RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE OF MENDEL UNIVERSITY IN BRNO Valid as of 20 April 2017

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1 On 20 April 2017, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports registered the Rules of Procedure of the Academic Senate of Mendel University in Brno pursuant to Article 36 (2) and (5) of Act No. 111/1998 Coll. On Higher Education Institutions and on the Amendment and Supplementation of other Acts (the Higher Education Act), reference No. MSMT-6242/ Mgr. K. Gondková Director of Department of Higher Education Institutions RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE OF MENDEL UNIVERSITY IN BRNO Valid as of 20 April 2017 Section 1 Introductory provisions In accordance with section 7, subsection 1, letter a) of Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on Higher Education Institutions and on the Modification and Amendment of Other Acts, as subsequently amended (hereinafter referred to as the Act ), the Academic Senate of Mendel University in Brno (hereinafter referred to as the Senate ) constitutes a selfgoverning body of Mendel University in Brno (hereinafter referred to as the university ). The fundamental rights and obligations of the Senate are regulated by sections 8 and 9 of the Act. Section 2 General provisions Senate proceedings are governed by the Act and by these Rules of Procedure of the Academic Senate of Mendel University in Brno (hereinafter referred to as the Rules of Procedure ). Section 3 Senate structure (1) The Senate consists of two chambers. Members of the Senate who are academic employees form the academic employee chamber. Members of the Senate who are students form the student chamber. (2) The Senate has the following bodies: a) chair; b) academic employee chamber vice-chair; c) student chamber vice-chair; d) secretary. (3) The Senate shall establish from among the members of the university academic community, as defined in section 3, subsections 1 to 3 of the Academic Senate Election Code of Mendel University in Brno, an economic committee and a legislative committee; additional ad hoc committees may also be established as needed. Section 4 Senate sessions, elections of the chair other bodies (1) The Senate chair elected in a previous electoral term convenes the constituent session of a newly elected Senate; the session is chaired by the most senior member present. The Senate chair is required to do so within ten days of receiving the election results but no later than seven days before the end of the current Senate's term of office. 1

2 (2) A new Senate chair is elected at the constituent session of the newly elected Senate. The election of a new Senate chair is directed by the oldest member of the Senate. An electoral committee composed of three members of the newly elected Senate is established for the purpose of electing a new Senate chair. (3) All Senate members may submit nominations for the position of Senate chair; however, only members of the academic employee chamber are eligible for nomination. (4) The Senate chair election is secret and requires the presence of at least three fifths of all Senate members. A nominee who receives more than one half of the total number of Senate member votes, with the exception of the situation specified in section 6, is elected to the position of Senate chair. (5) The Senate chair election may take up to five rounds where two nominees who received the lowest number of votes are dropped from each subsequent round. (6) In case several Senate chair nominees receive an identical number of votes, the matter is decided by a supplementary vote. (7) If, even after five rounds, no Senate chair has been elected, the entire electoral proceedings are repeated, beginning with the nomination procedure. In case no Senate chair has been elected even once the entire electoral proceedings have been repeated, the nominee who received the highest number of votes in the last, i.e. tenth, round is elected to the position of Senate chair; in case several nominees receive an equal number of votes, the matter is decided by lot. (8) Once a Senate chair is elected, he/she is tasked with chairing the subsequent session(s)/remainder of the session. (9) Vice-chairs are elected by the Senate from among members nominated by each Senate chamber. Vice-chairs are elected using rules applicable to the election of the Senate chair, i.e. in accordance with sections 4 to 7. The academic employee chamber vice-chair represents the chair in the event of his/her absence; the student chamber vice-chair represents the student body in negotiations with university bodies. (10) The secretary is nominated by the chair and approved by the Senate. The secretary is directed by the chair to carry out organizational and administrative tasks associated with Senate activities. Section 5 Senate term of office, membership interruption and termination (1) The Senate term of office lasts three years. (2) Senate membership interruption occurs when a Senate member presupposes his/her inability to exercise the office of Senate member for a period of more than six months due to serious work or study-related or other reasons; a request for membership interruption must be submitted by the member to the Senate chair. (3) In the case of membership interruption, the Senate member is replaced by a substitute. Once the reasons leading to membership interruption have expired, the member with previously interrupted membership becomes a first substitute. (4) The membership of an individual Senate member is terminated in case he/she: a) is appointed Rector, vice-rector, dean, vice-dean, bursar, faculty bursar or university institute director, b) is repeatedly absent from sessions and in case at least two thirds of the total number of members of the Senate, voting by secret ballot, vote in favour of terminating his/her membership. c) renounces his/her membership in writing, d) is a student who is transferred to a degree programme whose students are part of a different electoral district than the one he/she was elected to represent, e) is an academic employee who is transferred to a unit whose academic employees are part of a different electoral district than the one he/she was elected to represent, f) ceases to be a member of the university's academic community. (5) A student's Senate membership is not terminated in case he/she is admitted to a follow-up degree programme at a faculty or university unit he/she was elected to represent. (6) Vacancies arising during the Senate term of office are filled by substitutes in accordance with section 4, subsection 15 of the Academic Senate Election Code of Mendel University in Brno. In case these conditions are not met, a special by-election is held. By-elections take place in accordance with the procedure specified in section 4, as applicable. (7) The term of office of all Senate members is terminated in case the Senate does not act in accordance with the Act for a period of six months. In this case, new Senate elections are announced by the Rector within 30 days. 2

