Department By-Laws

San Francisco State University

By-Laws of the Department of Physics & Astronomy

Adopted May 5, 2025

1. Purpose

   1. The purposes of these by-laws are to promote clarity, democracy, efficiency, and transparency in department governance; to support faculty & staff across differences in status, rank, experience, background, and identity; and to enable success in achieving the department’s academic and educational goals. While tenured & tenure-track faculty, lecturer faculty, and staff have different job positions, responsibilities and duties, our differing roles complement each other as we collectively work together to meet our department’s mission: “The pursuit of science is a human endeavor, and our department welcomes the full spectrum of humanity to contribute their perspectives, passions, and skills to scientific exploration.”
   2. By-laws should be in accordance with senate policies on equity, academic quality, and shared governance. Academic quality, equity, transparency, and democratic governance shall be upheld in all aspects of the department’s work.  If university policies conflict with department by-laws, university policies shall take precedence. For reference, the Academic Senate policy on by-laws is Policy on By-Laws for Departments, Equivalent Units, and All Other Faculty Units that Offer Academic Degrees, #S24-306.

    

2. Department Leadership

   1. Department Chair - Academic Senate policy states: “Department chairs and equivalent unit directors (hereafter department chairs or chairs) are faculty members of a department and have all the rights and responsibilities of a faculty member. Department chairs serve as liaisons between the faculty and the administration, communicating the department's needs to the administration and keeping the faculty and staff informed of university policies, procedures, and initiatives. Of primary importance is their ability to provide effective leadership and direction for academic programs, foster productive communication within the department, and facilitate the department's goals in all areas of responsibility. Managing the department's resources - human, fiscal, and physical - is central to this endeavor. In addition, chairs represent the department to outside constituencies in an effort to build relationships that strengthen program offerings and benefit the community. For these reasons, and because of the role of the department chair in the tenure and promotion process, it is in the best interest of both the chair and the department that the chair be a tenured full professor, whenever possible.”
      1. The Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that department chairs shall be appointed by and shall serve at the pleasure of the President.
      2. Academic Senate policy governs the term of office, duties & responsibilities, selection of chairs, chair’s midterm feedback, removal of department chair, acting chairs, external selection of chair, and timelines. For reference, the Academic Senate policy of department chairs is Department Chairs and Equivalent Unit Directors, #S25-145.
   2. Associate Chair - The Associate Chair is appointed by the Chair. The Associate Chair serves to assist the Chair in their duties & responsibilities; the specific duties of the Associate Chair are determined via discussion and negotiation with the Chair.  The Associate Chair serves as Acting Chair when the Chair is unavailable or unable to perform the role.
   3. Director of SF State Observatory & Charles F. Hagar Planetarium - The Director of the SF State Observatory and Charles F. Hagar Planetarium oversees operations of the observatory & planetarium.
   4. Graduate Coordinators - There are two Graduate Coordinators, one each for the M.S. Physics and M.S. Astronomy & Astrophysics programs.  The primary role of the Graduate Coordinators is to shepherd graduate students through the graduate degree programs.

    

3. Membership & Voting Rights
   1. Tenured & tenure-track faculty, lecturer faculty, and staff are allowed to participate and vote in department meetings, including voting for Department Chair.
   2. Tenured and tenure-track faculty (including those in FERP) are entitled to participate and vote in department meetings, even when on sabbaticals and leaves.  The votes of faculty in FERP count as whole votes (i.e., not prorated by timebase).
   3. Lecturer faculty are entitled to participate and vote in department meetings, including for voting for Department Chair, even when on sabbaticals and leaves.  Votes of lecturer faculty will be prorated in proportion to their timebase appointment in the semester in which the vote takes place, rounded upwards to the nearest 20% (e.g., a timebase of 93.33% will be rounded up to 100% and 26.67% will be rounded up to 40%).  When lecturer faculty are on sabbaticals or leaves or have approved temporary reductions in timebase from their usual timebase (e.g., Family Medical Leave), their votes will be prorated by their timebase in the immediately preceding semester.
   4. Staff are entitled to participate and vote in department meetings, including voting for Department Chair, even when on sabbaticals and leaves.  Votes of staff will be prorated in proportion to their timebase appointment in the semester in which the vote takes place, rounded upwards to the nearest 20% (e.g., a timebase of 93.33% will be rounded up to 100% and 26.67% will be rounded up to 40%).  When staff are on sabbaticals or leaves or have approved temporary reductions in timebase from their usual timebase (e.g., Family Medical Leave), their votes will be prorated by their timebase in the immediately preceding semester.
   5. Lecturer faculty & staff are not allowed to participate in RTP committees nor vote for RTP committee chairs or any other RTP business. Lecturer faculty & staff are not allowed to participate in TT hiring committees nor vote for TT hiring committee chairs or any other TT hiring business.
   6. Academic baccalaureate and graduate degree programs and requirements are in the sole purview of the tenured & tenure-track faculty; lecturer faculty & staff are not permitted to vote on academic degree programs and requirements.  Upper-division and graduate curricula are in the sole purview of the tenured & tenure-track faculty; lecturer faculty & staff are not permitted to vote on issues related to upper-division or graduate curricula.
   7. Lecturer faculty & staff are not obligated to serve on any department committees, but when lecturer faculty & staff do volunteer their time to serve on committees, they are entitled to full participation; votes of lecturer faculty & staff on committee business will count as whole votes, i.e., will not be prorated by timebase.
   8. Voting rights is summarized in the following table:

4. Department Meetings & Quorum

   1. Regular department meetings are on the first working (non-holiday) Monday of August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, and May.
   2. Quorum is two-thirds of the “in-residence” (i.e., not on sabbatical or leave) tenured and tenure-track faculty.
   3. Special department meetings may be called by the Department Chair or by request of 2 faculty & staff.  Notice of special meetings must be given at least one week in advance.  Such special meetings should only be called in cases in which time sensitive matters cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled department meeting.  Any decisions made during special department meetings should be discussed and reviewed in the next regular department meeting, and any decisions may be reversed by majority vote.
   4. Issues & matters that involve the full department should be discussed and addressed in department meetings so that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate.  Voting on issues & matters that involve the full department should only take place in department meetings.
   5. The Department Chair will disseminate an agenda by Thursday before the department meeting.
   6. The department will ensure that faculty & staff may participate in meetings in person and online.  Faculty & staff attending online still retain their right to vote.
   7. The Department Chair will preside over department meetings.  If the Chair is unavailable, the Associate Chair will preside over the meeting.
   8. Department meetings will not be audio-visually recorded.  The Chair will designate a faculty or staff member to take minutes, which will be distributed with the agenda before the next department meeting.
   9. When voting takes place, the Associate Chair will count votes.  If the Associate Chair is not available (or is acting as Chair), the Chair will designate another faculty or staff member as the vote counter.
   10. As a general principle, when trying to determine a course of action, the department will try to reach a consensus via continuing discussion rather than reflexively or prematurely defaulting to voting.  However, if discussions have been exhausted before consensus is reached, a faculty or staff member may call for a cloture vote to end discussion.  If the call is seconded, a cloture vote will take place to end discussion.  If at least 50% agree to end discussion, a final vote on the issue will then take place.
   11. By default, votes will be public except where policy requires secret ballots (e.g., voting for Department Chair). A vote will take place via secret ballot if requested and seconded by a faculty or staff member.

    

