B. Bylaws of the Faculty Senate of Ohio University

1. Rules of Election

Each member of the Faculty Senate shall be elected for a three-year term beginning June 1 and ending August 31.

The election shall be held by secret ballot in the first week of May of each year. At least two weeks prior to the date of the election, the Senate Elections Committee shall circulate to all faculty a call for nominations of eligible faculty members for the Senate. The call shall request the faculty member (1) to list his/her own name if he/she wishes to have his/her name on the ballot, and is not disqualified by the rules of the election; (2) to list the name or names of any other eligible faculty members whom he/she wishes to place in nomination for election to the Senate, and who are not disqualified by the rules of election.

The Elections Committee will draw up a ballot listing all the names returned with the following exceptions: (1) members of the Senate whose terms do not expire; (2) members of the Senate whose terms expire but who have been elected and who have served for two consecutive three-year terms (such persons are ineligible for election until one year has elapsed); and (3) members of the faculty who will not be on the campus for two or more quarters of the next academic year. Provisions shall also be made on the ballot for write-in votes.

Every faculty member with faculty status is eligible to vote for members in his/her college or regional campus. The balloting shall be carried out according to the "Method of Proportional Representation''. In this method, each voter's ballot is used for the candidate of his/her choice unless this candidate has too few votes for his/her election to be possible, in which case his/ her ballot is transferred to his/her second choice candidate, and so forth. Almost every voter's ballot is used to elect some representative, and thus each minority faction will have its proper share of representatives.

The ballots will be tallied according to the following steps:

1. Distribute all ballots to candidates of first choice. (If a ballot does not indicate an unambiguous first choice, it is invalid and is discarded.)
2. Count the number of ballots distributed to each candidate.
3. Add these numbers to find the total ballots. Call this `B'.
4. Let n be the number of candidates to be elected, and let E be the number of ballots required to elect any candidate. Compute E as follows: If B/(n+1) is not a whole number, then E is the Next Largest Whole Number. Example: B = 100, n = 2, then B/(n+1) = 33 1/3, and E = 34. If B/(n+1) is a whole number, then E = [B/(n+1)] + 1. Example: B = 100, n = 3, then B/(n+1) = 25, and E = 26.
5. If one or more candidates have at least E ballots, then declare Elected the candidate with the largest number of ballots. Call his/her number of ballots N. (In case of a tie, choose one by lot). (If no candidate has as many as E ballots, go to Step 11.)
6. Count the elected candidate's Transferrable Ballots (those with a second choice indicated). Call this number `T'.
7. Compute the Value of each transferrable ballot. V = (N-E) /T to two decimals. Write this value at the top of each transferrable ballot. (Example: Smith has 25 ballots, of which 23 indicate a second choice; E is 20. Then V = (25-20) /23, or 0.22 to two decimals.)
8. Distribute all transferrable ballots to candidates of second choice.
9. Compute a new total (N) for each candidate by adding the values of his/her ballots. (The value of an untransferred ballot is one.)
10. If one or more of the remaining candidates have at least E ballots, repeat steps 5 through 9. In Step 7, the new value of any transferred ballot is computed by:

      New Value = Old Value times (N-E)/T.

    If none of the remaining candidates has E or more ballots, then go to Step 11.

11. Declare Defeated the candidate with the fewest votes. (If two candidates are tied for low, select one by lot.) Record all defeated candidates in the sequence of their defeat, for the purpose of compiling a list of alternates.
12. Distribute all ballots of the defeated candidates among the remaining candidates according to the highest choice indicated on the ballot. The value of a ballot does not change in this transfer. (If a ballot indicates no further preference among the remaining candidates, it is declared exhausted and plays no further part in the election.)
13. Count the new totals for all remaining candidates. Repeat Steps 5 through 12 until n candidates have been elected, or until the number of remaining candidates is just sufficient to fill the remaining positions, at which point they are declared elected.

The election shall be carried out by the Elections Committee of the Senate, consisting of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, and the Secretary of the Senate, plus the other two members serving on the Executive Committee of the Senate. The Chairperson of the Senate or a member of the Elections Committee designated by him/her, shall serve as Chairperson of the Elections Committee.

The Elections Committee shall be charged with preparing and distributing the ballots, counting the votes, and notifying the new members elected. The Elections Committee shall also prepare a list of alternates, in order of number of votes, from each of the colleges and regional campuses. The list shall be maintained by the Secretary, who shall notify the Senate of any vacancy that exists in the membership of the Senate and who shall aid the Chairperson in appointing the highest-ranked alternate to the vacancy.

