Faculty Senate Committees

• Academic Affairs Committee
• Faculty Review Board
• Policy/Procedure Arbitration Committee
• University Faculty Leaves Committee
• Workload and Faculty Salary Equity Committee (WaFSEC)
• Distinguished Faculty Lecturer and Grace A. Tanner Committee
• Inclusion & Diversity Awards Committee
• Outstanding and Distinguished Educator Award Committee
• Distinguished Scholar/Creative Award Committee
• Distinguished Faculty Service Award Committee

Note University Committees are listed in the Provost's Office website.

Academic Affairs Committee

Charge: Members serve a 3-year term. One member from each academic college/school will serve on this committee. The immediate Past President of the Faculty Senate will attend faculty senate meetings and serve as a non-voting consulting member to this committee. Charge: Review and make recommendations on matters and policies relating to curriculum and other affairs concerning the faculty, including the Faculty Senate constitution, and bylaws.

Faculty Review Board

Charge: Review grievances raised which involve faculty (SUU Policy 6.22). The Faculty Senate President, in consultation with the Senate Executive Committee and members of the Senate appoints one member from each college to serve on the Faculty Review Board as described below. Senators from each college/school agree upon a faculty representative from their college/school and provide recommendations to the Senate President at least one week prior to the last Senate meeting in April. The President notifies nominees of their appointment. Should the Senators nominate someone who is unable or unwilling to serve, the Faculty Senate President will notify the senior Senator and ask for a second nominee. To serve on the Faculty Review Board, a nominee must be tenured and hold the rank of Associate Professor or Professor, and have been employed at Southern Utah University for a minimum of three years. If a student is involved in the faculty grievance, two students named by SUUSA Executive Officers and approved by the Faculty Senate Executive committee are added to the board. This is done board convenes on a case-by-case basis. Members serve a 3-year term.

Policy/Procedure Arbitration Committee

Charge: This ad hoc committee is charged to mediate differences between the Dean's Council and Faculty Senate in matters of academic policies. The committee can be convened by the Provost’s Office or by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. Members include: Faculty Senate President, Academic Affairs Committee Chair, one Academic Dean selected by the Deans’ Council and the University Provost.

University Faculty Leaves Committee

Charge: The University Faculty Leaves Committee, using criteria outlined in Policy 6.15 Faculty Leaves, will evaluate all requests for sabbatical leaves, department chair comments, and dean recommendations, and recommend approval or denial to the Provost. For those proposals recommended for approval, the University Faculty Leaves Committee provides a rank ordering to the Provost. For those proposals recommended for denial, the University Faculty Leaves Committee provides formative feedback to the faculty member's department chair regarding the proposal.

Workload and Faculty Salary Equity Committee (WaFSEC)

Charge: This committee will review revenue and salary data and keep current the SUU salary model. In addition, this committee will review and analyze the SUU faculty workload data. The committee will work with the SUU administration to address salary and workload issues. Members serve a 3-year term and shall be composed of one faculty representative from the Library and one faculty representative from each College, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences will have two representatives based on the disproportionate number of faculty members. Members need not be a member of the Faculty Senate, however all new members must be approved by the Senate. Upon the recommendation of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, a faculty member will be appointed to serve as the Chair for a three-year term.

Faculty Awards Committees

Distinguished Faculty Lecturer and Grace A. Tanner Committee

Charge: Solicit and review abstracts, select appropriate lectures from the Faculty for presentation at the SUU APEX series, and arrange receptions and/or other appropriate activities. 3-year term; 1 representative from each college and 1 at-large representative.

Inclusion & Diversity Awards Committee

Outstanding and Distinguished Educator Award Committee

Charge: This award is to recognize an individual, full-time faculty member for outstanding and distinguished teaching practices that are evident both inside and outside of the classroom. Nominees will have demonstrated a dedication to the mission and vision of the university in providing an effective teaching and learning community that engages students through high-impact teaching practices leading to personal growth, civic responsibility, and professional excellence. Nominations will be advertised through the Provost’s office and the SUU portal beginning the second or third week of January and will remain open for at least three weeks. Nominations will be solicited from students.

A committee of faculty from each academic college and school reviews nominations and selects 5-10 finalists for these awards. In addition to the comments from the nominators and number of nominations, the chair of the committee will solicit from the nominee, chair, and dean a letter detailing evidence of how the faculty provides an effective teaching and learning community that engages students through high impact teaching practices leading to personal growth, civic responsibility, and professional excellence.

After careful consideration of the aforementioned submitted materials, the committee will select one recipient and three recipients for the Outstanding and Distinguished Educator Awards, respectively. Individuals who win the Distinguished Educator award cannot receive the award for three years but can win the Outstanding Educator award. Individuals who win the Outstanding Educator award cannot win either award for three years.

The committee will send the Provost’s office the final selections the first week of March.

Distinguished Scholar/Creative Award Committee

Charge:Select SUU's Distinguished Scholarly/Creative Activity Award recipients. The selection process will include the committee notifying the campus community of the nomination process, and calling for and processing self and other nominations. The committee will then select finalists and contact each finalist for a cover letter and a curriculum vitae. The committee will then review the finalists and make the final selections. The names will be forwarded to the Provost's office the first week of March in order to ensure sufficient time for inclusion in the commencement program. 3-year term; 1 representative from each college and 1 at-large representative.

Distinguished Faculty Service Award Committee

Charge: This award is to recognize an individual, full-time faculty for demonstration of distinguished service to the University and the greater community. Nominees will have demonstrated a pattern of quality service within the last 3 years that includes; a variety of service efforts that have supported and enhanced some aspect of the University's mission; that have displayed a genuine interest in serving students, colleagues, and the University beyond the typical teaching and scholarly responsibilities. Nominations are welcomed from all faculty, staff, and students, including self-nominations. Past winners may be nominated again after 3 years. A committee of faculty from each academic college and school votes on nominations and selects the recipients of this award.

By the second week in January, the Provost's Office extends a call for nominations to the campus community. Nominations close the first week of February. The committee will review nominations and select up to 5 finalists. The committee contacts the finalists and their Department Chairs regarding the nomination. The committee requests a current Curriculum Vita, and letters of support from the Department Chairs on behalf of the finalists. The committee will then review the finalists and make the final selection. The name will be forwarded to the Provost and the Office of Marketing Communication by the first week of March in order to ensure sufficient time for inclusion in the commencement program.