The Undergraduate and Graduate Forums serve as a platform for discussion and dialogue on issues pertinent to the faculty & academic directors and the educational experience at Bay Path University. These forums are a venue for academic discussions on matters relevant to the day-to-day responsibilities of the faculty and staff who teach.   Although the scope of topics is similar to the Faculty & Academic Directors Assembly, the separation of the Undergraduate and Graduate forums allows for greater focus on matters that may be unique to each body.

Membership and Meetings

All individuals with full time faculty contracts, academic directors, or full time administrators with faculty status who teach at the undergraduate level are members of the Undergraduate Forum.  All individuals with full time faculty contracts or full time administrators with faculty status who teach at the graduate level are members of the Graduate Forum.

The Forums will each meet twice in each of the Fall and Spring semesters. The Undergraduate Forum and the Graduate Forum will meet on different days, as scheduled by the Faculty Chair and Liaisons in coordination with the Academic Affairs Office. Attendance at the forums is voluntary. Faculty and staff with faculty status who teach in both undergraduate and graduate programs can attend and vote at both forum meetings.

Each School will elect from its ranks respectively, by majority vote, a Liaison, who will serve for a term of two years.  Each Liaison may be re-elected for a second term of two years. The School Liaisons, in collaboration with the Faculty Chair, sets the agenda for their respective Forum meetings. The School Liaisons have the responsibility to ensure that all members can be heard in their respective forums, that an environment of respectful decorum is maintained, that relevant information is communicated to the members of their respective forum in a timely manner, and that other guests are available to attend meetings when invited. Minutes will be taken and posted on the Academic Affairs Resource Site within one week of each meeting.

At each Forum meeting, and in the spirit of the historical ‘town-hall’ meetings, time may be reserved for discussion with representatives invited from the administration including members of Executive Staff, Academic and Student Affairs Cabinet, Deans, or others most directly involved with specific agenda topics.

The Forums are not decision-making bodies. Voting may be used for such purposes as assessing majority opinion, but not in the context of decision making regarding rules, policies, practices, etc. Recommendations from any Forum will be communicated by the respective Liaison to the Faculty Chair in a timely manner.

The Faculty Advisory Board consists of the School Liaisons and the Faculty Chair. The mission of the Faculty Advisory Board is to coordinate faculty & academic directors concerns and ideas to the Faculty Chair, so that the Faculty Chair is better able to represent all faculty to the Academic and Student Affairs Cabinet and to the Board of Trustees. The School Liaisons shall consult with the Faculty Chair prior to each Forum meeting and prior to each Faculty Assembly, with the mission of increasing lines of communication regarding faculty concerns and ideas, including but not limited to agenda development and prioritizing matters to move forward to discussions with administration.

The Faculty Chair, after separate consultation with School Liaisons will be the sole faculty voice at Academic and Student Affairs Cabinet and Board of Trustees.