Vacancies may occur due to the death, resignation, or extended absence of a member; extended absence shall be considered to mean more than two absences from meetings without excuse during an academic year (September through May). An alternate, or interim member, shall serve until the original term is completed unless the absent member has signified a date at which he/she will be able to resume his/her duties.

In addition to the procedures governing vacancies as described in the preceding paragraph and Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, an absent Senator may be temporarily replaced for a given meeting by one of the alternates from his/her college or regional campus from the list maintained by the Secretary. The alternate shall, during the meeting at which he/she serves, have all the privileges of membership, including voting. Temporary replacement shall be accomplished in the following manner: a senator who must be absent shall notify the Chairperson or Secretary in advance of the meeting. The Chairperson or Secretary will then notify, if time permits, the first alternate. If the first alternate cannot serve, the second alternate will be notified, and so on. An alternate must report his/her presence to the Secretary at the beginning of the meeting. The interim member shall be eligible for election (or re-election) as soon as his/her interim term expires, but he/she may not serve more than two elected three-year terms in succession.

2. The Election of Faculty Senate Officers

The Faculty Senate shall have three elected officers:

• a Chairperson,
• a Vice-Chairperson
• a Secretary

The Officers shall be elected in the order given above at the May meeting of the Senate or, alternatively, at a special meeting held prior to the June Commencement.

Members of the Senate who have served at least one year shall be eligible for election to office. Members-elect whose terms will begin on June 1 shall participate in the election of officers. Members who will retire from the Senate effective August 31 shall not participate in the election of officers.

A nominating committee will be formed from senators who will retire from the Senate effective August 31. All retiring senators finishing two consecutive terms will be first asked to serve on the committee. Should fewer than three of these retiring senators be willing to serve, the nominating committee will be supplemented from the ranks of other retiring senators. Composition of this nominating committee will be announced at the March Senate meeting. The nominating committee will present at least one slate of officer candidates to the Senate at the April meeting. At the May meeting, additional nominations will be entertained from the floor to supplement those of the nominating committee. The election shall be carried out by secret ballot. Election to office requires a majority of the votes cast. If no nominee has a majority of votes for a particular office, a new ballot shall be taken until a majority is achieved. The new officers shall assume office upon election.

3. Salaries and Stipends of the Officers of the Faculty Senate

The Chair of the Faculty Senate will receive an annualized salary equal to four-thirds of his or her academic year base salary. The Office of the Provost will fund three- quarters of the annualized salary and the Chair's home department will fund the remaining quarter.

The Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate will receive a yearly stipend from the Office of the Provost. This stipend will be increased each year by a percentage equal to the average percentage raise received by the faculty of Ohio University.

The Secretary of the Faculty Senate will receive a yearly stipend from the Office of the Provost. This stipend will be the same amount as that received by the Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate.

4. Meetings

a. Notice.   Notice of meetings may be given by campus or U.S. mail or by telephone. Mailed notices of meeting must be given so as to be received at least twenty-four hours prior to the meeting. If the member cannot be reached personally, leaving a telephone message announcing the meeting with a responsible person at the member's house or office, at least four hours prior to the meeting, will constitute sufficient notice.

b. Notice for Special Meetings.  All business to be taken up at special meetings must be announced with reasonable particularity in the notice of the special meeting.

c. Closed Meetings.  In unusual circumstances, the Senate may wish to close its meeting to various persons or groups of persons for a variety of reasons. Closing may be accomplished in two ways:

i. the Chairperson and/or the Executive Committee of the Senate may announce in the notice of a meeting that the meeting or particular portion of the meeting will be closed. The Chairperson will ask the members of the Senate, when the meeting convenes, if there is objection to closing the meeting or particular portions of the meeting. If a member so requests, a roll call vote will be taken on this question. A simple majority of those voting will close the meeting, except that if the meeting is to be closed to faculty, a two-thirds majority of those voting will be required.

ii. a motion from the floor may close a meeting or a portion of a meeting. Again, a roll call vote on the motion will be taken and a simple majority of those voting will close the meeting or portions of the meeting to whomever is named in the motion, except that if the meeting or portions of the meeting are to be closed to faculty, a two-thirds majority of those voting will be required.

