Faculty Bylaws
I. RULES OF ORDER
Section 1.
All business shall be conducted according to Roberts' Rules of Order unless otherwise specified in this Constitution and its Bylaws.
Section 2.
Voting on questions submitted to the Faculty shall be by acclamation unless the Faculty requests some other form of expression. A majority vote of a quorum of the Faculty is necessary to pass or reject a measure, and actions so decided shall be declared official.
Section 3.
In case of a committee reporting to the Faculty, the minority report of that committee may be called for before a motion to accept the report of that committee is in order.
II. DUTIES OF OFFICERS
The duties of the officers shall be such as defined in Robert's Rules of Order.
III. COMMITTEES
ARTICLE A- Establishment of Committees, Functions, and Membership
Section 1.
At the regular meeting of the Faculty in the spring semester, the Organization Committee shall submit to the Faculty its recommendations concerning:
1. the establishment or abolition of standing committees other than those specified in the Constitution;
2. the functions of each committee;
3. the methods of selecting members of committees, and their terms of office.
Unless the Faculty alters or abolishes an existing committee during the first ten weeks of the spring semester, such committee shall remain in existence for the ensuing year and the Elections Committee shall conduct the election of its elected members in accordance with the last previous action of the Faculty, in regard to it. The Faculty may add to the membership of a committee, or may direct the Elections Committee to conduct special elections to choose such new members or new committees at any time, but the Elections Committee, in executing such direction, shall follow, as nearly as may be, the schedule and manner of conducting regular committee elections.
Section 2.
Faculty members shall constitute at least a majority of the voting membership of each Faculty Committee. Student Government is responsible for structuring the student portion of Faculty Committees.
Article B - Selection of Committee Members
Section 1.
By the eleventh week of the spring semester each year, the Elections Committee shall call for nominations for elected faculty members of standing committees. Nominations in writing shall be received by the Elections Committee for a period of one week, not counting vacation periods. Within two weeks of the close of nominations, not counting vacation periods, the Elections Committee shall prepare the necessary ballots and conduct the elections of elected faculty members of committees. The Elections Committee shall then count the ballots and declare elected any candidate who receives a majority* of the votes cast for the committee or Senate seat for which he/she is a candidate. If no candidate receives a majority, a run-off election shall be held between the two candidates for each seat who received the most votes in the first election. Run-off elections shall be conducted as expeditously as possible, consistent with the giving of notice to all Faculty eligible to vote in them. Immediately following each election, the Elections Committee shall deliver all ballots, nominations, and tally sheets to the University Archives, where they shall be retained at least thirty days and where they shall be open to examination by any faculty member. The Elections Committee shall announce to the faculty the results of each election. An appeal from the decision of the Elections Committee may be taken to the Faculty Senate.
*Majority - For those offices and committee assignments for which a majority is required, the individual/s declared winner/s must receive more than 50 percent of the votes cast for that office or committee assignment.
Section 2.
No faculty member shall stand for election to more than two committees at the same election and serve on more than four faculty committees at any given time. (Faculty Senate would be considered as a committee for the purpose of this calculation.). If a faculty member is nominated for more than two committees, he/she shall be allowed to choose for which two committees he/she shall stand for. If a faculty member is elected by rank or to represent a rank on the Faculty Senate or on any University committee and after elections is promoted in rank, then he/she may serve only one year in that elected position in the new rank. A vacancy shall then be declared in the position.
Section 3.
During the eleventh week of the spring semester, the Elections Committee shall send to the President of the Student Government Association a list of student seats on faculty committees, showing which are vacant and when terms of incumbents will expire, the request that replacements be selected. No person shall act as a student member of a faculty committee who is not currently enrolled as a student in the University and whose selection and term of office have not been certified in writing by the President of the Student Government Association to the Elections Committee, which shall report names and terms of student members to the Chancellor and to their respective committees.
ARTICLE C - Organization of Committees
Section 1.
At least ten days prior to the last class day of the spring semester, each standing committee shall elect officers for a one-year period beginning August 15 and notify the Office of the Chancellor of the results of this election. The chairperson of each committee shall be a faculty member.
Section 2.
A quorum of a committee shall consist of one-half of the voting membership, not counting vacant memberships.
ARTICLE D - Duties of Committees
Section 1.
The duties of the various standing committees shall be in general defined by their functions. Each committee shall derive its authority from the entire Faculty.
Section 2.
In case problems arise which are not readily allocated to committees by their designated functions, they may be referred to the Faculty or its official representative body for consideration and allocation.
Section 3.
The secretary of each faculty committee shall provide a copy of the committee's minutes to the University Archivist. It is also recommended that, when appropriate, information copies of committee minutes be sent to the Chancellor, the Chairperson of the Faculty Senate, and the Student Government President.
IV. AMENDMENTS
By laws may be amended or revised in the same manner as the Constitution.
Revision History
Converted to webpage format on 2021-01-28
Policy Revision on 1989-11-01