Center By-Laws

MISSION STATEMENT

The Center for African Studies (hereafter CAS or the Center) is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at the University of Florida. Its central mission is to promote and facilitate teaching, research, and scholarship on Africa in all the disciplines at the University of Florida, with emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. The Center also disseminates knowledge about Africa to the wider community through its interactions with and outreach programs to schools, colleges, other universities, academic and professional organizations, community groups, and businesses. The Center is committed to sustaining contacts and interactive linkages with individuals and institutions on the African continent and worldwide.

GOVERNANCE OF THE CENTER

These by-laws establish the general principles that shall guide the governance of the Center for African Studies. The by-laws are governed by and subordinate to the University Constitution, the policies and directives of the Florida Board of Governors and the University of Florida Board of Trustees, applicable provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the CLAS Constitution, hereinafter called “University Policy.” Operating within the context and the provisions of these by-laws, governance shall be shared between the administration of the Center and the faculty as represented in the Advisory Council.

The governance of the Center for African Studies, including but not limited to the formation and operation of search committees, promotion and tenure, annual evaluations, merit increases, and amendments, shall be consistent with policies and procedures of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the University and will comply with active collective bargaining agreements. 

Membership of the Faculty

The faculty of the CAS comprises all individuals with one of the following categories:

• 1a: Center-based faculty members whose academic appointments are solely in CAS.
• 2b: Center-based faculty members with paid academic appointments within both CAS and other campus units – referred to in this document as “joint’ appointments.
• 2: Affiliate faculty are individuals with paid faculty appointments in other units whose research, teaching and/or service deals with Africa. CAS affiliate faculty are not paid by the Center and have no paid teaching, service, or research assignment in CAS. The CAS faculty or the Center Director may recommend individuals for appointment as affiliate faculty members. Appointment as a CAS affiliate faculty member involves the submission of a letter of application to the CAS Director and approval by the Director of that application. CAS affiliate faculty may continue to hold this position indefinitely.

Rights and Responsibilities of the Faculty

The responsibilities of the CAS Center-based faculty shall include but are not limited to i) teaching, research and service as related to African studies; and ii) contributing to the mission and governance of the Center. The CAS Center-based faculty has a right to assemble to discuss matters of concern to the faculty, which shall be brought to the relevant bodies.

CAS Affiliate Faculty may vote and stand for membership of the Advisory Council and are free to participate in CAS activities on a voluntary basis.

Meetings of the CAS Faculty

An all-faculty meeting shall be held at least once every other year. The Center-based faculty will hold at least one meeting each semester. Additional meetings may be called by the Center Director and/or the Advisory Council, or by at least five of the Center-based faculty.

The Advisory Council

The Advisory Council of the Center for African Studies is an elected body representing the Africanist faculty of the University of Florida. Its main purpose is to promote the mission, programs and goals of the Center for African Studies in the university, by providing suggestions and advice to the Director and the administrative staff of the Center. It also plays an advocacy role for African Studies and African-related issues within the university as well as the greater community. The Director and Center staff will take the recommendations of the Council into account in policy decisions but will not be bound by them.

• I. Membership: The Council shall comprise nine members from among the CAS affiliate faculty along with ex-officio members. Of the nine affiliate faculty members, six shall be elected and three shall be appointed by the Director to ensure inclusive and diverse representation. The ex-officio members are the Center’s Director, Associate Director, Outreach Director, Language Coordinator, Africana Bibliographer, and Office Manager, as well as the Chair of the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. Ex-officio members are generally expected to attend Council meetings, but they do not have voting rights.
•   II. Eligibility: Any member of CAS’s Center-based and affiliate faculty is eligible for nomination and election or appointment to the Advisory Council, and to vote in Advisory Council elections.
•   III. Chair of Council: The Council shall annually elect a chairperson from among its elected or appointed members, at the first meeting of the academic year. The Chair may be re-elected once and thus serve for two years. A two-thirds majority will be required to remove the Chair.
•   IV. Elections: There shall be elections for two elected members every year. The Director will appoint one member each year.
•   a). The Chair shall solicit nominations and coordinate the collection and counting of the votes.
•   b). Any person meeting the criteria of eligibility listed in item II above may initiate nominations for election to the Council. Self-nominations will also be accepted.
•   c). Voting for Council members shall be either by print or email ballot distributed to all eligible Center-based and affiliate faculty. The process shall take place at the start of the fall semester and shall take no more than ten days.
•   V. Terms: Elected and appointed terms are for three years. Following a term on the Council, individuals are eligible for election or to be appointed again after a delay of two years. Should a member need to leave the Council before the end of his or her term for any reason, an election will be conducted to seek a replacement.
•   VI. Center Committees: The Council will advise the Director on the appointment of committees and their members as needed.
•   VII. Meetings and Faculty Participation: All Council meetings are open to the public under the State’s Sunshine Laws. At the Chair’s discretion, non-member faculty may participate in proceedings. Faculty members having a direct interest in a specific agenda have the right to be heard before the Council, but only Council members have the right to vote on decisions to be taken by the Council.
•   a). Any member who misses two consecutive meetings may be replaced unless there are justifiable reasons for the absence, as determined by the Council. Upon notice, an election shall be conducted to select a replacement (see item V concerning procedures for replacing members who leave before the end of their term).
•   b). The Council shall generally meet on at least a semester basis during the fall and spring semesters.
•   c). The fall meeting should be scheduled as early as possible in the academic year so an adequate preview of the year’s agenda can be given.

