DWR By-Laws | Department of Writing and Rhetoric

Department of Writing and Rhetoric By-Laws

Ratified February 24, 2016

Revised and approved by the voting members of the DWR on February 3, 2023
Updated to reflect changes from Program to Department as of January 8, 2026

These bylaws provide a framework that enables the Department of Writing and Rhetoric to achieve its aims of promoting:
- students’ critical and creative thinking skills, awareness of genre and writing processes, development of rhetorical strategies for communication, and grammar and usage skills;
- innovative research and creative output; and
- the role of our department in the university.

To serve their purpose, they must be regularly consulted and consistently followed.

2. Department meetings and meetings of department committees operate in what Robert’s Rules of Order calls “executive session.” Such meetings are closed to non-members of the department except by invitation of the chair or a majority vote of the voting faculty in the case of department meetings or the chair or a majority vote of committee members in the case of committee meetings.

3. Voting Faculty Membership:

All full-time lecturers, assistant, associate, and full professors, including faculty with joint appointments with half-time or greater commitment to the program, are full voting members of the department while in residence. Due to university regulations concerning rank and promotion, only tenured faculty vote on promotion and tenure of tenure line faculty. Part-time lecturers (“adjunct faculty”) and graduate teaching assistants have voting rights on issues of WRT 101 and WRT 102 curriculum and pedagogy after teaching two of these courses for two consecutive semesters, at least one of which is either spring or fall. If it is unclear whether or not a particular issue relates to 101/102 curriculum or pedagogy, that shall be settled by a majority vote of the quorum. Since adjunct faculty are hired as teaching faculty (and are not paid or reappointed based on their service to the department), they are not required to serve on committees. Adjunct faculty, however, are welcome to serve on committees or in other capacities in the department at their choosing. Adjuncts are also welcome to request full voting rights as outlined in section 3.1 below, and teaching assistants may petition the advisory committee for consideration for voting rights. Regardless of voting status, the department encourages adjunct faculty participation in discussion of all department matters, and the chair will remind all faculty of their voting rights at the first departmental meeting of each academic year.

3.1 An adjunct requests full voting rights by writing a letter to the advisory committee explaining the reason(s) for that request. Possible reasons include, but are not limited to,committee work, length of service, or a particular area of expertise. The advisory committee will respond in as timely a manner as possible, and the request will be granted by an affirmative vote of a simple majority of its members. If the request is denied, the advisory committee will provide a brief explanation, and that adjunct faculty members may submit a new request at the beginning of the following semester or at any point thereafter.

4. Departmental Meetings:

Department priorities will be set at meetings of the full voting faculty. Department meetings—usually three per semester—will be arranged and announced immediately prior to or at the beginning of the semester and can be supplemented by emergency meetings when necessary. Faculty also have the ability to call for departmental meetings as outlined in section 4.5. All DWR faculty are invited to attend departmental meetings, though voting on specific items is governed by the rights specified in section 3 and 3.1. Meeting format (in-person or virtual/online) shall be determined by the chair or by whoever proposed the meeting, but regardless of meeting format, faculty shall have the option to attend virtually.

4.1 Agendas: Detailed agendas should be circulated at least three days in advance by whoever called for the meeting except in cases of extreme urgency. If a faculty member wishes to propose an agenda item for a meeting, they should reach out to the chair or to the advisory committee.

4.2 Quorum: A quorum consists of more than one-half of the full voting members of the department, including absentee ballots and proxies, and is required for all decisions. The chair will announce whether or not the attendees at the meeting constitute a quorum. Meetings may proceed without a quorum, at the discretion of the chair for the purpose of discussion or unofficial ballots.

4.3 Minutes: If a faculty member volunteers to be minutes-taker for a semester as an act of service, they will take minutes at each meeting. If no faculty member volunteers for that position, minutes-taking duty will alternate alphabetically among all full time faculty (with advance notification) during that semester. Minutes will be taken using a standard form and will include attendance. The minutes will be circulated electronically within a week after the meeting, and the chair will seek approval from the full voting faculty before posting the minutes electronically on an appropriate departmental site as a matter of record. The chair may designate that no response constitutes approval. The minutes will not reflect discussions or votes on potential job candidates, nor will minutes report any other material deemed to be confidential by a majority vote of meeting attendees.

