Faculty Handbook

The 2022 Faculty Handbook (pdf) is a compendium of all of the governing documents related to the faculty body. This includes the Constitution of the BSU Faculty (pdf) and Bylaws of the Constitution of the BSU Faculty (pdf).

The current Faculty Handbook was ratified in May 2022 and contains the official governing documents of the BSU Faculty Senate. The Faculty Handbook was revised by an ad hoc committee in 2017-2018 and the 2019-2020 Faculty Handbook Ad Hoc Committee, which was appointed by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee in Fall 2019. The Ad Hoc committee was charged with conducting a comprehensive review of the aforementioned documents and proposing additional revisions, as needed, to align the Faculty Handbook with current BSU and system policies and practices. During AY 2019-2020 , chapters of the revised drafts of the Faculty Handbook have been continuously posted to the BSU Faculty Senate Blackboard Community, as they have been completed, for faculty review, discussion, and suggested amendments. The 2019-2020 revised draft of the Faculty Handbook was adopted with suggested modifications, by majority vote of the Faculty Association, in May 2020. In AY 2020-2021, the revised Faculty Handbook was finalized and in AY 2021-2022 it was approved by the Provost and President. The official 2022 Faculty Handbook was officially ratified in May 2022.

Per section 2.6.2 - Faculty Handbook Review and Revision Process of the 2022 Faculty Handbook, the policies in the Faculty Handbook should be corrected on an annual basis. The current Faculty Handbook shall continue in force until it has been changed by one of the procedures described in the revision process. The faculty shall accept or reject the amendment(s) by a simple majority vote of the Full Faculty. The faculty may modify the proposal and accept the modifications or may return it for further work or modification. The revision is concluded in accordance with the action of the President, or, if necessary, the action of the Board of Regents.

In May 2020, a new Faculty Handbook Committee was created, by majority vote of the Faculty Association. The committee will be responsible for engaging in a continuous review process and making recommendations for amendments and, if adopted, updating the Faculty Handbook on an annual basis. A structured continuous review process was also adopted by majority vote of the Faculty Association in May 2020. The Faculty Handbook Committee was activated in Fall 2020. We are grateful to the members of Faculty Handbook Ad Hoc Committee that continued serving until members of the Faculty Handbook Committee were elected during a Special Election in Fall 2020.

Amendments to the Constitution of the BSU Faculty are approved by a two-thirds vote of the ballots cast by the Faculty Association and by the President.

Amendments to the Bylaws of the Constitution of the BSU Faculty are adopted when approved by at least two-thirds vote of the ballots cast by the Faculty Association.

As of Fall 2021, the revised Faculty Handbook that was approved by majority vote of the Faculty Association is being reviewed by and awaiting approval of the Provost and President. We are confident that this process will be complete and the new Faculty Handbook will be ratified this Fall.