Proposed By-Laws Changes 2003

Central Texas College Faculty Senate

We will vote on all of these at the April 25th meeting. Proposed changes are underlined below. Click here to see the previous summary sheet describing the changes.

 

Amended April 2003

This printing April 2003

  

CONSTITUTION

CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE FACULTY SENATE

 

ARTICLE I

 

This organization shall be known as the Central Texas College Faculty Senate.

 

ARTICLE II

 

The Central Texas College Faculty exists as a group for the purpose of promoting

 

            o          education

 

            o          communication and understanding among the Board of Trustees, College Administration,

                        and the Faculty

 

            o          professional relations among members

 

o          presentation of the views and recommendations of the College Faculty to College

Administration, Board-appointed councils, and/or the Board of Trustees as to policies or

procedures on academic and professional matters that relate to the educational program

and services provided to Central Texas College.

 

            o          student welfare

 

 

ARTICLE III

 

Membership

 

Full membership is open to all faculty under at least a 9-month contract with Central Texas College.  Membership is also extended to professional librarians, professional counselors/advisors, and administrators/faculty whose duties include teaching college credit courses at least 51% of time. All members shall pay annual dues.

 

Associate membership is open to adjunct faculty members, adjunct or full-time instructors, adjunct librarians, and counselors and retired faculty members.  Associate members have no voting privileges but are encouraged to participate in discussions and other Senate activities.

 

 ARTICLE IV

 

Officers

 

Any member of the Faculty Senate may hold office (see Article VI, By-laws, 2-Elections).  Officers of the Faculty Senate shall be a President, President-Elect,  Secretary,  Treasurer, and  Webmaster. These officers shall form the Executive Board.  These officers and the Chairs of each Standing Committee of the Faculty Senate shall constitute the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate.  Standing Committees are identified in the By-laws, Article VI, 1-Committees.

 

President

 

The President shall preside at all meetings of the Faculty Senate and shall conduct all meetings according to Robert’s Rules of Order. The President is the official Faculty Senate spokesperson in formal dealings with the College Administration and the Board of Trustees.  The Faculty Senate President may delegate the duty to be the official spokesperson to another member of the Executive Board on a temporary basis. The out-going President will automatically have a seat on the Faculty Affairs committee the following year.

 

President-Elect

 

This officer will fulfill the responsibilities of the President when the President is absent.  The President-Elect shall be the Chairperson of the Faculty Affairs Committee and shall assume the presidency on the day before the fall faculty in-service meeting.  The President-Elect shall also officially coordinate the annual Peer Appreciation Banquet.

 

Secretary

 

This officer will maintain a current list of all members, record minutes of meetings, and circulate copies of the minutes to all members after each meeting.  This officer shall be responsible for sending an appropriate response expressing the concern of Faculty Senate members upon the occasion of a colleague’s serious illness or death.  The Secretary, along with the Treasurer, will be responsible for checking the Faculty Senate’s P.O. box once a week.

 

Treasurer

 

This officer shall be responsible for all funds and financial records of the Faculty Senate, pay all the bills for which the Faculty Senate is responsible, and make financial reports to the membership at the outset of the fall and spring semesters.  The Treasurer, along with the Secretary, will be responsible for checking the Faculty Senate’s P.O. box once a week.

 

 

Webmaster

 

This officer will maintain the Faculty Senate website.  The webmaster will work closely with the Secretary to maintain the current web page postings of the members list, minutes of all meetings, announcements, schedules, and agendas.  The Webmaster is responsible for acquiring necessary web space and renewing the registration of the www.ctcFacultySenate.org domain name.  The Webmaster serves as electronic historian for all Senate documents digitally stored in the web site archives.  Due to the technical skills required in this position, the office of Webmaster is appointed each year by the Faculty Senate President.

  

 

ARTICLE V

 

Amendments

 

Any Faculty Senate member may propose amendments to the Constitution.  The text of any proposed amendment must be submitted in writing to all members at least thirty (30) days before any regular or called meeting at which the proposal is to be acted upon.