4.4 Voting: The default position for the passage of a motion is simple majority. Voting shall be anonymous by default. When voting occurs during a meeting, it can be carried out electronically or via secret ballots handed out to members of the full voting faculty and tabulated by the staff assistant and/or assistant to the chair. In such cases, any full voting member may make a written request to the chair for an absentee vote or to indicate that they wish to designate another full voting member as their proxy prior to the meeting. When voting occurs outside of a meeting, it can be performed via an online poll or form or, if necessary, by email. It will be regular practice for votes to be preceded by departmental discussions. Motions to delay a vote may be made by any member of the full voting faculty. To expedite purely procedural matters, the chair or any member of the full voting faculty may request that a vote be carried out publicly via taking a count of hands raised for yea or nay.

4.5 Calling for Meetings: Faculty members may call for a departmental meeting by reaching out to the department staff assistant to request an anonymous poll. The poll will not reveal who made the request for a meeting but will include the exact text of their proposal, written by the faculty member, so others can consider their argument in its original form. If a poll is conducted and reflects that at least 51% of eligible faculty are in favor of a departmental meeting, one is scheduled, and the chair and faculty members are required to attend as they would any other official departmental meeting. If the result of the poll does not lead to a meeting being scheduled, the chair may decide to add the issue(s) the meeting was proposed to discuss as [an] agenda item(s) at a future department meeting.

4.6 Calling for Votes: Faculty members may call for votes on issues, even if the chair hasn’t presented them as issues requiring a vote, via an anonymous poll in two stages. The first stage is a “vote to accept or vote to discuss.” If 51% of eligible faculty vote to accept, then the issue is considered settled, and there is not a discussion. If at least 50% of eligible faculty vote to discuss, then there is a second stage: a vote to “discuss now or discuss later.” If the vote is for discussion now, a discussion commences and is followed by a vote soon after (such as within one week). If the vote is to be discussed later, the discussion takes place after a set period of time (such as one month) and then a vote is held. The exception to this is very unusual cases in which a chair must act immediately and cannot wait for a vote or a discussion. Discussions may take place in person or online.

5. The Department Chair:

5.1 Duties:

A) acts as executive officer to implement departmental policies
B) serves as director of first year writing and negotiates with university administration matters related to first year writing
C) coordinates, in consultation with appropriate committees and department officers, all academic activities, such as placement, curriculum, and degree requirements. Determines and supervises, in consultation with appropriate committees, faculty teaching assignments, and service and administrative responsibilities.
D) assigns and oversees workload of department office staff
E) advocates for the department by representing the wishes of faculty to university administration
F) appoints, in consultation with the associate chair and advisory committee, departmental officers, other departmental administrators, and chairs and members of department committees, following the guidelines as set out in sections 5 and 6.
G) oversees and is responsible for carrying out the administrative work of the department, including but not limited to:

administering department finances
in consultation with the associate chair and the immediate past chair if available, developing and communicating in advance of the contract period criteria for merit pay, raises, and bonuses, as well as proposing compensation for faculty and staff. Criteria will include the role of teaching, scholarship, and service in determinations for merit pay, raises, and bonuses, and will identify traits that will be valued in making such determinations, such as leadership, innovation, student mentorship, scholarly impact, representation of the department on campus and in the community, etc.
in consultation with the advisory committee, making recommendations for the hiring, promotion, and dismissal of staff
making recommendations to the dean for hiring part-time teaching faculty in the department
making arrangements for department functions and other activities
serves as liaison officer and representative of the department to the university community and the university administration
recommends representatives of the department to other units of the university
schedules and presides over department meetings
assigns office space
makes recommendations to the dean to grant sabbatical leave to department faculty members
facilitates the transition to the new chair prior to leaving office

5.2 Election: The election of the chair will take place as follows:

5.2.1 An election for chair will take place every three years in March. A chair may serve for a maximum of two three-year terms.

