Senate Constitution
Chabot College
ACADEMIC/FACULTY SENATE
CONSTITUTION
May 22, 2003
Preamble
We, the Faculty of Chabot College, in order to establish
a formal and effective procedure for participating in the formation of district
policies on academic and professional matters, adopt this Constitution.
Article I
- Name
This organization shall be known as the Chabot College
Academic/Faculty Senate.
Article II - Purposes, Scope, Powers
Section 1. All powers and
responsibilities referred shall be vested in the Faculty acting through the
Academic/Faculty Senate.
Section 2. The primary function of
the Academic/Faculty Senate is to serve as the representative of the Faculty in
making recommendations to the Administration and to the Board of Trustees in
academic and professional matters. These include but are not limited to the
following:
[NOTE: 10+1 Not Included]
a. Academic Policies
b. Educational Expenditures
c. Institutional Philosophy
d. Instructional Services.
e. Faculty Personnel Policies
f. Academic and Professional Rights and
Responsibilities
g. Academic and Professional Standards
h. Student
Personnel Policies
Section 3. The Academic/Faculty
Senate shall present its views and recommendations to the Board of Trustees
through regularly established channels.
Section 4. The Academic/Faculty
Senate shall send a representative to all meetings of the Board of Trustees.
The Academic/Faculty Senate may present its views and recommendations directly
to the Board of Trustees.
Section 5. Academic/Faculty Senate
action shall become effective seven (7) calendar days after its publication and
distribution except where:
a. The Academic/Faculty Senate decides by a
majority vote of the total Academic/Faculty Senate that action must be submitted
to the vote of the full Faculty for approval,
or
b. A petition signed by twenty (20) percent of the
Faculty for a referendum is submitted to the Academic/Faculty Senate within ten
(10) calendar days requesting a referendum vote of the Faculty.
1) The referendum shall be submitted to the Faculty
within fifteen (15) calendar days.
2) A referendum, for passage, shall require a
majority of the vote cast in the referendum.
3) For the purposes of referenda voting shall be by
secret ballot of the entire Contract, Regular Faculty and Part-Time Faculty
whose vote shall count as one-fifth (1/5) of a Full-Time Faculty vote. Full-time
Faculty who also have Part-time assignments shall have but one vote.
Article III - Membership
Section 1. Qualifications for the
Academic/Faculty Senate
a. Qualifications for election to the
Academic/Faculty Senate shall be the same as those defined for Contract,
Regular, and Part-time Faculty.
b. A Faculty Senator shall be deemed ineligible to
hold office if the Senator is appointed to a position defined as management.
Section 2. Composition of the
Academic/Faculty Senate
a. The President of the Academic/Faculty Senate
b. The elected representative from the
Instructional Divisions, Library, Counseling, and the Part-time Faculty. One of
these elected representatives will also serve as Vice President and another as
Secretary of the Academic/Faculty Senate.
c. Representation shall be as follows: the total
number of Contract and Regular Faculty employed in the spring semester of the
election year in each Instructional Division, Counseling, and the Library, from:
1) 1 through 19: 1 Senator
2) 20 through 39: 2 Senators
3) 40 through 59: 3 Senators
And the
Part-time Faculty: 1 Senator
d. The Instructional Divisions, Counseling, the
Library, and the Part-time Faculty may select alternates to participate in
Senate meetings when a Senator is not able to attend.
e. Ex-officio, non-voting representatives from the
Associated Students of Chabot College and from the Chabot Las Positas Faculty
Association.
f. In order for the Senate to take advantage of
the retiring president's counsel and experience, the outgoing president of the
Chabot College Academic/Faculty Senate shall have the option of remaining on the
Senate for one additional year as an ex-officio member, with full voting rights,
with the title of Immediate Past President.
Section 3. Election to the
Academic/Faculty Senate
a. Procedures for election to the Academic/Faculty
Senate shall be determined by the respective voting areas.
b. Senators shall be elected by a majority of the
members of their voting area.
c. The Academic/Faculty Senate shall settle
disputes in regard to elections and qualifications.
d. Candidates for the Part-time Senator will be
nominated by the full time senators from part-time faculty in their divisions.
The Senate will elect a Part-time Faculty member from the nominees for the
academic year.
