I. Authority of the Manual of Operations and Procedures
This manual of operations and procedures contains the operating procedures for faculty governance of the Department of Cinematic Arts. The Department shall follow the operating rules and procedures of the University and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and shall follow the operating rules and procedures in this document as a supplement thereto. Once approved by the department and the College, this manual of operations and procedures becomes effective immediately.
II. Faculty membership and eligibility to vote
A. Types of faculty appointment
See the CLAS Manual of Policy and Procedure, Article I, Section I.1: “The CLAS Faculty.”
a. Regular Faculty: refers to individuals holding salaried tenured, tenure-track, or instructional-track appointments in Cinematic Arts, or faculty who currently are on paid or unpaid leave from such an appointment.
b. 0% Appointment Faculty: refers to individuals holding appointments in another unit at the University of Iowa and where Cinematic Arts does not contribute toward the individual's salary. All zero percent appointments rest upon a written agreement between the department and the individual faculty member, for a term of one to three years, renewable, and subject to approval of the faculty of Cinematic Arts. The faculty member holding an unsalaried secondary appointment will have voting rights only if such rights are explicitly granted in the written agreement. Zero percent faculty members are welcome participants in faculty meetings. See the CLAS policy on “Faculty Appointments and Review – Joint and Affiliate Faculty Appointments.”
B. Faculty rights and responsibilities
Both individually and as a body, the faculty is responsible for carrying out the mission of the department in accordance with the policies and procedures of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Graduate College, and the University. Individual faculty members fulfill these responsibilities in accordance with the University’s policy on professional ethics and academic responsibility (see University Operations Manual, chapter 15). All regular faculty are expected to attend and participate in all faculty meetings. Visiting faculty may attend faculty meetings, but are not obliged to do so; visiting faculty may not attend meetings (or sections thereof) dealing with faculty searches, personnel discussions or otherwise confidential matters. The department distributes teaching and service assignments to faculty. It provides guidance through periodic reviews to ensure that all faculty participate appropriately and equitably in the teaching, research, and service missions of the department, the College, and the University.
C. Rules of eligibility for voting
a. Tenure-track faculty holding appointments of 50% or more in the department have full voting rights.
b. Instructional-track faculty with appointments of 50% or more have the right to participate on all departmental votes except votes on the reappointment or promotion of tenured or tenure-track faculty, as stipulated in university and CLAS policy (see the University Operations Manual, Section III, Chapter 10.11; CLAS Instructional Faculty Policy).
c. Faculty members holding secondary appointments of less than 50% in the department will have voting rights only if such rights are granted in the written agreement approved by Cinematic Arts faculty.
d. Visiting Assistant Professors do not have voting rights in the department.
Table of Contents
I. Authority of the Manual of Operations and Procedures
II. Faculty membership and eligibility to vote
VI. Amendments to Manual of Operations and Procedures
Amended by the Department of Cinematic Arts September 2024
Approved by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences September 2024
III. Officers and committees
A. Delegated powers and duties of the DEO
a. Selection, Term, and Conditions of Appointment: The DEO is appointed by the Dean with the advice of the faculty and the approval of the Provost. In the normal course of events the new DEO shall take office at the beginning of the academic year and serve for a term agreed-upon with the College (normally 5 years), with the possibility of renewal for one or more years.
b. Role of the DEO. The DEO is the chief administrator of the department, responsible for managing resources, guiding faculty development, directing faculty reviews, supervising course delivery, developing curriculum, and supervising staff. A complete list of DEO responsibilities is available on the CLAS website: https://clas.uiowa.edu/deos/role.
c. Representation of Cinematic Arts: The DEO shall be the representative of the department to the administration of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the University. The DEO shall have the task of explaining departmental needs, priorities, and policies to the collegiate and university administration and communicating collegiate and university policies to students and faculty in the department.
d. Acting DEO: If the DEO must be away from their duties, they shall appoint an Acting DEO, preferably from among the senior faculty, for the expected period of absence from duties.
B. Other officers (all officers are appointed by and report to the DEO)
a. Head of Film Studies (Head-FS)
b. Head of Film and Video Production (Head-FVP)
c. Head of Screenwriting (Head-SW)
d. Director of Graduate Studies (DGS)
e. Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS)
f. Faculty Assembly Representative (FA-Rep)
C. Committees
a. Executive: advisory committee, constituted by the DEO as needed to develop and review departmental business. The committee would normally consist of the three heads of program and representatives from the probationary and instructional-track faculty if these are not already included among the program heads.
b. Graduate Admissions: separate committees for admission in Film Studies and Film and Video Production, monitor and respond to incoming inquiries; each works with staff to process and rank incoming applications, make offers and organize open houses and/or campus visits.
IV. Departmental meetings
Departmental meetings are held at least once per month and chaired by the DEO. Whenever possible, they are scheduled for the entire semester at the same time on a given day of the week. Items are placed on the agenda by email call sent to the faculty and graduate student representatives approximately a week before each scheduled meeting. Minutes are kept on a rotating basis. They are discussed and approved at the start of the following meeting for future reference. The departmental office maintains an archive of these minutes for ten years. The usual order of business includes approval of the minutes, discussion of items placed on the agenda, and new business, as time permits. The chair of a meeting may put an issue up for a vote once a motion has been proposed by one faculty member, seconded by another, discussed among the faculty, and placed on the agenda for a subsequent faculty meeting. Votes can occur by show of hands, unless any faculty member requests a secret ballot, in which case the vote will occur by secret ballot. The DEO votes only in order to break a tie. A quorum consists of a number of voting faculty equal to at least 50% of voting faculty teaching during the semester in question. Any faculty member may call for and schedule a special faculty meeting by contacting the DEO. Meetings of the Departmental Consulting Group for promotion and tenure cases, meetings to review probationary faculty reviews, and meetings to review the academic progress of graduate students are not considered departmental meetings and are not governed by this section of the department’s manual of operations and procedures.
V. Promotion and tenure
See the CLAS policy on Faculty Appointments & Review – Promotion and Tenure Review. See also the CLAS policy on Faculty Appointments & Review – Criteria for Faculty Rank.
VI. Amendments to Manual of Operations and Procedures
A. Any voting faculty member may propose an amendment to this document by sending the amendment proposal to the DEO or Departmental Administrator for distribution to the faculty. The proposed amendment shall state the precise section and sentences to be amended. The proposed amendments shall specify the words to be added, deleted or replaced. Moreover, the proposal shall give a complete statement of the wording of the section in the amended form.
B. A notice of the proposed amendments shall be distributed to the faculty. The proposed amendments shall appear as an agenda item at the next departmental meeting.
C. Adoption of an amendment to the manual of operations and procedures requires a simple majority vote at the departmental meeting, and the approval of the Dean of the College.
D. The Department shall be notified by the DEO of all College and University policy changes that might necessitate changes to this document.