5.2.2 Three weeks before the election, the chair will solicit nominations, including self-nominations.

5.2.3 One week before the election, a meeting of the entire faculty will be held to discuss the election. A member of the advisory committee will chair the meeting. Additional nominations may be made during the meeting or up to 24 hours after it.

5.2.4 One week after the election meeting, votes by full voting faculty will be cast by secret ballot and submitted to and counted by the assistant to the chair and the senior staff assistant.

5.2.5 The chair will announce the election results and convey the chair recommendation to the dean.

5.3 Recommendation to Remove Chair:

5.3.1 At any chair meeting, a motion to remove the chair can be introduced by any full voting member of the department.

5.3.2 Once a motion to remove the chair has been introduced and seconded, the chair will leave the meeting, which will be chaired by the associate chair or, in that person’s absence, a member of the advisory committee.

5.3.3 After appropriate discussion of the motion, a vote by a simple majority of the voting faculty present may authorize a second meeting to be held at least one week later, after all full voting members have been informed. This meeting will be chaired by the associate chair or a member of the advisory committee. After a discussion, a vote of two thirds of the entirety of the voting faculty will be sufficient to authorize a recommendation to the dean to remove the chair.

5.3.4 Removal of the chair by the dean will create an emergency vacancy of the office of chair, which will be filled in an interim basis by appointment by the dean. An election for a new chair will be scheduled as soon as possible in consultation with the dean and the advisory committee. The election will follow normal election procedures.

6. Department Officers:

These positions, to be held by full-time faculty, are appointed by the chair for three-year terms, renewable once, except as noted below. The chair shall ask the faculty for nominations, including self-nominations. Having served in consecutive terms in a position does not prohibit a faculty member from serving in that position again at a later date after others have had an opportunity to serve. In consultation with the associate chair, the chair shall renew terms for each officer as outlined below. A person may hold only one chair officer position at a time. If there is a need for a temporary exception to this policy, then the chair will first make a proposal to the advisory committee and, with approval of a simple majority of that committee, will take the issue to the full voting faculty. An affirmative vote of a simple majority of the full voting faculty will be sufficient for approval. Such exceptions will require renewal, via the same process, prior to the beginning of each subsequent semester, but no more than one such renewal should be requested. In order to complete work on behalf of the chair, each officer or the chair may convene goal-oriented working groups as needed. The chair may remove a department officer with a vote of a simple majority of the advisory committee. If a perceived need arises for a new type of department officer, the chair will first discuss the formation and duties of this new officer with the advisory committee, including whether the position be permanent or temporary, and, with the approval of a simple majority of that committee, will present a rationale and description of the new position to the full voting faculty. An affirmative vote of a simple majority of the full voting faculty will be sufficient to approve this new departmental officer, and its description and duties will be added to section 6 of the bylaws. If this new officer position is temporary, it will automatically expire at the end of that officer’s term unless renewed or made permanent by a vote of eligible faculty.

6.1 Associate Chair is appointed annually by the Department Chair and assists the chair with the administrative functions of the department, including mentoring new faculty.

6.2 Graduate Program Director oversees the graduate certificate, advises graduate students, and works with department faculty to develop graduate curriculum.

6.3 Undergraduate Program Director oversees the upper-division undergraduate curriculum and any minors and/or majors associated with it.

6.4 Director of the Writing Center is appointed for a six-year term, renewable once, and is responsible for the administration of the Writing Center.

6.5 Emerging Technologies Coordinator is appointed for a six-year term, renewable once, and is responsible for ensuring the department and its faculty develop and maintain basic literacy with relevant technologies.

