Department of Computer Science Bylaws

This document describes the Bylaws by which the Department of Computer Science (CS) of the University of Virginia operates to achieve its mission. The CS Department has a valued history of operating and achieving its mission in a cooperative and collegial atmosphere. This atmosphere is based on respect for each individual and efforts to maintain an environment where issues and differences are discussed and resolved in a constructive and collaborative manner. The policies and procedures set forth herein are intended to preserve and protect this operating style.

This document refers to School policies, which are listed on the Engineering School policy page, and University policies, which are listed at https://uvapolicy.virginia.edu/ and referred to by policy identifier.

This update reflects changes to address new policies on Academic General Faculty (AGF), specifically SEAS Policy 2017.4 relating to AGF, as well as increased use of secondary and courtesy appointments (see SEAS policy 2017.6, Promotion and Tenure Policy for Tenured and Tenure Track Faculty), and to clarify voting prerogatives for faculty with secondary appointments.

1. Mission of the Department

The mission of the department is to

  • Serve as world-class educators to both our graduate and undergraduate students by providing a deep understanding of the fundamentals of computer science and engineering, and applying those concepts to real-world problems;
  • Pursue bold and innovative research that will impact the problems of a global society;
  • Provide visionary leadership to our professional discipline;
  • Create an intellectual, collaborative, and collegial community that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion and welcomes collaboration with other disciplines;
  • Engage in service and outreach to enrich the community, state, and profession; and
  • Establish viable corporate and external partnerships to help identify problems and solutions and transfer of knowledge.

 

2. Organization of the Department

For the purposes of this document, “The Department” shall consist of all faculty members, staff, and research professionals. The term “Chair” shall refer to the chair of the department unless discussing a committee, when it shall refer to the chair of that committee. The term “Dean” shall refer to the Dean of the School Engineering and Applied Sciences. The term “University” shall refer to the University of Virginia.

2.1  Composition of the Faculty

2.1.1 Regular Faculty

All faculty are full citizens of the Department and have interest and equal voice in all academic issues. Thus, the regular faculty of the Department consists of the tenure/tenure track and AGF faculty.

2.1.1.1  Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty (TTTF)

The tenured/tenure track faculty (TTTF) of the Department hold the positions of Professor of Computer Science, Associate Professor of Computer Science, and Assistant Professor of Computer Science. The position of Associate Professor or Professor may be tenured or may be fixed-term and untenured. The position of Assistant Professor is fixed-term and untenured.

A faculty member may have a joint appointment in the Department of Computer Science with other departments, typically with one department acting as the primary department (appointment > 50%) and the others as secondary departments (appointment < 50%). The funding and responsibilities are shared among the departments. The title of a joint faculty member follows from the primary department. Joint appointments shall be for a term of three years unless specified otherwise, and can be renewed. The Department shall maintain a policy governing joint appointments, which shall be in compliance with University-level policies.

These appointments are governed by University policy PROV-029 and any subsequent modifications or successor policies.

2.1.1.2  Academic General Faculty: AGF

The Academic General Faculty (AGF) hold the positions of Professor of Computer Science, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Distinguished Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Lecturer. The formal faculty title for the professorial ranks will specify both their rank and their membership in the General Faculty (e.g., Assistant Professor, General Faculty). Positions in this category customarily require teaching, educational and/or disciplinary scholarship, and service, in various combinations, as principal activities. These positions are tenure-ineligible and are fixed- term, renewable appointments, and are governed by University policy PROV-004 and School-level policies. The reappointment or continued employment of AGF whose salaries are funded from grants, contracts or private gifts is subject to the continued availability of such funds.

A General Faculty member may have a joint appointment in the Department of Computer Science with other departments, with one department acting as the primary department and the others as secondary departments. The funding and responsibilities are shared among the departments. The title of a joint faculty member follows from the primary department.

Joint appointments shall be for a term of three years unless specified otherwise, and can be renewed. The Department shall maintain a policy governing joint appointments, which shall be in compliance with University-level policies.

