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Faculty Senate Charter

BY-LAWS

Article 1 - Meetings Of The Senate
Article 2 - Meetings Of The Executive Committee
Article 3 - Procedures of Election By Proportional Representation

CHARTER
THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER FACULTY SENATE

1. ESTABLISHMENT OF A UNIVERSITY SENATE

There shall be established at the University of Rochester a University-wide Faculty Senate which shall have the following functions:

To consider the state of the University and to make recommendations for its academic development to the appropriate persons or bodies within the University;
To inquire into any matter of an educational or administrative nature that has implications for the academic function and welfare of the University, and to make recommendations concerning such matters to the appropriate persons or bodies within the University;
To be a channel of communication between and among the various faculties of the University and between the collective faculties and the President and the Provost of the University.
All proceedings or recommendations of the Senate shall be confidential within the University.

2. COMPOSITION OF THE SENATE

The Senate shall consist of forty-five (45) members to be elected by and from the faculties of the University. The President, Provost, and University Dean of Graduate Studies shall serve as members ex officio, without vote; except that the Presiding Officer shall cast the deciding vote in case of a tie.
Each college or school within the University shall be entitled to at least one representative in the membership of the Senate.

3. ELECTION PROCEDURES

The electorate shall consist of all full-time members of the faculties and of all part-time members of the faculties with the rank of professor or associate professor or equivalent rank.
Persons eligible for election to the Senate shall be full-time members of one of the faculties of the University and shall hold the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor.

3.1 NOMINATION AND BALLOTING FOR MEMBERS OF THE SENATE

The Standing Committee on Elections shall receive nominations for and conduct the election of members of the Senate in the spring of each year.
Three qualified members of the Senate electorate shall submit a signed statement to the Committee on Elections requesting the name of an eligible faculty member be placed on the ballot. The number of people on the ballot shall exceed by at least five the number of vacancies to be filled. Members of the Standing Committee on Elections are empowered to sign the nominating statement described. Faculty members may sign more than one nominating statement as described.
It shall be the duty of the Committee on Elections to insure that at least one eligible candidate shall be nominated from the following schools or colleges: the College or Arts & Science, the Graduate School of Education & Human Development, the College of Engineering & Applied Science, the Simon School of Business Administration, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Eastman School of Music, and the School of Nursing.
Ballots conforming to the prescription in the attached By-Laws shall be distributed by mail to the Senate electorate. The Committee on Elections shall count the returned ballots according to the rules described in the attached By-Laws.
If, after the Committee on Elections has counted the ballots, it appears that a school or college does not have a member of its faculty among either the continuing members of the newly-elected members of the Senate, the Committee shall eliminate the last member otherwise elected to the Senate in the last step of the counting process and shall replace him with the candidate from the unrepresented college who has the highest number of votes. This process of elimination and replacement shall be repeated, if necessary, until each college with eligible nominees has at least one member in the Senate. If there are no ties for members elected at the last step for candidates from the unrepresented college, the Committee shall break the tie by lot.
If a Senator withdraws or is unable to serve on the Senate, the Committee on Elections shall name as his successor the person who received at the most recent election the highest number of votes without being elected. The person so named shall serve the unexpired part of the term of the person he replaces.
If a Senator who is the sole representative of his school or college withdraws, the Committee on Elections shall choose as his successor the nominee from that school or college who received at the most recent election the highest number of votes without being elected, and this person shall serve the unexpired part of the term of the person he replaces; but should there have been no other nominee from that school or college, the Committee on Elections shall appoint a Senator from that school or college who shall serve until the next annual election.

4. TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP

Members of the Senate shall normally serve three-year terms, and they shall not be eligible for election to more than two consecutive terms.
In the first election, the fifteen members declared earliest in the counting shall serve three-year terms; the fifteen members declared elected next shall serve two-year terms; and the fifteen members declared elected last shall serve one-year terms. Ties shall be broken by lot by the members of the Committee on Elections.

5. ORGANIZATION OF THE SENATE

5.1 OFFICERS & COMMITTEES

Presiding Officer

The Chair of the Executive Committee of the Senate shall preside at meetings of the Senate; in the absence of the Chair of the Executive Committee, another member of that Committee selected by the Chair shall preside.

