Presidential Advisory
Committee of
Proposal
24-05
(Voting unit: Entire PAC]
Amendment to the
By-Laws: Redefinition of a Quorum and
Senate Membership
Background: Article I, paragraph A1 of the University Senate By-Laws defines a quorum
as two-thirds of the full Senate membership.
Periodically, there have not been sufficient Senators in attendance to meet this
quorum. In part, the lack of a quorum
occurs because several representation units have not identified their Senators
and Alternates while other units’ Senators or Alternates do not regularly
attend University Senate meetings.
Proposal: To make it more likely that there will be quorums at University Senate
meetings, the Presidential Advisory Committee proposes the following change to
the By-Laws (strike-throughs indicate deletions and bold print indicates
additions).
I . OPERATIONAL BYLAWS
1. Two-thirds of the
full all eligible Senators shall constitute a quorum and shall be
required for the transaction of business in all cases to transact Senate business requiring action of all
Senators. Two-thirds of all eligible
faculty Senators shall constitute a quorum to transact Senate business
requiring action of faculty Senators only.
Two-thirds of all eligible professional staff Senators shall constitute
a quorum to transact Senate business requiring action of professional staff
Senators only.
2. A quorum of
eligible senators shall be required on any limited vote in the Senate. On a
limited vote of the Senate a quorum of eligible senators shall mean two-thirds
of them.
2. Eligible Senators consist of current Senators
and Alternates of eligible representation units and Senators At-Large.
3.
A representation unit will be eligible for Senate membership if it
selects a Senator by the end of September of the academic year. The Senate President will notify
representation units in early September of the academic year if they have not
selected their Senators. If a
representation unit does not select a Senator by the end of September, the unit
will lose its eligibility for Senate membership for the remainder of that
academic year.
4.
A representation unit will be eligible for Senate membership if its Senator
or Alternate regularly attends Senate meetings.
The Senate President will notify
the representation unit if its Senator or Alternate is absent from two consecutive
meetings. The unit will lose its eligibility
for Senate membership for the remainder of the academic year if its Senator or
Alternate is absent from four consecutive meetings.