These appointments are governed by University policy PROV-004 and SEAS policies SEAS 2017.4 and 2017.7, and any subsequent modifications or successor policies.

2.1.2  Non-regular Faculty

The non-regular faculty of the Department consists of faculty who participate substantially in the programs of the Department and hold positions of Visiting Professor, Affiliated Professor and Emeritus Professor.

Visiting Professors

Visiting Professors are scholars from another institution, and their titles follow from their home institution, or in the case of Visitors from non-academic institutions, are given a title commensurate with their experience, with the approval of the CS tenure-track faculty and the Dean. Visiting Professors are expected to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which they are an expert, and generally expected to play an active role in the Department. The appointments are for terms of one or two years and can only be renewed beyond two years with permission from the Provost. Visiting appointments are governed by University policy PROV- 013.

Courtesy Professors

Courtesy faculty have home departments within the University other than Computer Science, and such appointments are governed by University Policy PROV-029. They carry their rank from their primary department, and shall indicate their courtesy appointment in Computer Science with the phrase “(by courtesy)”. There are no formal responsibilities or rights attached to these faculty; however, courtesy faculty are expected to play an active role in the department. Specific rights may be granted according to a vote of the Computer Science faculty. Courtesy status is granted for up to three years and is renewable. In addition to reappointment reviews, these appointments must be reviewed by the Computer Science Department at times of a Courtesy faculty member’s promotion in their home department. The purpose of these reviews is to evaluate the suitability of continuing appointment in Computer Science.

Adjunct Faculty

The Department may, from time to time, employ faculty on a part-time or wage basis, to teach specific courses. Adjunct faculty typically carry the title of Lecturer. There are no formal responsibilities or rights attached to these faculty, other than those related to their teaching duties; however, with approval of the chair and the CS Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Adjunct Faculty may advise undergraduate research, e.g., senior theses, capstone projects, and independent studies. Additional rights may be granted according to a vote of the Computer Science Faculty. Adjunct faculty are referred to as "faculty wage employees" in University policy and are governed by University policy PROV-026.

Emeritus Professor

The Emeritus Professors hold titles of Professor Emeritus or Associate Professor Emeritus, which are conferred upon retiring faculty, following nominations made to the UVA Board of Visitors. Recommendation of Emeritus status requires a vote of the Computer Science Faculty. These appointments are governed by University policy PROV-018 and SEAS policy 2016.2.

2.2  Voting Faculty

Regular members of the faculty may vote on all issues, subject to restrictions outlined elsewhere in this document or in a School- or University-level policy; for example, voting on promotion and tenure cases is restricted, as noted in Section 6.2.

Other individuals may be given voting privileges on specific issues by a two-third majority vote of the voting faculty at a faculty meeting called for that purpose.

2.3  Professional Research Staff

The Professional Research Staff consists of research scientists and associates whose responsibility is research under the direction of a faculty member. Professional Research Staff hold the positions of Postdoctoral Research Associate, Research Scientist, Senior Scientist, and Principal Scientist. These positions are term appointments and rely on external funding, and renewal is contingent upon funding. These appointments are governed by University policy HRM-033.

3.    Administration

3.1  Chair

The Chair is the chief administrative officer of the Department. Responsibilities of the Chair include providing leadership to the Department in achieving its mission, administering the policies and procedures of the Department, School and University, and acting as the primary representative and advocate of the Department within the institution and the profession.

3.1.1  Chair Duties

The Chair is the official link between the Department and the administration of the University, other computer science departments around the world, the computer industry, and the general public. As a link to the administration, the Chair presents departmental needs, objectives, and evaluations of achievement to the Dean, and keeps colleagues informed of future plans and University policy.