 

I.          Committees

 

            A.        Standing Committees

 

                        The member of each Standing Committee shall be elected by the Faculty Senate members,

                        and the Chairperson of each Standing Committee shall be selected from among the

                        committee members Committee Chairs shall be identified and reported in writing to the

Executive Committee by the September meeting.  Duties of each Standing committee are

                        described below, except that the President of the Faculty Senate may assign additional

                        duties in a committee’s general area of responsibility.  In conducting the business of a

                        committee, a simple majority is required for approval.  It is the duty of the committee’s

                        chairperson to record minutes of all committee meetings, but the responsibility may be

                        delegated to another committee member.

 

These committees will be responsible for presenting their recommendations in a meeting of the Faculty Senate. No committee shall obligate or speak for the Faculty Senate.

 

                        1.         Piper Professor Selection Committee

 

This committee shall have five members:  Three members will serve two-year terms beginning in even-numbered years and two members will serve two-year terms beginning in odd-numbered years.  The committee will be responsible for selecting a nominee for the Piper Professor Awards Program of the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.  This committee will make its recommendations for an upcoming academic year in the prior spring semester.

 

                        2.         Faculty Professional Development Program Committee

 

This committee shall consist of six members.  Three members will serve two-year terms beginning in even-numbered years and three members will serve two-year

terms beginning in odd-numbered years.  The committee’s job shall be to make recommendations for in-service training, workshops, seminars, speakers, and other

avenues for professional advancement of the faculty.  This committee will make its recommendations for the upcoming academic year in the prior spring semester.

 

                        3.         Nominating Committee

 

This committee shall have five members.  The Nominating Committee shall solicit nominations, compile ballots, and tabulate the results of elections of officers and

committee members of the Faculty Senate.  The election procedures are described below in Section 2.

 

                        4.         Faculty Affairs Committee

 

This committee shall have eight members, three of whom shall be elected by members of the Faculty Senate and the other four shall be the President, Past-President, President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer for the Faculty Senate.  The Faculty Senate President-Elect shall be the committee chairperson.  This committee shall be responsible for

 

a.         serving as liaison with the Campus Dean on       appointments of Faculty Senate members to collegiate committees including the Employees Benefits Committee.

 

b.         recommending and previewing additions, deletions,        and changes to the Central Texas College Faculty  Manual.

 

c.         recommending and previewing Administration recommendations on faculty salary, benefits, teaching loads, office hours, leaves of absence, contractual matters, and other related concerns.

 

d.                  representing faculty concerns to the College Administration, Board-

appointed councils, and/or the Board of Trustees on policies dealing with the educational programs and services provided by Central Texas College which are of concern to those eligible for membership in the Faculty Senate.

 

                        5.         Executive Committee

 

The members of the Executive Committee consist of the Faculty Senate Officers and the chair of each Standing Committee.

 

            B.         Special Committees

 

The Faculty Senate President may appoint a chairperson and two members for any ad hoc committee deemed appropriate.

 

                        1.         Constitution/ By-laws Committee

 

The chairman and at least two other members shall be appointed by the President yearly to review the Constitution/ By-laws and make recommendations as appropriate.

 

 

                        2.         Membership Committee

 

This committee shall consist of a chairman and at least two other members appointed by the President.  The committee shall be responsible for recommending events and other actions to recruit new members.

 

                        3.         Auditing Committee

 

This committee shall consist of  a chairman and two other members appointed by the President to conduct an annual audit.

 

II.         Elections

 

A.        Elections of officers and committee members shall be conducted annually at the April Faculty Senate meeting.

 

B.         The Nominating Committee shall solicit and accept written nominations from the Faculty Senate membership at large, verify the eligibility of nominees, and compile a ballot of candidates.  Nominations shall include the offices of President, President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and members of each Standing Committee.  The Webmaster will be appointed by the President each year.

 

C.                 There must be at least one candidate for each position to be filled.  If there are no eligible

            nominees for any particular office, the Nominating committee shall issue another call for

            nominations in that category.  The committee shall continue until such time as a full-slate           

            of nominated officer is complete.  If an individual is nominated for more than one

            executive office, then the Nominating Committee shall contact the nominee for a     

            preference.  No individual may be a candidate for more than one office; however, a Faculty

            Senate member may be selected to be a member of one or more than one committee.   

