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Voted on Policies

Department-approved CISE policies that accompany the bylaws.

1 Affiliate Faculty Status & Graduate Faculty Status (Voted on Dec 9, 2025)

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The CISE department recognizes Affiliate Faculty Status for UF faculty from another department that occasionally participates in departmental activities or otherwise makes substantive contributions to the department. Affiliate Faculty status is governed by the relevant University policy on courtesy faculty and reviewed yearly by the Department Chair. Affiliate Faculty do not have voting rights in the CISE department. Consistent with Graduate School policy, Affiliate Faculty are not able to serve on CISE Graduate Committees as Chair or Co-Chair unless they also hold Graduate Faculty Status (GFS) in the CISE department.

Candidates seeking Affiliate Faculty status must make a request to the Department Chair by submitting:

  1. a Curriculum Vitae (CV); and
  2. a written nomination statement from a nominator and second from the department faculty (e.g., from the most relevant area of specialization).

The Department Chair may support the request and forward it to the Dean for approval. Affiliate Faculty Status shall expire after three years.

Graduate Faculty Status (GFS) in the Department may be granted in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Graduate School and grants the privilege of serving as Chair or Co-Chair of the Supervisory Committee of students enrolled in a CISE M.S. or Ph.D. program. Graduate Faculty status may be granted to eligible faculty members who are not members of the Department Faculty.

For faculty who are not members of the Department Faculty, the following restrictions apply:

  1. Graduate Faculty status shall expire after three years without service as Chair or Co-Chair of a supervisory committee for a CISE student; and
  2. for any student enrolled in a CISE M.S. or Ph.D. program, one of the Chair or Co-Chair must be a member of the Department Faculty.

The application process to obtain Graduate Faculty status is determined by the Graduate School. In particular, it requires a positive vote by at least two thirds of eligible faculty. However, per Graduate School policy, the eligibility of the voting membership for this purpose is determined by each academic unit/department. For the CISE department, the number of eligible voters, also known as “Total Members,” in a CISE Graduate Faculty election is defined as the number of CISE Faculty members who hold Graduate Faculty status that participate in the vote.

Additionally, each faculty member will be placed into one of the following categories:

  • Voted For – Eligible faculty that supported the candidate for GFS.
  • Voted Against – Eligible faculty that did not support the candidate for GFS.
  • Abstentions – Eligible faculty that expressed a conflict of interest with the candidate for GFS.
  • Absences – Eligible faculty that did not vote,

such that the sum of “Voted For,” “Voted Against,” “Abstentions,” and “Absences” equals the “Total Members.”

2 CISE PhD Admissions (Voted on Dec 9, 2025)

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Admissions to the CISE PhD program are led by faculty, with decisions driven by individual CISE faculty. To ensure fairness, uphold standards, and support departmental research excellence, names of potential faculty advisors are identified in applications by the CISE graduate recruiting assistant. Final acceptance decisions are made by the Graduate Admissions Committee (faculty-led) and based on a holistic review of applicants that includes academic potential, research alignment, teaching ability (for TA positions), and lab fit. Individual faculty may strongly advocate for applicants, and ultimately make offers (assisted by the CISE graduate recruiting assistant), especially when research interests align and funded positions exist.