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Members

CFA Operating Guidelines

CAA Committee on Faculty Affairs
Leadership Structure and Operating Guidelines
November 2024

The Committee on Faculty Affairs (CFA) operates under the auspices of the Council on Academic Affairs (CAA) to inform and advise the CAA on all aspects of the provost’s responsibilities in hiring, managing, promoting, evaluating, and supporting faculty on their campuses.  The formation of this committee recognizes the importance of supporting faculty affairs professionals (including faculty development) as they seek to achieve institutional goals in research, education, and engagement.

Responsibilities

The CFA provides input and advice to the CAA on relevant faculty affairs issues such as: analysis and recommendations for the professoriate of the future including the role of term faculty; tenure; dual-career positions; post-tenure review; faculty workload and accountability; and sensitive matters related to performance management and conduct. The CFA provides regular reports to the CAA Executive Committee on their ongoing and planned activities, including analysis of current issues and trends, and effective practices and policies.

The CFA provides a forum for faculty affairs professionals to discuss issues, highlight effective practices, and support a faculty affairs community of practice. To achieve these goals, the CFA will engage with national practitioners and communities of faculty affairs professionals.

Membership1

The CFA consists of at least NINE (9) members with the title of Assistant, Associate, or Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs (or similarly-titled positions) with responsibility for faculty-related issues reporting directly to the Provost or to a Senior/Executive Associate or Vice Provost of an APLU member institution. Members will normally serve for a period of three years, with the possibility of renewal.  CFA members shall not serve more than two consecutive three-year terms. Members who have served two consecutive terms must be off the committee at least one year before they are eligible to serve again. The CAA Liaison to CFA and APLU’s Chief Academic Officer (or designee) are ex-officio members.

Officers

The officers are responsible for conducting the business of the CFA, providing leadership, strategies and programming, and for reporting to the CAA.

The officers of the CFA are the Chair, Chair-Elect, and Past-Chair.  Officers serve for a period of one year with the Chair-Elect automatically becoming Chair at the end of the annual CFA Business Meeting, held in conjunction with the APLU Annual Meeting.  The outgoing Chair will automatically become Past-Chair.  The Chair-Elect will be elected each year as part of the slate of candidates voted on by the CFA. The membership term of the Chair-Elect will be adjusted to allow them to serve the expected three years in leadership.  

Elections

Each year, the CFA will elect members to fill the vacancies and the new Chair-Elect. Vacancies arise from members completing their normal terms and from members who may leave the committee for other reasons. The committee will vote on a slate of candidates for these positions and the elected members will be presented  at the CFA Annual Business Meeting which is held in conjunction with the APLU Annual Meeting.
 
The slate of candidates will be determined by the Nominating Committee which consists of the officers and the APLU staff liaison. The Nominating Committee will invite nominations (including self-nominations) from eligible Assistant, Associate or Vice Provosts at APLU member institutions and use that information to form the slate. Everyone interested in serving on the CFA must go through this process, even if they served previously on the CFA.

Meetings

The CFA

  • Meets regularly throughout the year to carry out its business and plan for activities.
  • Holds a Business Meeting each year at the APLU Annual Meeting and an Annual Faculty Affairs Retreat (AFAR).
  • May assist the CAA in organizing topical sessions at the APLU Annual Meeting.
  • May organize virtual meetings around timely topics throughout the year as appropriate. These meetings may be open to faculty affairs professionals who are not members of the CFA.

Activities

The CFA may engage in community-building and information sharing activities through its standing fora and beyond. In addition to its meetings, the CFA may host a listserv, and develop resource guides to inform their community of practice.

1Although the CFA will engage with the broad faculty affairs community, the membership of the CFA is limited to the members as described in this section.

Last updated 11/10/2024

A PDF of the CFA guidelines can be found here.