Senate
Constitution: Provisions
Applicable to
Reg. Meetings
III.D. Vacancies. President. If the President is temporarily unable to perform the duties of the office, the President-elect will assume the duties; if no President-elect is in office, the Chair of the Financial Planning Committee shall assume the duties of the presidency, and may then be called Vice-President.
IV.C.1. Majority and quorum. Passage of legislation, election of officers, and amendment of the Constitution shall require a simple majority of Senators present. A quorum for such actions shall be forty percent of the Senate's members. If a quorum call fails, either the President or the members in attendance may adjourn the meeting to a new time, at least five days later, and inform all Senators of the agenda. At the next meeting, a reduced quorum requirement of thirty percent of the membership shall be in effect for those agenda items re-listed.
IV.C.2. Proxies. A Senator who must be absent from a Senate meeting may designate any other faculty members to vote on his/her behalf. Such a designation must be written and presented to the President at or before the beginning of the meeting. Designated voters shall be counted in quorum calls.
VII.A. Meeting Calls. The Senate shall normally hold monthly meetings throughout the academic year. Special meetings may be held also, on call of the President or on petition of ten Senators. Written notice of each meeting shall be sent to all Senators at least five days before the date of the meeting, with an agenda of the meeting.
VII.B. Meeting Attendance and Excuses. Regular attendance is required of Senators; absence from three consecutive Senate meetings without due cause shall be cause for revocation of the Senator's membership.
VII.C. Meeting Participation. Attendance at meetings of the Faculty Senate is open to all members of the University community. Participation in any meeting, however, is restricted to Senators and any guests specifically invited to participate (e.g. as in IV.C.3, V.C.6, or V.E).
VII.D. Rules. Operations of Senate meetings shall be governed by Roberts Rule of Order (latest revision) wherever applicable and not superseded by other regulations of this Constitution or the By-Laws of the Faculty Senate.
V.A. Standing Committees: General Functioning. The Senate's standing committees shall be the normal, but not exclusive, forum for the formulation of faculty recommendations respecting policies and plans likely to affect the life of the University. Such issues, referred to the Senate by Senators, other faculty members, staff members or administrators, shall be debated in committee; ensuing recommendations, after possible modifications and acceptance by the full Senate, shall be promptly forwarded to the Provost by the Senate President and, when determined appropriate by the Senate and Chancellor, to the Board of Trustees. When, however, the administration appoints an ad hoc committee to deal with a special problem of policy or planning, then lines of communication with the Senate shall be assured as provided in IV.A.4 [Senate appoints 1/4 to 1/2 of committee members].
Byl.II.C. Referral to committee. Motions proposed as new business shall normally be referred to one of the standing committees, either by action of the mover, or by subsequent action of the Executive Committee.
Byl.II.D. Procedure for action. The normal steps by which the Senate acts on a committee recommendation:
The committee report shall be presented to the Executive Committee before submission to the full Senate.
Committee reports requiring detailed discussion and Senate approval shall be distributed to all Senators not later than the call for the meeting at which the report is to be presented and discussed.
The report shall be discussed at the meeting without considering specific action, allowing the Senate to form an opinion on the substance of the report and on its controversial aspects.
The committee shall solicit written comments to be submitted within two weeks, and then reconsider the report, preferably consulting with those proposing changes.
If significant changes have been made, the revised report shall be sent to Senators, preferably with the changes indicated, not later than the call for the meeting at which the report is considered for adoption. If necessary, steps 3 to 5 shall be repeated. Amendments shall normally be ruled out of order if they refer to items on the report that were neither revised nor brought to the committee's attention during earlier consideration.
V.C.7. Subcommittees. All members of standing committees must be members of the Senate, unless otherwise ordered by the Senate; but committees may form subcommittees which include faculty members who are not Senators.
V.E. Ad Hoc Committees. An ad hoc committee, with specified charge and specified tern, may be elected by the Senate at any meeting, or may be appointed by the Executive Committee subject to final consent of the Senate. Faculty members who are not Senators are eligible for appointment to ad hoc committees. When the ad hoc committee has fulfilled its charge, it shall submit a written report to the Senate.
VIII.A. Amendments: Vote. Amendments to this Constitution may be mad by majority vote at any Senate meeting, provided the proposal has been presented at a previous meeting and reported in the minutes thereof.
II.F. Resignations for Leave. Any Senator who expects to be out-of-residence for more than four consecutive months (exclusive of summer) must resign membership in the Senate. Senators will be regarded as out-of-residence when they take sabbatical leave for more than one quarter or engage in any activity which implies absence from the University.
II.G. Filling Vacancies. In the event a Senator does not complete his/her term, the faculty of the voting unit shall elect, as soon as practicable, a replacement for the unexpired term.
IV.A.5. General Faculty meetings. [Senate may] call, with at least five days notice, a General Faculty Meeting (through the President, with the approval of the Executive Committee) when need for one arises in addition to the two convened by the Provost at the beginning of the Winter Quarter and before the close of the Spring Quarter.
Byl.I.E. Timely reporting to administration. When a request by the administration for consideration of a matter is accepted by the Senate or a Senate committee, a mutually acceptable time schedule for reporting shall be established. Progress reports shall be submitted. Should the Senate fail to meet the schedule agreed upon, the administration shall have n obligation to await its report.
Byl.I.F. Resignation from committee by absences. Absence of a committee member from three consecutive committee meetings without a valid excuse (as judged by the committee chair with the consent of the other committee members) shall constitute resignation from the committee. The chair shall inform the resigning member and the Senate Secretary.
Byl.I.G. Committee Quorum. To transact business, a committee shall require a quorum equal to majority of its members. If a quorum fails, a date for a new meeting may be set by those present, allowing at least five days for the meeting call. In the call, the agenda and failed quorum shall be announced. At the follow-up meeting, any members in attendance shall constitute a quorum.
Byl.IV.B. Election of Officers: Majority and run-offs. All officers must be elected by a majority of the Senators voting; a run-off election between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes my thus be required.
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