3 Section 6 Session rules, session outcomes and voting rules (1) A Senate session is convened and directed by the Senate chair or, in the event of his/her absence, by the academic employee chamber vice-chair; in case neither are present, the session is directed by the most senior Senate member present. (2) An extraordinary Senate session is convened by the chair if so requested by at least one third of all Senate members or by the Rector. (3) Senate sessions are open to the public. The Rector, or an authorized vice-rector, the dean, the Board of Trustees chair, or an authorized Board of Trustees member and an Internal Evaluation Board member authorized by the Internal Evaluation Board chair have the right to attend and participate in sessions whenever they so request. Additional guests may actively participate in sessions if approved to do so by a direct vote held by the Senate. The Senate holds a separate vote for each active participation instance. (4) A Senate session is convened by written invitation, indicating the agenda and expected duration, distributed at least one week in advance. Along with the invitation, each member is provided with materials to be discussed at the session. The materials are made available to the academic community in a manner and to an extent specified in section 9, subsection 3 of the Act. (5) Additional materials submitted at a later time may be included in the Senate session agenda with the consent of the majority of members present. (6) The Senate forms a quorum in case at least half of its members are present, including at least two members of the student chamber, unless otherwise stipulated by law. Resolutions are adopted on the basis of either a public or secret ballot. Adopted resolutions take immediate effect. (7) A motion for a resolution is adopted by public vote in case a simple majority of the present members of the Senate voted in favour, unless otherwise stipulated by law. (8) A motion for a resolution is adopted by secret ballot in case a simple majority of the present members of the Senate voted in favour, unless otherwise stipulated by law. A secret ballot is employed by the Senate in the following cases: a) Senate chair election or his/her dismissal, b) Rector appointment or proposal for his/her dismissal, c) proposal for Senate membership termination in accordance with section 5, subsection 4, letter b), d) other proposals of a personal nature, e) following the submission of a request for a secret ballot by any Senate member. (9) In urgent cases, unless explicitly prohibited by law, a motion for a Senate resolution may be voted on by correspondence vote outside of regular Senate session; a correspondence vote is conducted by electronic mail sent to a joint Senate address and simultaneously forwarded to the Senate chair. The need for a correspondence vote must be duly substantiated and all materials and motions for resolutions must be delivered to all members. If so requested by any Senate member, the correspondence vote must be terminated and the materials discussed at a regular or extraordinary Senate session. Senate resolutions adopted by correspondence vote are recorded in minutes from the next Senate session. A correspondence vote record includes a list of Senate members indicating how each of them voted. (10) The right to vote is restricted to Senate members; no substitutes are accepted. (11) Senate members have the right to submit amendments; amendments are subject to a vote in reverse order of submission. (12) The Rector cannot execute a Senate resolution which is in conflict with internal university regulations or other university regulations. (13) The attendance of all Senate session participants, including guests, is recorded in a prepared attendance sheet; session minutes are kept and verified by the Senate chair's signature. The session minutes are made available to all members of the university's academic community. (14) In the case of motions which require authorization by the Board of Trustees of a public higher education institution in accordance with section 15, subsection 2, letters b) and c), the delivery of such motions to the Board of Trustees of Mendel University in Brno is entrusted to the Senate chair once they have been adopted by the Senate. The date of delivery of such a motion is the day when the minutes from a Senate session where the motion was adopted by the Senate are transferred to the chair of the Board of Trustees of Mendel University in Brno. (15) Materials documenting Senate activities are archived in accordance with generally binding archival regulations. 3