Specific duties of the Chair include the following, and are also governed by policies at https://engineering.virginia.edu/faculty-and-staff/uva-engineering-policies-and-procedures

The Chair:

  • has the responsibility for, and presents, an annual budget to the Department and Dean, and oversees the use of departmental funds and resources, including those from the Computer Services Recharge Center (CSRC).
  • serves as a mentor for all faculty and should meet with each regular faculty member at least once a year.
  • serves as an ex-officio member of all committees.
  • is responsible for selecting one or more Associate Chairs, if desired.
  • in consultation with the Associate Chair(s) and chairs of committees, is responsible for student advising, scheduling of courses, teaching assignments, and teaching loads.
  • appoints and charges all departmental committees, agreeable to the policies in article 3.3 of these bylaws. In the case of faculty peer-evaluation committees, the Chair consults with the Dean about members.
  • or their designee(s) from the CS Promotion & Tenure Subcommittee (described below), is responsible for writing departmental recommendations concerning appointment, promotion, renewal, and termination of faculty members to the Dean, who in turn writes the official letters on these matters. If faculty opinion in these matters is substantially divided, the Chair presents summaries of all pertinent arguments to the Dean.
  • writes an evaluation of each faculty member after receiving the evaluations from the Peer Review Committee.
  • or their faculty designee, must approve all TA assignments.
  • or their designee, must approve all grant budgets, without exception.
  • or their faculty designee, recommends sabbatical leaves and personal leaves.
  • makes recommendations to the Dean regarding faculty and staff hires, in accordance with University policies, and in conjunction with the Dean’s Office, negotiates offer terms.
  • determines salary adjustments and compensation for each faculty member, in accordance with School and University policies.
  • has hiring and supervisory authority over all departmental staff.
  • in consultation with the Space and Infrastructure Committee, allocates office and lab space to faculty, staff, and students; and enforces rules and procedures governing space.
  • or their designee(s) is/are responsible for establishing connections with industry and fundraising.

3.2  Associate Chair

The office of Associate Chair is not required by the policies of SEAS. However, if the Chair wishes to reduce the administrative burden of the office, one or more Associate Chairs may be solicited and appointed from the faculty.

3.2.1  Appointment and Term

Appointment of an Associate Chair is made by the Chair. The term of office is normally three or four years and is renewable. If the appointee has a term appointment, the appointment of Associate Chair cannot extend beyond the end of a faculty member’s term appointment. Nor will the term extend beyond that of the Chair’s, although an incoming chair may choose to extend the Associate Chair’s term.

3.2.2  Duties

The Associate Chair(s) perform duties delegated by the Chair, such as the following:

  • serving as the Acting Chair at meetings and functions when the Chair is unable to attend, including School- and University-Level functions,
  • functioning as Acting Chair when the Chair is not accessible for an extended period of time, unless other arrangements are made,
  • serving as program director for one or more educational programs serving in other administrative roles, e.g., course scheduler, open house coordinator, etc.

3.3  Committees

Committees handle work delegated by the Department Chair and serve as an important forum for ideas to be developed before presentation to the full faculty for further discussion. Each committee has a committee chair, who acts as the Chair’s designee for preparing agendas, calling meetings, keeping minutes, and making recommendations or acting based on committee decisions.

Committee membership and charges are assigned by the Chair, except for responsibilities outlined below. All committees, whether standing or ad hoc, must have a documented charge. Voting, when needed, shall follow the same rules for quorum and/or majority as described in Section 4.4 on Voting and Proxies. Ex-officio committee members, including the department Chair, do not count as part of the quorum for committee votes unless they cast a vote.

The committee chair and committee members are appointed annually by the Department Chair.

The standing committees of the Department at a minimum shall include those listed below, and their standing responsibilities shall be outlined in a Policy on Departmental Committees (PDC). Short-term responsibilities may be added by the chair and should be documented in a written announcement to the faculty.

3.3.1  Computer Science Graduate Program Committee

The Graduate Program Committee is responsible for supervising academic progress of current graduate students, and the policies and operations of the graduate program. The members of the Graduate Program Committee should ideally reflect different research areas and seniorities within the Department. The Chair of the Committee should be a faculty member who is active in advising Ph.D. students.

There is also a Graduate Committee for the Computer Engineering Program (CpE), administered by CpE, on which two CS faculty members serve. If possible, one of these two members of the CpE Graduate Committee also serves on the CS Graduate Program Committee.

