Bylaws

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in

Cognitive Science

The Cognitive Science Program is both a research unit within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) and a Graduate Interdisciplinary Program (GIDP).  In its capacity as a research unit, it reports to the Dean of SBS. In its capacity as a GIDP, it reports to the Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies and Economic Development through the Director of GIDPs.

 
The interdisciplinary Cognitive Science Program is composed of research and graduate educational activities spanning several traditional fields, including:

·        Anthropology

·        Computer Science

·        Education

·        Electrical and Computer Engineering

·        Linguistics

·        Philosophy

·        Psychology

·        SIRLS

·        Speech and Hearing Science

Faculty members of Cognitive Science also participate in other GIDP’s, including Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) and Neuroscience.

The Program was established by a legislative decision package in 1986. Its mission is to orchestrate and motivate synergy among analytic, experimental, computational and neuroscientific approaches to the study of cognitive systems. In addition, the Program is responsible for administering a Ph.D, minor in Cognitive Science.

 
Article I.  Director and Executive Committee

A. Director

The Cognitive Science Program is administered by a Director, who is appointed by the Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The Dean’s decision is strongly informed by an election, in which nominees are put forward by the Cognitive Executive Committee (Article IB) and voted on by Cognitive Science Regular Faculty (Article IIA). The term of the Director is five years and is renewable.

If the candidate for Director elected by a majority of Regular Faculty is from a college other than SBS, the dean of the elected candidate’s home college and the Dean of SBS will negotiate salary, FTE, workload, and related matters.

The Director of GIDP’s will be informed every five years of the appointment of Program Director made by the SBS Dean and will appoint the same person as Director of the Cognitive Science GIDP.

The duties of the Director are to:

a)     appoint the Executive Committee

b)     call and preside at meetings of the Executive Committee as needed but not less than once per semester

c)      appoint and supervise ad hoc committees, such as graduate scholarship

d)     administer the Program’s budget

e)     organize and support initiatives to obtain extramural funds

f)        oversee publicly available information, such as the web site and brochures

g)     administer the Ph.D. Minor

B. Executive Committee
The Director of the Program is advised by an Executive Committee, consisting of five members of the Cognitive Science Regular Faculty (Article IIA). The Program Director calls for nominations for the Executive Committee from members of the Cognitive Science Regular Faculty. The Director then appoints members of the Executive Committee, based on faculty nominations, as well on the goal of representation across research area, gender, ethnicity, and rank. Executive Committee member terms are for three years, and are renewable based on the above criteria. However, if an Executive Committee member discontinues his/her term for two consecutive semesters, due to leave, sabbatical, or other reasons, the term ends, and a new Executive Committee member is selected.

The Director of GIDP’s will be informed annually of the appointment of the Executive Committee and will appoint the same people to the Executive Committee of the Cognitive Science GIDP.

Article II.  Membership in the Cognitive Science Program
There are two levels of faculty membership in the Cognitive Science Program, Regular Faculty and Affiliate Faculty.

A.     Regular Faculty
The Cognitive Science Regular Faculty consists of tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members at the University of Arizona who participate in graduate education and research in Cognitive Science. Regular Faculty members are eligible to apply for benefits, including course releases and travel and research funds.

People wishing to become new members of the Cognitive Science Regular Faculty indicate their interest to the Director, who presents each case to the Executive Committee.  New members are confirmed by a positive vote of two-thirds of the Executive Committee.

Continuing membership in the Regular Faculty is evaluated annually by the Director and Executive Committee. Criteria for continuing membership include one or more of the following:
 

a)     attendance of Cognitive Science functions, including the colloquium series

b)     service on academic committees of Ph.D. students with Cognitive Science minors

c)      service on Cognitive Science Executive Committee

d)     service on Cognitive Science ad hoc committees

e)     timely response to annual request for self-nomination of continued membership

The Director of GIDP’s will be informed annually of the Cognitive Science Regular Faculty and will appoint the same people as faculty of the Cognitive Science GIDP.

B.     Affiliate Faculty

The Cognitive Science Affiliate Faculty consists of non-tenure-eligible and emeritus faculty at the University of Arizona who otherwise meet the criteria for Regular Faculty membership, and tenured and tenure-eligible faculty whose research is related to Cognitive Science but who do not, in a particular year, meet the criteria for Regular Faculty membership. Affiliate Faculty members are not eligible for benefits. Affiliate faculty who do not respond for two consecutive years to requests to confirm their interest in the Cognitive Science Program will lose their Affiliate Faculty status.

Article III.  Graduate Student Minors

To be considered a graduate student minor in Cognitive Science, a Ph.D. student majoring in any field at the University of Arizona must have filed with the Graduate College a Plan of Study, listing Cognitive Science as the minor area and signed by the Director of Cognitive Science or his/her designee. Graduate students meeting this criterion are eligible to apply for benefits, including graduate fellowships and travel funds.

Article IV.  Amendments
The By-laws shall be amended or revised by movement of the Executive Committee and a two-thirds positive vote of the Cognitive Science Regular Faculty.