Any motion or recommendation to close a meeting must specify

i. the person or persons to whom it is to be closed,

ii. the reasons for the closure, and

iii. the business to be transacted during the closed period. Once the conditions in the motion or recommendation have been fulfilled, the meeting will be re-opened in accordance with the Senate Constitution, Article 2.

d. The Faculty Senate shall hold at least one regular meeting each month during the calendar year except for the months of July, August, and December.This meeting shall be on the third Monday of each month (unless members are notified of an exception) at an announced time and place. During the summer months (June, July, and August) the Senate membership shall comprise all Senators elected in May of that calendar year, those whose terms continue into the same or subsequent academic years, and those whose terms end on August 31. If necessary, the Executive Committee may ask alternates from the list maintained by the Secretary to fill vacancies in the Summer Senate. These alternates shall be chosen from among those most recently elected. A quorum of the Summer Senate shall be a majority of the number of Senators who serve during the regular academic year.

e. If the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, and the Secretary are all absent from the campus during the summer, the Chairperson shall appoint a chairperson pro tempore from the Senate's Executive Committee (or from the other members of the Senate if necessary.)

f. The resolution process is the method most often used by the Senate in carrying out the functions specified in Article 3 of the Senate’s Constitution.  The Senate’s standing committees in formulating resolutions will engage in broad-based discussion, seeking input from Senators, constituents, and other interested parties.  No final action on a main motion or resolution introduced at a regular or special meeting may be taken at that same meeting. This rule may be suspended by a two-thirds majority of those voting at any regular or special meeting.

Senate resolutions fall into three categories:

·        Resolutions of Position:  Such resolutions reflect the Senate’s position, or the “Sense of the Senate,” regarding a specific issue and do not require the signature of the Provost to be effective.  The Provost may sign the resolution as reflection of support for the Senate’s position.

·         Resolutions of Handbook Policy:  Such resolutions result in changes in Handbook provisions and require the signature of the Provost, as the President’s designee, to be effective.  The Provost shall respond to these resolutions within 60 days of a resolution’s passage in one of three ways:  by signing the resolution; by stating in writing that the resolution will not be signed and explaining why it will not be signed; or by stating in writing the need for an extension of time to consider the resolution, after which a new date will be mutually agreed to in writing by the Provost and the Senate Chair.  Should the Provost fail to respond at all within 60 days of the resolution’s passage, the resolution will be considered signed and will go into effect. 

·        Resolutions of Non-Handbook Policy:  Such resolutions result in policies not involving provisions in the Handbook, such as matters covered in the policy and procedure manual, or matters of curriculum or other academic concerns.  Such resolutions require signature of the Provost, as the President’s designee, to be effective.  The Provost shall respond to these resolutions within 60 days of a resolution’s passage in one of three ways:  by signing the resolution; by stating in writing that the resolution will not be signed and explaining why it will not be signed; or by stating in writing the need for an extension of time to consider the resolution, after which a new date will be mutually agreed to in writing by the Provost and the Senate Chair.  Should the Provost fail to respond at all within 60 days of the resolution’s passage, the resolution will be considered signed and will go into effect. 

5. Standing Committees

The Faculty Senate shall have the following standing committees:

1. Executive,
2. Educational Policy and Student Affairs,
3. Finance and Facilities
4. Professional Relations
5. Promotion and Tenure.

All members of these committees shall also be members of the Faculty Senate, but subcommittees appointed by these standing committees should include members of the faculty who are not members of the Faculty Senate. The Executive Committee shall include among its members the Chairperson of the Faculty Senate, who shall serve as chairperson of the committee, and it shall also include the Vice-Chairperson and Secretary of the Senate, and two other senators appointed by the Chairperson. The Chairperson shall, in consultation with the members of the Executive Committee, appoint members and chairpersons of the other standing committees. The Group II Senators may serve on any standing committee of the Faculty Senate with the exception of the Promotion and Tenure Committee. It is considered desirable that each member of the Faculty Senate serve on one of the standing committees.

6. Faculty Initiation of Proposals

Any ten (10) faculty eligible to vote in Senate elections may present any matter they wish to the Senate at a regular meeting. The matter will be discussed and scheduled for vote at the next regular Senate meeting or, if the Senate wishes, at a Special Meeting called for the purpose of considering the petition or other matters.

Ten percent of the faculty eligible to vote in Senate elections may present any matter to the Senate at a regularly scheduled meeting, and the Senate will debate and vote on the matter at that meeting, if the petitioners wish and if they state their wish in the petition itself. If the Senate acts contrary to the petition or modifies it in some substantial way unacceptable to the petitioners, the petition will be considered to have met the requirements of a petition in the referendum procedure (Section VI.B.6), and a referendum of all faculty members eligible to vote in Senate elections will be instituted in keeping with the requirements of the procedure for a referendum.