3.3.2  Computer Science Graduate Admissions Committee

The Graduate Admissions Committee is responsible for ensuring the high quality of the newly arriving graduate student body. The members of this Committee and the Committee Chair should ideally reflect different research areas of the Department. Responsibilities of the Graduate Admissions Committee include the recruitment, evaluation, and recommendations to the Chair for admission of graduate students. Specific policies and procedures for admissions should be described in the PDC.

3.3.3  Computer Science Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) is responsible for reviewing and ensuring the quality of the computer science undergraduate programs offered by the Department, and for recommendations to the full faculty regarding any new undergraduate academic programs.

Specific responsibilities, and roles relative to individual degree program committees, should be described in the PDC.

Each undergraduate major offered by the Department is overseen by a degree program committee. Each degree program committee is responsible for reviewing and ensuring the quality of that degree program, and for recommendations to the UCC and full faculty regarding any significant changes in that program, such as degree requirements. Each degree program committee shall act in the place of the full faculty for approving student petitions for exceptions to degree requirements in that program. The current degree program committees are:

The Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science (BACS) degree is offered by the College of Arts and Sciences. The BACS Undergraduate Committee is composed of faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Computer Science, and is chaired by a Director of Undergraduate Program. The committee members and Director are jointly appointed by the CS Department Chair and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

The Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (BSCpE) degree is offered by the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The BSCpE Undergraduate Committee is composed of faculty from the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and is chaired by a Director of Undergraduate Program or their designee. The committee members and committee chair are jointly appointed by the CS Department Chair and the ECE Department Chair.

The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) degree is offered by the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The BSCS Undergraduate Committee is composed of faculty from the Department of Computer Science, and is chaired by a Director of Undergraduate Program. The committee members and Director are appointed by the CS Department Chair.

The BSCS, BACS, and CpE committees should coordinate closely with the UCC, especially on issues that concern courses that are parts of multiple degree programs. To ensure strong coordination, the membership of the UCC should include members of the BSCS, BACS, and CpE committees.

3.3.4  Computer Systems Committee

The Computer Systems Committee advises the Chair on issues related to the Department’s computing equipment, computing services, and systems administration staff. The Chair of the Committee, along with the Department Chair, supervises the staff responsible for system administration. As an exception to the usual rules of voting membership, the staff member in charge of system administration is a voting member of this Committee.

3.3.5  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is charged with determining and implementing best practices to create an educational, intellectual and research environment strengthened by the participation of a diversity of individuals who congregate, interact and collaborate to learn and advance knowledge without barriers.

3.3.6  Peer Review Committee

The Peer Review Committee evaluates the annual performance of each faculty member. The Committee is composed of at least two faculty members from the Department of Computer Science and one faculty member from another department. Policies governing formation and responsibilities of this committee are described by SEAS policy 2013.4, and any rubrics or other policies pertaining to peer review can be found at: https://engineering.virginia.edu/faculty-and- staff/uva-engineering-policies-and-procedures

3.3.7  Space and Infrastructure Committee

The Department’s Space and Infrastructure Committee advises the Chair concerning policies for: lab space allocation; faculty and staff office allocation; student seating; appropriate shared resources as part of the departmental research infrastructure, and any other topics as may be outlined in the PDC. As an exception to the usual rules of voting membership, the CS staff member in charge of facilities is a voting member of this Committee.

3.3.8  CS Promotion and Tenure Subcommittee

The Department’s P&T Subcommittee provides the Department Chair and all tenured faculty members with a higher rank than the candidate (i.e., the full Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee) a written evaluation of the performance of the candidate being considered for reappointment, promotion, and tenure. See Section 6.2.2 for further details.

3.3.9  Other Standing Committees

The Department Chair may authorize other standing committees to carry out specific ongoing tasks. Their charge should be described in the PDC.

3.3.9 Ad Hoc Committees

The Department Chair may appoint ad hoc committees (which are not standing committees) to deal with matters that are not considered by standing committees or are delegated to the ad hoc committee by a standing committee. Their charge and term should be documented in an email and/or minutes to the faculty.

