CSUSB - Faculty Senate

ARTICLE I -- THE FACULTY

Section 1. Membership and Voting

The membership of the faculty shall be as follows but shall not include Management Personnel Plan administrators with retreat rights either for purposes of voting or for other faculty rights unless expressly permitted in the Constitution or Bylaws:

Professor		Librarian
Associate Professor		Associate Librarian
Assistant Professor		Senior Assistant Librarian
Lecturer- Full time annual		Assistant Librarian
		Student Services Professionals - Academic Related

Those named in subsection A shall have the power to vote in general faculty meetings, in faculty referenda, and in elections for representatives to the Statewide Academic Senate, to the Faculty Senate of the University, to standing committees of the Faculty Senate, and to school and department committees; but with the following exceptions:

1. Only tenure-track faculty may vote for representatives to faculty recruitment committees or to PRT committees or any other panels so specified by the Memorandum of Understanding.

2. Management Personnel Plan (MPP) faculty shall forfeit all Senate-sanctioned voting rights as herein defined until such time as they return to the tenure-track ranks.

3. Additional restrictions may be placed on voter eligibility in the Bylaws of the Faculty Senate or in policy documents establishing special committees.

Faculty on paid leave shall retain all powers to vote.

Section 2. Powers

The Faculty shall have the power to formulate, adopt, review and revise recommendations relating to the policies and operation of the University, subject to the laws of the State of California, the regulations of the Trustees of the California State University, and the Memorandum of Understanding.

The Faculty shall normally exercise its powers through the Faculty Senate of the University elected by, and representative of, the Faculty and subject to its review.

Faculty or Faculty Senate recommendations shall become University policy after adoption by the University President.

Section 3. Officers

The officers of the Faculty shall be the President of the University or designee, the Chair of the Faculty Senate and the Executive Secretary of the Faculty Senate, who shall serve as the Secretary of the Faculty.

Section 4. Faculty Meetings and Duties of Faculty Officers

The President or designee shall call at least one faculty meeting during the academic year and may call special meetings whenever necessary. At these meetings the President or designee shall preside.

The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall call a meeting of the Faculty whenever a majority of the total membership of the Faculty Senate so requests. At such meetings the Chair of the Faculty Senate shall preside.

The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall call a meeting of the Faculty whenever it is requested by a petition of ten percent of the Faculty. At such meetings the Chair of the Faculty Senate shall preside unless the Faculty elects to choose a chair pro tem. The chair pro tem shall be elected by a majority of those present.

ARTICLE II -- THE FACULTY SENATE

Section 1. Membership

Section 2. Powers

Section 3. Duties

Section 4. Officers

Section 5. Term of Service and Recall

Section 6. Agenda

Section 7. Meetings

Section 8. Duration of a Faculty Senate

Section 1. Membership

The Faculty Senate shall consist of area representatives, members at large and ex-officio members.

The following are the areas from which faculty shall elect representatives:

Library
School of Business and Public Administration
School of Education
School of Humanities
School of Natural Sciences
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Student Services Professionals - Academic Related

Senate seats from these seven areas shall be apportioned according to the following formula with the proviso that each area shall have at least one seat:

Number of faculty in unit x 27

Total number of faculty

If the decimal part of this number is greater than or equal to 0.5, the number shall be raised to the next highest integer, otherwise the decimal part shall be dropped. The resulting number shall be the number of seats for the unit.

This formula shall be implemented during the Winter Quarter prior to electing Faculty Senators. The Faculty Senate so elected shall remain valid for the entire following academic year regardless of any change in number of faculty in any of the areas.

An at-large Lecturer's representative shall be elected during the regular Spring election cycle by and from full-time annual lecturers to serve until the end of the next academic year.

Ex-officio members shall consist of the following:

The President of the University, who shall not vote.
The Vice President for Academic Affairs, who shall not vote.
Delegates to the Academic Senate of the California State University , who by election to that body become voting members of the Faculty Senate.
The Associated Students President, or designee approved by the AS Executive Cabinet for the academic year, who shall be a voting member.

Except as provided in B above, only tenure-track Faculty may serve on the Statewide Academic Senate, on the Faculty Senate, or on special or standing committees of the Faculty Senate.

Management Personnel Plan Faculty may not serve as elected Faculty representatives to the Statewide Academic Senate, to the Faculty Senate, or to any committee at any level established under Senate policy.

