Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC)

In order to assist the President and Provost in promoting excellence across Emory and to ensure comparable quality while protecting school distinctiveness, the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC), a group of senior faculty elected by the tenured faculty in each of the schools/colleges, reviews each file for tenure and promotion. The President and Provost determine which files are appropriate for forwarding to the PAC for their discussion with and recommendation to the Provost and President. As an advisory body the PAC does not exercise a vote on files, does not set policy, and does not serve as an appellate body.

Distribution of membership: The Committee shall comprise twelve elected members, one each from the schools of Business, Law, Nursing, Public Health, Theology, and Oxford College; three from Emory College with one from the natural sciences, one from the humanities, and one from the social sciences; and three from the Medical School, at least one of whom shall be a basic scientist who also has an appointment in the Graduate School.

Term of membership: The term for membership shall be three years, with one third of the membership elected in each year. A member shall be eligible to serve a second consecutive term, but may not be re-elected for a third term until s/he has not been a member for a period of at least two years. Terms shall commence on September l of any given year and expire on August 31.

Qualifications: At a minimum, persons selected to serve on the PAC shall hold the rank of full professor with tenure. In addition, they shall have had significant experience in evaluating candidates for tenure and promotion. This experience would ordinarily be evidenced by service on school-level committees that review files of candidates.

Nominations: The dean of each school or college, after consulting with the school's appointment and tenure committee (in schools that have one), will nominate persons who meet the qualifications for office. The dean shall send forward two names of qualified persons willing to serve for each open position. The dean must provide all information required to properly prepare the ballot (see section on the ballot below).

After receiving the nominations, the President and Provost will consult with the University Faculty Council Executive Committee. In the event that a nominee is unacceptable to the President and Provost, they shall solicit a replacement from the Dean. They will then select two names to be placed on the ballot for each position. Election shall be by a majority of the votes cast in the relevant school.

The ballot: The ballot shall contain the names of each person nominated for the position together with a brief biographical statement that describes not only the nominee's academic expertise but his or her experience in evaluating candidates for tenure and promotion. The Office of Institutional Research will administer a web-based election process and invite via email all eligibale voters to vote.

Voting:

Eligible voters: All tenured members of the faculty will be eligible to vote, and each faculty member will be eligible to vote for every open position in his or her school.

Manner of voting: Using the brief biographical statements submitted by the dean, Institutional Research will develop an on-line, secured voting site. All eligible voters will receive an initial email containing instructions and the link to the voting site, and this will be followed by a reminder for those who have not voted by the fourth day. The voting website will remain open for seven days following the initial call to vote. Institutional Research will be able to tell whether or not an eligible voter has voted, but will not know for whom he or she has voted. Ballots will be tabulated by the Director of Institutional Research in the presence of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs who shall jointly certify the vote to the President and Provost.

Report of voting: The President will post the results of the election on this web site, will have them printed in the Emory Report, and will report them directly to the candidates, the President of the Faculty Council and the Council of Deans.