4. Faculty Meetings

General faculty meetings are those at which primary business of the Department is discussed and acted upon (except for consideration of appointment, renewal, promotion, or tenure of faculty, which requires certain subsets of the faculty). The Chair, or their designated representative, will preside at all faculty meetings. The term “faculty meeting” when used in these Bylaws refers to a general, unrestricted meeting of the regular Department faculty. It is the responsibility of voting faculty with primary appointments in Computer Science to attend faculty meetings. Non-voting faculty are encouraged to attend faculty meetings.

At the discretion of the Chair, discussion and votes on personnel issues may be made in closed meeting sessions that are only open to voting faculty. All voting faculty, including those on sabbatical or on personal leave, may attend and participate in all faculty meetings. Other faculty and a representative of the graduate students will be invited to attend and participate in portions of faculty meetings as appropriate.

The following Department policies are among those discussed and voted on at faculty meetings:

  • undergraduate curriculum, policies, degree requirements and strategies, in consultation with the Undergraduate Committees
  • graduate curriculum, policies, degree requirements and strategies, in consultation with the Graduate Committee
  • funding policies for graduate students, in consultation with the Graduate Committee and Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, and

Other items to be discussed, but generally not voted on, at faculty meetings include:

  • general departmental policies and planning, and
  • faculty and graduate student recruitment strategies and priorities.

4.1 Schedule of Faculty Meetings

Whenever possible, the Chair schedules faculty meetings during the weekdays and at a time that minimizes conflicts with the teaching schedule of voting faculty members. There must be at least four faculty meetings called by the Chair for each Fall and Spring term. Other faculty meetings and meetings of subsets of the faculty are called by the Chair or the Chair’s designee upon four calendar days’ notice, except in the case of emergency meetings, which can be called with lesser notice. If three members of the Department faculty submit a written request and agenda for a faculty meeting, the Chair calls a meeting incorporating that agenda within one month.

4.2 Agenda

For faculty meetings and meetings of subsets of the faculty, the Chair or the Chair’s designee prepares the agenda and circulates it before each meeting. The agenda and draft motions are circulated at least four calendar days in advance of the meeting, except in the case of emergency meetings. Although other business may be discussed at the faculty meeting, official action may be taken only on items on the agenda.

4.3 Minutes

All decisions made at faculty meetings are recorded and distributed in minutes of the meetings. The minutes are confidential and their contents are not to be released in any manner for outside distribution, except with the approval of the faculty. The Chair may prepare the minutes or designate the preparer(s) of the minutes. The minutes of a faculty meeting are subject to revision by any faculty member by submission of corrections or elaborations. The amendments are appended verbatim to the draft of the minutes prior to the next faculty meeting. If no faculty member objects to the minutes or amendments by the beginning of the next faculty meeting, the minutes are then entered into the official record. A vote on the content of the minutes is taken only if requested and seconded by a voting faculty member. The minutes are filed electronically by the Chair’s Office and shall be available to regular faculty.

4.4 Voting and Proxies

For a motion to pass, a strict majority (one-half plus one) of the voting faculty must vote in the affirmative. The Department Chair is not counted in this majority, nor are those faculty members with secondary appointments and those who are on leave or sabbatical, unless they attend the meeting to vote or send a proxy or absentee vote (this provision is not meant to discourage participation of faculty with secondary appointments or those on leave or sabbatical, but rather to provide them with greater flexibility.)

A faculty member may also explicitly exclude themselves from the vote, and is then not counted toward the majority requirement. Those faculty members with voting privilege in the department unable to attend a meeting may submit absentee or proxy votes in advance of the start of the meeting as appropriate for a given agenda item and shall be counted as present for purpose of determining the strict majority.

Unless otherwise stated, matters are settled by ordinary ballot (such as a show of hands or voice vote). Minor changes to the motions do not need another waiting period. Any eligible faculty member may request that a vote be taken by secret ballot (such as a written ballot), and that request shall be granted.