CENTER ADMINISTRATION

Center Director

Director’s Search

All aspects of the Director search will be consistent with CLAS Constitution II D 3, including initial election of a search committee composed of faculty members (only), each of whom has been elected by a majority vote of Center-based and affiliate faculty members; addition of a dean’s representative; election of a chair; addition of up to two more faculty members; maintenance of faculty membership only with a majority of members holding Center-based appointments or affiliate faculty status in the CAS. Subject to this regulation:

•   a). The Advisory Council shall nominate faculty members from the CAS center-based and affiliated faculty to serve on the search committee for the Director.
• b). The chair of the Advisory Council shall serve on the search committee. If the Council chair cannot serve, voting members of the Council shall elect Council member to serve on the Director search committee.
• c). At least one member of the Director search committee shall hold a regular faculty appointment with the CAS.
• d). At least one member of the search committee shall be a CAS affiliate with a regular faculty appointment solely or mainly (at least 0.51 FTE) outside CLAS.
• e). The search committee shall reflect the disciplinary diversity of the CAS.
• f). CAS affiliate and Center-based faculty will have the opportunity to provide feedback on candidates and search procedures.
• g). The Center Director shall be appointed by the dean following a duly constituted search and consideration of faculty feedback, according to the CAS and University policy and regulations

Director’s Role

• a). Oversight of the CAS in relation to other departments/programs and administrative offices of the University. The Director shall attend monthly CLAS chairs/directors meetings and any other meetings designated for chairs and directors. The Director shall represent the CAS to other Universities, and/or organizations that have dealings with the CAS
• b). Management of the CAS and shall perform the functions necessary to implement all phases of its operation, including space allocation, equipment procedures, and staff hiring and supervision.
• c). Administration of the CAS budget.
• d). Conducting Center elections as required by these By-laws.
• e). Initiating searches for Center-based faculty and staff appointments.
• f). Calling periodic meetings of the faculty.
• g). Appointing the chairs and members of the Center’s Standing Committees and other committees and Task Forces as needed.
• h). Supervising, evaluating, and assigning duties to Center-based faculty members.
• i). Coordinating with chairs of departments who have joint appointments in the CAS to ensure that percentage allocation of faculty service, teaching and research time is congruent with the faculty member’s percentage FTE appointment. The Director shall consult with relevant chairs in the cases of promotion and tenure and is responsible for ensuring that the faculty members’ contributions to the CAS are recognized.
• j). Serve as CAS Graduate Coordinator.

Other Administrative Officers

As the Dean’s appointee, the Center Director shall appoint other administrative officers of the Center, including the Associate Director, and other professional staff. The Associate Director shall manage the day-to-day activities of the Center; provide advice to the Director on Center affairs; be an ex-officio member of the Advisory Council; and at the discretion of the Director, chair or serve as liaison to other Center committees. The Associate Director may be assigned specific tasks (such as grant management, financial aid, etc.) to assist the Director in addition to his/her regular job duties as described in the position description. The Associate Director will serve as CAS Undergraduate Coordinator.  As Undergraduate Coordinator, the Associate Director shall represent the Center at relevant college meetings dealing with undergraduate affairs and curriculum. The Associate Director also plans and oversees the Center’s course offerings and carries out other job duties as described in the position description.

The Center’s Outreach Director is responsible for coordinating, organizing, and carrying out the main outreach activities of the Center, principally with respect to schools, colleges, community and other groups at local, state, and national levels. The Outreach Director shall establish priorities and organize and carry out outreach activities in consultation with the Center Director and shall report to the Director on outreach activities and appropriate evaluation of their impacts.

The Center’s Language Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the African language offerings through the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and the Center and is also responsible for identifying, providing basic training for, and supervising the graduate teaching assistants who teach and assist in the teaching of African languages. He or she also coordinates the work of the lecturers or other non-tenure track faculty who are involved in teaching African languages. The Language Coordinator reports to the Director on all aspects of the Program in African Languages at the University.

Administrative Committees

The Director or the Associate Director shall establish administrative committees as needed to assist in the administration of the Center.

