BY-LAWS OF THE FACULTY SENATE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
I. ELECTION OF THE FACULTY SENATE
A. Nomination, election, and succession to the office of representative of an electing unit
1. Each electing unit shall invite nominations to the office of representative from its own members. Each member of an electing unit who is qualified to vote for representatives (see Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution) shall be eligible to nominate and to be nominated to the office of representative from his/her electing unit.
2. Each electing unit shall elect its representative(s) by secret ballot. All ballots shall be distributed and collected on campus.
3. If no candidate for the office of representative of an electing unit receives a majority of the votes cast in a unit's election, the unit shall immediately hold another election to decide which of the two candidates receiving the most votes previously cast shall have the office.
4. Each electing unit shall choose its representative(s) during the spring semester before the Faculty Senate constituted by the spring elections meets to organize itself.
5. The term of office of the representative of an electing unit shall be two years. It shall begin at noon on the last day of the spring semester and end at noon on the last day of the spring semester two years hence.
6. Provision for filling a vacancy in the office of representative of an electing unit is made in the Constitution, Article II, Section 6.c.
7. The provisions of Section I.A.1-5 of these By-Laws shall apply alike to single and combined electing units.
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B. Nomination, election and succession to the office of representative of the temporary faculty.
1. The temporary faculty shall be entitled to four representatives elected from among those temporary faculty who have been appointed to no fewer than six wtu's during the semester of their election. The election of these representatives shall be so conducted that two of them shall be elected to new terms each year. Normally, no more than two of the
representatives of the temporary faculty shall be from the same school.
2. The term of office of a representative of the temporary faculty shall be two years. To remain eligible to hold office a representative of the temporary faculty shall hold an appointment from the University to no fewer than three (3) wtu's during each semester of the prescribed term of office. Failure to hold the required appointment shall vacate the office.
3. Representatives of the temporary faculty who have served for six (6) consecutive years shall not be eligible for re-election until at least one (1) academic year has elapsed between the conclusion of the sixth consecutive year and the beginning of a new term.
4. The nomination and election of representatives of the temporary faculty shall be accomplished each spring before the Faculty Senate constituted by the spring elections meets to elect its officers. Nomination and election shall be by and from the temporary faculty. To be qualified for nomination and election, a temporary faculty member shall hold an appointment from the University to no fewer than six (6) wtu's during the semester in which the election is held. To be nominated, a qualified member of the temporary faculty shall submit a
nominating petition signed by six (6) members of the temporary faculty.
If more than twice as many candidates are nominated as there are offices to be filled, the Senate's Election Committee may hold an election to select from among them twice as many candidates as offices to be filled.
Each member of the temporary faculty may vote for as many candidates as offices to be filled. To be elected, a candidate shall receive more votes than any candidate not elected. If candidates have been nominated from a school which has two representatives of the temporary faculty continuing in office, the Election Committee shall declare the candidates ineligible if there is a sufficient number of candidates from the other schools to fill vacant offices. If two or more candidates from the same school have been nominated, the Election
Committee may group the candidates and limit the number that may be elected from this group in order to limit to two the total number of representatives of the temporary faculty that are from the same school. However, if there is an insufficient number of candidates from other schools to fill the vacant offices, the limit on the number of representatives that may be from the same school shall not apply to the election held in that year.
When there is a vacancy in the office of representative of the temporary faculty and an election to fill one year of the unexpired term must be held as provided in Section I.B.6 of these
By-Laws, that election to a term of one year shall be held concurrently with the election to office for a term of two years. Of those candidates receiving enough votes to be elected, those
candidates receiving more votes shall be elected to terms of two years; those candidates receiving fewer votes shall be elected to terms of one year. An election shall be held to break ties. In that election, electors shall vote for no more than one candidate.
Election shall be by secret ballot. All ballots shall be distributed and collected on campus.
5. If a vacancy occurs in the office of representative of the temporary faculty the Faculty Senate may appoint from among the temporary faculty a successor who shall serve for the
remainder of the academic year in which the vacancy has occurred. The Senate shall confine its choice of a successor to a member of the temporary faculty who holds an
appointment from the University to no fewer than six (6) wtu's during the semester of appointment. The successor need not be from the same school as the temporary faculty member being replaced, and the successor may be from the same school as representatives of the temporary faculty continuing in office. The limit on the number of representatives of the temporary faculty that may be from the same school may be exceeded when a representative is appointed under this provision.
6. If a year of the term remains beyond the expiration of the Senate's appointment of a representative of the temporary faculty to fill a vacancy, a successor shall be elected by the temporary faculty to serve during that subsequent year. The election shall occur during the spring semester preceding the beginning of the second full year of the term.