4 Section 7 Election for the appointment of the Rector (1) The nomination of a candidate for appointment to the office of the Rector (hereinafter referred to as the candidate ) is organized by a designated special-purpose electoral committee which includes one member of the academic employee electoral district and one member of the student electoral district per faculty or university institute. (2) Each member of the university's academic community with the right to vote has the right to submit one nomination. The nomination submission procedure takes place separately for the academic employee electoral district and student electoral district of each faculty or university institute. (3) The following nomination lists are compiled by the electoral committee: a) nomination list ordered by faculties and the university institute and their electoral districts, b) university-wide nomination list ordered by electoral districts. (4) Nomination lists specify each candidate's name, surname and titles, number of electoral district members and number of votes received in the nomination round (absolute number and percentage). (5) A candidate list compiled by the electoral committee includes two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the nomination round in each electoral district and the three candidates who received the highest number of votes in the nomination round across all academic employee electoral districts and student electoral districts throughout the university. In case several candidates vying for the last open seat receive the same number of votes in the nomination round, they are all included on the candidate list. (6) Candidates are asked to provide consent with their nominations by the electoral committee. In the event of disagreement, a candidate is excluded from the candidate list. (7) Candidates who provided consent with their nominations are invited by the electoral committee to prepare a set of propositions outlining their vision and objectives for the performance of the office of Rector's. These propositions are published on the date stated in the election schedule, as established by the electoral committee and approved by the Senate. (8) Candidates present their propositions outlining their vision and objectives for the performance of the office of Rector at a session of the Senate. The speaking order is determined by lot immediately before the presentations. When answering queries intended for all candidates, the order of respondents shifts by one person with each subsequent question. (9) The choice of a candidate nominated for appointment to the office of Rector is decided by the Senate by secret ballot. A nomination for appointment to the office of Rector must be approved by an absolute majority of all Senate members. If none of the candidates obtains an absolute majority in the first round, the vote is repeated. Three candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round proceed to the second round. If no candidate is chosen in the second round, the vote is repeated. In case several candidates receive an equal number of votes in the first and second rounds, an additional vote decides. Two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the second round proceed to the third round. In case the third round provides no outcome, a fourth and potentially a fifth round may be held. In case no nomination for appointment to the office of Rector is made, the vote shall be repeated within 10 days, taking place in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. In case no nomination for appointment to the office of Rector is made even after a repeated vote, the entire process is repeated, including the submission of new nominations by the academic community in accordance with subsections 1 to 8. (10) A complaint against the preparation, progress and results of a vote on the nomination for the appointment of the Rector may be submitted to the electoral committee by a member of the Senate within three workdays of the publication of a final nomination. A complaint must be submitted in writing and must include a substantiation. Complaints associated with the vote are submitted by the electoral committee to the Senate. An extraordinary Senate session, which must adopt a resolution on the validity of the vote within ten workdays of receiving the complaint, is convened by the Senate chair. A decision issued by the Senate regarding a submitted complaint is final. The text of the complaint as well as the the substantiated decision must be made available to the public. Section 8 Concluding provisions (1) The Election Regulations and Rules of Procedure of the Academic Senate of Mendel University in Brno, registered with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports on 15 July 2013 under Ref. No. MSMT / , are hereby abolished. (2) This Code has been approved by the Senate in accordance with section 9, subsection 1, letter b) of the Act on 16 January (3) This Code enters into force in accordance with section 36, subsection 4 of the Act on the day of registration 4

5 with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (4) This Code comes into effect on the fifteenth day following the date of its registration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. prof. RNDr. Ladislav Havel, CSc., v.r. Chancellor Please note that only the Czech version of this translation is legally binding. The English translation is intendent for informational purposes solely. 5