Bylaws of College Council
Article I — Function of the Council
The College Council (“Council”), along with its constituent committees, shall serve as the primary body for campus-wide engagement on policies and practices that affect the campus community as a whole. The Council shall review issues and questions brought forward by individual community members, Advisory Committees, Operational Committees, or campus organizations, and may also bring issues and questions to the community for consideration. The Council may make recommendations to the President of the College for consideration when appropriate and necessary.
Article II — Process
The Council shall determine the most effective process for taking up questions or issues brought forward by members of the campus community, advisory committees, or campus organizations. The Council may choose to take up questions or issues directly or assign them to an Advisory or Operational Committee. The committee shall then be responsible for reporting back to the Council after a reasonable period with any recommendations or outcomes. If the recommendation requires further action, the Council may vote to send the matter to the President with a favorable or unfavorable recommendation. The Council may also decide that a question or issue brought to its attention is not ripe for further conversation, or is not appropriate for or beyond the purview of the Council review, in which case the Council will report that fact back to the person or body originating the question or issue.
Article III — Membership
Membership on the Council shall be equally distributed among the constituent bodies, including Staff, Students, Faculty, and the Administration. The following members shall constitute the Council:
- President of the Faculty
- Staff Congress President
- Student Government Association President
- Two at-large members of the Faculty (rotating 3-year terms)
- Two at-large members of the Staff (rotating 3-year terms)
- Two at-large members of the Student Body
- Three at-large members of the Administration (which refers to members of the Senior Staff)
Article IV — Officers
The Council shall have two officers: a Chair and a Secretary. The Chair shall be selected from among the at-large members of the Faculty and Staff. The Secretary shall also be selected from among the at-large members of the Faculty and Staff. Ordinarily, the two officers shall be divided between faculty and staff.
The Secretary shall keep full and accurate minutes of all meetings and votes. Upon approval of the minutes, the Secretary shall publish the minutes to CentreNet or another established Council website as soon as possible after each meeting.
The officers for the following year shall be selected at the May meeting of the preceding academic year. If the full membership of next year’s Council is not in place in May, the officer selection should occur as quickly as possible after all members are in place, either during a specially called meeting or through a public, asynchronous, online ballot that satisfies quorum. Committee assignment for the following year will take place after the full Council is in place and officers have been chosen.
Article V — Meetings, Quorum, and Voting
The Council shall meet monthly during the academic year (except for January), and normally at Common Hour (11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.). The quorum for the Council shall be seven members, including the Chair, the Secretary, at least one additional member of the Faculty and Staff, one student, and one member of the Administration. Under extraordinary circumstances, a substitute member may be designated by the President of the constituent group to stand in for the elected member for a given meeting. For prolonged absences or departures from the College, the Council shall request from the constituent group a replacement member elected pursuant to the processes established by that group to complete the remainder of the term.
During any meeting where a quorum is present, the Council may take votes on any proposals or items within its authority, and an affirmative vote of a majority in attendance shall decide the outcome. The Council may hold special meetings as deemed necessary by the members of the Council. The Council may hold any of its meetings electronically, as in, using a means of teleconferencing. Between formal meetings, the Chair may invite members to vote on matters via email when holding a meeting is not practical or not timely, and, so long as a quorum of members, as defined in these Bylaws, casts a vote in the matter, a majority of the votes cast will decide the outcome. The members will send their votes to the Chair, copying at the same time all other members of the Council. In the case of a vote by email, as described herein, the Secretary shall record the vote as a “Council Action Between Meetings,” with a record of the members participating in the vote, and a simple tally of yeas and nays.
The Council shall host all-campus forums twice a year, with the fall forum occurring as soon as possible following the fall meeting of the College Board of Trustees and the spring forum occurring as soon as possible after the winter meeting of the College Board of Trustees. The Council shall set the agenda for the forum and share the agenda with the campus community prior to the meeting. The minutes of Council meetings, Actions Between Meetings, Council forums, and from the meetings of all Advisory and Operational Committees shall be published to CentreNet or another established Council website as soon as possible after each meeting and forum.
Article VI — Committees
Membership on committees of the College Council shall be determined by the Council at the end of the preceding academic year. The Council may appoint new or replacement members during the year, as appropriate and necessary.
There shall be Advisory Committees, which shall serve to provide advice and make recommendations to the President, Vice President(s), Director(s) or Executive Director(s) associated with the committee (“advisee” or “advisee(s)”) on specific issues of strategic importance to the College. The Advisory Committees shall review issues and questions brought forward by the committee’s advisee(s), individual community members, Operational Committees, campus organizations, the Council, and may also bring issues and questions to the community for consideration. The advisee shall be responsible for providing feedback on the recommendation but does not need to act on it. The committee chair may invite noncommittee members to meetings, including the committee’s advisee(s), and solicit input from outside the committee, but non-committee members will not be voting members and not considered for the purposes of quorum. The Advisory Committees shall be responsible for reporting any recommendations or outcomes to the Council.
There shall also be Operational Committees, which typically undertake specialized or time-limited tasks or duties. The Operational Committees shall also report to the Council as appropriate and necessary.
Primary responsibility for the membership selection of Operational Committees shall reside with the Operational Committees, and the Council shall assist those committees with membership selection as needed.
The Council shall give due regard to the jurisdiction of the particular committee and its oversight responsibilities in considering committee composition and in appointing committee chairs. Students shall be excluded from committees which undertake any consideration of matters involving the confidential personal records of other students and prospective students. Ex officio positions on Advisory and Operational Committees shall be filled by staff selected by the head of the specific office holding the ex officio position. Ex officio members shall have the right to vote, move business, and be counted in the quorum on the same basis as any other member.
The College Council and its constituent committees shall not have responsibility for curricular decisions. Curricular decisions are the purview of the Faculty of the College.
For each Advisory Committee and Operational Committee, the first meeting of the academic year shall include a review of the committee’s charge, with any recommended changes being decided by the Council. Advisory Committees and Operational Committees shall issue an annual report upon the conclusion of the final meeting of the academic year. For those not in ex officio positions, membership on Advisory Committees should typically be limited to a three-year term, with the option for three one-year renewals, but term-limited members may be reappointed after one year off the particular committee. Ex officio positions are appointed each year by the office holding the ex officio position and are not term-limited.
The Council shall undertake a review of the annual reports submitted by the Advisory Committees and the Operational Committees to ensure that the work of the committees aligns with the College’s mission and priorities. The Council could decide that the existing charge of the Committee should be amended. Should the Council determine a committee is no longer needed or should be added, it may make a recommendation to the President of the College that the committee shall no longer exist or be created. The President of the College shall have the final authority to make the decision to terminate or add a committee.
Committees shall convene upon the call of the chair or upon the petition of a majority of the members. The expectation is that committees will meet regularly during the academic year. Decisions of a committee shall be taken upon the vote of a majority of members of the committee present at meetings of the committee at which a quorum is present. A majority of the members of a committee shall constitute a quorum. When a committee is unable to meet in person, votes may be taken by email or other agreed upon electronic means. Passage of any matter using email or other electronic means shall require a majority of members of the committee to vote in favor. Accurate minutes of meetings of all committees shall be taken. Copies of the minutes of committee meetings shall be published to CentreNet or another established Council website following approval at the subsequent committee meeting.
Article VII — Amendments
These bylaws may be amended or rescinded at any meeting of the College Council by a majority vote of the entire membership, provided that at least one member of each constituent group votes in favor of the proposed amendment. Written notice of any proposed amendment shall be given to the entire membership of the College Council five days prior to the vote. Any proposed amendment shall not conflict with the bylaws of the Centre College Board of Trustees.