1. Each year following the election of representatives during the spring semester, the Faculty Senate constituted by that election shall hold two meetings to nominate and elect its officers as provided in Article II.B of these By-Laws. At least two weeks shall elapse between the two meetings.
B. Business Meetings
1. The Faculty Senate shall hold a meeting at least once every month during the academic year. The Senate may hold additional meetings from time to time at the call of the Chair of the Faculty Senate, by the Senate on its own motion, or at the request of the President via the Chair of the Senate. The Chair of the Senate shall not refuse or fail to give effect to the President's request for a meeting of the Senate.
2. Items shall be placed on the agenda at the request of the President of the University, or the Chair of the Faculty Senate, or the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, or by a majority vote of the Faculty Senate itself.
3. The Faculty Senate shall adopt its own rules of procedure for the conduct of its meetings.
4. A majority of the voting members of the Faculty Senate shall constitute a quorum. The Chair shall be a voting member.
5. Twenty percent (20%) of the members of the Senate present and voting may order that the roll of voting members be called and their votes recorded in the minutes. Such an order may be made either before or immediately after a vote has been taken by voice, or show of hands but not after the results of a vote by voice or show of hands has been announced. The call of the roll shall not be in order on a procedural motion.
6. Every meeting of the FAculty Senate shall be open. Faculty members, administrators, staff, and students who are not members of the Faculty Senate may participate in the discussion at the discretion of the Chair.
7. Members of the Senate shall discharge their duties and exercise their powers and prerogatives in person only.
1. Chair
The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall be elected annually by and from the voting membership of the Faculty Senate. The Chair shall preside at meetings of the Faculty Senate.
The term of office of the Chair shall be one year. The term shall begin at noon on the last day of the spring semester in which he/she is elected Chair and shall end at noon on the last day of the spring semester of the following year. The Chair may be re-elected.
2. Vice Chair
The Vice Chair shall be elected annually by and from the voting membership of the Faculty Senate. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice Chair shall preside at meetings of the Faculty Senate, and perform other duties of the Chair as delegated by the Chair.
The term of office of the Vice Chair shall be one year. The term shall begin at noon on the last day of the spring semester in which he/she is elected Vice Chair and shall end at noon on the last day of the spring semester of the following year. The Vice Chair may be re-elected.
3. Elected members of the Executive Committee
In addition to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate, five (5) additional voting members of the Executive Committee shall be elected annually by and from the voting membership of the Faculty Senate.
The elected members of the Executive Committee shall serve for a term of one year, beginning at noon on the last day of the spring semester in which they are elected to the Executive Committee and ending at noon on the last day of the spring semester of the following year. Elected Executive Committee members may be re-elected to the Executive Committee.
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B. Nomination and Election of Officers
1. Nomination
As provided in Section II, A. of these By-Laws, the newly constituted Faculty Senate shall first meet to nominate its officers, that is, the Chair, the Vice Chair and the other five (5) voting members of the Executive Committee. At the meeting to nominate, the order of business shall be (1) nomination of candidates for the office of Chair, (2) nomination of candidates for the office of Vice Chair, (3) nomination of candidates for the five elected members of the Executive Committee. Nominations of candidates for Chair and Vice Chair shall be made from the floor; nomination of oneself shall be permitted. If more than two nominations either to the office of Chair or the office of Vice Chair are made, the Senate shall immediately select from among the several nominees to the office, the two whose names shall be put to a vote in the subsequent election. The selection shall be made by secret ballot. Each Senator shall have one vote in relation to each office. Each of the two candidates selected shall receive more votes than any candidate not selected. When the Senate has finished nominating candidates for Chair and Vice Chair, it shall nominate candidates for the five elected members of the Executive Committee. Nominations shall be made from the floor; nomination of oneself shall be permitted. Additional nominations to the Executive Committee may be made at the meeting to elect the officers of the Senate.
2. Election of Chair and Vice Chair
As provided in Section II.A. of these By-Laws, the newly constituted Faculty Senate shall elect its officers at a meeting called for the purpose. The order of business shall be as follows: (1) election of the Chair, (2) election of the Vice Chair, (3) call for additional nominations for five elected members of the Executive Committee, (4) election of the five elected members of the Executive Committee. The election of the officers of the Senate (Chair, Vice Chair and the other voting members of the Executive Committee) shall be by secret ballot. The candidate for each office who receives more votes than any other candidate for that office shall be elected.
