Tie Policy
Communication Science welcomes faculty from the Media School who share our interest in explanatory scholarship about all aspects of communication. A faculty member who wants to tie with Communication Science should meet with the Unit Director to discuss their reasons for tying and the extent to which they wish to be engaged in the unit’s business such as attending meetings and serving on committees.
If the faculty member chooses to continue the process after that conversation, the Unit Director will forward to the Communication Science faculty a copy of their CV and they will be invited to a faculty meeting to meet with the unit members, talk about why they wish to tie, and answer questions from the faculty. After this meeting the Communication Science faculty will vote. At least two-thirds of Communication Science faculty must vote “yes” for the tie to occur. The Unit Director will inform the Dean of the Media School and the Director of the faculty member’s home-unit about the decision.
Tie faculty service and voting rights
Tie faculty cannot serve on merit and annual review committees, cannot vote on tenure and promotion, and cannot vote on other faculty’s tie-unit requests or removals.
When eligibility on a School-wide vote or committee is determined by unit, tie faculty must vote and run as a member of their home unit.
As to matters other than those excluded above, tie faculty can serve on other committees and do have voting rights in other unit and committee votes.
Discontinuance of faculty tie unit affiliation
Tie faculty can discontinue the affiliation by notifying the Unit Director that they no longer wish to be part of the unit. If a faculty member with a tie affiliation to Communication Science is not contributing constructively to the unit, any Communication Science faculty member may bring this matter to the attention of the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee will then bring this matter to the attention of the Unit Director. If the Advisory Committee, after receiving the Unit Director’s input, agrees that the faculty member is not contributing adequately to the unit’s mission, it may vote to discontinue the tie affiliation. If a majority votes for removal, the Committee’s recommendation to discontinue the tie affiliation will go to the Communication Science faculty, which will vote on the matter. A two-thirds majority will be required to approve the discontinuation of tie affiliation.
