Professional Staff Advisory Council

Transcription

1 Professional Staff Advisory Council By-Laws Section 1. Governance The Constitution of the Professional Staff Advisory Council at South Dakota State University defines its purpose and functions along with its representation and election procedures. 2.1 Eligibility. Section 2. Representation All full-time professional staff employees having one year of employment prior to the designated date for nominations are represented members and eligible to serve as representatives to the council for their affiliated area. Assistant Deans, Deans, Assistant/Associate Vice-Presidents and Vice-Presidents, although represented by the council, are not eligible to serve as representatives. A representative who becomes ineligible during a term may continue to serve on the council until a replacement is appointed by the Profession Staff Advisory Council. 2.2 Constituency. The constituency of each area shall be monitored and maintained by the Department of Human Resources. The composition of each area shall be determined by the number of members recognized on September 30th of each fiscal year. Each area shall be entitled to one representative for approximately every fifty members or major fraction thereof. 2.3 Duration of Term. All representatives shall serve a term of three years with the opportunity to serve no more than two consecutive terms. A representative having served two consecutive terms is ineligible for council representation during the next election cycle. Former representatives shall be eligible to serve as representatives-at-large. 2.4 Representatives-At-Large. Past representatives shall be eligible to serve following completion of their three-year term(s). Representatives-at-large shall be nominated and elected by a simple majority vote of the sitting Professional Staff Advisory Council at the first monthly meeting held after the annual election. Representatives-at-large may serve no more than three one-year terms. At-Large members are voting members of the Council Once a professional staff member has served as a representativeat-large they shall be ineligible for council representation for three years. 2.5 Voting Rights. All representatives of the Professional staff Advisory Council shall have voting rights. Any representative unable to attend a meeting may designate a voting proxy as provided for in these bylaws.

2 Section 3. Officers 3.1 Chair. The Chair conducts regularly scheduled meetings, refers all matters submitted to the council's attention to the appropriate committee(s) or person(s), and prepares a written annual report of the past year s activities. The Chair submits the annual report, including the committee reports, to the Council prior to the annual meeting. The Chair also represents the Professional Staff Advisory Council or designates a professional staff member to serve on University committees. 3.2 Vice-Chair. The Vice-Chair serves in absence of the Chair, serves as head of any ad hoc committee(s) created by the council, prepares the committee reports for any ad hoc committees, and manages the Professional Staff Advisory Council's budget. 3.3 Secretary. The Secretary maintains electronic copies of the meeting minutes and annual reports and ensures copies are forwarded to the incoming Secretary and SDSU University Archives for permanent retention. The Secretary is responsible for preparing the agenda and making it available at least 24 hours in advance of the monthly meeting. 3.4 Historian. The Historian maintains records of the Professional Staff Advisory Council including posting of minutes, agendas, photographs, and other documents to the PSAC website, Inside State, and university archives as appropriate. The Historian is responsible for record keeping in regards to membership on the council, election cycles, term limits, and other information related to the service of council members. 3.5 Standing Committees The council has three standing committees: 1. Annual Meeting: schedule, coordinate and oversee all aspects of the annual meeting. 2. Awards: seek nominations and facilitate awards presentations at annual meeting. 3. By-laws & Constitution: propose changes, facilitate member requested changes and prepare changes for member voting in cooperation with university legal counsel. 3.6 Dismissal from Office. By vote of a simple majority of the Council present at any meeting of said Council, the name of an officer shall be placed on the agenda for removal from office at the next meeting. The Executive Committee shall notify in writing the officer in question the reasons for dismissal at least 14 days prior to the date of the meeting at which dismissal action is scheduled to be taken. The officer in question may request a one month postponement of action that must be approved by a majority vote of Profession Staff Advisory Council. An officer who has been removed from office under the provisions of this action remains a representative on the council. Section 4. Elections 4.1 Annual Elections. The Professional Staff Advisory Council shall be a continuous body. Elections will be held on a annual rotation with three representatives being elected the 1 st year, four representatives being elected the 2 nd year, and three representatives being elected the 3 rd year, and then starting over again.

