1.2 | All-University Governance Standing Committees

There are 4 standing governance committees. All governance Task Force groups serve under the purview of one of these 3 standing committees: Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Administrative Affairs. All governance committees report to the University Executive, chaired by the Rector.

1.2.1 | Authority and Responsibilities

Standing committees are not executive, legislative, or judicial bodies, except in certain specifically stated cases. They are investigative, deliberative, and advisory bodies that report their findings or make their recommendations to the appropriate officers of the University after consultation with the University community.

Recommendations of standing committees shall become effective when approved by the University Executive and/or the University Council.

1.2.2 | Governance Structure

The governance structure at the University organizes the decision-making process between several standing committees and task forces. The task forces (ad hoc committees) report out to one of the following standing committees:

1.  Academic Affairs
2. Student Affairs
3. Administrative Affairs

The University Executive is responsible for final review and recommendations, which are then carried forward to the University Council, as appropriate.

The standing committees, as listed above, develop, and formulate the plans, policies, and procedures for their respective areas of the University and forward, by way of meeting minutes, their recommendations to the University Executive for final disposition.

Task forces report to, and are assigned specific tasks by, their respective standing committee. All members of the campus community are encouraged to bring issues forward to the appropriate task force for discussion and recommendation to the appropriate standing committee.

1.2.3 | Membership

Faculty, staff, administrators, and students selected to serve on standing committees should be of the highest caliber and be willing to prepare carefully for and participate thoughtfully in committee deliberations. Specific qualifications of members for each committee will vary in accordance with the duties of the committee.

Each constituent group is responsible for appointing committee members by the end of each academic year to ensure a smooth transition of representation from one academic year to the next.

Students have an important role as stakeholders and are represented by the Student Association. The Student Association makes all student appointments.

The University Faculty Senate is responsible for making all faculty appointments to governance committees.

Staff Council makes all staff appointments.

All administrative appointments are made by the President.

1.2.4 | Term

The terms of membership:

1. Student representatives may serve up to one year.
2. Faculty representatives may serve up to two years.
3. Staff representatives may serve up to two years.
4. Administrative representatives may serve up to four years. Administrative representatives may have their appointments extended based on their structural position. Those without terms are considered “ex officio.”

It is in the interest of the governance process to ensure the widest possible participation. Although the importance of expertise is recognized, rotation is encouraged. After a term is completed, the member may be replaced or reappointed.

Each constituent group is responsible for appointing committee members by the end of each academic year to ensure a smooth transition of representation from one academic year to the next.

1.2.5 | Participation and Attendance

If a committee member is absent fifty percent of the time over an academic year OR absent for two consecutive meetings without a proxy during the academic year then, at the chair’s recommendation, the member may be replaced by the appropriate nominating body. It is the chair’s responsibility to track attendance and record them in the minutes. All representatives are encouraged to appoint a proxy if they are unable to attend meetings. Due to their changing schedules, students may have difficulty attending meetings. Therefore, committees that include student representation should have primary and alternate student appointments to ensure that student representatives are present at governance committee meetings.

1.2.6 | Proxy

Attendance at all committee meetings is mandatory. When a member of a campus governance committee will be absent, the member should make every effort to assign a proxy who will attend the meeting on the absent member’s behalf. The proxy should be from the same constituency group as the absent member. The proxy is entitled to full voting rights while serving as a proxy.

1.2.7 | Resource Members (Invited Guests)

Persons may be added to committees and task forces to serve as a resource of information; however, a resource member will not have voting rights. A resource can be any person a committee feels has expertise to offer with respect to the committee’s business.

1.2.8 | Procedures

The work of governance is communicated and facilitated through consistent committee procedures. Committees should adhere to the following format and timeline for the dissemination of information from their respective committees.

1. 1. A “Call for Agenda Items” is circulated by the committee chair to each committee member at least five days prior to the date of the meeting.
   2. The agenda and related background materials are distributed to committee members at least three days prior to the scheduled meeting.
   3. Meeting minutes should include the following information:
      • Minutes adopted or not adopted;
      • Meeting date, time and location;
      • Members present, absent, proxies and guests;
      • Verification of a quorum;
      • Results of votes taken (i.e. MSC= moved, seconded carried or MSF=moved, seconded, failed or MST=moved, seconded, tabled);Meeting minutes should include the following information:
      • Motions—name(s) of presenters and second;
      • Time of adjournment;
      • Next meeting date; and
      • Name of the meeting recorder and position.
   4. A quorum is the simple majority of voting members of the committee which is 50% +1 of the total voting membership. Note: a vacant voting member seat is not counted when determining a quorum.
   5. With regard to questions of order, committees follow Robert’s Rules of Order.
   6. Special meetings may be called to address issues of an urgent nature arising between regularly scheduled meetings with the approval of 2/3 of the membership.
   7. Monthly reporting of motions and minutes will follow a schedule for reporting motions and minutes provided by the Office of the President. Committee chairs are obligated to follow the reporting schedule.  The schedule will ensure that all governance committee actions are included for review and action by the University Executive.
   8. General campus awareness of governance committees’ activities will be achieved through the posting of minutes on the Governance web page. Questions on minutes from governance committees may be addressed by contacting the committee chair.