THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

FACULTIES (FACULTY OF SCIENCE) RULES 2005

The Council of the Australian National University makes these Rules under section 10 of the Faculties Statute 2002.

Dated: 10 December 2004.

Peter Baume AO

Chancellor

Citation and commencement

1 (1) These are the Faculties (Faculty of Science) Rules 2005.

(2) These Rules commence on 31 December 2004, immediately after the commencement of the Rules (Repeal) Rules 2004.

Definitions

2 In these Rules, unless the contrary intention appears:

Chair for a Faculty meeting, means the person presiding at the meeting.

Dean means Dean of the Faculty.

meeting means a meeting of the Faculty.

member means member of the Faculty.

Students' Association means the Australian National University Students' Association.

the Faculty means the Faculty of  Science in The Faculties.

the Statute means the Faculties Statute 1999.

Faculty of Science

3  (1) The Faculty includes:

 (a) for paragraph 3(1)(c) of the Statute, the Head of each Department for the time being assigned to the Faculty; and

 (b) for paragraph 3(1)(d) of the Statute:

 (i) a member nominated by the Students' Association from among the students enrolled in courses of studies for which the Faculty is responsible who have, at the date of the nomination, been enrolled as a student at a university for not less than 1 year; and

 (ii) each student member (except the 2 undergraduate student members representing the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Engineering) of the Education Committee of the Faculty, being a student member who has full voting rights at meetings of that Committee; and

 (c) for paragraph 3(1)(e) of the Statute:

 (i) the Head of each Department for the time being associated with the Faculty; and

 (ii) 2 members, or any greater number of members determined by the Faculty, elected from:

 (A) the full-time teaching and research staff of or above the rank of Associate Lecturer; and

 (B) the full-time research only staff of or above the rank of Postdoctoral Fellow or Research Associate, each of whose appointments is for 364 days or more;

  of Departments and Divisions for the time being assigned to, or associated with the Faculty; and

 (iii) the Dean of the Faculty of Arts; and

 (iv) a member of the Faculty of Arts nominated by that Faculty; and

 (v) a member of the Faculty of Law nominated by that Faculty; and

 (vi) the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology; and

 (vii) the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Commerce; and

 (viii) such other persons, not exceeding 3, as the Faculty appoints.

(2) A member of the Faculty referred to in subparagraph (1)(c)(ii) is to be elected by the members of the full-time teaching staff of or above the rank of associate lecturer of the department of which he or she is a member in such manner as is determined by resolution of a majority of those members present and voting at a meeting convened for the purpose by the Dean.

(3) A member of the Faculty referred to in subparagraph (1)(c)(ii) holds office for a period of 12 months, but is eligible for re-election.

(4) A member of the Faculty of Science referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or subparagraph (1)(c)(i) or (ii) who is unable to attend a meeting of the Faculty may, by instrument in writing, authorise a member of the full-time teaching staff of or above the rank of associate lecturer of a department in the Faculty who is not a member of the Faculty to be his or her deputy for the purpose of attending a meeting of the Faculty specified in the instrument of authority

(5) A deputy appointed under subrule (4) may attend the meeting in place of the member of the Faculty, and is, while so attending, to be regarded as a member of the Faculty.

(6) A member of the Faculty referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(i) or (1)(c)(iv),(v),(vi), or (vii) holds office, subject to subsections (8) and (9), for a period of 12 months but is eligible for reappointment.

(7) A member of the Faculty referred to in subparagraph (1)(c)(viii) holds office, subject to subsections (8) and (9), for a period not exceeding 3 years, but is eligible for reappointment.

(8) If a member of the Faculty referred to in sub-paragraph  (1)(b)(i) or (1)(c)(iv) or (v):

 (a)  dies; or

 (b) declines to act; or

 (c) resigns office,

his or her office becomes vacant.

(9) If a vacancy occurs in the office of a member of the Faculty because of the operation of subsection (8), a member may be elected or appointed to the vacant office in accordance with subparagraph (1)(b)(i) or (1)(c)(iv) or (v), as the case requires,

(10) A member so elected or appointed holds office, subject to subsection (8), for the unexpired portion of the term of the person who vacated the office.

(11) The Faculty may co-opt as members of the Faculty for such periods as the Faculty determines persons whose views are, in the opinion of the Faculty, of special value to the Faculty

(12) A person so co-opted is not eligible to vote at a meeting of the Faculty and the presence of the person at a meeting of the Faculty must not be counted for the purpose of constituting a quorum at that meeting.

Functions of the Faculty

4 For subsection 3 (5) of the Statute, the functions of the faculty are to encourage and maintain standards of scholarship, research and teaching, and to maintain standards of examination, in subjects within the scope of the faculty.

Powers of the Faculty

5 For subsection 3 (5) of the Statute, the Faculty may:

 (a) enrol students in the faculty; and

 (b) exempt students in the faculty from attendance at lectures, classes and practical work; and

 (c) exempt students in the faculty from part of a course of study.

Convening of Meetings

6 The Dean must convene a meeting at the written request of 4 members.

Notice of Meetings

7 (1) Not less than 7 days' notice in writing of a meeting must be given to all members other than members on leave of absence from the University.

(2) The Dean must  make  a copy of the agenda, and a copy of the minutes, of each meeting of the Faculty to be made available to the teaching staff of each Department for the time being assigned to or associated with the Faculty, through the Head of the Department, and any such person may at any time submit to the Faculty a statement in writing of his or her views on any matter affecting the Faculty.

Quorum

8 At a meeting, a quorum is constituted by the lesser of:

 (a) one-third of the total number of members; and

 (b) 10 members.

Voting at Meetings

9 At a meeting of the Faculty, each member present has a deliberative vote and, if there is an equality of votes, the member presiding at the meeting also has a casting vote.

Faculty meetings - agenda

10  (1) The Dean may star any item on the agenda prior to meeting of the Faculty.

(2) Only starred items on the agenda may be debated by the Faculty.

(3) At the commencement of every meeting any item on the agenda, or any portion of an item, must be starred if a member so requests.

Notice of Motion

11  (1) Any member may submit a motion for consideration by the Faculty by giving the Dean 10 days written notice of the motion.

(2) A motion referred to in subrule (1) must be seconded by another member before debate may proceed.

(3) Each such motion is to be a starred item on the Faculty's agenda.

Moving motions

12  (1) Any member may move a motion in the course of a debate arising out of an item listed on the agenda.

(2) A motion must be submitted in writing, and seconded, before, at the discretion of the Chair, debate on it may proceed.

(3) Except by permission of a majority of the members present at the meeting, no member may move any motion initiating any business on a subject that has not been placed on the agenda for the meeting.

(4) If a majority of the members present at the meeting permit a motion referred to in subrule (3) to be moved, the motion must be submitted in writing, and seconded, before debate on it may proceed.

(5) Debate on the motion may take place at a point in the order of business to be determined by the Chair, unless the Faculty, by resolution, decides otherwise.

Amendments

13  (1) Any member may move an amendment to any motion before a meeting.

(2) Every amendment must be submitted in writing, and seconded, before debate on the amendment may, at the discretion of the Chair, proceed.

(3) However, an amendment must be relevant to the question which it is proposed to amend and is out of order if, in the opinion of the Chair, it seeks to negate the intention of the original motion.

Foreshadowed Motions

14 Foreshadowed motions may be accepted when another motion is before the Chair but they may not be debated until the motion before the chair is decided.

Motions to reconsider

15 Any member may move, after giving notice in accordance with these Rules, that the Faculty reconsider or rescind an earlier resolution of the Faculty.

Procedural Motions

16 Procedural motions are to take precedence in the order of business and are to be put without debate.

Suspension of the Procedural Rules

17  (1) Rules 10 to 16 may be suspended for the time being on a motion made, with or without notice, providing that such a motion must have the concurrence of three-quarters of the members present.

(2) Such a motion, when moved, has precedence over any other business.

Quorum must be present

18  (1) At a meeting, the business of the Faculty must not begin unless a quorum of the Faculty is present.

(2) At a meeting, any member may assert that a quorum of members is not present and, if the Chair, having taken a count, finds a quorum is not present then the proceedings of the meeting must be adjourned until a date to be fixed by the Chair.