Program Bylaws

Faculty

EEES Faculty all have the same rights and responsibilities, which includes:

• Eligible to be primary Ph.D. advisor and Chair of Dissertation Committees, to vote on prospective new students and faculty in EEES, and to vote on and serve as Co-Chairs of EEES
• Expected to serve on advisory committees, serve on EEES committees, participate in EEES-Lunches and seminars, and contribute to the curriculum in general

Students

EEES students all have the same rights and responsibilities, which includes

• Eligible for five years of stipend support with access to curriculum and resources of EEES
• Expected to participate in EEES-Lunches and seminars, and contribute to teaching (see section on TA assignments below)

Chairs

Administration and oversight of EEES will be by two Co-Chairs, who will be selected by vote of EEES Faculty (see details below). Normal appointments will be for three years (eligible for renewal), but can also be for shorter terms with agreement of EEES Faculty. Responsibilities of the Co-Chairs include:

• Manage budget for stipends (DFs, GAANNs, RAs, etc.)
• Maintain multi-year cohort projections to help EEES faculty determine targets for new students; negotiate with Dean of Graduate Studies on the number of new offers to be made each year
• Oversee Cramer Funds
• Assign teaching assistants to courses
• Aid EEES faculty in managing EEES curriculum and activities
• Maintain and update EEES guidelines and EEES website
• Oversee student applications, interviews, and offers
• Hold annual individual meetings with EEES students to check on student progress in meeting program benchmarks
• Oversee award nominations for EEES students
• Represent EEES with Graduate Student Council and Office of Graduate Studies; provide point of contact for EEES from elsewhere within and outside Dartmouth
• Provide 2nd tier resource (after advisory committees) for graduate students, major advisors, and committee members
• Initiate nominations and votes for new appointments of EEES Co-Chairs

Faculty

Faculty can be appointed to EEES by majority vote of EEES Faculty. Candidates for EEES Faculty should have research and teaching interests that fall within the overlapping spheres of scholarship that include Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Ecosystems and Earth Systems, and Environment and Society. Prospective EEES faculty should note that all Ph.D. students in EEES are expected to enthusiastically master the foundations of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Ecosystems and Earth Systems, and Environment and Society as part of their program. Applications for membership in the EEES faculty should include (1) a brief statement of scholarly interests, (2) a CV, and (3) a simple endorsement of the application to join EEES by their Department or Program Chair and another from their Associate Dean. For prospective new faculty members of EEES that are being recruited as a new hire by Dartmouth, EEES respectfully requests that the cognizant Department or Program Chair initiate discussions with EEES early in the negotiation process. Applications should be copied to the Dean of GRAD. Eligible to be appointed as EEES Faculty are Tenure-track or Research Faculty from any department at Dartmouth College, Geisel School of Medicine, Thayer School of Engineering, or Tuck School of Business. EEES Appointments of new faculty shall include consideration of impacts on EEES resources and training capacity. All EEES faculty are subject to reappointments at 5-year intervals that will depend upon activity within the program (e.g., as committee members and Instructors of EEES courses).

As an alternative to being full faculty members of EEES, faculty can be appointed as EEES Affiliates.

Affiliate Faculty can serve on Advisory Committees, participate in EEES-Lunches and seminars, contribute to the curriculum, and serve as Co-Chairs of graduate committees contingent on availability of external funding. They are not eligible to serve as sole primary Ph.D. advisors or to vote on EEES membership or governance. Affiliate faculty are appointed by majority vote of EEES Faculty.

Students

The following criteria will be used in evaluating students for admission. Some of these pertain to students themselves, and others to their potential faculty advisor.

Student criteria

1. Credentials as evidenced by application
2. Endorsement by potential advisor
3. Experience, maturity, leadership
4. Probability for a successful program that yields exemplary scholarship
5. Contribution to the program's diversity goals
6. Cohort balance among clusters and departments (also counts as a faculty criterion)

Faculty criteria

1. Junior faculty
2. Faculty who are using fewer DF resources and have historically used few DF resources
3. Faculty who regularly attend EEESLs and faculty meetings
4. Faculty who advise students and are on student committees
5. Faculty who contribute to EEES governance, activities and climate
6. Faculty who meet their disciplinary expectations for applying for grants that can support graduate students

Procedures

1. The admissions committee creates two lists, one for students with 3+ years of funding and another for students without this level of funding.
2. For students with 3+ years of funding, the admissions committee applies the student criteria and incorporates informal feedback to come up with a yes/no recommendation for each student. External funding does not guarantee admission to the program.
3. For students without 3+ years of funding, the admissions committee applies both the faculty and the student criteria and incorporates informal feedback to come up with a ranking of these students. A subset of these students are admitted based on the amount of funding available that year.
4. Regardless of funding source, junior faculty being considered for promotion with tenure are limited to one graduate student admission.
5. The admissions committee and Co-Chairs send out recommendations to EEES faculty. Recommendations could include multiple options to be voted on.
6. The EEES faculty meet and subsequently vote anonymously on the recommendations made by the admissions committee.

