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Membership Handbook

Welcome to the IU Indianapolis Faculty Council!

Congratulations on your election or appointment to the IU Indianapolis Faculty Council (IFC). This page serves as a handbook for IFC members and provides information about the council's role, responsibilities, and operations. To learn more about your fellow council members and your role on the IFC, view the membership roster here. 

The IFC is the shared faculty governance body representing faculty at IU Indianapolis, including representatives from IU Fort Wayne and IU Columbus. Its members serve in voting, non-voting, officer, and ex officio roles, working together to discuss and act on matters affecting the faculty of IU Indianapolis and the university as a whole. Minutes from past meetings documenting IFC discussions and actions are available in the meeting archives (current academic year and past years).

The work of the IFC is guided by its Constitution and Bylaws, applicable university policies, and the Constitution and Bylaws of the University Faculty Council.

Monthly Meetings

The IFC typically meets on the first Tuesday of each month from September to May during the academic year (in most cases; there are some off-cycle dates). Members are expected to attend and actively participate in these monthly meetings.

The annual meeting schedule is available on the Meetings webpage, and calendar invitations are sent to members through Microsoft Outlook.

Agendas

Meeting agendas typically include votes on proposed policy and procedures changes, council elections, and other governance matters. Meetings also feature reports on campus initiatives, academic units, and IFC committee activities, as well as regular reports from the IFC president, chancellor, provost, and the Staff Council president.

The Executive Committee approves each meeting agenda. Agendas are posted to the Meetings webpage and distributed by email to IFC members and all IU Indianapolis faculty a few days before each meeting. 

Because agenda items may change before the meeting, members are encouraged to use the most current version of the agenda available at the meeting rather than printing the copy included with the email reminder. However, members are responsible for reviewing, downloading, or printing any linked circulars or supporting documents before the meeting.

Meeting Location & Attendance

Meetings are held in the theater in the IU Indianapolis Campus Center. 

All attendees, including members, alternates, and guests, are asked to sign in at the registration table upon arrival. The registration table also provides the most current meeting agenda and any last-minute handouts related to the meeting or other campus initiatives of interest to the faculty.

If you are unable to attend a meeting, please arrange for an alternate to attend on your behalf and notify the Faculty Council Office at ude[dot]ui[at]licnuocf before the meeting. Your alternate should sign in upon arrival. 

Alternates

A council member who is unable to attend a meeting may designate an alternate who is not a current member of the council. An alternate may participate in discussion and vote on behalf of the member, provided the alternate is a member of the voting faculty.

Voting faculty include all full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, as well as non-tenure-track faculty holding clinical, lecturer, professor of practice, or research scientist/scholar appointments.

Membership and Responsibilities

The IFC elected members are president, vice president, unit representatives, at-large representatives, and the Executive Committee. Membership also includes non-voting roles of parliamentarian, academic unit heads, University Faculty Council representatives, faculty governance leaders from the schools, and representatives from the Senior Academy, Staff Council, Undergraduate Student Government, Graduate Student Organization, Division of Undergraduate Education, and the IU Indianapolis Honors College. The full composition of the IFC is listed here. Below are the responsibilities of the membership positions:

An at-large representative attends monthly meetings of the IFC and votes on policy and resolutions representing all faculty at IU Indianapolis. An at-large representative serves a two-year term and can be re-elected for another two-year term. Their term begins with the first council meeting of the fall semester.

Unit representatives are voting members of the IFC and serve a term of two years (renewable), commencing with the first council meeting of the fall semester. Per the IFC Constitution and Bylaws, unit representatives are members of the voting faculty. Schools elect representatives in accordance with their Constitution and Bylaws.

The IFC Executive Committee consists of ten members of the voting faculty. The president of the IFC serves as chair with the chancellor or his designee and the vice president of the IFC serving as ex-officio. The members serve a two-year term and can be re-elected for another term. The committee charge is as follows:

This committee shall (1) determine the agenda for its own meetings and for regular meetings of the Council; (2) solicit, with the help of the Faculty Council director, the interest of faculty in serving on IU Indianapolis Faculty Council Standing Committees by the middle of March; (3) serve as the Committee on Committees for the Council; (4) oversee the election of the at-large IU Indianapolis representatives and the UFC representatives.

The University Faculty Council (UFC) is a separate governance body led by the presidents of the IU Indianapolis and IUB Faculty Councils as well as a representative from the other campuses of Indiana University, and comprised of members from across the university system. The IU Indianapolis representatives' service is to attend the UFC meetings when called as a voting member. Representatives vote on policy for the university faculty body (not just those faculty in their school/unit). The UFC representatives serve on the IFC as non-voting members but are voting members of the UFC.

Annual Reports

Each year, the council office prepares an annual report. You can find those reports here.

Committees

Much of the IFC's work is carried out through committees that address matters related to faculty affairs, student affairs, and other academic issues affecting the campus and university. A list of committees, their charges, and current rosters can be found on the Committees page.

Committee members include both Faculty Council members and faculty from across the IU Indianapolis campus. Faculty do not need to be members of the IFC to serve on a committee. Committee members may serve up to three consecutive two-year terms.

Each committee receives its initial charge from the IFC Executive Committee (IFC-EC) during the annual chair orientation held in early fall. Additional assignments may be made throughout the academic year as new initiatives or issues are referred to the council. At the end of each academic year, every committee submits an annual report summarizing its activities and accomplishments. 

Questions?

If you have any questions about IFC membership, please contact the Office of the Faculty Council by email at ude[dot]ui[at]licnuocf.