Faculty Committees

Chair:  Wes Crawford, Vice Provost

Meetings
This Standing Committee will meet on an as-needed basis.

Membership

1. The chair of the committee will be the Provost or designee and may vote only in case of a tie.
   • The chair will be responsible for receiving change proposals for the Standing and Advisory.
   • Committees and Academic Councils, as well as convening the Committee on Committees when necessary to consider these changes.
2. Membership on this committee will consist of six faculty members (one from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, one from the College of Biblical Studies, one from the College of Business Administration, one from the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, one from the Onstead College of Science and Engineering, one at large), and one college dean appointed by the Provost. 
3. Faculty appointments will follow the procedure articulated for Standing Committees.

The term of service for faculty is three years.

Criteria for Membership
Full-time members of the ACU faculty are eligible to serve as faculty representatives on this committee.

Rotation
Approximately one-third of the faculty membership of the committee will rotate each year in order to provide continuity.

Functions and Responsibilities
This committee is responsible for regular review and approval of proposed changes to university standing committees, advisory committees, and academic council membership as well as the descriptions of each of these. The committee has the purview to add and close faculty committees and councils.

Administrative Officer(s)
Chair: TBD

Resource Personnel
Registrar: Eric Gumm
Students: 2

Meetings
The committee will meet at least one time each fall and spring semester.

Membership

1. The chair of the committee shall be selected from the faculty on the committee at a meeting during the spring semester before the chair will serve in that capacity. The Dean of Admissions, the Registrar, the Director of Testing, seven faculty members (one from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, one from the College of Biblical Studies, one from the College of Business Administration, one from the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, one from the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, one from the Onstead College of Science and Engineering, and one at large), a representative from SOAR, the Director of University Access Programs, and two students shall serve as members of the committee. 
2. The Vice President for Enrollment Management shall serve in an ex-officio capacity. 
3. The term of service for faculty is three years.
4. The term of service for student members is one year.

Criteria for Membership
Only full-time members of the ACU faculty may serve in faculty positions on the committee

Rotation
Approximately one-third of the faculty membership of the committee will rotate each year in order to provide continuity. 

Functions and Responsibilities
Receive an annual report from the Dean of Admissions on the admissions process including current results of recruitment, admissions and on-boarding, and review the standards and practices presented in this report. 

Consult on and recommend changes in admissions standards to the faculty and Dean of Admissions. 

Consider and recommend standards for course placement. 

Act upon appeals by students relative to matters pertaining to admission to the University. 

Advise on any enrollment questions brought before the committee by the Dean of Admissions, Vice President of Enrollment Management or the Provost.

Administrative Officer(s):
Chair: Kelly Elliott

Membership
A selection of tenured faculty representatives of the colleges within the university.

The FRL committee will consist of the following apportionment:
CAHSS:  30%
CBS:  15%
CHBS:  15%
COBA:  15%
Library:  05%
OCSE:  20%

Responsibilities

1. To review the applications for Faculty Renewal Leaves
2. To recommend to the Provost the candidates to receive a Faculty Renewal Leave.

Term of Office
The term of office is three years.

Administrative Officer(s):
Chair:  Bill Carroll, Associate Provost for Residential Graduate Programs

Meetings  
The council will meet at least once each fall and spring semester and may conduct business  electronically as needed during the summer.  

Membership

1. The Provost or designee shall serve as chair and may vote only in the case of a tie. 
2. Each Abilene department/school with a graduate program with enrolled students is entitled to one representative to the council. Departments/schools will select their  representatives and inform the chair. 
3. Ex officio members include a faculty representative from the Graduate School of Theology, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, Registrar, and President of the Graduate Student Association. The deans and directors of the schools, colleges, and units who are ultimately responsible for faculty and curriculum are  welcome to attend any council meeting of the university.  

The term of service is three years; members may succeed themselves.  

Criteria for Membership  
Full-time, tenured faculty member. Members must be active in affairs of a graduate  program as demonstrated by directing graduate student research, teaching graduate  courses, or serving as a director of a graduate program or as a graduate advisor.  