5. Department Committees

   1. Tenured & Tenure-Track Faculty Committee (standing) - automatically consists of all tenured and tenure-track faculty.  The Department Chair chairs this committee.  This committee has sole purview over academic programs & degree requirements, and upper-division & graduate curricula.
      1. Curriculum development & revision
      2. Assessment of programs & student outcomes
      3. Graduate admissions
      4. Budget planning
      5. Class schedule & faculty workload
      6. Peer observation of teaching
      7. Mentoring new faculty 
   2. Retention, Tenure, and Promotion (RTP) Committee (standing) - The Academic Senate policy governing department RTP is AS #F24-241: “Retention, Tenure, and Promotion Policy.” The RTP Committee also subsumes the duties of the Leave with Pay Committee (AS #S22-301).  Only full professors (except the Department Chair) are eligible to serve and it is expected that all full professors will self-nominate to serve.  Members of the RTP Committee are elected by secret ballot of all tenured and tenure-track faculty, and terms are 3 years.
      1. Mentor assistant and associate professors
      2. Review electronic Working Personnel Action Files (eWPAF) of assistant and associate professors, including making recommendations on retention, tenure, and promotion
      3. Evaluate LWDIP applications
   3. Lower-Division Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee (standing) - This committee discusses and reviews the lower-division curricula and pedagogy.  Tenured and tenure-track faculty, lecturer faculty on three-year contracts, and staff are eligible to serve on this committee.   There should be a minimum of 3 tenured/tenure-track faculty on the committee; there is no minimum number for lecturer faculty and staff.  There is no maximum size of the committee.  Faculty and staff self-nominate, and the full department will vote to approve whether each nominee may serve. Terms are for one-year.
      1. Review and revise lower-division curriculum
      2. Assess student learning outcomes
      3. Peer observation of teaching
   4. Tenure-Track Hiring Committee (ad hoc) - The Academic Senate policy governing TT hiring is AS #F24-158: “Hiring Policy for Tenure Track Faculty.” The TT Hiring Committee forwards its ranked list to the Tenured & Tenure-Track Faculty Committee for a final vote.  While Academic Senate policy states that only TT faculty can serve on a TT Hiring Committee, it is the expectation that the committee will facilitate and encourage constructive input from all faculty, staff, and students (e.g., invite everyone to candidates’ colloquia, host candidate meet-and-greets, create web-based form for feedback).
      1. Prepare position description & job ads
      2. Proactively recruit a diverse pool of qualified applicants
      3. Review applications and select finalists
      4. Plan on-campus interviews and hosting finalists
      5. Rank finalists and forward ranked list to TT Faculty Committee

    

6. Essential Work & Service

   1. Twenty percent of the workload of tenured and tenure-track faculty is assigned for service to the department, college, and university.  Lecturer faculty do not have compensated service time as part of their workload and so are not obligated to do any service (apart from tasks incidental to teaching, such as writing letters of recommendation for their students).  In consultation with faculty, the Department Chair will distribute essential work and service equitably among tenured and tenure-track faculty; but also, as a general principle, the department expects faculty of higher rank to take on more service work than faculty of lower rank.  Certain tasks are done within committees (see §V), other tasks are assigned to individual faculty, and some tasks are expected to be done by all faculty.  This section does not include activities related to direct instruction (i.e., teaching) or research, scholarship & creative activities (RSCA).  The following listing of essential work & service is not exhaustive.
   2. Essential work & service within department committees (see §V).
   3. Essential work & service assigned to individual faculty
      1. Undergraduate major advisors
      2. Undergraduate advising liaison
      3. Colloquium organizer
      4. Lab coordinators for multi-section labs
      5. GTA orientation presenter
      6. Website & social media coordinator
      7. Faculty advisor for affiliated student groups (e.g., SPACE, Optica)
   4. Other essential work & service expected of tenured & tenure-track faculty
      1. Write letters of recommendation for students
      2. Recruit & host colloquium speakers
      3. Mentor students for college & university research & project showcases (e.g., CoSE Student Project Showcase, Graduate Research & Creative Works Showcase, CSU Student Research Competition); serve as judges for such showcases 
      4. Keep up-to-date with required all CSU online training (e.g., Data Security & FERPA, Gender Equity & Title IX, Emergency Procedures & Action Plans, Workplace Violence Prevention, Injury & Illness Prevention)
      5. Help with student recruitment (e.g. Explore SF State Day)
      6. Celebrate & honor students in department graduation celebration, undergraduate and graduate honors convocations, university graduation
      7. Serve on college & university committees, including the Academic Senate

    

