Constitution of the Grossmont Academic Senate
ARTICLE
I. Name
The name of this body shall be the Grossmont College Academic
Senate.
Article II. Goals and purposes
The goals and purposes for which this organization is formed are:
1.
To
represent the faculty in the formation of policy in academic and
professional matters.
2.
To
make recommendations to the college administration and to the
Governing Board.
3.
To
facilitate communication among the faculty, the college
administration, the classified staff, the students, and the
Governing Board.
4.
To
promote the development and maintenance of teaching excellence
within the framework of academic freedom and professional
responsibility and ethics.
Article III. Scope and Representation
The Academic Senate represents all non-management certificated
personnel employed at Grossmont College.
Article IV. Membership and Organization
1.
The
Senate shall consist of:
1. A Senate Officers Committee consisting of the President, Vice
President,
three Officers-at-large, and a
part-time faculty officer. All officers
shall be elected at large to two-year terms. Officers shall begin
their terms on the last day of the spring semester and may succeed
themselves for as many terms as elected.
2. Designated Senators as described in Section 3 of the By-Laws.
3. Two at large part-time instructors, elected at large by part-time
instructors to terms of two years, with each representative elected
in an alternate year.
2.
Units represented by Senators are departments or combinations of
disciplines for purposes of Senate representation. These units shall
be referred to as departments throughout this Constitution. The
current alignments of unit representation will be listed as Appendix
A to this Constitution. Adjustments to Appendix A will be made by
the third Senate meeting of each Fall semester based on each
department's current FTEF.
Article V. Meetings
1.
There shall be at least one regular meeting each month of the fall
and spring semesters.
2.
Special meetings shall be called by the Senate President, by a
majority of the Senate Officers, by a petition signed by twenty
percent of the Senate members, or by a petition signed by twenty
percent of the faculty.
3.
All
meetings will be open to the general faculty and are subject to the
Rules of the Brown Act.
Article VI. Amendments
This constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the faculty,
as previously defined (Article III.), provided that the faculty has
been notified in writing of the text of the amendment at least one
week prior to the vote, and providing that the amendment has
previously been approved by two-thirds of the Academic Senate, or
that twenty percent of the total faculty had signed a petition
supporting the proposed amendment.
Article VII. Ratification
This Constitution when ratified by a majority of all members present
and voting, assuming a quorum of the Grossmont College Academic
Senate, shall supersede the previous Constitution and become binding
on all present and future members of the Senate as soon as the
officers and members of the Senate have been elected.
Last amended
December 2006.
BY-LAWS
Section 1. Duties of the officers
- The President. It shall be the duty of the President:
- to preside at all meetings of the Senate.
- to insure that regular meetings of the Senate are held, and that
the membership and faculty are adequately informed as to the time
and place of each meeting.
- to call special meetings when necessary or when required by other
provisions of this Constitution, and to insure that the membership
and faculty are adequately informed as to the time and place of each
meeting.
- to appoint special committees when necessary or when so directed
by the membership.
- to serve or to appoint a designee to serve as an ex-officio
member of all committees for which Senate representation is
required.
- to be responsible for all correspondence to and from the Senate.
- to serve as the official representative of the Senate when so
authorized.
- to arrange for representation of the Senate at scheduled meetings
of such professional organizations as directed by the membership.
- to prepare and distribute at the appropriate time, meeting agenda
and proposed amendments.
- to supervise clerical staff assigned to the Senate, who will
assist the President as follows:
- keeping complete records of the proceedings of the Senate
meetings,
- distributing minutes of these to each faculty member who
requests them,
- bringing to each meeting a complete record of the proceedings
of the current year, a copy of the Constitution, and the latest copy
of Robert’s Rules of Order.
- to appoint a Parliamentarian,
- to perform such additional duties not in conflict with any
provisions of this Constitution as the membership shall direct,
- to maintain and operate an Academic Senate office, including all
records, files, data bases, and appropriate physical assets.
- The Vice-President. It shall be the duty of the Vice-President:
- to assist the President and assume the duties in the absence of
the President,
- to perform such additional duties not in conflict with any
provisions of this Constitution as the membership shall direct.
- The President Elect/Immediate Past President. It shall be the
duty of the President Elect/Immediate Past President:
- to attend budget, planning and other committees as agreed upon in
discussion with the Academic Senate President,
- to recommend appointments to any committee formed by the Senate
and to assist in staffing institutional committees as directed by
the Senate,
- to serve as liaison between the Senate committees and the Senate,
- to provide communication with the faculty concerning work of the
committees.
- The Senate Officers Committee, consisting of the four officers
and the President elect or Immediate Past President, will be
responsible for:
- preparing and distributing the agenda;
- acting on behalf of the Senate in emergencies when the Senate
cannot be convened;
- monitoring the budget of the Senate
- maintaining an accurate list of Senate members.
