Lecturer Advisory Committee

BY-LAWS

The Lecturers Advisory Committee (LAC) is one of the Faculty Committees within the Arts & Sciences (A&S), created to support Lecturers on the Arts & Sciences faculty in their relations with the University. 

II. FUNCTIONS 

(1) The LAC serves as a standing forum in which lecturer-rank faculty who are members of the A&S faculty (as defined at https://fas.columbia.edu/content/policy-and-planning-committee) can share and discuss their welfare and experiences, and to which lecturers may turn for peer advising and assistance. 

(2) The LAC represents lecturers' interests, articulates their concerns, and makes corresponding suggestions, in conversations with university administrators, other committees of faculty governance, the University Senate, and department/program chairs. 

(3) In conjunction with administrative offices, the LAC organizes events and provides web resources for lecturers so as to share information and experiences concerning all aspects of life at Columbia. 

(4) The LAC recommends amendments to these bylaws to the Policy and Planning Committee (PPC) and the Executive Committee of the Arts & Sciences. 

II. PROCEDURES 

(1) The LAC shall create its own procedures to consult widely among the community of lecturers in the Arts and Sciences at Columbia. 

(2) The LAC will ordinarily meet twice a month from September to June. These do not include special committee meetings or assignments. Special meetings during July and August are possible as needed. 

(3) Decisions are determined by the majority of members present at the meeting, contingent upon the presence of a quorum (3/4 of current membership). In the case of a tie, we will use the following procedure: the chair will bring the issue back to the committee for further discussion and a new vote. 

(4) The LAC or its officers will meet at least once per semester with the Policy and Planning Committee to report on lecturers’ concerns and any other issues the LAC or the PPC wants to discuss. 

(5) The LAC or its officers will meet at least once per semester with the Executive Vice President for Arts & Sciences to report on lecturers’ concerns and any other issues the LAC or the Executive Vice President wants to discuss. 

(6) The LAC or its officers will be available to meet with the committee of the department chairs to discuss lecturers’ concerns, at the invitation of that committee. 

(7) The LAC will keep minutes of its meetings, which will be accessible to its committee members. The agenda and/or a short summary of each meeting will be shared with all Lecturer-Track faculty members after each meeting. 

III. MEMBERSHIP, ELECTION, AND OFFICERS 

MEMBERSHIP 

(1) The LAC will consist of thirteen members: seven from the humanities (among whom at least two will be language lecturers), two from social sciences, two from the natural sciences, and two from professional schools (ideally including one from the American Language Program and one from another program). Currently this definition covers full- time lecturers with renewable appointments who have passed their second-year review. 

(2) LAC members will serve terms of three years, counted from September 1 of a given year to August 31 of the following year. They may serve more than one term, but not consecutively. 

ELECTION 

(3) LAC members can be nominated by themselves or by other A&S faculty. 

(4) LAC members will be elected by electronic vote of all full-time lecturer-rank A&S faculty as defined in the A&S bylaws. Subsequent elections will be conducted in May of each year. Special elections can occur in case of resignation (see item 5) 

OFFICERS 

(5) Prior to the first meeting the chair shall solicit interest from eligible LAC members for the Vice Chair position and their biographies shall be shared. At the first meeting of each Academic Year the Committee shall elect the Vice Chair from among the candidates via a secret vote. Each shall serve a one-year non-renewable term. The Vice Chair shall be a member whose term extends for at least one year after serving as Vice Chair. The Vice Chair shall become the Chair for the following year. In the event of a vacancy in either position, the members of the LAC shall elect a replacement from among the members to complete the remaining term. The replacement Chair shall not be eligible to serve as Chair in the following year. The Vice Chair and Chair should be from different fields (e.g. one from language and one other). 

(6) In the event that there is only one person running for Chair or Vice Chair, the LAC shall still vote on those positions. 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE or RESIGNATION

Leave of Absence 

(7) In case of a leave of absence the committee member shall remain on the LAC and is expected to attend regularly; however, if they cannot, they should resign. 

Resignation 

(8) In the event that a LAC member cannot complete their term and wishes to resign, an alternate shall be determined by the LAC in one of two ways to complete the remainder of the term:

a. Offer the position to the person from the most recent election with the second highest vote. 

b. Hold a special election with nominations only from that specific field (1-week nomination, and 2-week voting period).

c. Resignation of the Chair: If the Chair resigns, the Vice Chair shall assume the role of the Chair and a new Vice Chair shall be selected as outlined in (5). 

d. Resignation of the Vice Chair: If the Vice Chair resigns a new Vice Chair shall be selected as outlined in (5). 

Documents

LAC Meeting Summaries - Fall 2021

Virtual Information Session

Lecturer Report 2018 (1) 

Feedback

One of the important components of establishing a board to serve the lecturer faculty is the exercise of taking an active role in listening to the needs of lecturer faculty. Please contact LAC, with feedback, comments, suggestions and other points of information: [email protected] . Any correspondence will be treated as confidential and kept within LAC unless you specify otherwise.