6.6 Communications and Marketing Coordinator develops and implements a strategic marketing plan for the department.

6.7 Program in Academic English (PAE) Coordinator represents and advocates for PAEfaculty within the DWR; oversees WAE and Oral/Aural English curriculum, including placement, orientation, assessment, and articulation with DWR outcomes; supervises PAEteaching; collects, analyzes, and reports on WAE student data as need be; and inconjunction with the DWR chair, liaises with the writing programs and departments of international partner campuses.

6.8 Department of Writing and Rhetoric Parliamentarian is the tenure stream faculty member of the advisory committee who also serves as an expert in and spokesperson for the bylaws, explaining how the bylaws apply to standing matters as well as any new situations that arise, and monitoring adherence to the bylaws. Section 10.4 explains what a faculty member should do if they believe a bylaw isn’t being followed.

6.9 DEI Coordinator(s) foster(s) initiatives to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in the DWR including through working groups and institutional outreach, and represent(s) the department in these areas to external parties.

7. Departmental Committees:

7.1 Functions: For the administration of its operations, the department delegates its powers to the standing committees designated in these bylaws, which are accountable to the department. Unless otherwise indicated, each committee will be chaired by a departmental officer. All tenure stream faculty and full-time lecturers are expected to serve on standing committees; adjunct faculty are welcome to do so. Unless otherwise specified (such as with the advisory committee), committee members will be appointed by the chair in consultation with the chair of that particular committee. Unless otherwise specified, these will be renewable two-year appointments and, whenever possible, will be staggered to ensure continuity within each committee. Student members can be appointed at the discretion of each committee and will be selected by the appropriate student organizations and will participate in and vote on all decisions except those involving individual students and faculty members. Meetings of each committee shall be called by the committee chair on his or her initiative or upon the request of the chair or of two members of the committee. Each committee will submit to the committee chair through the department chair recommendations for programmatic changes. Such changes will be announced in the agenda of department meetings. The department will have the right to review the work of these committees, and its approval will be required for all major policy decisions – including the institution of new departmental initiatives and substantive revision of existing programs. If a perceived need arises for a new standing committee, the chair will first discuss the formation and duties of this new committee with the advisory committee and, with the approval of a simple majority of that committee, will present a rationale and description of its duties to the full voting faculty. An affirmative vote of a simple majority of the full voting faculty will be sufficient to approve this new standing committee, and its description and duties will be added to this section 7 of the bylaws.

7.2 Each year, each committee will by May 20 submit to the department a brief statement of the previous year’s accomplishments and recommendations for future work. The statement must be signed by each member of the committee. In addition, at the end of a committee chair’s term, they will submit to the department chair a brief statement of the committee's accomplishments and recommendations for future work, signed by every member of the committee. These reports will be given to the next committee chair. The department chair may also require that department officers who do not chair committees provide similar yearly and end of term statements.

7.2.1 Advisory Committee: Each faculty body (adjunct or teaching assistant, lecturer, tenure stream) will elect a representative to serve on this committee, which must have three members, and each will serve three-year terms. If one group is not able to be represented, then that slot will be filled by a lecturer. If staffing allows, with the exception of the parliamentarian, advisory committee members should not be department officers.

7.2.2 First Year Writing Committee: This committee consists of the department chair, who will serve as the chair; no more than five voting members of the department; and the associate chair, who serves as an ad hoc, non-voting member. It oversees First Year Writing, excepting those duties assigned to the department chair in section 5, and is responsible for developing with the chair policies and procedures for student placement that the chair will negotiate with university administration. It also reviews and guides FYW policies and procedures, and assesses FYW activities and outcomes.

7.2.3 Graduate Studies Committee: This committee consists of the graduate program director, who will serve as the chair; two members of the department; and one graduate student who is enrolled in the graduate certificate or a closely related graduate program (appointed by the graduate program director in consultation with the department chair) to serve for a one-year term. It will oversee the graduate curriculum, including creating and implementing policies and procedures and assessing curricular outcomes.