Section 2. Powers

The Faculty Senate shall be the delegate assembly of the Faculty through which the Faculty shall normally exercise its powers. All members of the Faculty have the right to attend meetings of the Faculty Senate and may speak with the consent of the Chair of the Faculty Senate, but they shall not vote. Other persons may attend at the discretion of the Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate, upon a majority vote of the voting members present, may declare an executive session. Any action taken by the Faculty Senate is subject to review by the Faculty and must be reviewed whenever the Faculty so requests by a petition of fifteen percent of its members. The Faculty by vote of a majority of its total membership may modify or nullify decisions of the Faculty Senate.

Section 3. Duties

The Faculty Senate shall perform all duties consistent with the formulation, adoption, review and revision of recommendations relating to the policies and operation of the University, within the limits prescribed by this Constitution.

The Faculty Senate shall create committees necessary to the performance of its duties. Regulations and specific charges for these committees shall also be established by the Faculty Senate.

The Faculty Senate, by vote of a majority of its total voting membership, shall adopt all bylaws necessary to the performance of its duties and amend them when necessary. Changes in the bylaws shall not be proposed and voted upon at the same meeting.

The Faculty Senate shall keep a record of its proceedings and shall distribute copies of minutes to the Faculty and to the appropriate administrative officers of the University.

The Faculty Senate shall establish appropriate grievance procedures consistent with regulations of the Trustees of the California State University .

Section 4. Officers

The officers of the Faculty Senate shall include a chair, a vice chair, and an executive secretary, all to be elected by and from the voting membership of the Faculty Senate. They shall serve for a one-year term.

A Faculty Senate officer may be removed from office by a vote of two-thirds of the total voting membership of the Senate.

Section 5. Term of Service and Recall

Term of Service

Members shall serve for a term of two years (with the exception of the Statewide Academic Senators who are elected for three-year terms), with terms so arranged that one-half of the Faculty Senate shall be elected each year.

Recall

Any Faculty Senator, Statewide Academic Senator or Faculty Senate standing, special, or ad hoc committee member shall be subjected to a recall election by submission of a petition signed by 25 percent of his or her electorate. Alternatively, a recall election may be initiated by the Elections Committee, after an investigation requested by a majority vote of the Senate or of the affected Senate committee.
A member of the Faculty Senate, the Statewide Academic Senate or Faculty Senate standing, special, or ad hoc committee is recalled by a two-thirds vote of his or her electorate.
For recall purposes, the Faculty Senate shall serve as the "electorate" of Faculty Senate special or ad hoc committee members elected by the Faculty Senate, and the Executive Committee shall serve as the "electorate" of committee members appointed by the Executive Committee.

Section 6. Agenda

Any Faculty Senate committee or member of the Faculty may transmit to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee topics for discussion and proposals for possible action which are within the jurisdiction of the Faculty Senate. At least twenty working days before the regularly scheduled meeting of the Faculty Senate, the Chair of the Faculty Senate shall invite from the Faculty topics and proposals which shall be added to other business before the Faculty Senate or referred to whichever Senate committee has jurisdiction for their review and recommendation. The established agenda shall be circulated among the Faculty at least three days prior to the meeting of the Faculty Senate.

Section 7. Meetings

The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate shall call regularly scheduled meetings of the Faculty Senate at least once a month during the academic year and special meetings whenever necessary. A regularly scheduled meeting may be canceled for lack of agenda.

Section 8. Duration of a Faculty Senate

Each Faculty Senate shall serve for one year. The currently seated Faculty Senate shall serve until the last day of the current academic year. However, at the last two regularly- scheduled meetings of the academic year, the incoming Faculty Senate for the following academic year shall be seated solely for the purpose of necessary elections. Officers, at-large Executive Committee members, and statewide Academic Senate Alternates shall be elected at the next- to-last Senate meeting. The chairs of the Educational Policy and Resources Committee and the Faculty Affairs Committee shall be elected at the last Senate meeting.

ARTICLE III -- COMMITTEES OF THE FACULTY SENATE

Faculty Senate committees shall make recommendations to the Faculty Senate regarding matters of policy, within the limits prescribed for them by the Faculty Senate and by this Constitution and its bylaws. All committees shall report regularly to the Faculty Senate concerning committee activities.

