The Purpose of Faculty and Faculty Meetings at Andover

The following information is based on a report from a faculty committee chaired by Instructor in Religion and Philosophy Thomas Hodgeson. The Purpose of Faculty and Faculty Meetings at Andover

– Because the Phillips Academy Constitution grants authority solely to the Trustees, the Head of School’s approval, alongside that of the Trustees, is what grants to the faculty the ability to determine policy.
– The faculty’s purpose, defined by the report, is to “set and implement the educational program of the Academy in its interrelated academic, athletic, extracurricular and residential dimensions.”
– The faculty meeting’s purpose is divided into three sets of responsibilities
– General responsibilities, to be reviewed and determined through voting
– The school’s general educational goals
– Graduation requirements
– Expectations for members of the community, and the repercussions for those who do not comply with those expectations
– Procedures for evaluating in a timely and constructive manner the performances of students and faculty

– Specific responsibilities, to be determined through voting
– The daily schedule
– The yearly calendar
– Reviewing major cluster recommendations for action at the end of each term, including recommendations for academic review and Year-End Review
– Creating standing and ad hoc committees as necessary before bringing the aforementioned recommendations before the entire faculty.

– Advisory responsibilities
– Reserving time for discussion about cluster reports regarding major academic and disciplinary action at mid-term, and during the term when merited.
– Aiding the administrators, especially the Dean of CAMD, the Dean of Faculty, and the Dean of Students and Residential Life, who are responsible for implementing the faculty’s proposed policy.

p>Procedure for Faculty Meetings
– The Advisory Committee (AdCom) is responsible for setting meeting agendas, to be made available in the Andover Gazette prior to the faculty meeting, based on input from various faculty members, committees, administrators, and student leaders.
– There are three types of faculty meetings, all of which are supposed to be conducted using Robert’s Rules of Order, a book first published in 1876 that presents rules for deliberative bodies conducting:

Policy meetings: the faculty both discusses and votes on policy
Discussion meetings: attendees devote time to discussion and conversation about matters in which the faculty desires additional input. Students are supposed to be included in some of these meetings, where no voting would take place.
Informational meetings: optional sessions, which those in search of more information should attend

– Faculty meetings should occur weekly, with the entire faculty in attendance, and the minutes are expected to appear in the Gazette immediately proceeding the meeting alongside being provided to the Phillipian.
-Jack Dickey