CENTER-BASED FACULTY

The Center-based faculty shall have primary responsibility for teaching the core courses associated with the Center’s Academic Program, serving as advisors for African studies courses, and advising the Center Director with respect to the Center’s activities and administration.

STANDING COMMITTEES

The standing committees shall include the Pre-Dissertation Summer Research Awards Committee (generally 3 members appointed by the Director, rotating annually, with the Associate Director as ex-officio member); Curriculum Committee (generally 3 members, including at least one Center-based CAS faculty, appointed by the Director, plus the CAS Undergraduate and Graduate Coordinators as appropriate); and Merit Evaluation Committee (generally 3 members, appointed by the Director as discussed below).

FACULTY SEARCHES AND APPOINTMENTS

The Center participates in two types of faculty searches: appointments solely in the CAS and ones jointly held with one or more other UF units.

Searches for Center-based faculty appointed solely in the Center (1a)

Search committees to fill vacancies for faculty positions appointed solely in the CAS shall be organized according to all relevant CLAS and University policies as well as active collective bargaining agreements. The Director may request the Advisory Council to nominate a representative of the Affiliate faculty to serve on such committees.

The Center-based faculty and members of the Advisory Council will be given the opportunity to meet with all short-listed candidates. Once the search committee has made its report to the Center Director, the Center-based faculty and members of the Advisory Council will have the opportunity to discuss this report and advise the Center Director. The Director will report the evaluations to the Dean, who is the hiring authority for all such positions.

MENTORING

The Director of the CAS will support the appointment of a mentor for each newly appointed Center-based faculty member. The CAS’ perspective on the mentoring process is that its goal is to provide the faculty member with someone with whom s/he may freely discuss all matters concerning his/her academic career. The selection of a mentor need not be based on similarities in academic work. The role of the mentor is distinct from all mechanisms of evaluation.

EVALUATION

The CAS-related duties and activities of each paid faculty member in categories 1a and 1b (with respect to teaching, research, and service, and other relevant activities) will be evaluated on an annual basis by the CAS Director. This evaluation will be provided in the annual letter of evaluation written by the CAS Director for each faculty member. In the case of jointly appointed faculty, the letter of evaluation will generally be written in conjunction with the Chair of the department in which a faculty member holds a joint appointment. There will be an opportunity for each faculty member to discuss the annual letter with the CAS Director.

Evaluation policies are identical for tenure track and non-tenure track faculty alike.

All faculty with appointments in CAS will be required to submit their Annual Activities Report by the deadline announced by the CLAS Dean. This report should include:

• Student course evaluations, along with syllabi and other course materials; and if available, a peer teaching review;
• Faculty are invited and encouraged also to submit supplemental materials related to research: (e.g. grant applications, letters of acceptance), or to service (invitations to give talks, documentation on conference organization, etc.).

Merit evaluation procedures

The Merit Evaluation Committee will consist of three faculty members appointed by the Director, and composed of three Center-based faculty members (1a and 1b) To the extent possible, this committee will represent a diversity of ranks and disciplinary fields. The major function of the Merit Evaluation Committee is to provide evaluations of each of the Center-based faculty with respect to the allocation of merit-based pay and salary increases when these are available.

When merit pay decisions are possible, the Merit Evaluation Committee will review all files, and rate each faculty member on the basis of submitted materials in three areas: Research, Teaching and Service. In each category, provide rating of: 1. Excellent; 2. Good; 3. Adequate; 4. Inadequate.

The Merit Evaluation Committee will communicate with the CAS director, to discuss and rate each faculty member, on a scale of 1-4 (1 = most meritorious, 2 = very meritorious,3 = meritorious, 4 = not meritorious). The discussion for the final rating will take into account the nature of the individual appointment (e.g. a primarily administrative appointment will be weighted as such, etc.) and will be determined using existing criteria which have been established by CAS faculty and Center Director.

These ratings and discussions will be the basis for allocating merit raises, based on the total amount of merit pay available to the Center:

PROMOTION OF LECTURERS AND NON-TENURE TRACK FACULTY

The procedures for promoting lecturers and other non-tenure track faculty in the CAS will follow the established procedures and criteria established by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in accordance with active collective bargaining agreements.

BY-LAWS AMENDMENT

Amendments to the By-Laws may be proposed by Center-based faculty (categories 1a and 1b). The text of proposed amendments shall be distributed to Center-based faculty two weeks prior to such vote. By-Laws shall be approved by a majority vote of the Center-based faculty (categories 1a and 1b). A vote of the CAS Center-based faculty must take place in person at a publicly noticed meeting with a show of hands, and the vote counts must be recorded in the minutes of that meeting.

EFFECTIVE DATE

These By-laws were originally adopted by the Center Advisory Council and the Center-based faculty on March 29, 2016. They were subsequently amended on September 18th, 2026