7. Collegiality & Professional Ethics

   1. The scope of the collegiality & professional ethics policy covers the interpersonal interactions of faculty & staff as work colleagues in the work setting.  See: Resolution Reaffirming SFSU’s Standards of Collegial Behavior, RS04-233.
   2. The “Golden Rule” is the North Star of collegiality: “Treat others as you would like others to treat you.”  All faculty, staff, students, and visitors are expected to treat each other with respect and consideration. A diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, and opinions supports scientific creativity and productivity. Our speech & actions should encourage constructive engagement and collaboration.  Creating an inclusive and welcoming climate conducive to the growth of everyone associated with our department’s activities is a high priority for us.
   3. Colleagues will inevitably disagree at times - this is when collegiality is most crucial. Be conscious of how you communicate - “think before you speak” - you presumably want your colleagues to understand your point or argument.  Avoid condescension as it isn’t conducive to constructive dialogue. Ground arguments in truth and evidence.  It is a good idea to initially assume positive intent and to ask questions to better understand.  Assume your colleagues are willing to find common ground.  Of course, not all disagreements can be resolved, so know when and how to respectfully walk away, and to perhaps discuss again another time.
   4. We respect each other’s professional expertise.  While tenured & tenure-track faculty, lecturer faculty, and staff all have different job positions within the department, each of our voices are equal and no one should use their job title alone to imply that their contributions and speech are more valuable.   We affirm that we follow the Academic Senate’s  Statement of Professional Ethics, RF07-262, especially regarding how we treat each other as colleagues: “As colleagues, professors have obligations that derive from common membership in the community of scholars. Professors do not discriminate against or harass colleagues. They respect and defend the free inquiry of associates. In the exchange of criticism and ideas professors show due respect for the opinions of others. Professors acknowledge academic debt and strive to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues. Professors accept their share of faculty responsibilities for the governance of their institution.”
   5. We fully embrace the principle of academic freedom; see Academic Senate Policy on Academic Freedom, F13-267: “Academic freedom allows the discussion of all relevant matters in the classroom, explores all avenues of scholarship, research and creative expression, and speaks freely on all matters of university governance and public concern, without restraint, prejudice, or fear of reprisal. Further freedom of expression which is critical of conventional thought, or challenges established interests is vital to the University.” This collegiality & professional ethics policy should in no way be construed to interfere or limit faculty speech with respect to academic freedom in teaching & instruction, in research & creative expression, and in university governance and public expression.
   6. As a Department of Physics & Astronomy, we follow the ethics policies of our two main professional societies:
      1. American Astronomical Society’s Code of Ethics, with regards to conduct toward others, harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, research, publication and authorship, peer review, and conflicts of interest.
      2. American Physical Society’s Ethics Standards, which may be epitomized by the two pillars “integrity” and “respect”:
         1. Integrity - “Integrity is foundational to science. Simply put, physicists must tell the truth. Data fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism corrupt the progress of science, thereby diminishing its value and damaging public trust.”
         2. Respect - “Respect means that physicists must treat others well. Abuse of colleagues, students, or supervisees degrades the conditions for the honest interchange that leads to the best science.”
   7. We abide by the CSU Nondiscrimination Policy: “The California State University (CSU) is committed to an inclusive and equitable community that values diversity and fosters mutual respect. We embrace our community differences in age, disability (physical and mental), gender, gender Identity (including nonbinary or transgender), gender expression, genetic Information, marital status, medical condition, nationality, pregnancy or related conditions, race or ethnicity (including color, caste, or ancestry), religion or religious creed, sex (including sex stereotyping or sex characteristics), sexual orientation, and veteran or military status. All students and employees have the right to participate fully in CSU programs, activities, admission, and employment free from discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking and retaliation.”  Violations of the CSU Nondiscrimination Policy should be reported; see: Reporting Violations of CSU Nondiscrimination Policy.
   8. Faculty & staff should speak up if they observe that the norms of collegiality are not being respected.  If a faculty member or staff do not feel comfortable or safe speaking up, they are first encouraged to discuss with the Department Chair (or Associate Chair).  If there is no acceptable resolution and/or in extreme cases, they may seek guidance outside the department, such as the college dean or associate deans, Faculty Affairs, or the university ombuds.  

    

8. Amendments
   1. By-laws will be reviewed and amended as needed.
   2. Proposed amendments can be submitted by anyone in Department Leadership (as listed in §II) or forwarded from any standing or ad hoc committee (as listed in §V), or from any group of three faculty & staff.
   3. Proposed amendments must be discussed for at least 15 minutes in two different faculty meetings in the same academic year before a vote can be called.  Discussion is allowed to continue until a cloture vote is called and seconded, and two-thirds votes to approve cloture and move to a final vote.  Amendments are adopted by two-thirds.
   4. Adopted amendments go into effect on the first day of the start of the next academic semester, unless otherwise specified within the amendment.
   5. Housekeeping: the Chair is authorized to update any broken links without having to go through the amendment process.