Excerpt from Rules and Procedures of the Faculty of Princeton University, Chapter II.C.1:

“a. The tenured faculty consist of the Professors and tenured Associate Professors, and the tenure-track faculty consist of the non-tenured Associate Professors and Assistant Professors. The Lecturer Ranks consist of the University Lecturers, Professors of the Practice, Senior Lecturers, Lecturers, Instructors, Lecturers with the Rank of Professor, and Lecturers with the Rank of Associate Professor. The Faculty consists of the President, the Academic Officers, the tenured and tenure-track faculty, and the Lecturer Ranks. The President, the Academic Officers, the tenured and tenure-track faculty, and full-time members of the Lecturer Ranks are entitled to vote at meetings of the Faculty and in any circumstances where votes of the Faculty are taken. The University Librarian is also a voting member of the Faculty.”

“b. When on full-time appointment, holders of visiting appointments and Professional Librarians, Professional Researchers, and Professional Specialists are entitled to attend each meeting of the Faculty but they are not entitled to vote, except that members of the Professional Staffs who are assigned teaching duties and given the additional designation of ‘Lecturer with the rank of Professor’ or ‘Lecturer with the rank of Associate Professor’ are entitled to vote during the period of such additional designation.”

If you believe you should be eligible to vote, please contact [email protected]. If you are appointed by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty and wish to confirm whether you are eligible to vote, you may do so through our online portal to determine voting eligibility. If you have any questions about your voting eligibility status, please contact [email protected]. In your inquiry, indicate if your home academic unit is in Division I (humanities), II (social sciences), III (natural sciences), or IV (engineering and applied science).

Faculty elections are held during two, two-week election periods: 

February

• Council of the Princeton University Community
• Faculty Advisory Committee on Appointments and Advancements

 April

• Committee on Conference and Faculty Appeal 
• Committee on the Course of Study 
• Committee on Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid 
• Faculty Advisory Committee on Diversity 
• University Research Board (election not held in some years) 
• University Student Life Committee 
• Executive Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community/Faculty Advisory Committee on Policy 

Special Elections are held when applicable.

Yes. The system is configured to allow only voting faculty to have access, and to allow each voting faculty member to vote once in each election. However, the identities of voters (and nonvoters) are not known to system administrators.

Faculty election results are tabulated using the Single Transferable Vote (STV), which is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation in multi-candidate elections. Additional discussions of STV:

• Electoral Reform Society
• OpaVote  

You can vote for a single candidate, multiple candidates, or no candidates (by checking the “Abstain from Voting” box). You must vote for at least one candidate or abstain (see question below) in each section of an election.

Yes. You can formally abstain by logging in, selecting the election, clicking “Abstain from Voting,” and then clicking “Cast Ballot.” This will be registered as an abstention.

In any section, you can vote for one or more candidates. If you do vote for more than one candidate, it's important to rank the candidates in your order of preference. Every vote counts in STV, and the order in which you rank candidates has a direct effect on the outcome of the election.

You do not have to rank all of the candidates. The general guidance is to vote for, and rank, any candidate about whom you have an opinion. A somewhat opinionated blog post on ranking candidates can be found on the Public Address website. A summary: "if the election comes down to race between people you haven’t ranked, you won’t help determine the result, but if you don’t mind which of them is elected, this shouldn’t bother you too much."

Election results will be posted to the Faculty Voting System website within two weeks of the election close date. Results will also be announced at a subsequent faculty meeting.