Department. The remaining members will be composed of two faculty from Basic Science Departments, two full-time faculty from Clinical Departments and two faculty from the part-time or voluntary faculty. Each member must be from a different Department. The alternates to the Disciplinary Tribunal will include one Professor, one Associate Professor and one Assistant Professor. Each alternate must be from a different Department. The President of the Faculty Council will designate one or more alternates to serve as members of the Disciplinary Tribunal only when a quorum cannot be obtained without their participation. Any five of the members and designated alternates will constitute a quorum for the purposes of convening and holding a hearing.

  2. Appointments – The seven members and three alternates to the Disciplinary Tribunal will be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council to serve two-year or three-year terms that shall be overlapping, to provide continuity of membership.

  3. Charge to Faculty Disciplinary Tribunal

a. To conduct a hearing
b. To make a written report to the Dean, setting forth its findings of fact
c. To include in its written report recommendations to the Dean as to whether disciplinary action is appropriate, and if so, what action should be taken. Additional information on the Faculty Disciplinary Tribunal will be found in Faculty Handbook Chapter III: Faculty - Faculty Disciplinary Tribunal.

 

Updated November 2019