Under Section 15 of the Rules of the Faculty Senate, notification or distribution to members of the Faculty Senate may be accomplished by publication in Almanac. The following is published pursuant to that rule.

To: Members of the Faculty Senate
From: Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Chair
Subject: Notice of Special Meeting of Faculty Senate to Consider Changes to Rules of the Faculty Senate 

Background information 

These revisions of the Rules of the Faculty Senate are recommendations developed by a committee of current and former Chairs of the Faculty Senate that have been reviewed by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee prior to submission to the Faculty Senate.  The revisions propose to reform the Senate’s processes for making committee nominations and appointments, to restructure the Senate Committees, and to make other clarifying and logistical adjustments.  

In all cases, the proposed amendments serve to provide greater flexibility for the Faculty Senate in responding to both enduring concerns of the faculty and changing circumstances that require prioritization of certain needs in some years over others.

The supplement, included here as a separate PDF file, summarizes the proposed amendments and tracks the specific additions and deletions throughout the Rules.

1. Notice of Meeting. A special, virtual meeting of the Faculty Senate will be held on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 3 p.m. All Standing Faculty members (including Standing Faculty Clinician-Educator) may register to participate in this meeting by visiting https://facultysenate.upenn.edu/.
2. Agenda. The agenda for the special meeting follows: 
     a) (3 p.m.) Call to order.
     b) Discussion on proposal to amend the Rules of the Faculty Senate.
         i)   A “red-lined” version illustrating how the amendments would be applied, may be viewed here. Download the pdf.
         ii)  A “clean” version of the amended Rules as they would read if approved may be reviewed here. Download the pdf.
     c) (3:15 p.m.) Discussion of school-level sustainability and climate action initiatives: invited school deans will engage in a discussion with the leaders of the Faculty Senate’s Select Committee on the Institutional Response to the Climate Emergency (CIRCE). Questions and comments will be invited from the all-faculty audience.
    d) (4:30 p.m.) Adjournment 

Questions and comments should be addressed to the Senate Office by email to senate@pobox.upenn.edu or by phone to (215) 898-6943.