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Bylaws of the President's Staff Advisory Committee

Article I: NAME

The name of the committee shall be the President’s Staff Advisory Committee (SAC).

Article II: MISSION STATEMENT

Facilitate active and direct communication between University staff and the President. Provide a forum for discussion and investigation of issues important to the staff and University. Present formal recommendations to the President.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

The membership of the Committee shall be limited to not more than twenty members appointed by the President. The President will appoint ex-officio members including a SAC Advisor at his/her discretion.

Section 1. Types of Members

  1. The membership of the committee shall be selected in accordance with Article IV. The committee shall make every effort to maintain a diverse membership.
  2. The appointed ex-officio members of the Committee shall be determined by the President.

Section 2. Term of Service

A full term is two years. In no event shall any member serve longer than two consecutive years, including the balance of any unexpired term initially assumed by an alternate or by special appointment. There shall be a minimum twelve-month waiting period before any member who has served a full term can be eligible for reappointment to the Committee. The exception to this is the Chair, whose status will change to Past Chair and whose term will extend for 12 additional months.

Section 3. Former Member Participation

At the discretion of the Chair and/or Subcommittee Chair, former members may participate in new or ongoing business. Former members shall not have voting privileges nor serve as an officer or in a chair capacity.

Section 4. Eligibility

Any University staff member with two years of regular University service who is not a member of a union is eligible for membership.

Section 5. Resignations

A member wishing to resign from the committee shall submit his/her resignation in writing to the President of the University and the Committee Chair.

Section 6. Removals

A member of the Committee may be removed from membership for any of the following:

  1. Three absences at full Committee meetings without notification
  2. Non-attendance at subcommittee meetings
  3. Other causes as determined by the full Committee whenever, in its judgment, the best interests of the University would be served by removal.

When informed of non-compliance of any Committee member(s), the Chair and Co-Chair will investigate the situation. If the findings indicate that further action should be taken, the Chair will notify the full Committee at the 1st meeting of the following month where:

  1. the floor will be opened for discussion of the situation
  2. the member will be afforded the opportunity to respond and
  3. a secret ballot will be cast to determine removal from the Committee by a simple majority vote of the members present at the meeting.

Section 7. Filling of Vacancies

The Chair will activate one of the following procedures to fill any vacant positions. These recommendations must be approved by full committee by majority vote of the members present at the meeting:

  1. Recommend a staff member from the membership alternate pool, making selection based on order created by the selection committee.
  2. Delegate to the Membership Selection Board the responsibility of making a nominee recommendation to the full Committee
  3. Recommend a former member who has served a full term and been off the Committee for twelve months.

Article IV: MEMBERSHIP SELECTION

The Membership Selection Board shall review all applications filed and make recommendations to the full Committee. For each Committee opening, the Membership Selection Board shall present one nominee.

  1. The membership of the committee shall be selected by a Membership Selection Board consisting of the current SAC Advisors, the current SAC Chair, the current SAC Co-Chair, Past Chair and three current members.
  2. A written application must be filed with the Membership Selection Board by October 1, which will screen and review all applications.
  3. The Membership Selection Board will submit to the full Committee one nominee for each Committee opening and a list of five (5) alternates in priority order which shall stay in place until the next selection process occurs.
  4. All nominees and alternates must be approved by the full Committee by a majority vote of the members present at the meeting.
  5. The Membership Selection Board will submit the full Committee’s recommendations to the President for approval.
  6. The new members’ term will commence in January.

Article V: OFFICERS

The Officers of the Committee shall be a Chair, a Co-Chair, Past Chair an Advisor, and ex-officios as designated by the President.

Elections

Section 1. Elections

  1. The election of Co-Chair shall take place by secret ballot at the second meeting in July.
    • Absentee ballots should be forwarded to the Chair prior to this meeting when elections take place.
  2. The chair will establish a nominating committee (in the month of April). The committee must consist of at least the following: ex-officio chair, past chair, chair and two second term members of the committee. The two committee members will be selected jointly by the ex-officio chair, past chair and the chair.
    • By June 1st the nominating committee must have researched, discussed and ranked the candidates.
    • By June 15th the nominating committee must have finalized the two candidates for the elections (i.e., received approval from the candidates themselves to run.)
  3. The nominating committee will present two candidates for election. A member or members of the nominating committee will present each candidate and their position statements. Presentations will be made at the first meeting of July.
  4. Each candidate would be available for Q&A at the first meeting of July.

Section 2. Officers' Terms

Officers shall serve the following: six month term as Co-Chair, twelve month term as Chair and a twelve month term as Past Chair.

Section 3. Resignation

  1. Upon the resignation of the Chair, the Co-Chair will assume the Chair’s duties for the balance of the term.
  2. Upon the resignation and/or vacancy of the Co-Chair, the Chair will temporarily delegate this office to a Committee member and take nominations from the floor in preparation for an election to be held during the next regular meeting. The normal election procedure outlined in Section 1 above will be followed, with elections to be completed within one month of the resignations.
  3. Upon concurrent resignation of the Chair and Co-Chair, the Membership Selection Board will meet in special session to appoint an Acting Chair.
  4. Upon the resignation of the Past Chair, the position will remain vacant until the next set of elections, when the Chair will move into the role of Past Chair.

