Senate FAQs
The following FAQs do not replace, supersede, or represent an addendum to the Constitution. Information on this website represents common practice as of the last FAQ update. (22 April 2010)
Please report any conflicts between the FAQs and the Constitution to the webmaster so that they can be referred to the Senate for correction.
Quick links
General Senate FAQs
Election FAQs
Proposal FAQs
General Senate FAQs
What is the purpose of the Senate?
According to our Constitution, the Faculty Senate serves “as the
representative body elected by the Faculty to provide a Faculty
voice in the formulation of College policy.” (Article I)
“The Senate may consider any College matter on its own initiative or
at the request of the Faculty Assembly, the Committees, individual
Faculty members, students, the College administration, the Board of
Trustees, or any campus organization. It may review any College
policies and make recommendations concerning them.” (Article III)
The Senate, therefore, is composed of members of the larger Faculty
Assembly and represents the interests of that Assembly.
What is the Faculty Assembly?
The Faculty Assembly refers to all members of the Faculty acting as
a corporate body. As stated in the Constitution (Article II),
membership in the Faculty Assembly is limited to individuals who
hold the academic rank of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant
Professor, or Instructor, AND who serve under at least a half-time
contract, AND whose primary appointment is teaching or serving as
faculty-librarians.
How many Senators are there? What are the different types of
Senators?
There is one Senator for every ten faculty members. Senators
include one senator elected from each School and additional At Large
Senators who may come from any school.
What is the composition of the Senate?
The Senate is composed of School Senators (one per school) and At
Large Senators. The number of senators is tied to the number
of Faculty Assembly members such that there is one senator per ten
faculty members. Additional elected members include the
President, Vice President, and Secretary. The President of the
Union serves on the Senate in an ex-officio capacity. The
President of the Senate appoints an adjunct faculty member to serve
as a non-voting Adjunct Liaison to the Senate.
How do I find out who my Senator is? Who are the members of
the Senate or Executive Committee?
Go to the Senate Members page.
How do I find Committee Chairs? Who are the members of each
Committee? What are the names of the committees and task
forces?
Go to the Committees page.
How do I e-mail the entire Senate?
Use the
link on the bottom left of any Senate
web page.
When does the Senate meet?
The Senate is required to have regular, publicized meetings (Article
IV of the Constitution). Currently, the Senate meets the first
Tuesday of the month while classes are in session. Meetings
are open to all except for when the Senate votes to go into
“Executive Session”. Non-senators, even those who are members
of the Faculty Assembly, may not vote in Senate meetings.
When does the Assembly meet?
The Assembly must meet at least three times a year (see Article IV
for more information). Additional Assembly meetings may be
called by the Senate or via a petition signed by at least 20% of the
Faculty. A quorum of the Assembly is defined
constitutionally as 20% of the membership. Observers
(individuals who are not members of the Assembly) may not vote in
Assembly Meetings. Meetings are open to all unless the
Assembly votes to close a session.
What is an “Executive Session” or “closed session” of a Senate or
Assembly meeting?
Occasionally, the Senate or Assembly may wish to consider an issue
without observers. An Executive Session is when the Senate or
Assembly votes to meet alone. This state is the same as
“closing a session”. When this happens, observers must leave
the meeting.
How can a Senate action be overturned?
Members of the Faculty Assembly wishing to overturn a Senate action
must present a petition to the Senate President calling for an
Assembly vote to reverse the action. This petition must be
signed by AT LEAST one-third of the Assembly Members and must be
presented no later than two academic weeks (two weeks of scheduled
classes not including the last “extended schedule” week) after the
Senate action was reported to the Assembly. The vote must be
held no later than two Academic Weeks after the President receives
the petition. Two-thirds of the Assembly must vote for an
action to be reversed for that action to be reversed.
How do I propose changes to the Constitution?
Proposing changes to the Constitution are different than regular
proposals to the Senate. The amendment process can be found in
Article XI of the Constitution. The following is a quick
summary and should not replace reading of the actual constitution.
Amendments to the Constitution may be brought to the Senate by the
Executive Committee, by a petition signed by at least one-third of
the Senators, or by a petition signed by at least one-third of the
faculty. Ratification by the Senate requires an affirmative
vote of two-thirds of senators. The amendment then passes to
the Faculty Assembly for an electronic vote. Affirmative votes
by two-thirds of the Faculty Assembly are necessary to ratify an
amendment. In each case, the amendment will be
distributed one week before the voting process begins. The Senate
reserves the right to place multiple proposed amendments, each to be
voted upon separately, on a single ballot.
Election FAQs
What is the Nominating Committee and who is on it?
The Nominating Committee shall affirmatively seek out capable
Faculty members and encourage them to run in Faculty Assembly and
Senate elections. It shall also strive to promote diversity and
balance in Faculty governance by seeking candidates of different
ranks, Schools, disciplines, genders, races, and ethnicities.
The President, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall
appoint five Faculty members to serve on the Nominating Committee of
the Senate, and shall appoint one of those five as the committee’s
chair. The chair and other members of the Nominating Committee shall
serve two-year terms. The President shall serve ex officio on the
Nominating Committee as a sixth member.
What is a slate?
The Nominating Committee shall is charged with selecting candidates
for the At Large positions and candidates for any Assembly-wide
elections, such as Assembly Committee chairs. (School Senator
elections are held within each School and are not Assembly-wide
elections.) The Nominating Committee must “submit to the
Faculty Assembly one nominee for each vacancy no later than two
Academic Weeks prior to the election date. Additional
candidates may self-nominate.” (Article IX) The “slate” refers
to the “one nominee for each vacancy” referenced in the
Constitution. In other words, the Nominating Committee
must make sure that we have enough candidates to fill the positions.