7.2.4 Undergraduate Studies Committee: This committee consists of the undergraduate program director, who will serve as the chair; two members of the department; and one undergraduate Writing minor (appointed by the undergraduate program director in consultation with the department chair) to serve a one-year term. It will oversee the undergraduate curriculum, including creating and implementing policies and procedures and assessing curricular outcomes, except WRT 101 and 102, which are the purview of the FYW Committee (7.2.2).

7.2.5 Writing Center Committee: This committee consists of the writing center director, who will serve as the chair; at least two members of the department faculty with Writing Center-related knowledge or experience; and two members of the Writing Center staff to serve a one-year term. This committee may also include one to two faculty or staff members from outside DWR, who will respect confidentiality of any DWR matters that the committee discusses. It will facilitate communication between the Department of Writing and Rhetoric and the Writing Center concerning budget and policies and may support the work of the Writing Center through suggestions for outreach and collaboration throughout the university.

7.3 Working Groups: Department officers may convene ad hoc working groups to address issues within their area of responsibility. The chair may convene such working groups to investigate and advise on matters of interest to the department that do not fall under the purview of any of the above standing committees or coordinators. The working groups will be formed to perform specific tasks and will end when such tasks are completed.

7.4 Recruitment and Job Search Committees: The chair will convene a committee to conduct job searches.

7.5 Ex-officio Appointment: The chair may appoint himself or herself or the associate chair as an ex-officio member of any department committee.

8. Procedures for Departmental Personnel Recommendations:

8.1 New Hires: The guidelines below are for the hiring of lecturers and tenure-track and tenured faculty.

8.1.1 Defining positions and selecting finalists

Teaching and research subject areas for new lecturers and tenure-track or tenured faculty appointments, and decisions concerning hiring opportunities from department and campus-wide initiatives will be made at meetings of full voting members. When a position is approved by the university administration, the chair and associate chair compose a job description, and the department chair, in consultation with the advisory committee, appoints a chair and members of a search committee from among the full voting members, or others in consultation with the chair of the committee. Search committees for all positions should be representative of the full voting members; lecturer search committees must include at least two lecturers. The chair presents to the faculty the job description, and the search committee, with the help of the assistant to the chair, presents to the faculty a plan for the search, both of which are subject to approval by a simple majority of eligible voting members. Approval can be made by vote in a meeting of the voting faculty or through electronic submission of votes to the chair of the search committee. In consultation with the chairr and the assistant to the chair (ATC), the search committee ensures that, if funding allows, the position is advertised in appropriate venues and is done in consultation with Human Resources.

The typical plan is as follows: After the application deadline, the search committee reviews applications and selects a short list of semi-finalist candidates for interviews. For lecturer positions, the committee will conduct interviews remotely. For tenure-track or tenured searches, depending on the budget or other contingencies of the particular search, the committee may choose to conduct preliminary interviews in person or remotely or to otherwise alter the timetable of the search. Following the preliminary interviews for the tenure-track and tenured searches, the search committee selects finalists to invite to campus visits.

In the case of tenure-track or tenured searches, search committees and interviews are required and may not be foregone. Lecturer search committees and interviews may be foregone only in cases of extreme urgency, such as a lecturer needing to be hired days before the beginning of a semester.

8.1.2 Campus Visits: In order that the whole department may have the opportunity to participate in hiring, all finalists for tenure-track or tenured appointments, including those with primary responsibilities outside the department, will be expected to present a lecture open to the department and university community introducing the candidate to that community. No offer of appointment as an assistant, associate, or full professor will be made until the department has heard the candidates in lecture and met to make a recommending vote on them. Campus visits may be held in selecting lecturers at the discretion of the search committee in consultation with the department chair. The final decision about whom to recommend to the dean for tenure-track and tenured appointment lies with the search committee.

8.1.3 Voting Procedures:

Recommendations for new lecturer appointments are determined by the search committee and chair.

