Williams College Employee Handbook
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The Faculty
Voting Membership
The voting membership of the faculty consists of all Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, and Senior Lecturers, as well as those Lecturers and Instructors who hold full-time appointments. Faculty holding part-time appointments may vote only if they have been notified by the Dean of the Faculty that they have met the requirements to be voting members (see Policies Governing Part-time Faculty). Faculty holding appointments called "Visiting" do not vote. All voting members in the professorial ranks who do not hold major administrative appointments are eligible to be elected to those standing committees with elected faculty membership, according to the rank and divisional categories prescribed for those committees.
Faculty Meetings
Faculty meetings are generally held one Wednesday a month during the academic year at 4:00 p.m. in Room 3, Griffin Hall. In addition to the faculty, representatives of several administrative offices attend these meetings, as do student representatives of the College Council, The Williams Record, and student members of those committees having business at the meetings. The formal power to convene faculty meetings is vested in the President and the Faculty Steering Committee, who jointly set the agenda for meetings, including regular reports from committees. The President normally presides over the meeting and is assisted by the Dean of the Faculty, who presides in the President's absence, and by the Secretary. Materials relating to the agenda are sent to the faculty prior to each meeting, and summaries of actions taken are sent subsequently. At each meeting there is a question period during which members of the faculty are invited to address to the officers of administration and chairs of standing committees questions and comments about matters pertaining to their respective spheres of responsibility. Full minutes of each meeting are circulated to all department chairs and may be consulted by any voting member of the faculty.
Undergraduate Divisions, Departments, and Programs
With respect to instructional matters, the faculty is organized by divisions and departments, as well as by programs that sponsor non-departmental or interdisciplinary majors or coordinate other special courses of instruction, as follows:
Division I (Languages and the Arts)
Art History
Art Studio
Asian Studies
Classics
English
German-Russian
Music
Romance Languages
Theatre
Division II (Social Studies)
Anthropology/Sociology
Economics
History
History of Science
Philosophy
Political Science
Psychology
Religion
Division III (Science and Mathematics)
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Geosciences
Mathematics and Statistics
Physics
Physical Education
Interdepartmental Programs
Africana Studies
American Studies
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bioinformatics, Genomics & Proteomics
Cognitive Science
Comparative Literature
Environmental Studies
Experimental & Cross-Disciplinary Studies
International Studies
Jewish Studies
Latina/o Studies
Leadership Studies
Legal Studies
Linguistics
Maritime Studies
Materials Science
Neuroscience
Performance Studies
Political Economy
Program in Teaching
Science & Technology Studies
Women's & Gender Studies
(See Departmental Governance and Program Governance.)
Off-Campus Programs
Williams-Mystic Program in American Maritime Studies
Williams College sponsors, in cooperation with Mystic Seaport, a one-semester interdisciplinary maritime studies program which includes credit for one winter study and credit for intensive writing. Courses are taught as part of the College's off-campus program in Mystic, Connecticut. Students apply for either the fall or the spring semester and take four of five courses offered. Original research papers are required in history, science, and policy. Students also take part in a noncredit maritime skills class of their choice, choosing from celestial navigation, sailing, music of the sea, ship smithing, and the outdoor demonstration squad. Students live in cooperative houses at Mystic Seaport and participate in field seminars to the Pacific Coast (California in the fall; Pacific Northwest in the spring), and to the Mississippi delta, as well as an 11-day offshore trip as part of their coursework. Interested students may obtain further information and an application through the Dean's Office. An open house is held biannually in April and November. A personal interview is required. Admission is competitive. Students must meet Williams College and Williams-Mystic application deadlines.
Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford University
Williams College offers a year-long programme of studies at Oxford University in co-operation with Exeter College (founded in 1314), one of the constituent colleges of the University. Williams students will be enrolled as Visiting Students at Exeter and as such will be undergraduate members of the University, eligible for access to virtually all of its facilities, libraries, and resources. As Visiting Students in Oxford, students admitted to the Programme will be fully integrated into the intellectual and social life of one of the worldÃs great universities.
Although students in the Programme will be members of Exeter College, entitled to make full use of Exeter facilities (including the College Library), dine regularly in Hall, and join all College clubs and organizations on the same terms as other undergraduates at Exeter, students will reside in EphraimWilliams House, a compound of four buildings owned by Williams College, roughly 1.4 miles north of the city centre. Three students from Exeter College will normally reside in Ephraim Williams House each year, responsible for helping to integrate Williams students into the life of the College and the University. A resident director (and member of the Williams Faculty) administers Ephraim Williams House, overseas the academic programme, and serves as both the primary academic and personal advisor to Williams students in Oxford.
Students enrolled in the Oxford Programme must enroll for the full academic year, which consists of three academic terms, each of which includes eight full weeks of instruction: MICHAELMAS TERM (early October to early December), HILARY TERM (mid-January to mid-March), and TRINITY TERM (late April to late June). Students are expected to be in residence to write their first tutorial papers before the eight weeks of instruction begins and to remain in residence during the week after the term ends in order to sit their final examinations. Between the three terms there are two intervening four-five week vacations, during which students may be expected to continue reading as preparation for their upcoming tutorials.
Williams in New York
Williams in New York is a one-semester study away program that integrates traditional liberal arts scholarship with intensive fieldwork in workplaces around the city. It is a program in experiential education. Headquartered at the Williams Club in midtown Manhattan, the program offers four courses built around a curricular theme set by a resident faculty director. One course is a tutorial in which students do 15 hours of fieldwork and work closely with each other and the director to reflect on the fieldwork. The other three courses are complementary seminars taught by commuting Williams faculty members or adjunct instructors from the city. Williams alumni/ae play an active role in the program as well, serving as fieldwork supervisors, visiting lecturers, and invited seminar guests.
Graduate Programs
Center for Development Economics
The College's Center for Development Economics offers a one-year program in economic analysis and quantitative techniques leading to the degree of Master of Arts in Policy Economics. The program is designed for economists from developing countries who are already embarked on professional careers in public agencies (see Multicultural Center).
Graduate Program in Art History
In cooperation with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williams offers a two-year course of study leading to the degree of Master of Arts in the History of Art.
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