Additional rules

A given admissions cycle will commit no more than five DFYs to a single faculty member.

Under exceptional circumstances, EEES may make special arrangements with nontraditional students to permit membership in EEES with limited specified modifications to their rights and responsibilities.

Co-Chairs

• EEES faculty will form a nominations committee to solicit candidates for Co-Chairs of the program. The nominations committee will include representatives from each of the program's participating departments and from among the EEES graduate students. The nominations committee should be formed and voted on during the Winter EEES faculty meeting of the final year of the current Co-Chair's term. Self-nominations are welcome.
• The nominations committee will present one or more slates of candidates to the faculty and allow for two weeks of consideration. As a goal the committee will strive for balance and representation among gender and epistemology.
• Voting will be anonymous. Votes will be submitted to the Administrative Assistant for EEES (currently Amy Layne). One vote for each full faculty member of EEES. Note that all current members of EEES are full faculty members, but our bylaws allow for Affiliate Faculty. Votes will remain anonymous to EEES faculty including current Co-Chairs. After the voting period of two weeks, results will be communicated to EEES faculty by the Administrative Assistant for EEES, with CC to the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The two objectives of TA assignments of EEES graduate students are (1) contribute to the College mission of providing outstanding undergraduate education, and (2) contribute to the training of EEES graduate students.

Any Dartmouth courses are eligible to be staffed by Graduate Teaching Assistants from EEES, but it is expected that the assignments will generally be within the Departments of EEES faculty. Requests for TA support can be provided to the Chair of the cognizant Department (Anthropology, Biological Sciences, Environmental Studies, and Geography, who will work with the Co-Chair of EEES, to make the final determination of TA assignments. Preference will be given toward supporting with TAs courses that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Laboratory courses with a curriculum that is core to EEES (e.g., Intro Ecology, Bio FSP, Methods in Ecology, Animal Behavior, Physiological Ecology).
• Courses that have high grading commitments and/or significant contact time outside of lectures and curriculum that is core to EEES (e.g., statistics, numerous ENVS courses)
• Courses that have been traditionally provided with TAs by EEB.

Expected annual teaching responsibilities:

• 2 courses / year: Dartmouth Fellows, EEES Fellows, GAANN Fellows, McCullough Fellows
• 1 course / year: 5th year students, JSEP Fellows, STARR Fellows, IGERT Fellows
• Optional: Students with sufficient internal or external funds (e.g. NSF GRF) to pay their stipend.
• All EEES graduate students are expected to TA at least twice during their program.

TAing all of Bio FSP, ENVS FPS, or ANTH FSP counts for 2 slots.

When TA assignments to a course exceed requirements (as judged by the Professor), one or more TAs assigned to that course can be relieved based on seniority (most senior grad students relieved first), with a random draw among the the most senior cohort of students.

Graduate Students

This policy is designed to assist a graduate student, who is a participatory parent (defined as a parent with child-care responsibilities), following the birth or adoption of a child. This policy augments the Guarini School for Graduate and Advanced Studies' child accommodation policy.

Under this policy, any full-time stipend-supported EEES graduate student in good standing who becomes a participatory parent, is automatically eligible for one additional year of stipend support paid for by the EEES graduate program. Additionally, for 12 months following the birth or adoption of a child, there will be no TA expectations. The student is encouraged to work with their advisory committee to develop a suitable work schedule.

In the event that both parents are full-time EEES graduate students, the benefit by this policy can be shared between the parents as they choose, but the total amount of accommodation provided will not exceed an additional year of support and 12 months of no TA expectations. The students are encouraged to work with their advisory committees to develop suitable work schedules.

Postdoctoral fellows

This policy is designed to assist a EEES postdoctoral fellow, whose salary is paid by EEES and who is a participatory parent (defined as a parent with child-care responsibilities), following the birth or adoption of a child. Under this policy, a full-time EEES postdoctoral fellow, whose salary is paid by EEES and who is a participatory parent, following the birth or adoption of a child, is automatically eligible for one additional year of appointment with full salary. The postdoc is encouraged to work with their mentors to develop a suitable work schedule.

Bylaws can be modified as desired by majority vote of EEES Faculty.