Secretary

The Secretary of the Executive Committee shall be the Secretary of the Senate.

Committees

The Senate shall elect from its membership an Executive Committee and shall establish other standing committees as it deems necessary. These shall include, at the least, an Academic Affairs Committee and a Budget Committee. A majority of the standing committees shall be composed of faculty members serving on the Senate or former Senate members but membership shall not be restricted to those persons. Each member of the Senate shall have the opportunity to serve on at least one standing committee. The Senate shall also conduct the elections for an all-University Committee on Tenure and Privileges. In addition to the standing committees, the Senate may from time to time authorize the establishment of ad hoc committees.

6. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

6.1 FUNCTION

The Executive Committee shall serve as an agenda committee for the deliberations of the Senate and may make recommendations to the Senate.

6.2 COMPOSITION

The Executive Committee shall consist of eight members of the Senate who are not administrative officials of the University (vis., deans or associate deans), and of the President, the Provost, and the past Chair of the Faculty Senate as members ex officio; and the chairs of the elected faculty governance bodies of each school (where such bodies exist) as nonvoting members ex officio.

6.3 ELECTION

The Executive Committee shall appoint annually a Nominating Committee consisting of three members of the Senate who are not members of the Executive Committee. The Nominating Committee shall nominate at least two more persons than the number of vacancies on the Executive Committee and shall conduct an election among the members of the Senate by mailed ballots, with the provision for write-in votes.

6.4 OFFICERS

The Executive Committee shall elect a Chair and a Secretary. These officers shall serve one-year terms and shall not be eligible for election to more than two consecutive terms.

6.5 TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP

Members of the Executive Committee shall serve two-year terms; except that membership on the Executive Committee shall terminate concurrently with the termination of membership in the Senate.
Initially, seven members of the Senate shall be elected to the Executive Committee, four of whom shall serve two-year terms and three of whom shall serve one-year terms. The length of terms in the initial election shall be determined by lot.
The Senate shall elect sufficient members each year and from time to time to maintain the membership (elected) of the Executive Committee at eight.
The Chair of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee shall serve as an ex officio member of both the Senate and its Executive Committee during the year following the expiration of his/her term.

6.6 AD HOC COMMITTEES

If and when the Senate or the Executive Committee establishes an ad hoc committee, the Executive Committee shall appoint the committee. Members of the ad hoc committees may be chosen either from within or outside the membership of the Senate.

7. COMMITTEE ON TENURE AND PRIVILEGES

Function. The University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall review all regulations concerning faculty tenure and privileges and advise the President of the University on such regulations. It shall establish, with the consent of the Board of Trustees, standing procedures governing the manner of revocation of a faculty member's tenure or privileges for cause. It shall inform the Senate of all regulations and practices respecting tenure and privileges, in all parts of the University, as they become established or changed.
Composition. The University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall consist of full-time members of the faculty who hold appointments of unlimited tenure. There shall be one Representative member elected from each school or college of the University with fewer than 200 full-time faculty members and two Representative Members elected from each school or college of the University with 200 or more full-time faculty members. There shall also be one Member-at-Large. Administrative officers with rank at or above assistant dean are ineligible to serve on the University Committee on Tenure and Privileges whatever their faculty status at the time of the election.
Election. Representative Members shall be elected from a constituency consisting of those members of the school or college in question who are also members of the electorate of the Senate. Elections for Representative Members shall be, when needed, held concurrently with elections for the Senate. Nominations and elections will be conducted by the Committee on Elections according to the same procedures used for Senate elections, including the provisions for filling of vacancies, except that if fewer than two nominees are received for a vacancy, the Committee on Elections shall itself nominate one or two more eligible candidates to bring the number of nominees to two. The Member-at-Large shall be elected by the Executive Committee, by simple majority vote of those present and voting at its first regularly scheduled meeting of the academic year in which the vacancy occurs.
Officers. The University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall elect a Chair and a Secretary from its membership, each for a two-year term, except that the initial term of the Secretary shall be for one year.
Terms of Membership. Members of the University Committee on Tenure and Privileges shall serve three-year terms, except that initially two members shall serve for two years, three members for three years, and two members for four years, assignment of these terms to be determined by lot.