7. Faculty Initiated Referendum

A petition signed by ten percent of the faculty calling for a referendum on any matter, submitted to the Chairperson of the Senate, will cause the Chairperson to convene the Elections Committee, to prepare a ballot, and submit it to faculty eligible to vote in Senate elections. This will be done and the Chairperson will announce the results within thirty days of receipt of the petition.

8. Recall of Faculty Senate Members

A Petition to Recall a Member of the Faculty Senate:

(THE NAME OF THE COLLEGE OR REGIONAL CAMPUS)

request that the Elections Committee of the Faculty Senate hold a special election to determine whether the seat in the Senate held by

(FULL NAME OF THE SENATOR)

from:

(COLLEGE OR REGIONAL CAMPUS)

shall be vacated and filled by the appropriate alternate from the list maintained by the Secretary of the Senate. We further request that this election be held within thirty days after the Chairperson of the Senate receives this petition.

In order to remove a Senator from office, the requisite number of faculty members from his/her college or regional campus must sign a petition of the form specified above. The requisite number of faculty members signing shall be at least twenty-five (25) percent of those eligible to vote in Senate elections in his/her college or regional campus but no less than twenty (20).

After receiving the petition the Chairperson of the Senate shall convene the Elections Committee, and the Elections Committee will prepare a ballot which will be distributed to all faculty eligible to vote in Senate elections from the college or regional campus from which the petition comes. The ballot will refer faculty to the appropriate Senate by-laws, a date by which the ballot is to be returned, which will in no case be later than thirty days from the date the petition is presented to the Chairperson of the Senate, and shall be in the following form:

Shall ______________________________________
      (Full Name Of Senator)

be retained in the Faculty Senate?
YES (  )   NO (  )

A majority of 'YES' votes will retain

____________________________________________
   (Senator's Name)

in the Senate.

A majority of 'NO' votes will result in

___________________________________
(Senator's Name)

being replaced by

___________________________________________
   (Name of the Appropriate Alternate)

in the Faculty Senate.

9. Removal of Senate Officers or Committee Chairpersons

Any officer, committee chairperson, or other functionary of the Senate may be removed by a petition calling for his/her removal signed by two-thirds of all the members of the Senate. Such a petition shall remove the person named from his/her office immediately (provided it is received by the Chairperson of the Senate at least one week prior to the next meeting of the Senate). If the petition is received less than one week before a meeting, the removal will not occur until the following meeting.

The office vacated will then be filled by usual procedures at the first meeting occurring after the office has been vacated.

10. Parliamentary Authority

The parliamentary authority for conducting Senate meetings will be the Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure. The Chairperson of the Senate will appoint a parliamentarian who will serve for each academic year.

11. Amendments of the Bylaws

The bylaws may be amended by majority vote of the Senate.

The Ohio Faculty Council (OFC) is composed of two faculty representatives from each of the four-year public institutions of higher learning in the State of Ohio.  One representative shall be the Chair of the Faculty Senate or comparable elected faculty leader.  The other shall be a person whom the Faculty Senate or comparable body elects to be a representative to the OFC.  Each representative shall normally serve a two-year term, although terms may be staggered within each institution's two-member delegation in order to maintain continuity.

The Ohio Faculty Council represents faculty members at all four-year public institutions of higher learning in the State of Ohio. It addresses concerns common to faculty members of those institutions and issues that are crucial to the future of higher education in Ohio, and maintains a permanent liaison with the comparable organization representing the two-year public institutions of higher education.

The Ohio Faculty Council presents a faculty perspective on major issues affecting higher education to the Chancellor, the Ohio Board of Regents, officials of the State of Ohio, the administrations of four-year public institutions of higher learning, and the general public.  These activities incorporate, but are not limited to, the functions of the former Faculty Advisory Committee to the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents(FACOBOR).

The election of the OFC representative will be held at the regular May meeting of the Senate.  Nominations will be made by an  ad hoc nominating committee, and from the floor. Election will be by simple majority of those voting. Newly elected members are eligible to vote; members whose terms are expiring are not.

The terms of office will be for two years, starting with the time of election. Either an outgoing Faculty Senate Chair and/or the retiring representative will serve as alternates for one year in order to maintain continuity.

The representative and alternate need not be members of the Faculty Senate.

The duties of the representatives shall be:

• To attend the meetings of the Ohio Faculty Council.
• To report to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate after each OFC meeting, and to the full Senate when appropriate.
• To consult with the Senate, with faculty, and with administrators in the formulation of policies to be proposed at meetings of the OFC.