3 4.2 Nomination and Election Committee. The Vice-Chair will serve as the head of this committee. This committee shall consist of Executive Committee representatives and two additional representatives. The Professional Staff Advisory Council shall appoint these representatives from the areas that have regular terms expiring in the upcoming election. The duties of this committee shall be to supervise the election procedures, declare nominees, distribute and collect ballots, and declare elected representatives as described in the Sections 4.3 and Nominating Candidates. Eligible candidates, as defined in Section 2.1, can be nominated by any professional staff members in their area between January 1 st and the third Tuesday of January. An eligible professional staff member may nominate as many persons from their respective area as there are terms expiring in that area. Professional staff members nominating individuals should contact potential nominees for their agreement prior to submitting their names for nomination. Self-nomination is encouraged. The Nomination and Election Committee shall serve as a nominating committee for an area when there are no nominees or an insufficient number of nominees. 4.4 Electing Representatives. The Nomination and Election Committee shall prepare area-specific election ballots and distribute them to each professional staff member the first Tuesday in February. All professional staff members, including those not eligible to be council representatives, are eligible to vote. The areaspecific ballots shall include the number of open representative positions, nominee names and accompanying biographical information. Ballots must be returned by the second Tuesday in February to be considered. The Nomination and Election Committee shall declare the elected representatives on the basis of the highest number of votes and notify them in writing. Newly elected Professional Staff Advisory Council representatives will be presented at the annual membership meeting and shall assume their place on the council at the July meeting. In all elections, ties will be decided by lot. 4.5 Replacing Representatives. If a member leaves the council or needs to be replaced, remaining council members will first contact previous area nominees from the time the departing council member was elected. If position is declined or there are no nominees, the council will appoint a representative from the service area to complete the remainder of the term. Council members appointed to replace a departed member will be eligible to serve two full terms, if subsequently elected, at the conclusion of their partial appointed term. 5.1 Conduct of Meetings. Section 5. Meetings Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert s Rules of Order. At the request of the council a parliamentarian shall be appointed to serve at monthly or membership meetings. 5.2 Cancellation of Meetings. Meetings shall only be cancelled when the University closes. If any meeting falls on a date when the university is closed, the meeting shall be re-scheduled for another date and time during the same month. 5.3 Membership Meetings. The business of the membership meetings shall be to introduce, discuss and vote on all issues

4 that are considered the objectives and functions of The Professional Staff Advisory Council as described in Article 2 of the constitution; introduce newly elected council representatives for the upcoming year; and/or introduce, discuss and vote on amendments to the Constitution or By-Laws Annual Membership Meeting. An annual membership meeting shall be held each year during Spring Break.

5 5.4 Professional Staff Advisory Council-Only Session. At the end of each Professional Staff Advisory Council and membership meeting, the council representatives may call a work session in order to complete tasks specific to the responsibilities of the professional Staff Advisory Council. Only council representatives will be able to attend the work session portion of the meeting. 5.5 Profession Staff Advisory Council Meeting Dates and Times. Monthly meeting dates and times shall be set by the Professional Staff Advisory Council representatives and be made available electronically on the official Professional Staff Advisory Council s website. Meetings shall not exceed two hours in length without unanimous approval of the Council. Agendas will be published on the official Professional Staff Advisory Council s website at least 24 hours in advance of the monthly meeting. Additional items may be introduced by a sitting council representative. Once approved, said item can be added to the current meeting agenda or tabled until the following month s agenda. 5.5.B Voting Proxies. If a representative will be absent for an upcoming vote, a written proxy shall be given to the Chair at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting at which the vote will take place. 5.6 Ad Hoc Committee Meetings. The Vice-Chair along with the members of any ad hoc committee(s) shall set the date, time and duration of their meetings as they see fit to meet the objectives of their committee. Section 6. Amendments Amendments to these by-laws must be proposed in writing, to the Chair, at least two months prior to voting and distributed to the membership at least one month prior to voting. Proposed amendments must be accompanied by a signed petition of at least 25 professional staff members. Adoption of proposed amendments requires a two-thirds majority vote of professional staff members present at a membership meeting. Section 7. Dismissal Procedure for dismissal is authorized under Article 12 of the Constitution. 7.1 Dismissal from the Professional Staff Advisory Council. A representative facing dismissal from council shall have their name placed on the next meeting agenda. To proceed, the request for dismissal must receive a simple majority vote of council representatives present. The Executive Committee shall notify in writing the representative in question the reasons for dismissal at least 14 days prior to the date of the meeting at which dismissal action is scheduled to be taken. The representative in question may request a one month postponement of action that must be approved by a majority vote of the council. Dismissal shall be by secret ballot vote requiring two-thirds majority of the Council representatives present (proxies are excluded from the dismissal vote).

6 7.2. Dismissal Due to Absence The Executive Committee shall initiate dismissal action against any representative with three unexcused absences.