Section 1. Standing Committees

Section 2. The Executive Committee

Section 3. The Elections Committee

Section 4. Special and Ad Hoc Committees

Section 1. Standing Committees

A. Standing Committees established in the Constitution shall be elected by and from the membership of the Faculty Senate, with one person coming from each Constituent Unit. Representatives to other standing committees shall be elected by Constituent Units (preferably) or from the Schools/Library, one representative per area elected by the faculty of that area. Chairs of the Educational Policy and Resources Committee and the Faculty Affairs Committee shall be elected by the Faculty Senate from among the membership of the Senate. Provisions may also be made for one administrative representative per committee and for one or more student representatives per committee. The following shall be the Constituent Units for committee representation:

School of Business and Public Administration
School of Education
School of Humanities and Library
School of Natural Sciences
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Student Services Professionals - Academic Related.

The Executive Committee and the Elections Committee shall be the sole standing committees established in this Constitution. Other standing committees shall be established in the bylaws of this Constitution.

Section 2. The Executive Committee

Membership: The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chair, Vice Chair, and Executive Secretary of the Faculty Senate, two other members of the Faculty Senate who shall serve at-large, two (2) Statewide Senators, and the President or designee. Neither Statewide Senators nor the President or designee shall be voting members. Each elected member of the Executive Committee shall be from a different Constituent Unit. The order for electing members of the Executive Committee shall be Chair, Vice Chair, Executive Secretary, and Members At-Large. In addition, the chair of the Educational Policies and Resources Committee and the chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee shall be members of the Executive Committee. Additional Statewide Senators resulting from re-appointment will rotate on and off in an equitable manner determined by the Executive Committee and with a continuing maximum of two (2) ex-officio positions.

Duties:

The Executive Committee shall prepare the agenda for and schedule the meetings of the Faculty Senate.
The Executive Committee shall refer to relevant committees those issues that it deems suitably significant from whatever source; however, the Executive Committee may re-refer an item back to committee only once after the first assignment to said body. Following final receipt of referred or re-referred items from relevant committees, the Executive Committee shall forward said items to the Senate as a whole for consideration.
The Executive Committee shall interpret the meaning and intent of all articles of the Constitution and bylaws except as specified in Article II, Section 3, Part J of the bylaws.
The Executive Committee shall make appropriate nominations and appointments to campus committees when necessary.
Other duties of the Executive Committee shall include, but may not be limited to, acting on behalf of the Faculty Senate when the Senate is not meeting regularly, such as in the summer.

Section 3. The Elections Committee

Membership: The Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate shall serve as the Chair of the Elections Committee and be the representative of his or her constituent unit. The Faculty Senate shall elect from its voting membership one representative from each remaining constituent unit.

Duties: The Elections Committee shall administer all provisions of Articles 11 and III of the bylaws.

Section 4. Special and Ad Hoc Committees

The Senate may establish special and ad hoc committees to serve special needs at the University. These shall be established in Senate policy documents in conformance with procedures established in the Bylaws. Faculty representation shall normally be by Constituent Unit or by School/Library. There may also be at large faculty representatives and representatives from other areas of the campus community.

ARTICLE IV -- ADOPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION

Approval by a majority vote of the Faculty, as defined in Article 1, Section 1, shall be necessary for the adoption of this Constitution.

ARTICLE V -- REVISION OF THIS CONSTITUTION

An ad hoc committee on constitutional revision shall be convened at least every four years after the adoption of this Constitution to ensure that this Constitution is sufficient to the growth of the University.

Membership: One representative from each constituent unit, elected by the Faculty Senate and one member designated by the University President.

Duties: This committee shall initiate and review proposals for revision of the Constitution and bylaws of the Faculty Senate and make appropriate recommendations to the Senate.

ARTICLE VI -- INITIATION OF AND APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS

Section 1. Initiation of a Referendum

Section 2. Approval of Amendments

Section 1. Initiation of a Referendum

The Faculty Senate, by majority vote, may initiate a referendum of the Faculty on proposed amendments to the Constitution.

A referendum on amendments to this Constitution may also be initiated by a petition of twenty percent of the Faculty.

Section 2. Approval of Amendments

Ratification of proposed amendments to this constitution shall require a two-thirds affirmative vote of all valid ballots cast. The ratification election shall be conducted by the Elections Committee. All members of the faculty, except faculty on full-time leave of absence without pay, shall be eligible to vote. A copy of proposed amendments shall be sent to every faculty member at least one week before ballots are distributed. A minimum of ten working days shall be provided from the day that ballots are distributed to the deadline for receiving ballots in the Senate Office.