3. Election of the elected members of the Executive Committee
The manner of electing the other five (5) voting members of the Executive Committee shall be as follows:
1) If more than ten (10) candidates have been nominated, the Senate shall immediately select by secret ballot from among the several nominees ten (10) whose names shall be put to a vote in the subsequent election. When making this selection, each representative may vote for ten (10) candidates. In case of ties, the number of nominees shall be increased to include the tied candidates. Each candidate selected shall have received more votes than any candidate not selected.
2) When the candidates have been selected, the Senate shall immediately elect by secret ballot from among those candidates the other five (5) elected members of the Executive Committee. Each representative may vote for five (5) candidates. Each of the five (5) candidates elected shall have received more votes than any candidate not elected. In case of ties, the
Senate shall immediately vote by secret ballot to break the tie. Each representative shall have one vote. The candidate(s) elected shall have received more votes than any candidate not
elected.
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C. Vacancies
A vacancy in the voting membership of the Executive Committee shall be filled by nomination and election at the first meeting of the Faculty Senate after the vacancy occurs. The nominee elected shall have received more votes than any candidate not elected.
If the office of Chair of the Faculty Senate becomes vacant, the Vice Chair shall assume the title and functions of the Chair. A new Vice Chair shall be elected at the first meeting of the Faculty Senate after the vacancy occurs. Any of the other five (5) elected members of the Executive Committee shall be eligible to be elected Vice Chair. If another elected
member of the Executive Committee is elected Vice Chair, an election shall be held then and there to fill the vacated seat of the elected member of the Executive Committee who has just been elected Vice Chair.
If the office of Vice Chair becomes vacant, the vacancy shall be filled by nomination and election at the first meeting of the Faculty Senate after the vacancy occurs. Any of the other five (5) elected members of the Executive Committee shall be eligible to be elected Vice Chair. If another elected member of the Executive Committee is elected Vice Chair, an election shall be held then and there to fill the vacated seat of the elected member of the Executive Committee who has just been elected Vice Chair.
If several vacancies occur at once in the voting membership of the Executive Committee, the Faculty Senate shall fill those vacancies by nomination and election at the first meeting to be convened after the vacancies occur. Vacancies shall be filled in the following order: Chair of the Faculty Senate, Vice Chair, the other five (5) elected members of the Executive Committee or any of them.
D. Staff of the Faculty Senate
1. Parliamentarian
A parliamentarian shall be selected by the Executive Committee and approved by the Faculty Senate at the first meeting of the Faculty Senate during the fall semester of each academic year.
2. Recording Secretary
The Recording Secretary of the Faculty Senate shall be the senior ranked staff member of the Faculty Senate office.
Committees of the Faculty Senate shall be the Executive Committee, the Committee on Committees, and such other committees as the Faculty Senate may establish from time
to time.
A. The Executive Committee
1. Membership
The voting members of the Executive Committee shall be the Chair and Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate, and the five (5) other elected members of the Executive Committee, elected by and from the voting members of the Faculty Senate. The ex officio, non-voting members shall be the immediate past Chair of the Faculty Senate provided his/her term has expired at the end of the preceding academic year; one Statewide Academic Senator, selected by the delegation of Statewide Senators; the President of the Student Body, or his/her representative; the Academic Vice President; and the President of the University or his/her representative. The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall be the Chair of the Executive Committee.
2. Powers
The Executive Committee shall have power to:
a. Consider items for the Faculty Senate agenda and
(i) place them on the agenda of the Faculty Senate, or
(ii) refer them to an appropriate Senate committee or appropriate agency, or
(iii) formulate recommendations for Senate action,
b. Receive reports and recommendations from Senate committees and
(i) recommend clarifying language and amendments for the consideration of the Senate, or
(ii) place the item on the Senate agenda with a recommendation for Senate action, or
(iii) refer the item to appropriate Senate committees or other agencies.
c. Take action on behalf of the Senate when time does not permit the Senate to act. Such actions shall be reported to the Senate on a Senate agenda as soon as possible after the
Executive Committee has acted.
d. Advise the President about the interpretation of University policy. The Executive Committee shall report the substance of its advice to the Senate on a Senate agenda as soon as possible.
e. Propose clarifying statements of University policy to the Senate.
f. Create ad hoc committees as necessary.
g. Nominate faculty for consideration by the Senate to fill vacancies that occur in the membership of Senate committees after the Committee on Committees has made its
nominations for the year.
h. Nominate faculty for consideration by the Senate for recommendation to the President for appointment to institutional task forces, advisory committees, and auxiliary
organizations.
3. Meetings
a. The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall call a meeting of the Executive Committee at least once in every month during the academic year to set the agenda for the regular monthly meeting of the Faculty Senate and at other times as necessary. A majority of the voting members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum.
b. Executive sessions
(i) The Executive Committee may hold executive sessions to discuss and act upon personnel matters relating to the staff of the Faculty Senate.