However, there can be multiple candidates running for a given
position. Additional nominations are encouraged even after the
slate has been published up until the official close of nominations
so that Assembly members have a true choice amongst candidates.
When do nominations close?
Nominations close no later than three working days before the
election. The final list of candidates must be circulated no
later than twenty-four hours after nominations close.
How often are elections held for each position?
School Senators are elected in April of odd-numbered calendar years
(April 2011, April 2013, etc.) and at-large Senators in April of
even-numbered calendar years (April 2010, April 2012, etc.).
Senators serve for a term of two years beginning on the first day of
the Fall semester following their election. Elections of each
Schools’ representatives to standing committees are held in
odd-numbered calendar years as soon as practicable after the results
of elections of Officers and School Senators are announced, with one
exception: In the case of the Committee on Research and
Professional Development, one representative from the Library is
elected each even-numbered calendar year, and one representative
from each of the other Schools are elected each year. All
representatives to standing committees elected serve two-year terms
to begin on the first day of the Fall semester following their
election. More information can be found in Articles V and VII
of the Constitution.
Where can I find out more information?
Further information about the election process can be found in
Article IX of the Constitution. Questions may also be
addressed to the Senate Parliamentarian.
Where can I propose changes to the election process?
Changes to the election process involve amending the Constitution.
Please see above within General Senate FAQs.
What happens when a Senator resigns or something else happens to
remove a Senator from his or her position?
In addition to resignations, vacancies can occur when a Senator
becomes ineligible for Senate membership (e.g., loses faculty
status) or is removed by Senate action. If a School Senator
changes to a different school, they can no longer represent their
former school and the seat becomes vacant. The School would
then elect a replacement to finish out the term. At Large
vacancies are filled by the candidate who received the next highest
number of votes in the most recent at-large election. If that
person is unable or unwilling to serve, the seat shall remain vacant
until the next election of Senators at large. (Article V of the
Constitution)
Proposal FAQs
I have an idea that I think should go to the Senate. What
should I do first?
Groups or individuals are encouraged to contact the Vice President
of the Senate prior to creating a proposal. The VP can run
your idea informally past the Senate. Both the Senate and VP
can provide time-saving feedback and advice. For example, we
will let you know if others are working on similar proposals that
you may wish to contact. And, of course, we appreciate having
a heads up on any issues that we will eventually be asked to
consider. We also suggest that you discuss your proposal with
your school senator.
I would like to address the Senate about an issue, but I’m not sure
that it merits a full “proposal”? What is a proposal?
A proposal is a written document that contains an idea on which you
would like the Senate to vote. As stated in our Constitution,
the Senate serves “as the representative body elected by the Faculty
to provide a Faculty voice in the formulation of College policy.”
The nature of the idea or policy change determines the length and
complexity of the proposal. Proposals may run from a few
paragraphs to many pages in length. Proposals could include,
but are not limited to, something as simple as a signed petition
that you wish the Senate to consider endorsing or a complex proposal
for a new graduate program complete with supporting documents.
Please see the Proposals link on the homepage for examples of
proposals. We encourage you to notify the VP and consult with
Senators as you formulate your proposal.
I am not sure whether my proposal is a programmatic or school issue
or represents a true change in college policy. What should I
do?
While normally you would contact the VP with ideas for a new
proposal, in this case you may wish to contact the entire Executive
Committee. The Executive Committee may provide you with an
immediate opinion or opt to run your idea past the Senate at the
next meeting. If there is the chance that your proposed change
could have implications beyond your program, it is probably best to
submit a proposal to the Senate. Having Senate approval may
save time in the future and provides a method of demonstrating
broader faculty support for your initiative. As always, you
also have the option of contacting the entire Senate at any time.
How does a proposal move through the Senate?
The flow chart shows how a typical proposal moves through the
Faculty Senate and the Committees of the Faculty Assembly.
This process is not set in stone, nor is it specifically addressed
in our Constitution.
How do I find out where my proposal is in the process?
Once submitted, the status of your proposal will be available on the
Senate website. In addition, Committee Chairs will
contact you once they have finished considering your proposal.
You will be notified of each meeting date when your proposal will be
considered by the Senate.
Once I submit my proposal, can everyone see it or just the Senate?
Once submitted, your proposal will appear on the Senate webpage.
Currently, anyone may view your proposal.
Once I have submitted a proposal, can I make changes to the
proposal?
Once submitted to a committee, changes to the proposal should be
limited to correcting errors of fact. CHANGES TO A PROPOSAL
MAY SLOW ITS MOVEMENT SUBSTANTIALLY THROUGH THE SENATE.
However, we understand that external events may necessitate changes
to a proposal. If your proposal is still in committee, contact
the chair of the committee to which your proposal has been referred
AND the VP. Contacting the VP ensures that changes and updates
are made on the Senate website and are distributed to Senate
members. If your proposal has been forwarded by the committee
to the Senate, you need only contact the VP. Changes to a
submitted proposal may cause the Senate to refer the proposal back
to committee or to push back the date of the first or second reading
so that we may fully consider your revisions. Please note that
committees or the Senate may ask for additional information or
recommend specific changes based on the proposal as submitted.
I have some ideas how to make this a better process. Whom do I
contact?
We appreciate any suggestions that you have about making the
proposal process more effective. You may contact an individual
senator, such as your School Senator or a member of the Executive
Committee, or you may e-mail the entire Faculty Senate. A list
of every Senator can be found by clicking on the Senate Members link
on this website.
How do I propose changes to the Constitution?
See above within General Senate FAQs.