Proxy votes allow members of the faculty to vote in meetings that they do not attend. Each proxy vote must be arranged in advance by agreement with another eligible member of the faculty (the delegate) and communicated in writing or by electronic mail to the chair. When the vote is taken, the delegate states publicly which absentee they are voting for; in an ordinary ballot the delegate then states the vote of the absentee, while in a secret ballot the delegate is given an extra ballot to fill out in behalf of the absentee. Proxy votes must be arranged independently for each issue and meeting. Proxy votes can be cast on modified motions as long as the delegate agrees. For a major change, the topic is carried to the next meeting.

Absentee votes also allow members of the faculty to vote in meetings that they do not attend. Absentee votes differ from proxies, in that the absentee vote specifies a specific vote, while proxy votes are at the discretion of the individual carrying the proxy. Unless the agenda item to be voted upon is announced as urgent, faculty may submit absentee votes up to one business day (by 5pm) after the end of the faculty meeting.

Topics not expected to be controversial can be recommended for an email or online vote. The motion and the recommendation for an email/online vote must be distributed five days in advance of the deadline for voting. A strict majority of the eligible faculty is still required for such a motion to pass. Proxies and secret ballots do not apply to email/online voting. Any faculty member may request the motion be discussed instead at a faculty meeting.

The chair votes after the vote is counted and only does so if the vote of the chair could change the outcome of the vote.

5. Communications and Notice

Electronic mail is a sufficient and appropriate notice for meetings of the Department. Faculty are expected to check their electronic mail at least every working day, while in residence. When the participants involved agree, electronic communications (e.g., email, Skype, conference call) may be used to present, discuss, and decide issues that would otherwise require a meeting.

6.    Appointments, Promotions and Reappointments

6.1  Appointments

6.1.1 Chair Appointment

A department chair may be appointed by the Dean in consultation with the Provost. In case of an external chair, a search committee is organized to recruit, evaluate, and recommend a set of candidates to the Dean, in consultation with the voting Faculty. In case of an internal candidate, the Dean appoints a committee, which solicits advice from each voting member of the regular faculty before making a recommendation to the Dean. An annual review of the Department Chair will be carried out by an ad-hoc committee consisting of all of the Full Professors in the Department, or according to other policies that may be promulgated by the School or University.

6.1.2  Associate Chair Appointment

Appointment of an Associate Chair is made by the Chair. The term of office is normally three or four years and is renewable. If the appointee has a term appointment, the appointment of Assistant or Associate Chair cannot extend beyond the end of a faculty member’s term.

6.1.3  Tenure-Track and Academic-General-Faculty Appointments

A Faculty Search Committee (ad hoc), appointed by the Chair, Dean, or Provost or their designees, is responsible for administering the recruitment of new tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty. The Faculty Search Committee actively solicits the views of the voting faculty regarding the desired qualifications of candidates for open positions and formulates an advertisement to attract such candidates. The Faculty Search Committee reviews applications for the positions and identifies a set of finalists who are invited for full interviews. After each candidate's visit, the Faculty Search Committee solicits evaluations from the voting faculty, appropriate non-voting faculty, and students, and uses these evaluations to formulate a recommendation that is presented to the voting faculty for discussion at a faculty meeting, with the Chair in attendance. Votes may be taken to indicate level of support, but these votes are advisory to the search committee and do not follow the quorum rules in Section 4.4. The search committee then makes a final recommendation to the Chair. The Department Chair makes the decision from the list of recommended candidates and presents their recommendations to the Dean.

6.1.4  Courtesy Faculty Appointments

A faculty member whose primary appointment is in another department may be considered for a courtesy appointment in Computer Science at any time. A recommendation for appointment requires an affirmative vote according to the voting rules in Section 4.4, and the approval of the Department Chair. If approved, the term is for up to three years and renewable with an affirmative vote according to the voting rules in Section 4.4.