(ii) Under circumstances that permit no delay, the Executive Committee may constitute itself as, or become part of, a search committee for the purposes of filling, on an interim basis, a vacancy in the University administration.
(iii) The President may consult with the Executive Committee in executive session about personnel matters related to the central administrative staff.
(iv) The subject of any executive session of the Executive Committee shall be reported in the minutes of the Executive Committee.
1. Membership
The Committee on Committees shall be composed of the Chair and Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate, the other five (5) voting members of the Executive Committee, the senior representative to the Senate from the Library electing unit, the senior representative to the Senate from the Student Services electing unit, and one representative from an electing unit within each school elected by the incumbent Senate.
2. Nomination and election of school representatives
At one of its meetings, the Faculty Senate shall nominate and elect by secret ballot the representative of each of the five (5) schools to the Committee on Committees. Nominations shall be made from the floor; nomination of oneself shall be permitted. No one who is not then a representative of an electing unit from within one of the schools shall be eligible to be nominated to be the representative of that school. Every representative may vote for one nominee from every school. If none of the candidates from a school receives a majority of the votes cast, the Faculty Senate shall immediately decide by secret ballot which of the two candidates who have received the most votes shall become the school's representative. As between the two candidates, the candidate who receives the most votes shall be elected.
3. Meetings
Each spring, the Chair of the Faculty Senate shall convene an initial meeting of the Committee on Committees. At a subsequent meeting, the Committee on Committees shall nominate to the Senate, candidates to be appointed members of the standing committees of the Senate to serve during the following academic year.
4. Charge
Having considered the results of an annual survey of the faculty interest in serving on any one or more of appointed standing committees, the Committee on Committees shall make a recommendation to the Senate specifying who the members of the Senate's standing committees shall be during the following academic year. Between the annual deliberations of the Committee on Committees, the Executive Committee shall nominate candidates to fill the vacancies that occur in the membership of the standing committees.
C. Other Committees of the Faculty Senate
The Faculty Senate may create standing and ad hoc committees as it deems necessary. Every committee created by the Faculty Senate shall be a committee of the Faculty Senate and shall report to the Senate by way of the Executive Committee. Senate committees shall recommend policy and the interpretation of policy to the Faculty Senate by way of the
executive Committee, and perform such administrative functions as are identified in their charge.
Top of Page V. ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE CSU ACADEMIC SENATE
A. Membership
Three CSU Academic Senate representatives shall be elected from each university with an enrollment of more than ten thousand, but less than twenty thousand, full-time equivalent students on an annual average. Each year in which such an election is held, the election results shall be certified to a designated officer of the CSU Academic Senate by the Chair of the local Senate on or before May 15. Representatives elected shall take office on or before June 15.
B. Terms of Office
1. Representatives shall serve a term of three (3) years, to be established on a staggered basis so that one of the three members is to be elected each year.
2. A Statewide Academic Senator who has served for nine (9) consecutive years in that office shall not be eligible for re-election to that office until at least one (1) academic year has elapsed between the conclusion of his/her ninth consecutive year of service as Statewide Academic Senator and the beginning of his/her next term as Statewide Academic Senator.
C. Nomination and Election of Representatives and Appointment of Alternate
1. The nomination and election of every representative to the CSU Academic Senate shall be by and from those members of the faculty who are members of an electing unit as defined by the Constitution (Article II. Section 5.B. 1 and 2) and are eligible to vote for the representative of an electing unit, as defined by the Constitution (Article 1, Section 6.) To become a candidate, an eligible member of the faculty must submit to the Chair of the Faculty Senate a nominating petition signed by ten (10) members of the faculty eligible to elect a
representative to the CSU Senate. If three (3) or more members of the faculty become candidates, an election shall be held to choose no more than two of them to contest the office ubsequently. If one of the three (3) or more candidates receives a majority of the votes cast in the election to choose two candidates that person shall be declared elected without further contest. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the two candidates who receive the most votes shall contest the office in a second election. The candidate receiving the most votes in the second election shall be elected representative to the CSU Academic Senate.
2. The alternate representative to the CSU Academic Senate shall be the Chair of the Faculty Senate of CSU Sacramento. If the Chair cannot serve, the Executive Committee shall designate an alternate.
3. If an incumbent shall vacate the office of representative to the CSU Academic Senate before his/her term expires, a successor shall be elected as provided in Article V, Section C.1 of these By-Laws.
Adopted by the Faculty Senate on February 23, 1989.
3/17/89 - Ratified by the Faculty.
4/11/89 - Approved by the President.
