Bylaws of the Department of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering

The Department of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering (EBME) bylaws are authorized by Section 2.1.2 of the University of Nevada, Reno bylaws (adopted: 11/09) and the College of Engineering by laws dated 12 October 1989.

These bylaws provide for the organizational and administrative structure, and personnel policies and procedures for the faculty of the Department of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering. They shall be consistent with the University bylaws, NSHE Code, College of Engineering bylaws and the laws of the State of Nevada and the United States. The intent of these bylaws is to be a statement of general policy for the Department of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering not explicitly covered by any of the above.

These bylaws shall be considered as adopted and in full force and effective upon (see Section 2.1.2 of the UNR bylaws):

1. approval by a majority of departmental faculty by secret ballot cast by at least two-thirds of faculty eligible to vote,
2. approval by the College Bylaws Committee, and
3. approval by the Dean.

Any member of the departmental faculty may propose amendments to the bylaws. Proposed amendments shall be submitted to the entire departmental faculty for their consideration and approval. Proposed amendments shall be in force by the same approval process outlined in Section 3.

The departmental chair is the executive officer of the department and is responsible to the Dean of the College for the effective operation of the department. The following are included in the duties of the chair:

1. Assigns teaching responsibilities after consultation with departmental faculty.
2. Assigns responsibilities for the various departmental facilities after consultation with departmental faculty.
3. Allocates budget after consultation with departmental faculty.
4. Presides over departmental meetings conducted under RROOR.
5. Recommends to the Dean, the employment of new faculty and staff members with the advice and consent of the faculty. Consent is understood to be majority approval.
6. Recommends to the Dean,tenure for existing faculty members after consultation with tenured departmental faculty.
7. Recommends promotion for existing faculty and staff after consultation with departmental faculty senior in rank to the person being considered.
8. Annually evaluates faculty and staff. These evaluations serve as a basis for merit compensation increases, and promotion and tenure considerations.

The recommendation for departmental chair shall be by secret ballot and shall be by a majority of departmental faculty cast by at least two-thirds of faculty eligible to vote. The term of office for the departmental chair shall be five years with the possibility of reappointment for an additional three year term for a maximum of eight consecutive years. The faculty may at any time recommend to the Dean, by a majority of departmental faculty cast by at least two-thirds of faculty eligible to vote, the removal of a chair. The recommendation shall be by secret vote, to be counted by a senior faculty member other than the chair.

The procedure for recommending the departmental chair shall be as follows:

1. All faculty members not interested in the position shall first withdraw.
2. Nominations for the position shall be by secret ballot.
3. A secret ballot shall be cast to choose the departmental chair. The name of the person receiving the majority of the votes cast shall be forwarded to the Dean.
4. The faculty may recommend that a search for an external candidate be conducted when a position is available.

The departmental faculty shall consist of all persons holding a faculty contract with UNR, recommended and forwarded by the departmental chair and signed by the Provost.

To be eligible to vote on departmental matters, a faculty member must hold at least a one/half-time position in the Department of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering. The vote is weighted proportionally to the percent of contract allocated to the department.

1. Departmental meetings shall be held at the request of the departmental chair, or any two faculty members.
2. The departmental chair or his/her designee shall preside over all meetings.
3. Agenda items and any minutes of a previous meeting shall be distributed to the faculty at least one working day prior to a meeting.

Evaluation of the faculty shall conform to the procedures established by the College bylaws and the College Personnel Committee and shall be conducted in accordance with the NSHE Code, UNR bylaws, and the following statement of responsibilities.

1. The departmental chair shall annually evaluate the departmental faculty according to procedures established by the College Personnel Committee. Evaluations shall be forwarded to the Dean.
2. The department chair shall recommend eligible faculty for tenure and promotion. All department actions on promotion and tenure shall be reviewed by a committee consisting of all department faculty senior in rank for promotion and all departmental tenured faculty members for tenure. A written report from these committees shall be forwarded to the chair as part of the application.
3. Departmental faculty and staff shall annually evaluate the chair with respect to all duties and responsibilities of the chair according to procedures established by the College Personnel Committee and the department. The results of this review shall be made available to the chair and forwarded to the Dean.

1. Full time teaching faculty.

   Faculty activities are understood to be numerous and varied. Awards of tenure shall be based on an excellent rating in either teaching or research and at least a satisfactory rating in the remaining areas. Areas are listed below with typical percentages of time indicated for each activity.

   1. Instructional Activities - scheduled teaching in classroom and laboratory; graduate thesis/dissertation/research supervision; other unscheduled teaching and supervisory activities such as independent studies, seminars, etc.; development of materials, teaching methods, and laboratories; academic advising and counseling, maintaining up-to-date expertise in one’s field (typically 40%).
   2. Research and Creative Activities - sponsored and unsponsored research projects; preparation of papers for journals and presentations at technical/professional meetings; publication of professional books; creative publications and documents (typically 40%).
   3. Service and Other Professional Activities - Departmental, College and University committee activities, community service and public relations, involvement in professional and technical societies; editing, refereeing, and reviewing manuscripts, proposals, etc.; involvement in seminars, short courses; maintaining other activities deemed important to the Department (typically 20%).
2. Off-loaded faculty.

   Off-loaded faculty shall be evaluated with their activities reduced in proportion to the off load and the percentage increased in the area of off-load (e.g., research and creative activities).

3. Part-time faculty

   Part-time faculty in a continuing position shall be evaluated on the same percentages as for full-time faculty with the overall load reduced in proportion to the percentage appointment.

The department shall follow the operating policies described below. Changes in operating policies require approval by a majority of departmental faculty cast by at least two-thirds of faculty eligible to vote.

1. Upon any major revision, syllabi for each required course shall be prepared by the faculty member assigned to the course and approved by departmental faculty.
2. A copy of all material distributed to students shall be placed in departmental files.

Faculty members are encouraged to participate in research in those areas which:

1. Enhance teaching ability.
2. Provide engineering experience for students.
3. Provide service to the State of Nevada and to humanity in general. Research should not be detrimental to the instructional program.

Faculty members are encouraged to perform engineering consulting under the following conditions:

1. The work does not interfere with University responsibilities and is approved by the departmental chair and/or Dean.
2. The use of University equipment or facilities shall be on a negotiated fee basis and approved by the departmental chair and/or Dean.

1. Masters Degree Candidates

   The normal program for a master’s degree is with Thesis (Plan A). Exceptions shall be permitted (Plan B) for those candidates who demonstrate that they have engaged in professional engineering work subsequent to obtaining their bachelor’s degree and have written a professional paper on some aspect of this work.

   1. A student’s committee shall be formed as soon as feasible, in no case later than upon completion of 9 credit hours of work toward the degree. The student must successfully defend a thesis before his/her committee.
2. Doctoral Degree Candidates
   1. A student’s committee shall be formed as soon as feasible, in no case later than the end of the second semester of study.
   2. A written qualifying exam shall be given to each candidate not later then the end of the first year in the program. This exam shall be administered by the department and consist of separate exams in three out of six major areas of Electrical Engineering(computers, control, communications, electronics, electromagnetic fields, power). To successfully complete the qualifying exam the candidate must be adjudged to have done outstanding work in one of the areas and satisfactory in the other two.
   3. A comprehensive exam to the candidate under the administration of his/her committee must be satisfactorily completed.
   4. The student must successfully defend the dissertation before his/her committee.

A graduate student may be dismissed from the graduate program by the departmental chair for unsatisfactory performance, unprofessional behavior, or unsatisfactory rate of progress toward a degree.