SLAT Program Bylaws

I. MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) is to:

1. Provide rigorous and high-quality graduate-level education for researchers, teachers, curriculum specialists, and administrators at all levels of instruction who are concerned with aspects of second language acquisition, learning, and teaching.
2. Facilitate scholarly communication and collaboration among faculty/scholars with different disciplinary traditions and identities at The University of Arizona who have expertise and interests in language acquisition, learning, and/or teaching.
3. Enhance the quality of undergraduate foreign language education at The University of Arizona and other educational institutions; and
4. Provide outreach support to the community, state, and beyond in relation to social justice, diversity and policy issues concerning language learning and multilingualism.

In fulfilling its mission, the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching reports through the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs in the Graduate College to the Provost's Office.

II. FACULTY MEMBERSHIP

     A.  Criteria

1.  UA Faculty shall be nominated for membership in the SLAT GIDP by submitting a request for membership and a recent curriculum vitae to the Program’s Executive Council (referred going forward in this document as ExCo). The request for membership should include one’s CV and a statement of interest in participating in graduate education (both in chairing or serving on Ph.D. students’ committees and in offering new or existing graduate courses of interest) in disciplines related to SLAT, or a general participation interest with explanation of connection to SLAT.

Fundamental criteria for membership shall include commitment to SLAT graduate education and demonstrated scholarship in disciplines related to SLAT (which may be interpreted broadly by ExCo on a case-by-case basis). A two-thirds majority of positive votes of the entire ExCo shall be required for nomination to membership. If successful, the nomination then passes to the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs for GIDP approval and on to the Graduate College for status as Graduate Faculty.     

 2.  University Graduate Faculty may hold Regular membership in SLAT or Affiliate membership in SLAT.

a. Regular members are those who are significantly active in the Program. Significant activity includes but is not limited to: (a) serving on a SLAT committee; (b) chairing/serving on a SLAT dissertation committee; (c) chairing/serving on a SLAT comprehensive examination committee; (d) teaching a graduate course that may count towards the SLAT degree; and/or(e) conducting ongoing scholarship resulting in publication, presentation, teaching innovation, and/or other professional activity in SLAT-related fields.

b. Affiliate members are those with a general interest in SLAT-related fields who wish to be fully informed of the Program’s operation, and who wish to engage in a limited subset of Program activities.

c. Regular members may choose to reduce their commitment to SLAT and step down to Affiliate status should their teaching or research duties lessen.

d. It is emphasized that these Regular and Affiliate Memberships do not represent primary and secondary ‘citizenship’ in the SLAT GIDP; rather they are a means of explicitly identifying a member’s level of active involvement in the Program. All SLAT faculty shall be considered Graduate Faculty of SLAT.

B. Responsibilities

1. Regular Members should, at their discretion, serve as student mentors, Proseminar Advisors, chair/serve on SLAT comprehensive examination or SLAT dissertation committees, offer SLAT courses, attend open faculty meetings, provide feedback on SLAT initiatives when requested, serve on SLAT ExCo or other SLAT committees when needed, provide peer review feedback for annual review and/or promotion when warranted, and in general actively engage in the activities and community of SLAT.
    
2. Tenured/Tenure-Eligible and Continuing Status/CS-Eligible Regular Members of SLAT may serve as SLAT comprehensive exam chairs or SLAT dissertation chairs. Career Track faculty who wish to chair a SLAT comprehensive exam committee or SLAT dissertation committee must petition the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs through the SLAT Chair (see Article about Chair) for permission to direct a student’s dissertation in the SLAT Program.

C. Promotion and Tenure

Any SLAT faculty member or their home department chair may request that the SLAT Chair provide a written review of that member’s activities in the SLAT Program. This statement could be used for purposes of promotion & tenure, post-tenure review, appointment or nomination to specialized posts or chaired positions, etc. To do so, the member must submit a written report to the SLAT Chair, outlining the member’s activity and involvement in SLAT and noting the percentage of their total workload spent in support of the Program. This statement should cover a period of at least 12 calendar months up to and including the date of the request. The SLAT Chair through the SLAT Executive Council (see article about ExCo) will perform the review.