 

D.                 The Nominating Committee shall notify each candidate that his or her name has been duly placed in nomination and will ascertain the candidate’s willingness to serve if elected.  The nominating committee, only at the request of the candidate, may exclude from the ballot, the name of any qualified candidate present by a Faculty Senate member.                                   

 

E.                  Any Faculty Senate member may announce for any elected position by sending a memorandum to the Nominating Committee.

 

F.                  Elections shall be by secret ballot.  The Nominating Committee shall supervise this

election closely.  All ballots shall be counted at one meeting of the nominating committee.

           

G.                 A plurality of the votes cast is required to win an election.

 

H.                 The Nominating Committee shall post copies of the election results on the faculty Senate

             website within 3 days after the election.

 

3.                  Terms of Office

 

A.         Persons elected to serve in the following positions shall begin their terms of office on the

          day before the fall faculty in-service meetings and continue for one year.  Those whose

          terms will be as specified are

 

·                    President

·                    President-elect

·                    Secretary

·                    Treasurer

·                    Webmaster

·                    Committee members for standing committees

 

 

B.          A member may serve in any office for any number of terms, but not more than two

           consecutive terms.  

 

C.          Any Faculty Senate member may present articles of impeachment against any officer at

           any regular meeting, but no action will ensue until the next regular meeting or a called

           meeting no sooner than thirty (30) days after the articles are presented.  Removal of an

           officer requires a 2/3 majority vote of the entire membership of the Faculty Senate. 

           Voting for an impeachment article (s) will  be by secret ballot.  Impeachment offenses

           shall be those which represent sufficiently serious actions as to justify these extreme

           steps.

 

D.       If an office is vacated during a school year, the Faculty Senate President shall appoint a

     replacement, who shall serve until the next regularly scheduled election.  If the vacancy

     exists in the office of the President, the President-Elect will assume the office and will

     serve the remainder of the term and the regular term as planned.  The President will

     propose a President-Elect nominee who will be confirmed by a vote of the Faculty

     Senate at the next meeting.

 

4.                  Meetings and Quorums

 

A.          The Executive Board of the Faculty Senate shall announce at the Fall Faculty In-

service meeting, the tentative meeting dates for the academic year.  A regular meeting

of the Faculty Senate shall occur at least twice each semester during the fall and spring

           semesters and at such times as deemed necessary during the summer semester.

 

B.          A quorum is constituted by those in attendance at any regular or called meeting.

 

C.          The Executive Committee may call a special meeting of the Faculty Senate on one

           week’s written notice to the members of Faculty Senate. 

 

D.           All Faculty Senate meetings and those of committees will be in accordance with

            Robert’s Rules of Order, latest edition.

 

E.            Decisions of the Faculty Senate (except as noted elsewhere in these By-laws) shall

       be by a simple majority, either by show or hands or a voice vote.  The presiding

       officer shall determine the outcome of the vote, but a  simple majority of  he           

       members present may request and receive a secret ballot  vote.

 

F.            All constitutional amendments shall require approval of 2//3 vote of all

      the membership present or by proxy.

 

G.           An absent Faculty Senate member may send a proxy vote by sending written

            notification to the Faculty Senate President identifying the issue or issues on which the 

            vote is cast by proxy.  This proxy statement must bear the name and signature of the

            absent member.  A general proxy vote statement (I hereby give my proxy vote III to      

      vote as he/she believes right) will be unacceptable.

 

5.                  Audit

 

An annual audit shall be conducted by a three-member committee appointed by the President.

 

 

ARTICLE VII

 

Ratification

 

This constitution shall go into effect when it has been approved in an election by those who join the Faculty Senate in the Spring of 1990.  The approving vote necessary for adoption of this Constitution shall be a simple majority of the votes cast for the ratifications.

 

ARTICLE VIII

 

Authentication

 

This Constitution is approved on the 28th of November, 1989

 

FOR THE ADMINISTRATION                           FOR THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

 

 

__________________________                          ____________________________

James R. Anderson, Ph.D.                                      Riley J. Simpson

Chancellor                                                              President, Board of Trustees

 

(Signatures on originals)

                  Revised 1/90, 10/91, 10/92, 2/95, 3/97, 1/00, 2/03

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