Faculty Senate Minutes

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research. Original audiocassette recordings of Faculty Senate meetings, 1979-1997, are restricted from access. Reformatted access copies may be available, or media reformatting may be available upon request. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

Copyright for materials authored or otherwise produced as official business of James Madison University is retained by James Madison University. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information, contact the Special Collections Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Faculty Senate Meetings, 1969-2007, UA 0001, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Summary

Extent:
2.0 cubic feet 2 boxes
Abstract:
The Faculty Senate Minutes, 1969-2007, are comprised of minutes and audio recordings of the James Madison University Faculty Senate meetings.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Faculty Senate Meetings, 1969-2007, UA 0001, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

The Faculty Senate Minutes, 1969-2007, are comprised chiefly of meeting minutes, audio recordings, and memoranda produced by the JMU Faculty Senate.

The minutes begin with the first meeting of the Faculty Senate on September 9, 1972 and continue through 2007. Earlier materials related to the organization of the Senate include draft constitutions.

The subject matter of the minutes reflect and document the happenings in the Faculty Senate meetings. Topics include general announcements, enrollment numbers, salaries, reorganization and administrative changes, tenure and promotion, faculty handbook revisions, academic restructuring, and Faculty for Responsible Change (FRC). Additional materials include rosters, the Faculty Senate constitution, indices to minutes, and committee reports.

Biographical / historical:

The James Madison University Faculty Senate Committee completed a preliminary draft of a Faculty Senate Constitution in February 1972. The constitution with proposed suggestions were approved at the April 11, 1972 general faculty meeting. The Madison College Faculty Senate held its organization meeting in Blackwell Auditorium on May 23, 1972. The Faculty Senate held its inaugural meeting on September 9, 1972 in Harrison Hall.

As of 2018, the membership is comprised of one representative from each academic unit and one student representative. The JMU Faculty Senate's mission statement is as follows:

"The function of the Faculty Senate is to represent the faculty in the consideration of all policies that affect the academic climate and direction of the institution. The Faculty Senate seeks to create, maintain and protect a university environment conductive to the growth of scholarship, learning, teaching, research, service, and respect for human dignity and rights."

The Senate's responsibilities include:

Offering suggestions to the vice presidents for academic affairs and for administration and finance on matters of university organization, budget recommendations and revisions, facilities, planning, and mission at the university level;

Consulting with appropriate resource persons concerning academic policy;

Offering recommendations about admissions policies and enrollment management;

Participating in university-wide curricular oversight through its representatives on the Committee on Academic Programs (CAP); and

Working with the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs to maintain policies and procedures by which the faculty will be involved in the evaluation of academic administrators at the university level.

Acquisition information:
This collection was transferred to Special Collections in 1993 by the sitting Faculty Senate secretary.
Processing information:

This collection, formerly catalogued as FA 93-0305, was minimally reprocessed in 2018. General faculty meeting minutes that were interfiled with the Faculty Senate Minutes were removed and integrated into the Office of the President: Faculty Minutes, UA 0011.

Audiocassettes documenting Faculty Senate meetings were previously cataloged bibliographically as LD3141 .M56592 F34. The cassettes were incorporated into the collection, but remain unreformatted, in March 2026.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically with related materials filed after the meeting minutes.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard