GARDEN CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
FACULTY SENATE GUIDELINES
1. The Faculty Senate shall consist of five members and two alternates. The five members and two alternates will be selected by and from the FULL-TIME teaching faculty. The Student Government Association (S.G.A.) Advisor, President of Garden City Community College Higher Education Association (G.C.C.C. H. E. A.) and the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center shall serve as ex-officio (non-voting) members of the Faculty Senate.
2. The five regular members of Faculty Senate shall be elected by and from the entire FULL-TIME teaching faculty. Nominations will be made at a called faculty meeting and/or through mail-in ballot in the last week of April, with elections to follow nominations by not less than 48 hours. All three of the first year members will be placed on the ballot with two being re-elected to serve a second term during the following year. The first year member who receives the highest number of votes shall serve as President of Faculty Senate. The second highest vote getter shall serve as secretary, with the third being the senior alternate. Three junior members and one junior alternate will be elected from the FULL-TIME faculty at large. The person with the fourth highest number of votes during this election will serve as junior alternate. No Senate member will be elected to serve as a full voting member for more than two consecutive one-year terms. Senators may serve additional terms of office after an absence of two years following each elected term.
3. Alternates, although welcome to attend any regularly scheduled meeting of the Faculty Senate, may not vote at such meetings, unless their attendance is in lieu, and by the request of a regular voting member of the Senate.
4. In the event of a permanent vacancy by the president, the secretary will automatically assume the duties of the president.
5. In the event of a vacancy of the secretary, the senior alternate will become an active member and assume the duties of the secretary.
6. In the event of a vacancy of a junior member during the academic year, the junior alternate elected from the FULL-TIME faculty at large will move into that vacated position for the remainder of the year.
7. A vacancy will be considered to have occurred when a member has missed three consecutive meetings during the regular contract year (unless they request an alternate to sit in their absence), or if a member retires, takes a leave of absence, resigns, etc.
8. A majority of the Senators or their designated alternate, will constitute the necessary quorum for a Senate meeting.
9. Senate deliberations will be considered official only when completed during an official meeting and a quorum of voting Senators is present. (A ÒquorumÓ is defined as the number of Senators constituting a majority.) No member of the Senate may act in the name of the Senate outside of the Senate meetings, unless authorized to do so by the Senate. No member of the Senate may act in the name of the Senate outside of the Senate meetings, unless authorized to do so by the Senate. Senate members will hold matters affecting individual faculty members in confidence, discussing such matters only with parties involved.
10. Decisions by the Senate shall require a concurring vote of no less than 2/3 of the Senators present. The President of the Faculty Senate shall not vote, except in the case of a tie.
11. The Senate may choose to go into Executive Session, during which time all Senators will convene and all others will be asked to leave the Senate meeting. Executive Session may be called in one of three ways: 1) Executive Session may be declared on the agenda, either as listed or added; 2) Executive Session may be called for by a regular voting member of the Senate, after which a majority of the Senate may declare Executive Session; or, 3) the President of the Senate may ask for a motion to go into Executive Session. After the motion is made and carried, Executive Session will be enacted.
1. The Faculty Senate shall serve as a body of the faculty for the purpose of overseeing the rights, privileges and interests of the teaching faculty. In this capacity, the Faculty Senate shall function as a consulting body to the College President and to the Board of Trustees.
2. Pursuant to the above general responsibilities, but not limited to them, the Faculty Senate shall:
a. Serve as a liaison between the faculty, the college administration, and the Board of Trustees. To further this goal, the Senate shall assign an observer to attend all open meetings of the Board of Trustees and PresidentÕs Cabinet. At the following meeting of the Faculty Senate, the observer/s shall present a brief written or oral report of pertinent actions and deliberations.
c. Provide advisory opinions within the framework of the official grievance procedure outlined in the professional agreement between the Board of Trustees and the G.C.C.C.H.E.A.
d.
Make
faculty appointments to all standing and internal governance committees.
The duties of the President of the Faculty Senate will be:
1. To preside at all Senate meetings.
2. To schedule Senate meetings when business within its jurisdiction is pending.
3. In consultation with Senate members, to invite the College President, Deans, and Trustees to forums to air faculty interests, concerns, and problems.
4. To prepare faculty questions for presentation to the College President for discussion at faculty forums.
5. To participate as a member in the deliberations of the professional negotiations committee.
The duties of the Secretary of the Faculty Senate will be:
1. To keep accurate written records of all meetings of the Senate.
2. To prepare for each Senate member a copy of the minutes of the previous meetings.
3. To distribute a copy of the previous meetingÕs minutes to each full-time faculty member via email and to administrative personnel via e-mail.
4. To prepare recommendations for presentation to the parties involved in any matter of action by the Senate.
The duties of the Senators and Members will be:
1. To attend Senate meetings regularly; or designate an alternate.
2. To serve on appointed committees of the Faculty Senate.
3. To solicit expressions of individual interests and concerns from faculty members, to bring those concerns before the Faculty Senate, and, in turn, to share Senate findings with faculty members.
4. To hold in confidence, matters affecting individual faculty members and discussing such matters only with parties involved.
5. To offer advice and counsel to the Faculty Senate President.
Meetings of the Faculty Senate will be scheduled each month at a date, time, and place to be determined by the body. The Senate President will call special or emergency meetings when pertinent Senate business is pending.
By-law revisions shall be presented to the Faculty Senate for discussion and tentative approval. Upon approval by the Faculty Senate, a copy of the by-law revision shall be emailed to each full-time faculty member for their review along with the date, time and location of the next Faculty Senate meeting. Full-time faculty members desiring to comment on the revisions may contact one of the Faculty Senate members with their input OR attend the Faculty Senate meeting to be heard.
By-law revisions shall require a majority vote of the Faculty Senate and will become active at the conclusion of the meeting in which the majority vote is taken.