Recommendations for new tenure-track appointments involve two votes: The first vote, requiring a two-thirds majority, is on the acceptability of each finalist. For example, if there are three finalists, the full voting members of the department may decide that two would be acceptable hires but one would not. The second vote ranks the candidates who are deemed acceptable. The results are tabulated by adding each candidate’s total rankings. For example, if a candidate receives 5 first place votes, 3 second place votes and 3 third place votes, his or her total is 20 (5 + 6 + 9). The candidate with the lowest total is the top recommendation to the search committee.

Recommendations for appointments involving tenure, following selection of the candidate:

The tenured faculty – associate and full professors – vote to recommend the conferring of tenure (requires two-thirds majority).

If the rank proposed is associate professor, the procedure is finished. If the rank proposed is full professor, the full professors alone vote (two-thirds majority) to recommend appointment at the rank of full professor.

Preparation of the candidacy file for senior appointments will be done according to the latest version of the “Promotion and Tenure Committee Procedures of the College of Arts and Sciences” (“PTC Guidelines”).

8.2. Reappointments:

8.2.1 Recommendations of reappointments of full-time lecturers are undertaken by the department chair in consultation with the advisory committee and forwarded to the dean for final approval.

8.2.2 Recommendations on reappointments of tenure-line faculty not involving tenure (the third-year or pre-tenure review) will be made according to the following procedures:

In consultation with the chair, the candidate will choose three tenured faculty members to serve on his or her Reappointment Committee. Committee members will be responsible for reports on the candidate’s scholarship, teaching, and service.

The candidate should be informed by mid-semester prior to the reappointment hearing semester, and should prepare a file including those items required in the “PTC Guidelines,” currently including A) the biofile; B) a selection of the candidate’s works or works-in-progress; C) teaching evaluations and at least one first-hand observation of the candidate in the classroom; D) a CV.

The department as a whole should be notified of the imminent reappointment hearing and department-wide opinion should be solicited in the normal manner. All files should be made available for tenured faculty to review ten days before the reappointment hearing. The tenured faculty will then meet, discuss the file, and vote.

The department chair is responsible for preparing the PTC’s required “Chair’s recommendation” (including a narrative account of the meeting) and a report of the vote as positive, negative, or tied. Tenured members of the faculty will be asked to verify its accuracy.

The department chair shall provide the candidate with a redacted version of the “Chair’s recommendation” and will meet with the candidate to discuss it.

The department chair transmits the recommendation and the reappointment file to the dean.

9. Promotion and Tenure Procedures:

9.1 Recommendations on reappointments involving continuing appointment (tenure) and on promotions to the ranks of associate professor or professor shall follow the latest “PTCGuidelines.” Workload expectations for tenure stream faculty are laid out in the department’s workload policy. The full authority for the selection of external reviewers/letter writers for promotion and tenure lies with the faculty of the DWR’s ad hoc committee on tenure and promotion. These DWR faculty will solicit letters from scholars they deem to be the most qualified to provide an evaluation of the candidate. Aspects of the process that are left to the discretion of the department are governed by the guidelines set forth in Appendix A of these bylaws.

9.2 Ad Hoc Committee: The preparation of the candidacy file is overseen by the department chair who appoints an ad hoc committee consisting of three tenured department members, or if there are not three tenured department members available, tenured members of other departments. The departmental chair should consult with the candidate on the selection of the chair of the ad hoc committee, and with the ad hoc committee chair on the selection of the other two committee members. The committee shall create a report that the department chair uses to create the candidacy file.

9.3 Notice of Unprofessional Conduct: If in the course of compiling the report any member of the committee comes upon information suggesting that the candidate may have been guilty of unprofessional or unethical conduct, they shall at once inform the department chair who shall inform the candidate. The candidate then has the option of submitting a written statement to be attached to the committee member’s report, and may also (in addition to the written response) choose to appear in person at a hearing to explain the case and answer questions. If any other member of the department intends to bring such a charge against a candidate at the hearing, they will inform the department chair, who will inform the candidate and give the candidate the same options. If during the hearing a charge of this nature is brought up without previously informing the candidate, the department chair will not permit a vote to be taken on the candidate until they have been informed of the charge and given an opportunity to respond in writing.

