Carnegie Mellon University

CFA College Council

The CFA College Council comprises faculty representation from all the college schools, plus the dean and representative senior associate deans. The council is the voice of the academic community in four main areas*:

  • Maintaining the relevance of the faculty reappointment, promotion, and tenure policies
  • Approving academic policies as informed by the CFA-Academic Advisory Committee
  • Approving new program proposals (degrees, certificates) or significant changes to existing programs by individual schools or the College
  • Addressing other questions that affect the College as a whole and are the concern of the entire campus

Membership

The membership of the College Council includes: the dean and representative senior associate deans, the heads of the schools, the director of the BXA program, a tenured faculty representative of each school appointed by the head of school (2-year term**), and a non-tenured faculty member from each school elected by their full-time, non-visiting faculty (1-year term). Through its membership composition, the college council monitors conditions across the college and campus communities and acts as a collective voice on matters that affect its areas of responsibility. Upon the dean's request, the college council also serves as a consultant to the dean and may advise on various policy and governance issues.

Role

The council meets once a semester during the academic year; special meetings are called as needed. College Council members have a role in decision-making; therefore, any member may propose agenda items. Effective discussions require that appropriate documentation be sent out with the agenda or in advance. Decision-making operates on consensus, and all decisions are documented by the meeting minutes.

Eligibility

To be eligible to serve on the College Council, non-tenured faculty must:

  • Be full-time non-visiting
  • Have a home school in CFA
  • Not be in their terminal year of appointment of either the tenure or teaching professor track
  • Not be on leave of absence during the annual year.