Section 4. Terms of Office
a. The term of office for the full time divisional
Senators and for the President shall be for two years. The term of office for
the Part-Time Senator shall be one year. The term of office for the President
shall start on July 1 of odd-numbered years. The term of office of the Vice
President and Secretary shall be one year.
b. The term of office for full time divisional
Senators shall start at the beginning of the Fall term of the even-numbered year
session.
c. If a Senator
resigns during a term of office, a new Senator shall be elected by the same
procedures outlined in Article III, Section 3.
Section 5. Recall from Office
A Senator may be removed from
office in a manner to be determined by the appropriate voting area.
Article IV - Officers
Section 1. The officers of the Academic/Faculty Senate shall be:
a. The President
b. The Vice President
c. The Secretary
d. The Immediate Past President
Section 2.
Eligibility for office
a. All Officers of the Academic/Faculty Senate
shall be fulltime, Contract and Regular Faculty.
b. No Faculty member serving as president of the
faculty bargaining unit shall be eligible for the office of Academic/Faculty
Senate President.
Section 3. Procedures for Elections
a. Nominations for Academic/Faculty Senate
President shall be verified by an election committee to be selected by the
Academic/Faculty Senate.
b. An election committee of three (3) members of
the Faculty who are not candidates for office shall be selected by the
Academic/Faculty Senate to prepare the ballots and act as tellers for the
election.
c. The President of the Academic/Faculty Senate
shall be elected by a majority of the Contract and Regular Faculty.
d. If no candidate for the office of
Academic/Faculty Senate President receives a majority of the total votes cast, a
run-off election shall be held between the two candidates who receive the
highest number of votes.
e. Should the office of President be vacated with
one year or more remaining in the term an election shall be conducted by the
election committee; otherwise, the Vice President shall become the President for
the remainder of the term of office.
f. The Vice President and Secretary shall be
elected by a majority vote of the total Academic/Faculty Senate for a term of
one year.
Section 4. Duties of Officers
a. President
1) The Academic/Faculty Senate President shall
represent the opinions and votes of the Academic/Faculty Senate, or the
expressions of the Faculty- Academic/Faculty Senate as determined by a
referendum to the Administration, the Board of Trustees, the State Academic
Senate, and the community at large.
2) The Academic/Faculty Senate President shall
report to the Senate on all matters of academic or professional concern to the
Faculty.
3) The Academic/Faculty Senate President shall
attend meetings of the Board of Trustees, College Council and other governance
committees.
4) The Academic/Faculty Senate
President shall serve on the Executive Committee (DBSG, PRBC or
equivalent, Chancellor's Council).
5) In the absence of the Academic/Faculty Senate
President, the duties of that office shall be discharged by the Vice President;
or, in whose absence, by a designee chosen by a majority of the total
Academic/Faculty Senate.
6) The Academic/Faculty Senate President shall
appoint faculty members to serve on all college and district committees in
consultation with of the Academic/Faculty Senate. The Academic/Faculty Senate
can, with a majority vote, choose to appoint committee members itself if it so
chooses.
7) The Academic/Faculty Senate President or their
designee shall preside over meetings of the Academic/Faculty
Senate and meetings of the Faculty- Academic/Faculty
Senate.
b. Vice President
1) The Academic/Faculty Senate Vice President shall
communicate with all committees and assure timely reporting by all committees to
the Academic/Faculty Senate.
2) The Academic/Faculty Senate Vice President shall
represent the Faculty when the President is unavailable.
3) The Academic/Faculty Senate Vice President shall
serve on the Executive Committee.
4) The Academic/Faculty Senate Vice President shall
attend meetings of the College Council.
5) The Academic/Faculty Senate Vice President shall
act as the Senate's Parliamentarian.
c. Secretary
1) The Academic/Faculty Senate Secretary shall
distribute the agendas for each regular meeting of the Academic/Faculty Senate
and draft and distribute the Senate Minutes.
2) The Academic/Faculty Senate Secretary shall
handle all correspondence of the Academic/Faculty Senate including distribution of information to the Faculty upon request by the Academic/Faculty
Senate.
3) The Academic/Faculty Senate Secretary shall
serve on the Executive Committee.