8. MEETINGS OF THE SENATE

The Senate shall schedule at least eight meetings during the period September through May inclusive.
The Senate may hold special meetings:
1. at the call of the President
2. at the call of the Executive Committee;
3. or, on written petition of a majority of the members of the Senate, the petition clearly setting forth the purpose for which the meeting is to be called.
A majority of the elected membership of the Senate shall constitute a quorum.

9. METHOD OF AMENDMENT

Amendments to the Charter of the Senate shall be made by the passage, by a majority of the whole Senate, of a motion to amend the Charter, in two regular meetings of the same Senate, between which two meetings the constituent faculties shall have had a reasonable opportunity to discuss the amendment and report thereon. Any such amendments shall require the approval of the Board of Trustees.

As amended and approved by the Trustees, April 3, 1963
As amended and approved by the Trustees, February 3, 1967
As amended and approved by the Trustees, May 31, 1968
As amended and approved by the Trustees, June 18, 1969
As amended and approved by the Trustees, June 5, 1970
As amended and approved by the Trustees, January 26, 1972
As amended and approved by the Trustees, June 28, 1972
As amended and approved by the Trustees, May 25, 1977
As amended and approved by the Trustees, July 1, 1978
As amended and approved by the Trustees, October 14, 1982
As amended and approved by the Trustees, February 16, 1987
As amended and approved by the Trustees, May 14, 1987
As amended and approved by the Trustees, May 10, 1990
As amended and approved by the Trustees, September 17, 1992
As amended and approved by the Trustees, December 15, 1994
As amended and approved by the Trustees, June 14, 2001
As amended and approved by the Trustees, January 17, 2002

BY-LAWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER FACULTY SENATE

1. ARTICLE 1 - MEETINGS OF THE SENATE

1.1 SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

The meeting dates of the Senate shall be recommended by the Executive Committee of the Senate no later than the March meeting for the subsequent year. The meetings shall be from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., although (a) the Executive Committee may, with two weeks' notice, call meetings for an hour other than 4:00 p.m., and (b) a majority of those present may extend the meeting beyond 6:00 p.m.

1.2 AGENDA

The agenda for each regular meeting of the Senate shall be prepared by the Executive Committee and distributed to all Senators in advance of each meeting. The order of business at regular meetings shall be:

approval of the minutes of the previous regular meeting and of any special meetings, report of the Chair of the Executive Committee, consideration of business stated in the report of the Executive Committee, consideration of business from the floor, report of the President, announcements, and adjournment.

The order of business at special meetings shall be specified in the call or petition which occasions them.

1.3 RULES

On all matters of procedure not provided for in the Charter and By-Laws, the Senate shall follow Robert's Rules as set forth in Sturgis's Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure.

1.4 MINUTES

Prior to each meeting, the minutes of the previous regular meeting and of such special meetings as may have been held subsequent to the last regular meeting shall be distributed to all members of the faculty entitled to vote for the Senate. These minutes shall be labelled "confidential." The distribution of the minutes shall be interpreted as a reading, prior to approval, at the Senate meeting. Senators may submit "Letters to the Senate" stating their views or those of a member of the electorate on any question that may properly come before the Senate. Subject to review by the Executive Committee for appropriateness of length and subject matter, these letters will be circulated with the minutes.

1.5 ATTENDANCE

The attendance shall be taken and recorded in the minutes.

1.6 VOTING

Any motion (except the motion to vote immediately, to suspend the rules, and to amend the Charter) shall be declared adopted if it receives the affirmative votes of a simple majority of those voting. In the event of a tie, a vote by written ballot shall be taken and, if the tie persists, the presiding officer shall cast the deciding vote. Votes by proxy shall not be permitted. If a member requests that the vote be taken by secret ballot, the presiding officer shall so order.

1.7 PROCEDURE

Action shall not normally be taken on any substantive matter considered at one meeting until the next meeting.

1.8 AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS

Amendments to the By-Laws shall be voted on at the meeting next following the one at which they were proposed.

2. ARTICLE 2 - MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2.1 SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

A regular meeting of the Executive Committee shall be held prior to each meeting of the Senate. Other regular meetings may be held in accordance with a schedule established by the Executive Committee. Special meetings of the Executive Committee may be called by the Chair or the President.