9.4 Concurrent Candidacy: If the department has concurrent promotion and/or tenure cases in process, these cases will be considered individually, with at least a week between the hearings. The department chair will preside.

9.4.1 Timetable: In order to meet the PTC deadlines for the submission of the candidacy file to the dean’s office, the department should complete the necessary steps in the evaluation and recommendation process at or before the deadlines in the timetable below. In preparing for candidacy, the department encourages tenure track faculty to consult the Timeline to Tenure and Promotion for Junior Faculty, which can be found here: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/cas/faculty_and_staff/faculty_affairs/reappointment_tenure_promotion/timeline-to-tenure-and-promotion

	Cases involving Promotion to Full Professor	Cases in which the final term appointment expires at the end of a fall semester	All other cases
Initiation of Candidacy	1 March	1 March	1 November
Announcement of Candidacy	5 March	5 March	5 November
Appointment of Ad Hoc Committee	31 March	31 March	30 November
Solicitation of outside evaluations	1 November	1 November	1 May
Deadline for outside evaluators	1 June	1 March	1 September
File made available to department members eligible to vote on candidate	At least 1 month before department hearing	At least 1 month before department hearing	At least 1 month before department hearing
Department Hearing	At least 1 month before PTC deadline	At least 1 month before PTC deadline	At least 1 month before PTC deadline
PTC Deadline for submission of file to dean’s office	15 September	15 May	15 January

9.5 Exceptions to Promotion Timeline: Any tenure-track member of the department who, because of some unexpected situation (e.g., an outside offer), has a legitimate need for a decision of tenure or promotion to the rank of associate professor that cannot be fit into the above timetable, shall have the right to initiate his or her candidacy at any time during the academic year by a letter to the department chair explaining the nature of the situation. The department chair shall then institute the procedures described above, setting up a special timetable and a special meeting in order to meet, if at all possible, the situation of the candidate.

9.6 Re-submission. In the event of a negative decision on a case for promotion and/or tenure, the candidate may request a resubmission during the following academic year, according to the procedures in the latest “PTC Guidelines.” Requests for resubmission must be communicated in writing to the department chair by 1 November (or 1 March for cases in which the final term of the appointment is a Fall semester). The department chair will immediately send a mail ballot to all members of the department in residence eligible to vote on this case, asking whether they favor reopening it. The ballot will include the candidate’s statement of the change in his or her qualifications, and any relevant documents or publications shall be made available to those voting. Ballots must be returned within two weeks. If there is an affirmative vote of over ½ of the eligible voters, the department chair will reopen the case by announcing the candidacy and following the procedures in the “PTC Guidelines.” If the affirmative vote is not over ½ of the eligible voters, the case is closed insofar as the department is concerned, although candidates may appeal the department’s decisions to the PTC.

10. Adoption and Amendment of the Bylaws: These bylaws will be adopted when approved by a 2/3 vote of the full voting members.

10.1 Any proposed amendment to these bylaws will be circulated to the department no less than ten days before it is to be considered for adoption. It will be adopted when approved by a 2/3 vote of full voting faculty.

10.2 Three years after initial approval, the department chair will appoint an ad hoc committee of three faculty from across academic ranks, including at least one member of the advisory committee, to review these bylaws and, if necessary, to submit to the department, for its approval, a revised set of bylaws, noting the changes it recommends. After the first review, a review will be conducted in the same manner every five years. 10.3 The current edition of the bylaws will be published on the Department of Writing and Rhetoric website.

10.4 When a member of the PWR believes that a bylaw isn't being followed, they have three options: (1) The faculty member may politely notify the individual allegedly bothering to the bylaws. (2) If the faculty member wishes to remain anonymous, they may notify the parliamentarian, who will research the situation and proceed accordingly. (3)The faculty member or the parliamentarian may call for a department meeting as outlined in section 4.5 or propose an agenda item for a meeting as outlined in section 4.1.

4.5 or propose an agenda item for a meeting as outlined in section 4.1.