Section 2. Election of Officers
- Officers shall be elected by secret ballot vote of the faculty,
as defined in Article III, on the last day of the spring semester.
- Officers will be elected by a simple majority of the votes cast.
If for any office no one receives a majority, a run-off election
between the two candidates receiving the most votes will be held the
following week.
- Nominations for Senate officers shall be made from a list
prepared by the Nominations and Elections Committee. Any member of
the faculty is eligible for nomination before the election.
- At the Senate meeting when the Nominations/Elections Committee
presents its list of recommended candidates, nominations for
officers may be received from the members of the Senate and the
faculty at large. This meeting of the Senate is to be held at a
reasonable time before the election.
- The Nominations/Elections Committee shall make all other
necessary rules for carrying out the election of officers.
Section 3. Designation of Senators other than officers
- Senate representatives shall consist of:
- The chair or coordinator of each department.
- In addition to the chair/coordinator, each department with more
than four but less than ten Full Time Equivalent Faculty (FTEF) may
be represented by one senator selected by the department faculty.
- For each additional ten FTEF, or fraction thereof, a department
may select one additional senator.
- It shall be the responsibility of the faculty within each
department to ensure the timely designation of their representative
and to determine the method of selection.
- Selection of part-time representatives shall follow the same
procedures as those specified for election of officers in Section 2
of the Bylaws, except that they shall be nominated by and elected by
a vote of the part-time faculty only.
Section 4. Vacancies
- President. In case of the continued disability or resignation of
the President, the Vice-President shall fill the unexpired term of
the President until a special election can be held.
- Other Officers. In case of the resignation or disability of any
elected officer other than the President, the Senate shall designate
one of its members to fill the remainder of the unexpired term by a
simple majority vote.
- Department representatives. In case of the resignation or
disability or continual non-attendance of any Senate member other
than an officer, the department, which the Senator represents will
conduct a special election to fill the vacancy, in accordance with
the provisions of By-Laws Section 3, part 2.
Section 5. Quorum
A simple majority of Senators including Senator designees recognized
by the Chair at the openings of meetings shall constitute a quorum.
Senator positions not filled by departments will not be included in
quorum determination.
Section 6. Assessments
- Dues. There shall be no Academic Senate dues.
- Special Assessments. The Senate may solicit contributions from
the faculty when it deems such action advisable.
Section 7. Parliamentary Procedure
All meetings of the senate shall be conducted according to
parliamentary law as set forth in the latest edition of Robert’s
Rules of Order.
Section 8. Recall and Referendum
- If a referendum petition protesting an action by the Academic
Senate, signed by ten percent of the faculty, is presented to the
Senate President, the President shall suspend such action until a
referendum election is held. Prior to such election, the faculty
shall be notified in writing of a special meeting to discuss
alternate views on the issue. The election, by secret ballot,
administered by the Nominations/Elections Committee, shall then be
held, in no case more than thirty days following submission of the
petition. A simple majority shall determine the outcome.
- If a recall petition asking for the recall of any officer, signed
by ten percent of the general faculty, is presented to the
Nominations/Elections Committee, this committee shall notify, in
writing, all faculty of a special meeting to present alternate views
on the matter. The election, by secret ballot, administered by the
Nominations/Elections Committee, shall then be held, in no case more
than thirty days following submission of the petition. A simple
majority shall determine the outcome. Any position vacated by recall
shall be filled by a special election, by secret ballot, with
nominations and election supervised by the Nominations/Elections
Committee. This election shall be held within two weeks of the
successful recall.
Section 9. Committees
The Senate shall have the following standing committees:
- The Curriculum Committee
- The General Education Committee
- Program Review Committee
- Professional Development Committee
- Instructional Computing Committee
- The Nominations and Elections Committee, consisting of at least
three Senators, shall direct the nomination and election of Senate
officers, and supervise special elections as needed. Further, this
committee shall accept recall petitions and process them in
accordance with the provisions of this Constitution (By-Laws,
Section 8, Part 2).
- The Professional Relations Committee, consisting of a chairperson
selected by the Academic Senate, and at least five additional
persons selected by the Senate Officers Committee to be assigned as
needed, shall serve to mediate personal difficulties of a
professional nature not covered by contract grievance procedures.
Section 10. BY-LAWS
By-Laws to this Constitution may be adopted or amended by a simple
majority of the senators present and voting (quorum is defined in
Section 5), provided that the proposal has been introduced at a
previous meeting, and provided that the general faculty has been
notified in writing of the text of the amendment at least a week
prior to the Senate meeting at which the vote on the amendment will
be taken.
Adopted 5/80. Revised, 10/89, 9/96, 9/01, 12/06 |
