General meetings of the Indiana University faculty began in 1835, to discuss the industriousness of its students, calling student rolls, and hearing reports on the work and standing of each of the students. Disciplinary measures, dismissals, and exams for students were also discussed during many of the meetings throughout the nineteenth century. By the 1920s, the faculty had grown to such a point that it was necessary to create a representative body of the faculty, but the faculty as a whole continued to meet with some regularity. Today the faculty body rarely meet, but may be convened by the IU president, the Secretary of the University Faculty Council, or on petition signed by voting faculty members numbering no less than 5% of all voting faculty members.
