Termination Committee

3.3.3.21 Termination Committee

1. Membership: The Termination Committee is established by the faculty, in response to the requirements of UWS 4.03 and UWS 5.11 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, as a standing committee of nine tenured, full-time faculty members, nominated and elected by the faculty. (Academic staff shall not participate in the election of this committee.)

2. Term of Office: Three years with one-third (three members) being elected each year. The term of office begins in September.

3. Election procedures:

1. Committee members shall be nominated and elected at large.
2. The Elections Chair [FS 11/12 #53], (here and everywhere else "Vice Chair" formerly appeared in Ch. 3) of the Faculty Senate shall supervise both nominations and elections to the Termination Committee.
3. All faculty members (but not academic staff) shall be eligible to nominate and vote for members of the Termination Committee.
4. During the spring semester, the Elections Chair of the Faculty Senate shall furnish each voting member with a list of all tenured members of the faculty eligible for nomination. Each faculty member may nominate one person for each vacancy that exists on the Committee.
5. Two persons will be nominated for each vacancy. Those nominated will be faculty members receiving the largest number of votes.
6. The Elections Chair of the Faculty Senate will contact the nominees and obtain their consent before placing their names on the election ballot. If any nominee declines, the person having the next largest number of votes shall have his or her name placed on the ballot once it is determined by the Elections Chair that he or she accepts the nomination.
7. The Elections Chair shall inform the voting faculty of the list of nominees and conduct the election by the end of the spring semester.
8. Election shall be by secret ballot. The persons receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected and the vote will be published.
9. Ties will be broken by lot.

4. Internal Organization

1. The Termination Committee shall elect a chair and other necessary officers from among its members. The Chair of the Termination Committee from the previous year shall call a meeting of the Termination Committee by October 15 of the current academic year. The first order of business shall be electing a Chair for the current academic year from among the nine members serving for the current academic year. Once a new Chair is elected, the obligations of the former Chair end. If, for any reason, the Chair from the previous year is unable to call this meeting, the Faculty Senate Chair, or someone delegated by him or her, should do so. Such officers shall not serve beyond the beginning of the next fall semester unless re-elected.
2. For hearings, the Chair of the Termination Committee shall select five panelists by lot from the nine elected Committee members. No one who has participated directly in the lay-off, dismissal or termination decision under consideration shall serve on that panel.
3. If insufficient panelists are eligible from the nine standing Committee members, the chair shall select additional members by lot from the eligible faculty in order to complete the hearing panel of five members.
4. Each committee impaneled to conduct a hearing shall elect its own chair.
5. A panel may select an advisor to assist it in the conduct of the hearing in such ways as it directs. Such an advisor shall have no vote in the deliberations of the panel.

5. Powers and Responsibilities:

1. Hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures stipulated in UWS 4 or UWS 5 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code and any additional procedures deemed necessary to conduct business.
2. The Termination Committee and the hearing panels are empowered to adopt such other procedures as they deem necessary for the proper conduct of their business.