Nomination and Elections Committee Bylaws

I. OBJECTIVES

A. To run elections every Spring and Fall to fill those vacancies which occur on University committees. Spring Election procedures will be initiated at the beginning of the Spring term. Spring elections will be completed by the last day in April. Fall elections will be held as appropriate to fill committee vacancies and will be completed by the last day in November.

B. To run special elections as requested by the University Senate President.

II. AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

A. To survey the university community for willingness to serve on the various committees.

B. To determine eligibility of people willing to serve on specific committees.

C. To prepare, distribute, collect, and process ballots at the various stages of the nomination and election process.

D. To coordinate with the University administration in updating the Senate roster.

III. MEMBERSHIP

Total membership: 3

University Senate Vice President, ex officio, and two (2) teaching faculty members elected by the Senate for overlapping three-year terms.

IV. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

A. Meetings

1. The first meeting of each academic year shall be convened as the need arises by the previous year’s chairperson if that individual still serves on the committee. In his/her absence, the President of the University Senate will designate a committee member to convene the committee.
2. A second meeting in the Spring will be convened by the committee chairperson no later than the last week in February to ensure appropriate time for willingness to serve, elections, review of results, and finalization of committee formation. As stated in 1A, this process must be completed by the last day of April.
3. A quorum consists of two members.
4. Meetings may be conducted electronically.

B. Officers

1.     The committee chairperson shall be elected at the first meeting of the next academic year following the Spring election.

C. Reports

1. Committee records and reports from the current and previous academic years are maintained on file with the committee chair. The tallies from each stage of the election are kept, and ballots are destroyed.
2. At the conclusion of each election, results are sent to the University Senate President, the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs administrative assistant and are distributed to the general faculty.
3. The Committee will generate an annual report for submission to the University Senate each year.

D. Amendments

These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of members present at any regularly scheduled meeting at which there is a quorum, and the subsequent approval of the amendment(s) by the University Senate, and the President of the University.

E. Procedures for elections

In order to run elections, the Committee must be provided by the University Senate with the membership rules for each committee. Any question about the interpretation of these rules will be settled by the University Senate President.

Election requests and instructions for special elections and referenda may come from the University Senate President.

The Committee shall conduct elections in the following manner:

1. A notice shall be circulated to all faculty members informing them of an approaching election. If the Faculty Handbook does not contain a description of the function of any committee for which elections are to be held, then the Nominations and Elections Committee shall publicize such committee’s function;
2. There shall be no distinction in rank and tenure status of faculty for eligibility for committee service, with the exception of any committee in whose establishment rank and tenure were expressly stated to be a requirement for membership.
3. The election shall be conducted in three steps:
   1. The Nomination and Election committee shall first request from faculty members a Willingness to Serve for those committees that have a vacancy, and faculty is interested in serving. See Step 1, Willingness to Serve.
   2. For those committees where the number of candidates from the collective willingness to serve, is more than double the elective vacancy positions, the Nominations & Elections Committee shall hold a preferential primary. The preferential primary (not the final ballot) shall contain double the number of candidates as open positions. In each such case, voters select twice as many candidates as there are elective vacancies with the choice of abstain. See Step 2, First Ballot.
   3. For each committee to which members are to be elected, the Committee shall provide the faculty with a final list of candidates containing approximately twice as many candidates for each committee as there are elective vacancies, if possible.

Step 1 Willingness to Serve (not an election)

The purpose of this stage is to query faculty to identify who is willing to serve on Senate Committees with vacancies.

Step 2 First Ballot (vote from willingness to serve candidates)

This ballot determines the composition of a committee, unless, perhaps, there is a tie. This vote must contain the names of the delegates from the willingness to serve and an abstain elective. This determination is made as follows. The person (or persons, in the case of positions voted for as a group) with the highest number of votes is the winner.

Step 3 Runoff Ballot in case of a Tie

This ballot determines the composition of a committee in the case of a tie. This determination is made as follows. The person with the highest number of votes in the run-off election is the winner.

Special case a

 If the runoff ballot contains another tie, there are two options:

1. One person may accede to the other.
2. If no one accedes, the winner can be determined by the flip of a coin by the Nomination & Elections Committee.

 F. Filling Vacancies

A vacancy arising in an elective position on any committee shall be filled by the available candidate with the next highest number of votes in the previous Spring/Fall election. The balance of the vacant term shall be filled by election at the next regular election.

If it is necessary for a committee with a vacancy to meet prior to the completion of the elections process, and committee members feel the vacancy should be filled, because it cannot meet quorum then the Senate President may appoint interim committee members to serve until an election is held.

Appointed faculty will serve only until the completion of the next regularly scheduled election.

September 16, 1980
Revised: Apr. 4, 1984
Revised - Senate approval: Nov. 20, 1991 (R91-11-3)
Admin. Approval: Dec. 12, 1991
Revised - Senate approval: Dec. 9, 1998
Admin. Approval April 21, 1999
Revised - Senate Approval: May 10, 2017
Administrative Approval: May 16, 2017
Revised: 9/18/19 N&E
Revised: 10/7/19 N&E
Revised: 11/4/19 N&E