The consequent statement will be forwarded to both the faculty member and the Head of their primary department or academic unit (or, in the case of faculty who are

Department Heads, to the appropriate Dean). Faculty members may opt to appeal the review with the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs in accordance with Graduate College procedures.

 D. Annual Performance Review

Regular SLAT faculty members may request input for Annual Performance Reviews. Based on the information submitted by the faculty member, the SLAT Chair will write a letter to the appropriate Department Head (or in the case of faculty who are Department Heads, to the appropriate Dean) describing the faculty member's contributions to SLAT. Faculty members may opt to appeal the review with the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs in accordance with Graduate College and UHAP procedures.

 E. Meetings and Communication  

All members of the SLAT Faculty are to be informed of SLAT activities and the ExCo proceedings and invited to have input on all matters related to SLAT. A meeting of all SLAT faculty must be called at least once each year. The Chair may call for an additional meeting or the faculty may schedule one on petition from ten or more SLAT Faculty.

III. EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

A. Purpose

The Executive Council (ExCo) is charged with determining policy and procedures related to student admission and evaluation, to program implementation (including curricular requirements), and to selection/appointment of new faculty and the Chair. Any of these responsibilities may be delegated to individuals or subcommittees with a two-thirds vote of the ExCo. All ExCo members are appointed to the council by the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs.

B. Membership

The ExCo will consist of at least six voting members and no more than twelve voting members from the Regular SLAT faculty. All ExCo members are appointed for three-year terms to the council by the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs upon recommendation by a majority of the current council. One member slot will be reserved for each major Area Chair (four), the Graduate Advisor (DGS), and the Chair, with the remaining slots available to members-at-large. To ensure interdisciplinary representation, membership should draw equally from the colleges participating in SLAT, to the extent possible.

In addition, two student representatives will meet with ExCo on an ad hoc (non-voting) basis. These representatives will be elected by the SLAT Student Association (SLATSA) for one-year terms and will be eligible to serve one additional term in office. The student representatives will not participate in any discussions relating to faculty or student admission/evaluation.

C. Terms

All terms begin and end with the academic year. Members may serve two consecutive three-year terms on ExCo and may join ExCo again two years after completing a term. ExCo members who are on leave may be replaced by a temporary appointment, preferably from the same department. Member slots vacated may be filled for a new three-year term in the fall or for the duration of the predecessor’s term, if in spring, and then renewed if desired.

D. Nominations

Nominations for ExCo membership will be invited from all members of the SLAT Regular Faculty upon vacant seats. Recommendations for appointment will be made by vote of the current Executive Council.

E. Duties

ExCo will meet at least twice each semester. A quorum consists of one more than half of ExCo membership.

Click here to see the list of current members of the Executive Council.

IV. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS

A. Chair
The Chair of ExCo also serves as Chair of the Ph.D. Program in SLAT. S/he will be a tenured faculty/continuing status member on the SLAT Faculty, nominated by vote of ExCo and appointed by the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs.

1. Term

The Chair will either serve a three-year term, renewable once for another three years, upon recommendation of ExCo and reappointment by the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Committee, or one five-year term. It is expected that the primary affiliation of this administrative officer will rotate among various departments that contribute to the SLAT program faculty membership. In the event of a vacancy in this office, ExCo will nominate an Acting Chair to fill out the term.

2. Responsibilities

The Chair represents the program to the administration and to the community. S/he handles the daily administration of the program and is responsible for oversight of all aspects of program operation, including budget and personnel. S/he calls and presides at meetings of ExCo as needed, but not less than twice per semester, and calls and presides at meetings of the SLAT Faculty at least once per year and as needed. The Chair will represent SLAT at the Graduate Interdisciplinary Advisory Council (GIDPAC), or a designated representative will be elected by ExCo. Specific administrative duties may be delegated to other individuals or to committees with the advice and consent of ExCo.

B. Graduate Advisor (Director of Graduate Studies)

A Graduate Advisor (DGS) will be appointed by the Chair from the Regular SLAT faculty, with approval of ExCo. S/he will be responsible for student advising on curricular matters. S/he will be recommended for appointment to ExCo and serve as a voting member upon invitation by the Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs.