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Institute of Cognitive Science Bylaws

  I.        Preamble
 II.        Administrative Structure
            A.         Director
            B.         Assistant Director
            C.        Executive Committee
            D.        ICS Members
            E.         ICS Fellows
            F.         Academic Director
            G.        Other Personnel

III         ICS-Rostered Faculty
            A.         Tenure Track
            B.         Research Professors

IV         Grievance Procedures

V          Finances
            A.        Administrative Budgets
            B.        Research Project Budgets
            C.        Research Project Submissions and Administration

 VI        Facilities

 VII       Bylaws
            A.         Adoption Procedure
            B.         Amendment Procedure

I.          Preamble

            The Institute of Cognitive Science (ICS) was founded in 1968 as the Institute for the Study of Intellectual Behavior. The name was changed in August, 1980.The mission of the Institute is two-fold: (1) to promote interdisciplinary research in cognitive science and (2) to provide training and mentoring in the conduct of interdisciplinary cognitive science research. ICS strengthens interdisciplinary research by providing outstanding research facilities and services to its diverse members, and by providing an intellectual climate that fosters rich scientific conversations, innovative thinking, and building interdisciplinary partnerships to advance our mission.

            In addition to research and training in cognitive science, the Institute disseminates information about research and research findings and engages in outreach efforts to translate and apply research findings, with a particular emphasis on partnering with and supporting Colorado schools and community institutions.

            As a unit of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Institute of Cognitive Science is subject to the Rules of the Regents, the policies of the University, and the ICS Bylaws.  Through its Director, the Institute reports to the Vice Chancellor for Research.

II.         Administrative Structure

            A.         Director

            As the principal executive officer, the Director is responsible for the overall administration and operation of the Institute. The Director serves as Chair of the Executive Committee, sets the agenda for executive committee meetings, and is a nonvoting, ex officio member of standing and ad hoc committees, handles questions of Institute personnel, hears grievances, and allocates administrative support and office space. It is also the Director's responsibility, on behalf of the Institute, to foster communication and interaction with the various Boulder campus departments and units and to maintain mutually-productive relationships to advance interdisciplinary research and scholarship within the University.

            The Director is a Fellow of the Institute as well as a member of an academic department of the University in which he or she holds tenure. Under most circumstances the Director will be rostered in ICS; should a Director be named who is not rostered in ICS, that individual’s position should be temporarily assigned to the Institute for the duration of his or her  term, and tenure would remain in the individual’s home academic department. The Director’s appointment is made by the Chancellor on recommendation of the Executive Committee and the Vice Chancellor for Research. The Executive Committee will conduct a vote of the ICS Fellows and report the results of this vote along with its recommendation. Term of office is four years and is renewable. The Director normally has a teaching load of one course per year. Procedures for considering reappointment of the Director are initiated by the Vice Chancellor for Research and include consultation with the ICS Executive Committee, as well as with other University faculty and administrators and outside agencies as appropriate.

            Should the Director have cause to be absent from the Institute for a prolonged period, an interim Acting Director shall be appointed on recommendation of the Director, in consultation with the Executive Committee and the Vice Chancellor for Research.

            B.         Associate Director

            The Associate Director serves as the chief operating/financial officer, and in consultation with the director, carries out a range of duties, including approving project proposals and ICR splits; supervising financial, clerical, technical, and administrative personnel; overseeing the preparation and supervision of Institute budgets; managing space and facilities; and performing other duties as assigned by the Director or the Executive Committee.

            The Associate Director may either be a rostered member of a participating academic department or hold a university staff appointment. He or she is a nonvoting, ex officio member of the Executive Committee. The Associate Director is appointed by the Director with the approval of the Executive Committee.

            C.        Executive Committee

            The Executive Committee serves as the policy-making body of the Institute, and is chaired by the Director of the Institute. It recommends the appointment of the ICS Director, establishes policies and procedures, advises the Director on the allocation of common funds, supports merit review processes, participates in the recruitment and selection of new ICS faculty, and works with the Director to periodically review ICS Fellows appointments to ensure that voting members are still actively participating in the Institute. Policies and procedures enacted by the Executive Committee include the ICS Bylaws, the ICS Inclusiveness Policy, ICS Grievance Procedures, and ICS Merit Review Processes and Evaluation Rubrics. Significant changes in the policies and procedures will be announced to all ICS Members in a timely way, by sending an email to ICS Members, and by posting policies and procedures for community comment and review.

The Executive Committee is composed of five members at large, a graduate student representative, the Institute Director; the Associate Director of ICS, and the Directors or a designated representative from each of the Institute’s Research Centers, who serve as ex-officio members of the committee. The Director is the Chair of the Committee, sets the agenda for executive committee meetings, and ensures that meeting outcomes and action items are recorded and distributed in a timely fashion to all committee members. Current Research Centers hosted by the Institute are described on the ICS website.

Four of the at large members are elected for two-year terms. Elections are held electronically, shortly after the first membership meeting of each year. One at large member is appointed by the Director for two years. The graduate student representative is elected for a one-year term. In order to ensure continuity, terms of the at-large representatives on the Committee are staggered so that there are three new appointments in even-numbered years (i.e., 2017-2018), and two in odd-numbered years (i.e., 2018-2019). When the term of an elective member expires or that member resigns, a new member is elected for a two-year term. When the term of an appointed member expires or that member resigns then a new member is appointed by the Director. 

            Meetings of the Executive Committee are held several times throughout the year, and are scheduled by the ICS Director. Any member of the Institute may submit items for the agenda which is drawn up by the Director and circulated to the Committee in advance. The ICS Director may invite others to join any particular meeting based on the topics discussed. A quorum consists of two-thirds of the members in residence, and a motion carries by a simple majority vote of those present and voting. A written ballot is held at the request of any member.

            D.        ICS Members

            The members of the Institute of Cognitive Science are Fellows, Associates, Students, Staff and other designated personnel. Members are both rostered in ICS and drawn from a diverse and wide ranging array of affiliated departments and other units. Our inclusiveness policy (see ICS website) outlines our values and goals for building an equitable, inclusive and inspiring environment. Members may conduct research, teach or take classes, mentor students, engage in community outreach, serve on committees, participate in colloquia, provide leadership, ensure the effective operations of the Institute, and generally contribute to the intellectual vitality of the Institute. As stated in the Preamble, one way that ICS strengthens interdisciplinary research is by providing an intellectual climate that draws on all its members to foster rich scientific conversations, engage in innovative thinking, and build interdisciplinary partnerships to advance our mission.

E.         Fellows

ICS Fellows are expected to be leaders within the Institute, actively contributing to the Institute’s interdisciplinary research and training mission. The qualifications for Fellow are (a) tenure track faculty appointment (in either ICS or a participating department or unit), (b) research professor appointment in ICS, and (c) research personnel who participate in grant acquisition and management as Principal or Co-Principal Investigators.

Fellows in the Institute have voting rights, and are asked to approve ICS bylaws, hiring and reappointment decisions (appropriate to their appointment and rank), and other issues requiring membership approval. Fellows may serve on any committee, including the Executive Committee. Nomination to the position of Fellow requires the recommendation of the ICS Director or a current ICS Fellow and approval by the Executive Committee. The list of ICS Fellows will be reviewed annually. Fellows are appointed for a term of 3 years and are re-appointed by the Executive Committee based on continued evidence of scholarly pursuits in the area of cognitive science and active support of Institute programs and policies.

ICS Fellows may be Principal Investigators or Co-Principal Investigators on ICS-administered research grants and contracts. ICR splits for these grants is based on where the Fellow’s position is rostered and any specific MOUs outlining ICR sharing that may be in place. For Fellows whose position is rostered in a participating unit, ICS expects that a modest ICR split with the Institute will be applied at this time (currently 10% to the Institute in the “where PI rostered” component of the calculation).

ICS Fellows rostered in participating units may also request Institute input on their personnel action committees, in which case the Director will explore with the Department Chair or Unit Director the most appropriate means of providing that input.

F.         Academic Director

The ICS Academic Director is responsible for the Institute's training mission, and both coordinates the Institute's relationship with the 91��ý Graduate School and CU departments, as well as coordinates student courses and other activities that facilitate interdisciplinary research training and professional development for students and early career scholars at ICS. The Academic Director also establishes the ICS course schedule and teaching assignments, advises students in courses and degree requirements, and identifies courses in other units that fulfill our degree and certificate requirements. The Academic Director works with the Director, the Executive Committee, and the ICS Fellows to review and update our degree and certificate programs and requirements.

The Academic Director may either be a rostered member of a participating academic department or hold a university staff appointment. The Academic Director is appointed by the Director with the approval of the Executive Committee.

            G.  Other Personnel

            1.   Administrative Staff

The Institute holds a number of general fund staff FTEs.  Appointments are made by the Director.  All classified staff members are subject to the Rules and Regulations of the Colorado State Personnel System.

              2.   Research Project Staff

Research project staff are appointed in accordance with State and University personnel procedures, as funds are available, and are subject to the Rules and Regulations of the Colorado State Personnel System or to the University of Colorado Faculty Handbook as appropriate.

            3.   Graduate Research Assistants

Graduate Research Assistants are appointed by individual Principal Investigators to their project in accordance with procedures of the Graduate School.

            4.         Visiting Scholars

The Institute welcomes visiting scholars from other universities and institutions who wish to spend time with a specific Institute sponsor.  Office space and work-related expenditures are arranged by the ICS member or project sponsoring the visiting faculty.

5.         Instructors

The Institute has traditionally not employed instructors. However, should this change, the Executive Committee and the Director will work with members to establish policies and processes for appropriately including instructors in Institute governance.

III.    ICS-Rostered Faculty

            A.         Tenure-Track Faculty

Several tenure-track faculty positions are rostered within the Institute of Cognitive Science. ICS Tenure Track Faculty must be actively engaged in interdisciplinary research and training in cognitive science and are expected to routinely submit and support externally-funded research proposals administered by the Institute.

Unless specified otherwise in a MOU, teaching responsibilities are split between ICS and the faculty member’s tenure home department. ICS-rostered faculty who hold leadership positions within ICS may also have reduced teaching loads. In addition, consistent with policies established by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for research, ICS faculty may be permitted to reduce their teaching obligations when they are leading significant externally-funded research activities.

These hires are made jointly with academic departments, within which their tenure homes reside. Tenure and promotion decisions for these positions are made primarily by the tenure home department, with input from the Institute. For tenure-track faculty rostered in ICS, reappointment, promotion, and tenure actions are carried out following the normal procedures of the academic unit where their tenure home is located. This academic unit is also responsible for assembling the candidate’s dossier. The candidate’s dossier will be made available for review within the Institute, which will hold a separate discussion and vote. Only those Fellows at the same rank or higher may vote on a recommendation. The Institute Director will write a separate letter detailing the recommendations and views of the Institute on the action. This letter will be included in the package which is forwarded from the department to the higher administration. With approval of the department chair, the Director will meet jointly with the department chair to provide feedback to the Faculty member. Should the Institute and the tenure home department fail to agree on a promotion and tenure outcome, the Director and Chair will meet to discuss approaches for reconciling differences and moving forward.

Subject to the approval of the home department, faculty rostered in the Institute shall also have representation from the Institute on their Personnel Action Committees; specifically, the ICS Director will appoint one or more persons to the committee. It is the responsibility of that person or persons to solicit input from the Institute Faculty and graduate students with regard to the research, service, and teaching of that Faculty member.

            B.         Research Professor Appointments

The Institute of Cognitive Science may appoint distinguished researchers to the title of Assistant, Associate, or full Research Professor. These appointments may be entirely within the Institute or shared jointly with another campus unit, such as a department or institute. The University of Colorado establishes the criteria for appointment to these ranks.

The 91��ý campus criteria for appointment to the rank of Assistant, Associate, or full Research Professor require that the successful candidate demonstrate significant contributions in research judged by their publications, funding history, mentoring of younger scholars, and external and internal letters of evaluation. The campus considers each of these titles to be comparable to the similarly-named tenure-track faculty rank.

Research Professor appointments in ICS are initiated by ICS and follow normal CU processes for this position. Once the candidate’s portfolio is assembled, it is approved by the Fellows by a simple majority vote. Fellows additionally approve appointment level (assistant, associate, full) by simple majority vote. Consistent with our practices for tenure track faculty, only those Fellows at the same rank or higher may vote on a recommendation. The vote, portfolio, and a letter from the Director is forwarded to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research who approves these appointments.

IV.    Grievance Procedures

ICS will maintain a written policy for the handling of grievances involving ICS personnel. Through this policy, ICS will resolve grievances in a manner that is expeditious, fair, and consistent with the policies of the 91��ý Campus. ICS is dedicated to an open, inclusive, and supportive environment for all of its employees. Conflicts will be minimized when our interactions are guided by the principles of mutual respect, fair performance expectations and evaluations, and equitable access to resources and opportunities. However, when a dispute or grievance arises, it should be handled according to clearly enunciated policy, such policy is based on resolving matters at the lowest possible administrative level:

1. The parties involved should seek to understand each other’s viewpoints and to resolve their differences by engaging in respectful and honest dialogue. If necessary, the advisor(s) or supervisors of the parties should be consulted for assistance. The Ombuds Office is also recommended as a resource for informal, impartial, and confidential dispute resolution.
2. If Step 1 fails to bring satisfactory resolution, one or both parties may request that the Director, Associate Director, or Center Director review the matter. If so requested, such reviewer will meet with the parties and/or study written documentation within 10 work days of the request, or refer the issue to a more appropriate body. If the reviewer is not able to resolve the grievance, the grievance should be submitted in writing (being as specific as possible about the problem and possible resolutions) to the reviewer for referral to ICS’s grievance committee (an ad hoc committee appointed by the Director consisting of any two of the following: a Center Director, Associate Director, or ICS Fellow). The grievance committee should complete its review within 30 days of appointment and prepare a written report and recommendation. The report will be provided to the Director for final action. For items involving internal ICS issues such as salary increases, office or lab assignments, or other similar disputes, the Director will have final authority in resolution.
3. If Step 2 does not resolve the issue and the issue is not related to internal ICS issues, ICS will refer the matter to the Vice Chancellor for Research. A grievance made to the Vice Chancellor should be in writing. A written response will be provided within 30 days.  While we recommend starting within ICS for all grievances, claims of the nature of Harassment may go to the Vice Chancellor for Research or other University personnel either after working through this process or directly.

Where a special procedure has been provided elsewhere by the Boulder Campus or University (such as in faculty salary grievances, staff grievances/misconduct, research misconduct, grade appeals, student misconduct, promotion and tenure, and sexual harassment), the grievance will be handled according to that procedure.  Grievances related to the rights of graduate students will be handled through the grievance procedure of the Graduate School.

V.    Finances

             A.        Administrative Budgets

                        ICS budgets and allocations are prepared and administered by the Associate Director with the approval of the Director. The Director and Associate Director will meet with the Executive Committee to discuss and prioritize uses for any current ICR funds remaining at fiscal year-end.

            B.         Research Project Budgets

                        Budgets for all research project proposals are reviewed by the Associate Director, or delegated to institute accounting staff, prior to submission. Funded budgets are administered by individual project directors. Research projects that are incurring reduced overhead rates lower than the standard CU rate are expected to build in direct cost returns to support ICS grant administration services; currently this rate is 6.5%.

            C.        Research Project Submission and Administration

Research projects may be submitted to external sponsors through ICS by individuals who are ICS Fellows. Employees who are not ICS Fellows may apply for 91��ý or external research grants or contracts through ICS with the permission of the ICS Director. An individual who is not currently an employee of 91��ý may submit a proposal for a research grant or contract through ICS with the permission of the ICS Director, subject to the rules of the University of Colorado Boulder. The Director may give permission for such submissions on a case-by-case basis.

Externally- and Internally-funded project budgets are administered by individual project directors with the assistance of the ICS administrative staff. Project directors have the responsibility for ensuring that funds are spent appropriately. All offers of employment for positions rostered at ICS must be approved by the Director or the Associate Director as designated by the Director.

VI.    Facilities

            Office assignments for ICS faculty, staff and students are made annually at the beginning of the academic year by the Associate Director with the approval of the Institute Director. Should space become vacant during the year, its assignment reverts to the Director.

            All Fellows may use the facilities of the Institute for the purpose of preparing proposals for grants that are to be submitted and administered through ICS. Otherwise, the facilities and resources of the Institute may be used with the approval of the Director by those members who (a) hold a faculty position identified as an ICS position, or whose home department has granted them a (part-time) release for ICS work; (b) are holding a grant or contract that was submitted through ICS and that contains funds for ICS services, or have held such a grant during the previous three years; or (c) petition the Executive Committee for the use of ICS facilities for specific projects.

VII.       Bylaws

            A.         Adoption Procedure

                        Following full consideration by the ICS Members, the Bylaws will become effective after approval by a two-thirds majority of the Executive Committee and by the Vice Chancellor for Research.

            B.         Amendment Procedure

                        Amendments to the Bylaws may be submitted by any ICS Members at any time.  A two-thirds majority vote of the Executive Committee is required for adoption, as well as approval by the Vice Chancellor for Research.