4) The Academic/Faculty Senate Secretary shall
serve on the College Council.
d. Immediate Past President
1) The Immediate Past President shall serve on the
Executive Council
2) The Immediate Past President shall attend the
meetings of the College Council.
Section 5. Recall of Officers
a. Recall of an Academic/Faculty Senate Officer
shall be initiated by:
1) A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the total
Academic/Faculty Senate, or
2) A recall petition signed by thirty (30) percent
of the Contract and Regular Faculty.
b. An Academic/Faculty Senate Officer shall be
removed by a vote of sixty (60) percent of the total Contract and Regular
Faculty. A recall vote shall take place no less than ten (10) working days or
more than fifteen (15) working days after step a. l) or 2) above.
c. A new Academic/Faculty Senate Officer shall be
selected in accordance with the provisions of Article IV, Section 3.
d. A recall petition may be considered ninety (90)
days after the Academic/Faculty Senate Officer has taken office.
Section 6.
Reassign time for
Academic/Faculty Senate Officers
The Academic/Faculty Senate President and the College President in a
Memorandum of Understanding will arrange reassign time for the officers. Changes to that
document will be reported to the Academic/Faculty Senate.
Section 7. Executive Committee
The Executive Committee, chaired by the Academic/Faculty Senate President, will
develop the Academic/Faculty Senate agendas, coordinate senate committee reports
and recommend actions to the Academic/Faculty Senate.
Article V - Meetings
Section 1. Academic/Faculty Senate
Meetings
a. The Academic/Faculty Senate shall meet at least
once each month during the Fall and Spring Semesters or as deemed necessary by
the Academic/Faculty Senate President during the summer.
b. A quorum for meetings of the Academic/Faculty
Senate shall be one half plus one of the voting Academic/Faculty Senate
membership.
c. Motions shall be approved by a majority of the
Academic/Faculty Senate voting at that meeting.
d. The Academic/Faculty Senate shall determine its
rules of procedures and publish its proceedings.
e. The Academic/Faculty Senate President, who does
not vote on motions, shall vote when a vote of the senate results in a tie.
Section 2. Faculty- Academic/Faculty
Senate Meetings
a. Meetings of the Faculty- Academic/Faculty Senate
shall be called and chaired by the Academic/Faculty Senate President:
1) At the discretion of the Academic/Faculty Senate
President, or
2) Upon petition of a majority of voting
Academic/Faculty Senate members, or
3) Upon petition of ten (10) percent of the
Contract and Regular Faculty.
b. Meetings of the Faculty-Faculty Senate are
advisory.
c. Proposals recommended by a Faculty-
Academic/Faculty Senate meeting shall be ratified by a majority referendum of
the Contract, Regular and Part-time Faculty.
d. Notification of Faculty- Academic/Faculty Senate
meetings shall be posted in all Contract and Regular Faculty mail boxes not less
than three (3) days in advance of such meetings. Faculty- Academic/Faculty
Senate meetings may meet at one (1) joint meeting or two (2) separate meetings.
e. Faculty- Academic/Faculty Senate meetings shall be
called at times and places during the Contract and Regular Faculty work week.
f. A quorum for
Faculty- Academic/Faculty Senate
meetings that makes a recommendation shall be thirty (30) percent of
the Contract and Regular Faculty.
Article VI - Amendements
Section 1. Proposed Amendments
Amendments may be
proposed by the Faculty or the Academic/Faculty Senate:
a. By a majority vote of the members of the
Academic/Faculty Senate meeting in a regular or special meeting,
b. By a majority
of the votes cast at a Faculty- Academic/Faculty
Senate meeting, or
c. By a petition
signed by twenty (20) percent of the Contract and Regular Faculty.
Section 2. Ratification of Amendments
a. Shall be by secret ballot of the entire
Contract, Regular Faculty and Part-Time Faculty whose vote shall count as
one-fifth (1/5) of a Full-Time Faculty vote. Full-time Faculty who also have
Part-time assignments shall have but one vote.
b. Shall require a sixty (60) percent majority of
the Contract, Regular and Part-time Faculty voting.
Approved by the vote of the faculty on
November 19, 1964, and revised:
July
1, 1968
January 23, 1969
July 1, 1980
June 30, 1987
May 3, 1989
September 18, 1989
June 4, 1991
June
19, 1992
October 25, 1993
May 22, 2003
