Faculty Governance

Governing Faculty

The governing faculty of the School of Information (UMSI) consists of all tenured, tenure-track, and research professorial faculty in the School of Information whose appointment in the School reflects 50% or greater effort. Clinical faculty with greater than one year of service are also members of the governing faculty for non-tenure policy decisions and non-tenure-track hiring decisions.

Individuals who are appointed to the governing faculty but whose effort falls under 50% for 2 consecutive years will not be considered to be part of the governing faculty. If their appointment later rises to 50% or above, they will again sit on the governing faculty.

On occasion, governing faculty may vote to grant governing status to individuals in other ranks, including lecturers. To initiate this process, individuals should make a request to the Dean to be considered for governing faculty status. After this initiation, the governing faculty will then make the final determination of governing faculty membership. Assistant research scientists, most adjunct titles, and visiting faculty are not eligible to become members of the UMSI governing faculty.

The Dean is the chief executive officer of the School. The Dean is advised in decisions by the dean’s advisory committee (DAC), other individual committees in the school, and the governing faculty at large.

Governing faculty are distinct from Core Faculty  

Not all faculty are "core," and not all core faculty are part of the "governing" faculty.  While the core faculty includes all faculty who have effort in UMSI that is 50% or greater and are in tenured, tenure-track, research, clinical, or lecturer positions, the governing faculty only include a subset of the clinical faculty (those who have greater than one year of service) and faculty who have been granted governing status.  

The University of Michigan has Regent's By-Laws on Procedures in Cases of Dismissal, Demotion, or Terminal Appointment for Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty

Dean's Advisory Committee (DAC)

The DAC is an important part of faculty governance.  DAC has the responsibility of advising the Dean and representing the faculty on all aspects of the School, including but not limited to educational and research policy, hiring, promotion and tenure, strategic planning, and bud­getary matters. To ensure that they fulfill their roles as faculty representatives, DAC members are responsible for gathering input and consulting with the faculty community (who are not on DAC). They will also engage in cross-campus information gathering, as appropriate and needed, to enhance UMSIs participation in broader activities on campus. 

DAC members are elected and serve on the committee for a 1-year-term. 

For more information about the duties of DAC, please see "Faculty Service Within UMSI" page.