A.4. Departmental Student Advisory Councils
a. Each academic department and program that offers a major will establish a Student Advisory Council (SAC). The department will make every effort to seek advice from the council on matters of new faculty appointments and curricular changes. The council may also initiate recommendations to the department.
b. Composition: The faculty, in consultation with majors in their department/program, will determine the size and composition of the Student Advisory Council. Majors will be eligible for election to the department's council in the spring preceding their junior and senior years, and at least one member will be elected in each department and program. Joint majors and independent scholars are eligible for election and are eligible to vote in one department of their choice. Elections will be held at the beginning of the fall semester. All prospective majors in the department/program are eligible to vote. Once the council has been elected, the majors will elect a chair from among the newly elected council members.
c. Meetings of the Student Advisory Council: The student chair of a department's/program’s Student Advisory Council will be responsible for calling two general meetings of majors, one in winter term and the other in spring semester. Other meetings may be called by the chair at any time, and will be called upon request of five departmental majors or the chair of the department/program. At each meeting the SAC representative should address any concerns of departmental majors, as well as inform the majors of any news within the department. At the discretion of the SAC, additional meetings may be held throughout the year as needed.
d. Student Advisory Councils and Faculty Appointments: The SAC participates in all new faculty appointments within their department/program. The SAC is contacted by the search committee, which arranges a meeting with job candidates. The SAC should make an informal recommendation to the search committee.
e. Student Advisory Councils and External Reviews: SAC members participate in external reviews of their department/program. Along with members of the Student Educational Affairs Committee, they meet with the external review committee.