University of New Mexico. Faculty Senate.

Originally there were large meetings at least 4 times a year with the entire faculty and a Policy Committee that reviewed the rules/regulations of the faculty. It was decided that these large faculty meetings and the Policy Committee would be replaced in July of 1976 with a Faculty Senate. Each of the colleges would elect a certain number of faculty members to represent their college in the Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate acts for the entire faculty in coordinating faculty governance at the University of New Mexico. The Faculty Senate has the power to act on all Faculty business except specified business to be reserved for the faculty as a whole, which meets twice a year. The Senate exercises the faculty's responsibilities for education, care of students, and their contributions to the academic excellence of the university and to an environment in which all members of the campus community are free to learn and to communicate.

From the description of Records, 1894-[ongoing]. (University of New Mexico-Main Campus). WorldCat record id: 52724656

The Faculty Senate acts for the entire faculty in coordinating faculty governance at the University of New Mexico. The Senate exercises the faculty's responsibilities for education, care of students, and their contributions to the academic excellence of the university and to an environment in which all members of the campus community are free to learn and to communicate. The policies and procedure by which this is governed, the Faculty Constitution and Faculty Senate Bylaws, as well as personnel policies regulating sabbatical leaves and promotion and tenure are found in the UNM Faculty Handbook.

Originally the Faculty Senate had large faculty meetings at least 4 times a year with the entire faculty and a Policy Committee that reviewed the rules/regulations of the faculty. It was decided upon that the large faculty meetings were a problem. The faculty was only interested in attending meetings that had an item on the agenda that concerned them. This led to "packing the meetings by those who were affected by the outcome of the issue. It was decided that these large faculty meetings and the Policy Committee would be replaced in July of 1976 with a Faculty Senate. Each of the colleges would elect a certain number of faculty members to represent their college in the Faculty Senate. This number would be determined based on the number of faculty in the college. The elected faculty from each college would meet once a month to discuss issues, rules, and regulations that affected the faculty of the University of New Mexico. The Faculty Senate has the power to act on all Faculty business other than certain specified business to be reserved for the faculty as a whole, which meets twice a year.

Because of this history of the Faculty Senate the collection is arranged first chronologically starting with the original Faculty meetings, the Policy Committee, and the Faculty Senate, followed by the committees under the Faculty Senate alphabetically.

The committees under the Faculty Senate are assigned to specific topics such as scholarships, admissions, and student affairs. These committees often have name changes over the years. The Entrance and Credits committee was changed to Admissions and Registration committee in 1976. The Patent and Copyright Policy subcommittee of the Research Policy Committee was changed to Intellectual Property subcommittee in 1986. The Scholarship, Prizes, and Loans committee constantly changed its name, thus for consistency it is all filed under Scholarship, Prizes, and Loans committee. The Retirement and Insurance committee changed its name frequently also, thus all of the information is filed under Retirement and Insurance Committee. The same can be said for Faculty/Staff Benefits and Welfare Committee. The Community Education was also referred to as Continuing Education committee, but for the sake of this collection it is all filed under Community Education. The Curricula Committee was originally called Courses of Study committee, therefore, for material before 1944 refer to Courses of Study Committee. The Graduate and Curricula Committees jointly approve graduate courses and changes in the curricula. Information might be cross-filed.

From the guide to the University of New Mexico. Faculty Senate Records, 1894-[ongoing], (University of New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research.)