Honors Board Committee - Academic Senate

Honor Board Operating Procedures

Approved March 17, 2017

1.               Responsibilities—The Honors Board, a committee of the Academic Senate, oversees the Honors Program, and is responsible for approving, monitoring, and/or evaluating all aspects of the program.

1.1             Develop the criteria to be used by the Director for approval of student applicants to the Honors Program.  These criteria can be found in the NMU Undergraduate Bulletin.

1.2             Recommendation to the Provost of candidates for the position of Honors Program Academic Director

1.3             Approval of faculty members for honors faculty status.

1.4             First-time recommendation to the Committee on Undergraduate Programs and the Academic Senate of courses proposed to meet the upper division component requirement of the Honors Program sequence, except for special topics courses (which would need to be approved in each case).

1.5             Evaluation and continued development of all components of the Honors Program, including evaluation of faculty and the performance of the program director.

1.6             Preparing an annual report on the Honors Program to the Academic Senate via the Chair of the Senate.

2.               Membership—The Honors Board shall have thirteen (13) voting members, including:

Nine (9) members with faculty rank as approved by the Academic Senate.  Committee terms of the nine members shall be three years, one-third of which shall expire each year.

Two (2) student members, one Freshman or Sophomore and one Junior or Senior, selected by the Honors Student Organization (HSO) in accordance with their bylaws and approved by the Honors Board.

One (1) academic Dean, appointed by the Provost

One (1) academic Department Head, appointed by the Provost

The Director and the Assistant Director of the Honors Program will serve as non-voting ex-officio members of the Board.

If a member misses more than three meetings in a semester, the Board may ask the appropriate body to replace them.

3.               Elections and Term of Office

3.1             During the last meeting of the academic year, the Honors Board shall elect a Chair, Vice-chair, and Secretary for the following year.  The Chair shall have a minimum of one year's experience on the committee.  The terms of office shall be one year.

3.2             Terms of Honors Board Membership shall follow CEC guidelines.

4.               Responsibilities of Officers

4.1             The Chair shall convene meetings and coordinate the activities of Honors Board with other academic bodies on campus.

4.2             The Chair shall submit reports, including the End-of-Year Report to the Senate.

4.3             The Chair shall prepare and distribute an agenda for each regularly scheduled meeting.

4.4             The Chair shall maintain a record of the meetings and business of the committee. 

4.5             The Chair shall maintain a running list of Honors faculty and courses taught.

4.6             The Vice-chair shall convene meetings in the Chair’s absence and lead sub-committees as assigned.

4.7             The Secretary shall take and maintain meeting minutes for distribution to committee members. Minutes of the previous meeting shall normally be distributed to the membership prior to the next meeting.

4.8            Approved minutes of Honors Board meetings shall be kept on file.

5.               Meetings

5.1             The Honors Board shall meet once or twice monthly (depending on need) during the academic year.

5.2             A quorum shall be a majority of the voting membership.

5.3             Approval of a motion shall require a simple majority of the quorum.

5.4             Amendments to these Bylaws shall require approval by a simple majority of the quorum and are subject to review by the Academic Senate.

6                Subcommittees

6.1             The faculty who are voting members on the Honors Board will compose the Faculty Advisory Subcommittee.  This subcommittee will work with the Director and the Assistant Director of the Honors Program and the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs on curriculum development and the review of faculty.

6.1.1          Responsibilities of the Faculty Advisory Subcommittee:

6.1.1.1       Approval and disapproval of all eligible faculty members for Honors Faculty Status. Honors faculty status will be a requirement for teaching honors courses and the Faculty Advisory Subcommittee will establish the criteria by which faculty applicants will be judged.  The subcommittee will review and modify the criteria on an annual basis. The responsibility for obtaining timely approval of Honors Faculty status rests with the individual faculty member.

6.1.1.2       If a member of the Honors Board decides to submit an application for honors faculty status, he or she will not participate in the activities of the Faculty Advisory Subcommittee when his or her specific submission is under consideration due to a conflict of interest.

6.1.1.3       Faculty who have not taught in the Honors Program within the past 5 years will need to be reapproved. Course syllabi that have not been taught within the past 5 years will also need to be reapproved.

1. 1. 2. Evaluation of faculty instruction in the Honors Program according to the AAUP Master Agreement. 
         1. Faculty evaluation by the HB will be restricted to the instruction of honors courses.
         2. The Faculty Advisory Subcommittee will establish the criteria by which faculty will be evaluated.  The subcommittee will review and modify the criteria on an annual basis.
         3. A member of the Honors Board will not participate in the activities of the Faculty Advisory Committee when his or her own evaluation is under consideration.
      3.       Student and administrative representatives on the Honors Board will not participate in the activities of the Faculty Advisory Committee.