Rotation  
Approximately one-third of the membership of the Abilene Graduate Council will rotate each year in order to provide continuity.  

Functions and Responsibilities  

1. Reviews proposals for addition or deletion of Abilene graduate degree programs  and makes recommendations to the Provost, full-time faculty as defined in Chapter  One of the Faculty Handbook, and President.
2. Reviews proposals for new graduate courses and makes recommendations to the  Provost and President.
3. Reviews proposals for revision of existing courses and graduate degree programs and makes recommendations to the Provost and President.

Administrative Officers:
Chair:  Kendra Jernigan
James Wiser, Dean, Brown Library

Students (2)

Meetings
The committee will meet at least once each fall and spring semester. It is the responsibility of the chair or Dean of Library Services and Educational Technology to call the initial meeting of each semester.

Membership

1. The chair of the committee shall be selected from the faculty on the committee at a meeting during the spring semester before the chair will serve in that capacity.
2. The Dean of Library Services and Educational Technology and seven faculty members (one from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, one from the College of Biblical Studies, one from the College of Business Administration, one from the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, one from Health and Behavioral Sciences, one from Science and Engineering and one at-large) shall serve as members of the committee.

The term of service for faculty members is three years.

Criteria for Membership
Full-time member of the ACU faculty.

Rotation
Approximately one-third of the membership of the committee shall rotate each year in order to provide continuity.

Functions and Responsibilities
1. Advise the Dean of Library and Educational Technology on the library’s academic materials budget.
2. Serve as liaison for the library and the faculty, students, and administration.
3. Seek ways and means of strengthening library holdings.
4. Serve as a grant committee as funds allow.
5. Advise the Dean of Library Services and Educational Technology on any matter brought to the committee by general faculty, library faculty and staff, or any student.

Administrative Officers:
Chair:  TBD
Ryan Richardson, Vice President, Student Life

Students (4)

Meetings
The committee will meet as called by the chair or Vice President for Student Life.

Membership

1. The chair of the committee shall be selected from the faculty on the committee at a meeting during the spring semester before the chair will serve in that capacity.
2. The Vice President of Student Life, seven faculty members (one from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, one from the College of Biblical Studies, one from the College of Business Administration, one from the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, one from Science and Engineering, and two at-large), and four students shall serve as members of the committee.

The term of service for faculty members is three years. 

The term of service for student members is one year.

Criteria for Membership
Full-time member of the ACU faculty for faculty positions on the committee; full-time upper class student at ACU for student positions on the committee. Selection Students shall be selected by the Student Association to serve a one-year term.

Rotation
Approximately one-third of the membership of the committee will rotate each year in order to provide continuity.

Functions and Responsibilities

1. Serve as requested as an advisory council to the Student Life division.
2. Select students for various honors and awards.

Administrative Officer(s):
Chair:  Eric Gumm, registrar (non-voting)

Faculty	Term Expiration
Sarah Easter	2027
Andrew Holowiecki	2026
Omar Palafox	2026
Kenneth Pybus	2025
OPEN	2025

Membership
The SAC will be composed of nine members:
• The Registrar (or designee), who will serve as a non-voting chair of the committee
• 5 faculty representatives selected by the Faculty Senate
• 1 faculty member from the Student Success program
• 1 representative from Student Life
• 1 representative from the Office of Academic Advising.

The Registrar (or designee) will chair the committee, but will not vote on individual student appeals unless there is a tie.

Purpose
The purpose of the Suspension Appeals Committee (SAC) is to provide a holistic and consistent decision process for all students who appeal academic and/or Chapel suspensions based on a set of commonly agreed upon and consistently applied criteria.

Scope
The SAC will be responsible for reviewing appeals from students who have been suspended from the University – for academic reasons, Chapel absences, or both – and for deciding on the eligibility of those students to return to ACU.

General Process

1.  All suspension appeals will be submitted directly to the Registrar’s Office. The role of the Registrar’s Office is to gather information about suspension appeals and make it available to the SAC.
   1. Immediately after the appeal deadline, lists of students who are appealing will be sent to all SAC members, voting and non-voting, as well as to the dean’s offices of each college and to all department/school chairs. Any of these members or groups who have specific information about a specific student is encouraged to bring that information to the committee’s attention. Information can be sent to the Registrar’s Office to be included with the appeal information.
   2.  The SAC chair will consider the student’s request to determine if the full SAC must consider the student’s appeal. Guidelines to determine which appeals will need to be considered by the full SAC shall be decided by the committee annually. For example, the committee may decide that students bringing up low historical GPAs but with strong term GPAs need not be reviewed by the committee and be approved for appeal.
   3. The Registrar’s Office will provide the following information for all committee members:
      1. Information about the student’s current (and future, if the student intends to change) program of study
      2. A copy of the student’s ACU transcript
      3. The appeal letter submitted by the student
      4. Any supporting documentation provided by the student or advocates for the student
      5. Any information provided in advance about the student from the Offices of: Academic Advising, Student Financial Services, Student Success, or others as applicable.
   4. Based on a student’s record, the chair may also request information from any other office on campus, such as:
      1. The Office of the Director of Athletics (if the student has been or seeks to be involved in intercollegiate athletics)
      2. The University Counseling Center
      3. The University Medical Clinic
      4.  Alpha Academic Services
   5. All information about the applicants will be assembled and placed online in a password secured location. Committee members who will be unable to attend on a scheduled meeting date may participate in the decisions electronically, via email, conference call, or other technologies that would allow participation.
2. The SAC will convene to act on suspension appeals immediately following the appeal deadline at the end of each long semester. In addition, the committee will also convene prior to or early in each semester to consider late appeals.
3. The committee will determine a policy and process to deal with students who miss the suspension appeal deadline. The committee will review this process each academic year.
4. The SAC will make decisions based on input included in the packets. The SAC will not be required to meet face to face with the student requesting readmission. The decision of the SAC is final and may not be appealed.
   1. If the request is denied, the SAC chair will notify the student within two business days of the decision, in writing via the student’s ACU email address.
   2. If the request is approved, the SAC chair via the student’s ACU email address will notify the student within two business days of the decision. The department/school chair of the student’s program of study will also be notified of the decision.
   3. Students who successfully appeal will be placed on academic probation and will have a probation contract with the Academic Development Center. ADC will develop this contract with input from the committee.
5. ACD’s role will be to facilitate/require student interaction with the student’s advisor as related, at least, to the selection of classes, finalize the contract through conversation with the student, and administer the contract.

Assessment
SAC effectiveness will be assessed annually, and the results will be reported to the SAC, the Faculty Senate, the University Undergraduate Academic Council, and the Provost’s Cabinet.

Administrative Officer(s):
Chair:  Stephanie Talley

Department	Faculty	Term Expiration
Teacher Education-Elementary Education	Mitzi Adams
Chemistry and Biochemistry	Autumn Sutherlin
Music	Susan Teel
Journalism and Mass Communication	Doug Mendenhall
Theatre	Donna Hester
Teacher Education-Special Education
History and Global Studies	Allan Yarema
Mathematics	Traci Yandell
Engineering and Physics	Larry Isenhower
Biology	Rebecca Hunter
Language and Literature	Shelly Sanders
Language and Literature	Cole Bennett
Teacher Education-Secondary Education	Dana Mayhall
Art and Design	Ryan Feerer
School or IT and Computing	John Homer

Meetings
The council will meet at least once per semester.

Membership

1. The chair of the Department of Teacher Education will serve as chair and will be a voting member.
2. Members from the Teacher Education Department will include one representative from each of the following areas:
   1. Elementary Education
   2. Secondary Education
   3. Special Education
3. Each academic department with degrees that include certification will have one representative on the council.
4. The deans and directors of the schools, colleges, and units who are ultimately responsible for faculty and curriculum are welcome to attend any meeting of the TEC.

Criteria for Membership
Full-time faculty member.

Selection
The chair of the Teacher Education Council will coordinate representation on the council.

Members will be appointed by the deans with chair input and confirmed by the Provost.

Term of Membership
Terms will be three years. Members may succeed themselves.

Definitions:
The Department of Teacher Education is ultimately responsible to the State of Texas for all issues related to teacher certification. The Teacher Education Program includes all departments that offer degrees including certification, both within and outside of the Department of Teacher Education.

Functions and Responsibilities:

1. The council serves as an advisory body to the Provost and to the President regarding all matters relating to teacher education.
2. The council reviews and acts upon all revisions to existing programs, courses included in the programs, and proposed program additions or deletions in the Teacher Education Program as part of the university curriculum approval process.

Administrative Officer(s):
Chair:  Eric Gumm, registrar (non-voting)

Faculty	Term Expiration
Houston Heflin	2026
Chris Hollingsworth	2025
John Xu	2027
Scott Marshall	2025
Katie Wick	2027

Membership
The URC will be composed of eight members, consisting of:
• The Registrar (or designee), who will also serve as a non-voting chair of the committee,
• 5 faculty representatives selected by the Faculty Senate
• 1 representative from the Office of Academic Advising
• 1 representative from Student Life.

Purpose
The purpose of the Undergraduate Readmission Committee (URC) is to provide a holistic response to requests to return to ACU and to base such responses on a set of commonly agreed on and consistently applied criteria.

Scope
The URC will be responsible for processing requests from all undergraduate students who wish to return to ACU after having been away for one or more long semesters as a result of their own choice or as a result of a suspension.

General Process 

1. All requests for readmission will be submitted directly to the Registrar’s Office. The role of the Registrar’s Office is to gather information about the re-applicant and distribute information to the URC.
   1. Upon receipt of a request for readmission, the Registrar’s Office will notify Student Financial Services of the student’s interest in returning. SFS will be asked to provide information about:
      1. unpaid balances or other issues from the past that must be addressed before a student could be readmitted, and
      2. the student’s eligibility for financial aid should the application for readmission be approved. This information will be used solely for the purpose of communicating with the student and should not have an impact on the readmission decision for that student.
   2. The URC chair will consider the student’s request to determine if the student’s appeal must be considered by the full URC. For example, a student who withdrew from school due to a medical condition may not have the same issues as a student who was suspended for poor grades. The URC will develop criteria for the chair to use in making this decision.
   3. The Registrar’s Office will provide the following information to committee members:
      1. Information about the student’s current (and future, if the student intends to change) program of study
      2. Copies of transcripts from all institutions the student has attended
      3. The Application for Readmission
      4. A short, written statement detailing why the student wishes to return to ACU.
   4. Based on a student’s record, the Registrar’s Office may also request information from any other office on campus, such as:
      1. The Office of the Director of Athletics (if the student has been or seeks to be involved in intercollegiate athletics)
      2. The Director of Judicial Affairs 
      3. Student Financial Services
      4. The University Counseling Center
      5. The University Medical Clinic
      6. The Center for International Education 
      7. Alpha Academic Services
      8. Student Success.
   5. All information about the applicants will be assembled and placed online in a password secured location. Committee members who will be unable to attend on a scheduled meeting date may participate in the decisions electronically, via email, conference call, or other technologies that would allow participation.
2. The URC will act on readmission packets completed at least one week in advance of each regularly scheduled URC meeting. Requests not submitted early enough to allow completion of the packet by the deadline will be considered at the next URC meeting. The URC will convene four times per year:
   1. At least three weeks prior to the beginning of the fall term (to consider requests submitted over the summer for readmission effective with the fall term)
   2. At least three weeks prior to the beginning of spring registration in the fall semester (to consider requests submitted during the fall term for readmission effective with the spring term and to allow readmitted students to register for spring classes with their registration group
   3. At least three weeks prior to the beginning of the spring term (to consider requests submitted during the fall term for readmission effective with the spring term),
   4. At least three weeks prior to fall registration in the spring semester (to consider requests submitted December – February for readmission effective with the fall term, and to allow readmitted students to register for fall classes with their registration group)
   5. An additional meeting late in the spring semester may be required to discuss readmission candidates for the summer term.
3. The URC will make decisions based on input included in the packets. The URC will not be required to meet face to face with the student requesting readmission. The decision of the URC is final and may not be appealed.
   1. If the request is denied, the student will be advised of the denial within two business days of the decision, in writing via email address provided on the appeal form. The URC chair will generate the letter.
   2. If the request is approved, the URC will notify the student, the student’s advisor, and the student’s department/school chair of the approval in writing via email within two business days of the decision. The URC chair will generate the letter. The letter will also include information about the student’s campus housing status, any hold flags which the student may have, and eligibility for financial aid.
4. Academic Development Center’s role will be to facilitate/require student interaction with the student’s advisor as related, at least, to the selection of classes, finalize the contract with the input of the URC and through conversation with the student, and administer the contract.