6.1.5  Joint Appointments

A faculty member whose primary appointment is in another department may be considered for a secondary Joint Appointment in Computer Science at any time. Except in cases where a joint appointment is part of a hiring package, the recommendation to make such an appointment may not be voted on in the first meeting where it is discussed, meaning that each joint appointment will be considered at two or more meetings of the voting faculty. External letters may be requested but are not necessary. A recommendation for appointment requires an affirmative vote according to the voting rules in Section 4.4 and the approval of the Department Chair. If the Department recommends a Joint Appointment, the Chair reports the Department’s action to the Dean, and if the appointment is approved, the Dean writes a letter of appointment to the candidate. If approved, the term is for three years and renewable with an affirmative vote according to the voting rules in Section 4.4. Details of joint appointments will be covered by a departmental policy.

6.1.6  Professional Research Staff Appointments

The professor who will be responsible for the funding and management of the Professional Research Staff member recruits candidates and makes an offer, after written approval of the Department Chair. However, in accordance with SEAS and university guidelines, hiring a senior research professional staff member (Research Scientists, Senior Scientists, and Principle Scientists) requires a search committee. A Department Search Committee, composed of regular faculty and staff members, is appointed by the Chair. This Committee performs the overall evaluation and provides a written recommendation to the Chair. Subject to the approval of the professor who is responsible for funding and management, the chair submits their recommendation to the Dean. These appointments are for a specified term, typically from 1 to 3 years, renewable. See UVA Policy on Professional Research staff for more information.

6.2  Promotion, Reappointments and Tenure

6.2.1 Chair Reappointment

The Chair is normally appointed for a four-year term. Renewal is possible after an evaluation performed by a committee appointed by the Dean. This committee solicits information from the Department about the Chair’s performance. The committee reports to the Dean, who makes the renewal decision. The Chair normally serves no more than two consecutive terms.

6.2.2  Tenure/Tenure-Track and Academic General Faculty Promotion, Reappointments and Tenure

The criteria and procedure for promotion are provided in the SEAS Promotion and Tenure Policy found at https://engineering.virginia.edu/faculty-and-staff/uva-engineering-policies-and-procedures

Reappointment and promotion are considered first by a Department Promotion and Tenure Subcommittee, appointed by the chair. This Subcommittee should have representation including both Tenured/Tenure-Track and Academic General Faculty and diverse research areas. The Department Chair may chair the Departmental Promotion and Tenure Subcommittee or may delegate this position to a tenured faculty member with a higher rank than the candidate. 

This Committee provides the Department Chair and all faculty members with a higher rank than the candidate (i.e., the full Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee), who are eligible to vote on Promotion and Tenure matters, with a written evaluation of the performance of the candidate being considered for reappointment, promotion, and tenure. All of the faculty members with primary appointments (>= 50%) in the department and with rank above that of the candidate vote in a secret ballot on the recommendation of the Committee. (For cases in which a full professor is being considered for hiring with tenure, the voting faculty will be full professors with primary appointments in the department.)

If a substantial portion of a candidate's research is cross-disciplinary, appropriate members from other departments may be invited to provide input about the candidate.

All deliberations for tenure, reappointment and promotion shall be kept confidential. It is serious breach of professional ethics for members to discuss the deliberations of the Department Promotion and Tenure Committee with non-members, especially regarding the individual candidate being considered.

7. Adoption

These Bylaws shall be adopted and shall be in full force and effect upon (1) approval by the voting faculty of the Department of Computer Science and the Department Chair, which shall require at least a two-thirds approval by the voting faculty, and the vote shall be by secret ballot; and (2) approval by the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

7.1 Amendments

Any voting faculty member of the Department, or the Chair, may propose amendment of these Bylaws, in whole or in part, in accordance with the following procedure:

Upon receipt of a written amendment proposal, the Chair shall provide written notice to the voting faculty, containing the complete substance of the proposed amendment, at least two weeks in advance of a meeting at which the proposal is to be considered. The Amendment may be introduced as a Motion of Amendment to Bylaws Previously Adopted. Such a motion is debatable and can be amended. The proposed amendment may be adopted and shall be in full force and effect upon approval by a two-thirds approval vote of the voting faculty using a secret ballot.