Faculty Senate
The BSU Faculty Senate represents faculty interests in the shared governance arena at Bowie State University. The Faculty Senate is the faculty governance body at Bowie State University. The Faculty Association is the plenary body of the faculty.
The Faculty Senate meets each month during the academic year. Faculty Senate meetings are open to all faculty. Its membership is comprised of one representative and one alternate representative, aka Senator, elected from and by the full-time faculty of each academic department and two tenured representatives elected at-large from and by each college that contains academic departments. Any faculty member is welcome to attend and participate in discussions during Faculty Senate meetings. However, voting is limited to Senators. A quorum of 50 percent of the Senate membership is required for all voting activities.
The meetings of the Faculty Association are held at least once per semester and are open to all members of the University Community. Please contact your departmental or at-large faculty representative with any issues or concerns you would like addressed by the faculty body. A quorum of 25 percent of the Faculty Association membership is required for all voting activities.
According to the current version of the Constitution of the Bowie State University Faculty, all full-time (tenured, tenure-track and contractual) faculty members and full-time professional librarians of Bowie State University are considered core faculty and thus, members of the Faculty Association, with the right to each of the following:
- speak and vote in all meetings of the Faculty Association
- introduce and second motions
- run for office
- vote in all elections and
- represent the faculty on any faculty or University committee for which they are eligible
Part-time faculty and part-time professional librarians of Bowie State University are considered associate members of the Faculty Association and are thus, eligible to do each of the following:
- attend and speak in all meetings of the Faculty Association
- serve on those Faculty or University committess for which they are eligible
Associate members do not have the right to vote, run for or hold offices of the Faculty Senate.
Meeting Schedule
The Faculty Senate meets at 3:00 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month of the academic year in the 2nd Floor Library Conference Room (unless otherwise announced). Items for Senate consideration should be shared with you department or college Senator or the Senate Chair at facultysenate@bowiestate.edu (cc: tburks@bowiestate.edu). Due to COVID-19 safety concerns, during AY 2023-2024, Faculty Senate and Faculty Association meetings may continue to be held virtually, via Microsoft Teams, until otherwise agreed upon by the faculty body.
Meeting minutes from the previous and current years are available on the Faculty Senate Blackboard Site. This site can be found within the My Communities section on the lower right side of the Blackboard Home page. If you are a faculty member and do not have access to the Faculty Senate Blackboard site, please send an email to facultysenate@bowiestate.edu.
2022-2024 Faculty Senate Executive Committee Officers
Chair - Tyesha N. Burks, Associate Professor, Department of Natural Sciences (tburks@bowiestate.edu)
Vice Chair - Darla M. Scott, Associate Professor, Department of Counseling and Psychological Studies (dmscott@bowiestate.edu)
Secretary - Denise E. Jarboe, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing (djarboe@bowiestate.edu)
At Large Member - VACANT
Parliamentarian - Michelle Sermon, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work (msermon@bowiestate.edu)