Assessment
URC operations and effectiveness will be assessed annually, and the results will be reported to the URC, the Faculty Senate, the University Undergraduate Academic Council, and the Provost’s Cabinet.

Administrative Officers:
Jessica Smith

Ex-officio Members (non-voting)
Brent Reeves-Outgoing Chair, Faculty Senate
Chris Riley, SACSCOC Liaison

Students (2)-appointed by the Executive Committee of the Students’ Association

The deans and directors of the schools, colleges and units who are ultimately responsible for faculty and curriculum are welcome to attend any meeting of the UGEC.

Meetings
The council will meet at least one time each fall and spring semester.

Membership

1. The Provost or designee shall serve as chair and may vote only in the case of a tie.
2. Nine full-time faculty members will serve as members (one from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, one from the College of Biblical Studies, one from the College of Business Administration, one from the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, one from the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, one from Science and Engineering, one from the Library and two at-large). 
3. Ex officio members will include the Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, Registrar, Chair-elect of the Faculty Senate or his/her designee, and two students (1 junior, 1 senior appointed by the Student Government Association). The deans and directors of the schools, colleges, and units ultimately responsible for faculty and curriculum are welcome to attend any meeting of the UGEC.  

The term of service is three years, and a member is not eligible for immediate reappointment.

Criteria for Membership
Full-time faculty member. Faculty with administrative appointments beyond chair or program director are ineligible for membership. Representatives from Abilene colleges must be tenured or tenure-track.

Rotation
Approximately one-third of the membership of the University General Education Council will rotate each year in order to provide continuity. 

Functions and Responsibilities

1. Annually monitors the quality of the general education curriculum, including the assessment of student outcomes; 
2. Periodically reviews and approves changes to the undergraduate student learning outcomes;
3. Periodically reviews the general education curriculum requirements; 
4. Reviews and approves proposed changes to the general education curriculum.

Administrative Officers:
Chair:  Andrew Huddleston

Membership
The Tenure and Promotion Committee is a standing committee of the faculty composed of tenured full-time faculty at the rank of professor. Apportionment is based on full-time faculty by college. The committee must include at least one representative from each Abilene academic college.

Appointment
College deans recommend candidates, and after election by the faculty, the names are forwarded to the Provost for approval.

Purpose
The role of the dean, Tenure and Promotion Committee, and the Provost is:

1. To ensure that the department/school has faithfully and fairly executed the departmental/school guidelines for tenure and promotion.
2. To ensure that institutional promotion policy is upheld.
3. To alert/notify the department/school of important information that might be missing from the promotion materials.

Procedures
Other procedures of the Tenure and Promotion Committee are detailed in the Tenure and Promotion Policy in Chapter 3 of the Faculty Handbook.

