The functions of the Governance Committee are to oversee:
The implementation and operation of the Enabling Act of University Senate and Faculty Assembly and Bylaws of University Senate;
and approve recommendations to University Senate for the reallocation of divisional seats as the distribution of full-time equivalent faculty shifts among divisions;
Faculty Assembly and University Senate elections;
to approve election procedures submitted by academic representational units, as specified in these Bylaws;
and to audit, as the Senate Executive Committee or Senate deems necessary, the elections conducted by these groupings.
A representative from the Division of Academic Affairs, who need not be a member of the Governance Committee, shall be appointed Elections Coordinator by the Executive Committee of University Senate and shall report to the Governance Committee and to the Executive Committee.
At the beginning of the spring semester, the Secretary of University Senate shall review and approve lists of those eligible to vote in faculty elections. The Elections Coordinator shall conduct elections for:
the ten (10) at-large faculty seats on University Senate,
the faculty members of Graduate Council,
the members of the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities,
the All-University Faculty Committee for the Evaluation of Administrators; and shall conduct other elections upon request.
The Elections Coordinator shall also be responsible by the beginning of the spring semester for insuring that representational unit membership remains current by insuring that new faculty, or faculty who have significantly changed the nature of their appointments, are included among the membership of their appropriate academic caucuses.
By the beginning of the spring semester, the Elections Coordinator should also ensure that new faculty whose appointments entitle them to choose among caucuses are invited to select their caucus and then included among the membership of the caucuses of their choice (See Section 1.A of this document).
The Elections Coordinator shall assist the Governance Committee in the regular audit of University Senate seat distribution. An additional representative from the Division of Academic Affairs will be appointed by the Executive Committee of University Senate and trained by the Elections Coordinator to step into the place of the Elections Coordinator should he/she be unavailable to conduct elections
Composition
Four (4) faculty members, at least one (1) of whom shall be a member of University Senate.
No more than two (2) faculty members from the same University Senate disciplinary unit as described in the Bylaws of University Senate shall serve simultaneously on the Committee.
