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Proposal Submissions and Dates
Welcome to the Faculty Senate Proposal Submissions and Dates page. Starting back in AY 21-22, we implemented a new process for submitting proposals to be considered by the Faculty Senate. Below you will find some instructions, a calendar for submitting proposals, and the PDF form that needs to be completed for all proposals. Please email all proposal requests to facultysenate@american.edu. Thank you.
Proposal Submissions and Dates
Faculty Senate Proposal Request Form
Any proposal submitted to the Senate should start with a concise policy memorandum (see template below). Using such a policy memorandum ensures a) a more standard format for proposals b) helps Senators to be better prepared for discussions during Senate meetings and c) allows for more Senate meeting time to be dedicated to substantive discussions. Please note:
- The level of detail you need to provide in the memorandum will really be dependent on the type of proposal being submitted and the ramifications of the proposal.
- This is an iterative process, and the Senate leadership/Senate Executive Committee can always follow up if they have additional questions/need for additional information.
- One may not need to complete all rubrics of the memorandum, depending on the nature of the proposal (see rubric 6 in particular).
- This is also a trial-and-error approach, so we remain open to amending the memorandum format if we see some shortcomings during the year.
To streamline the work of the Faculty Senate, and being mindful of the time of colleagues, the attached memorandum format also includes the option to have a proposal included in the ‘consent agenda’ of the Senate meetings. This option will be particularly useful for small, uncontroversial, and technical changes, which should not really require any discussion time during the Senate meetings.
To ensure greater clarity, and to allow sufficient time for deliberation, the Senate leadership is also creating a calendar to highlight when proposals need to be submitted to be potentially discussed or reviewed for the eight Faculty Senate meetings during the AY.
| To be considered during the Senate Meeting on: |
A proposal needs to be submitted to the Faculty Senate leadership at facultysenate@american.edu no later than: | In order to be reviewed by the Senate's Executive Committee on: |
|---|---|---|
| 9-11-2024 | 8-9-2024 | 8-21-2024 |
| 10-2-2024 | 9-6-2024 | 9-18-2023 |
| 11-6-2024 | 10-11-2024 | 10-23-2024 |
| 12-4-2024 | 11-8-2024 | 11-20-2024 |
| 2-5-2025 | 1-10-2024 | 1-22-2025 |
| 3-5-2025 | 2-7-2025 | 2-19-2025 |
| 4-2-2025 | 3-7-2025 | 3-19-2025 |
| 5-7-2025 | 4-11-2025 | 4-23-2025 |
As in the past, guests will continue to be welcome and to have the opportunity to join the meetings of the Senate Executive Committee to present their proposals. However, members of the Senate Executive Committee, after hearing all proposals, will have a separate period of deliberation. In other words, the Senate Leadership will inform guests after the meeting as to the status of the proposal and whether it will be considered at the following Senate meeting, as opposed to informing guests during the Senate Executive Committee meeting.
Finally, in an effort to ensure greater clarity, any item on the Faculty Senate agenda will be labeled according to three main categories: 1) Information/Briefing Items 2) Discussion Items and 3) Action Items.