Administrative Officer(s):
Chair: Wes Crawford, Vice Provost

Faculty by College	Term Expiration
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Todd Womble	2025
Biblical Studies
Tim Sensing	2026
Business Administration
Brian Burton	2027
Health and Behavioral Sciences
Rachel Slaymaker	2026
Science and Engineering
Robert Brown	2026
At-Large
James Drachenberg	2025
Rodney Ashlock	2027

Ex-officio Members (non-voting)
Lisa Merchant, Graduate Council
Eric Gumm, Registrar
Autumn Sutherlin, Chair, Faculty Senate
Scott Hamm, Adams Center

Meetings
The council will meet at least one time each fall and spring semester.

Membership

1. The Provost or designee shall serve as the chair and may vote only in the case of a tie. 
2. Seven full-time, tenured faculty members will serve as members of the council. One representative will be a faculty member of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, one will be from the College of Biblical Studies, one will be from the College of Business Administration, one will be from the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, one will be from the Onstead College of Science and Engineering, and two will be at-large. At-large membership will be distributed among the colleges and other academic units with no two members from the same department or academic area. Department/school chairs or directors must not be a majority of the members of the council.
3. Ex-officio members will include the Dean of Library Services and Educational Technology, the Director of Instructional Design in the Adams Center, the Registrar, a representative from the Graduate Council, and the chair of the Faculty Senate or his/her designee. The deans and directors of the schools, colleges, and units who are ultimately responsible for faculty and curriculum are welcome to attend any meeting of the UUAC.

Members will serve a term of three years. A member is not eligible for immediate reappointment. 

Criteria for Membership
Full-time, tenured faculty member.

Rotation
Approximately one-third of the membership of the Abilene Undergraduate Academic Council will rotate each year in order to provide continuity.

Functions and Responsibilities

1. Reviews proposals for addition or deletion of Abilene undergraduate educational programs and makes recommendations to the Provost, full-time faculty as defined in Chapter One of the Faculty Handbook, and President;
2. Reviews general requirements for graduation, policies governing probation and suspension, and requirements for graduating with honors and makes recommendations to the full-time faculty as defined in Chapter One of the Faculty Handbook;
3. Reviews proposals for new undergraduate courses and makes recommendations to the Provost and President.
4. Reviews proposals for revision of existing courses and undergraduate educational programs.

Administrative Officer(s):
Chair: Candice Ortbals-Wiser

Meetings
The council will meet at least one time each fall and spring semester.

Membership

1. The co-chairs shall be the Faculty Director of Undergraduate Research, Creativity and Innovation and the Executive Director of Research.
2. To give a broad representation from across the university the Council shall have three representatives each from: (1) arts and humanities, (2) social sciences and (3) STEM disciplines.

Criteria for Membership
Membership on the council will include faculty members who have demonstrated interest, activity, and experience working with undergraduate students in research or creative inquiry and who are representatives of the broad disciplinary areas represented in the university.

Selection
The Faculty Director of Undergraduate Research, Creativity and Innovation will solicit nominations from the deans in consultation with department chairs. The Faculty Director will submit the nominations with the recommended approval of one person for each position to the Provost. The Provost shall make formal appointments.

Term of Membership
The term of service is three years, and a member is not eligible for immediate reappointment, except by special exemption approved by the Provost when no replacement candidates within the discipline are available.

Rotation
Every effort shall be made to adjust terms to accomplish even rotation patterns. Some terms of service shall be adjusted in order to have no more than four members beginning in one year.

Functions and Responsibilities

1. Advise the Office of Undergraduate Research, Creativity and Innovation. 
2. Develop, administer, and promote programs and activities that encourage faculty and students to engage more actively in collaborative undergraduate research projects across the university, including responsibility for allocation of funds that are made available for such projects.
3. Establish and maintain appropriate policies and procedures for the conduct of undergraduate research that assure compliance with protocols of responsible scholarship, in conjunction with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
4. Review and evaluate travel and undergraduate research grant proposals.
5. Report annually to the university, specifically the Provost’s Office, regarding the scope and significance of undergraduate research projects that have been conducted over the past twelve months.