Committee on Governance

From the Faculty Handbook:

“The Committee on Governance (COG) consists of five elected Faculty Members, one Member of the Faculty appointed by the president, and, ex officio, the provost and the secretary of the Faculty. Vacancies that occur during the academic year are filled for the unexpired term by special election from a ballot of candidates nominated at a Faculty meeting. A Member may not be elected committee chair in successive years.

The election of COG members is conducted by the Secretary of the Faculty. Membership on this Committee is limited to not more than two elected Faculty Members from any one academic discipline. The election procedure is as follows. The secretary prepares a nominating ballot listing eligible Faculty Members by discipline and distributes it to all Members of the Faculty, with instructions to select up to five names from the list. The ten Faculty Members receiving the largest number of nominations, who are also eligible and willing to serve, are then placed on an electing ballot which will contain no more than two names from any one academic discipline. This ballot is distributed with voting instructions to all Members of the Faculty.

COG is responsible for offering nominations and for conducting the election of the Secretary of the Faculty (when that office is vacant) and of Faculty Members to standing and ad hoc committees, except for the election of its own membership and that of the Committee on Tenure and Academic Freedom. Starting in early spring, COG will provide a ballot for the vacancies on each of the other standing Committees, after ascertaining the willingness of each nominee to serve. The ballot will also include names of those nominated by petition signed by five Faculty Members. Ballots will be distributed to each Member of the Faculty and returned to the Committee. The election procedure should normally be completed by the end of Term C. This Committee has the jurisdiction to fill vacancies which may occur during the year in committees which come under its electoral jurisdiction. Such appointments will be only until the next annual election.

COG also receives from members of the WPI community requests for consideration of matter which do not appear to lie within the jurisdiction of existing Faculty Governance and the responsibilities of the Student Government, the Campus Judicial System, or the Administration. The Committee acts by attempting to resolve the issues itself, by referral to an appropriate person or group, or by creation of an ad hoc committee.

COG is also responsible for the formulation of recommendations to the Faculty on changes and additions to the Faculty Rules and Bylaws, and the Faculty Committee structure, as well as for the resolution of questions of jurisdiction of the Faculty Committees relative to each other. The Chair of COG serves as one of the Faculty Representatives to the Board of Trustees.”