2.2 QUORUM

A quorum of the Executive Committee shall be five members, of whom at least four are elected members.

2.3 RULES

On all matters of procedure not provided for the Charter and By-Laws the Executive Committee shall follow Robert's Rules as set forth in Sturgis's Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure.

2.4 MINUTES

Prior to each regular meeting, the Secretary shall distribute to the members of the Committee minutes of the last regular meeting and of any special meetings which may have been held subsequent to the last regular meeting. The minutes shall be labelled "confidential."

2.5 VOTING

The rule of voting set forth for the whole Senate shall apply to the Executive Committee.

2.6 REPORTS

The agenda for each regular meeting of the Senate shall be in the form of a report of the Executive Committee setting forth proposed action.

3. ARTICLE 3 - PROCEDURES OF ELECTION BY PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

1. Direction to Voters. Ballots shall have the following directions on them:

Put the figure 1 in the square next to the name of your first choice. You may also express second, third, and other choices by putting the figure 2 next to the name of your second choice, and so on. You may express as many choices as you please, without any regard to the number being elected.
If your ballot can help elect the person, it will be counted — or as much of it as is necessary will be counted — for your first choice. If it cannot help elect the person, it will be transferred to the highest of your other choices whom it can help.
You cannot hurt the chances of any candidates you prefer by marking lower choices for others. The more choices you express, the surer you are to make your ballot count for one of them. But do not feel obliged to express more choices than you really have.

2. Counting Ballots. The following method shall be used to count ballots in election of senators:

A ballot shall be considered valid unless it does not clearly show which candidate the voter prefers to all others, or unless it contains any word, mark, or other sign apparently intended to identify the voter. Every valid ballot shall be counted according to the intent of the voter so far as that can be clearly ascertained, whether marked according to the directions printed on it or not. Invalid ballots shall be set aside.
If the consecutive numerical order of the figures on a ballot is broken by the omission of one or more figures, the order of the figures on the ballot shall be taken as the voter's order of preference without regard to the figure or figures omitted.
The total number of valid ballots shall be divided by the number of members to be elected. The resulting number shall be the quota sufficient to elect a members.
All candidates whose first-choice ballots equal or exceed the quota in number shall be declared elected.
Whenever a candidate is declared elected through receiving a number of votes at least as great as the quota, all votes cast for him shall be reduced in weight, through multiplication by a constant factor. The constant factor shall be calculated so as to make the total weight of votes cast for the candidate sum to the number of votes he received in excess of the quota. All these votes shall be transferred to the next eligible candidate listed on each ballot. An eligible candidate is one who has neither been declared elected nor been declared defeated as defined in Rule g). If a ballot is exhausted of eligible candidates, it shall be counted for the purposes of computing the constant factor and then dropped from further consideration.
Any candidate receiving, as a consequence of transferred ballots, a number of votes at least as great as the quota shall be declared elected and his votes shall be transferred according to Rule e).
If, either on the initial tally or after a transfer of ballots, no candidate received a number of votes at least as great as the quota, all candidates ties for last place in the tally shall be declared defeated and their votes shall be transferred, unless their defeat will reduce the number of eligible candidates below the number required to fill all offices remaining to be filled.
If defeat of all candidates tied for last place will lead to reduction of the number of candidates below the number of offices remaining to be filled, all eligible candidates not tied for last place shall be declared elected, and those tied for last place shall be ranked by lot and a number sufficient to fill all offices remaining to be filled shall be selected in order of this rank.
A record shall be kept of first-place votes, of all tallies after transfers, and of all declarations of election and defeat.
Alternates, when required to fill an office which becomes vacant, shall be selected in inverse order of their defeat as candidates, with ties to be broken by lot.

Adopted by the Senate, November 4, 1963
Amended by the Senate, April 5, 1965
Amended by action of the Board of Trustees, June 5, 1970
Amended by the Senate, April 7, 1975
Amended by the Senate, April 5, 1976
Amended by the Senate, November 1, 1976

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Faculty Senate site created Monday, June 29, 1998, by William Simon wsimon@biophysics.rochester.edu
Maintained by Mary Ann Davis mdavis@admin.rochester.edu.
This page last revised November 11, 1999