OFFICER’S DUTIES

Section 1. Duties of the Chair

  1. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Staff Advisory Committee, in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, unless otherwise indicated.
  2. The Chair shall be a voting member of the committee.
  3. The Chair will be the spokesperson for the Committee in any official matters.
  4. The Chair will be the official link with any other University committees or will make an appointment to represent the Staff Advisory Committee on that committee or at the meeting.
  5. The Chair will provide leadership to the full Committee
  6. The Chair of the full Committee shall be an ex-officio member of all subcommittees.
  7. The Chair shall be responsible for the organization of periodic Presidential reports.

Section 2. Duties of the Co-Chair

  1. The Co-Chair will act in place of the Chair when the Chair is absent.
  2. The co-chair shall be a voting member of the committee.
  3. The Co-Chair will act as liaison among the subcommittees.
  4. The Co-Chair will assist the Chair with Committee reports.
  5. The Co-Chair will be responsible for any other tasks or duties as assigned.
  6. The Co-Chair will act as a coordinator for issues to be discussed and addressed by the Committee, by soliciting votes or ratings on various projects, and making reports to the full Committee.
  7. The Co-chair will automatically succeed the Chair in second year of term. (See Section 2 above)

Section 3. Duties of the Past-Chair

  1. The past chair shall be responsible to provide guidance and advice to the chair when requested or needed.
  3. The past chair shall be a voting member of the committee.

Recording Secretary's Duties

  1. The Recording Secretary will be a non-voting, ex-officio member of the Committee, appointed by the Chair. The Chair will be responsible to recruit a candidate for this position. Appointee will serve a one-year, renewable term.
  2. The Recording Secretary will be responsible for recording the minutes of all regular and special full committee meetings, circulating them to all members by email, and submitting them for approval at the next full committee meeting.
  3. The Recording Secretary will be responsible for any other tasks or duties assigned by the Chair, as outlined in the Recording Secretary job description.
  4. In the absence of the Recording Secretary, the Chair (or Co-Chair) will appoint a member to be responsible for taking minutes.

Article VI: MEETINGS

Section 1. Frequency

The full Committee will meet at least twice a month, generally on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, each meeting being two hours in length.

Section 2. Special Meetings

The Chair shall be authorized to call special meetings. The purpose of the meeting will be stated in the call. Except in the case of an emergency, five business days notice shall be given to all members.

Section 3. Attendance

In the event that a member is unable to attend any regular meeting, he/she shall notify the Chair or Co-Chair in advance of the meeting. Members may be removed from the committee in the event of three unexcused absences from Full Committee meetings. (See Article III, Section 6.)

Article VII: SUBCOMMITTEES

Section 1. Formation

Subcommittees shall be formed by a majority vote of the Committee. A motion may be brought forward at any meeting to form a subcommittee. The Membership Selection Board shall be a standing subcommittee.

Section 2. Disbandment

Subcommittees may be disbanded by a majority vote of the Committee. A member shall bring forth a motion for a subcommittee to disband.

Section 3. Membership

Subcommittees shall be composed of at least three (3) members of the committee.

Section 4. Officers

The basic officer of the subcommittee shall be the Chair. The Chair may appoint other officers at his/her discretion.

Section 5. Attendance

In the event a member is unable to attend any regular or special subcommittee meeting, they shall notify the Chair of that subcommittee.

Section 6. Role of Subcommittee Chair

  1. Submit reports to full committee on any and all progress.
  2. Monitor attendance/participation of members - report to Chair, if necessary.
  3. Plan and conduct subcommittee meetings.
  4. Provide a debriefing to incoming chair in order to assure continuity for the committee for the following year.

Article VIII. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall govern the Committee in all cases to which they are applicable, except in those cases where they would conflict with the Bylaws of the Committee.

Article IX: AMENDMENT OF THE BYLAWS

These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting of the Committee by a majority vote (more than 50% of all votes cast by the members present). Suggested amendments must be distributed to full Committee no later than three working days prior to the first meeting of the next month.

Addendum:
  1. Terms of membership for the class of 2000-2002 and the class of 2001-2003 have been extended for 6 months to the end of December due to a change of the month for the admission of new members. This extension of terms applies only to these two classes. See Article III, Section 2.
  2. The Chair from the class of 2000-2002, & 2001-2003, and the Co-Chair from the class of 2001-2003 will each serve a 15 month term and a 9 month term respectively, due to the change of month for the admission of new members. The Past-Chair for the year 2002-2003 will also serve a 15 month term. This extension of terms applies only to these two classes. See Article V, Section 2.
Revised: December 2002.