FACULTY GOVERNMENT

3.0 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a process by which the faculty may participate with the administration in the formulation of education policy and governance as provided in Sections 2.12 and 2.12.1 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.

3.1 Organization. The powers of the faculty shall be exercised by the Faculty Senate and UNL Assembly established by this chapter.

3.2 UNL Assembly. There shall be established the UNL Assembly to provide a formal setting for discussion of UNL matters involving faculty and administrators.

3.2.1 Composition. The UNL Assembly shall comprise: (1) Assistant professors and above, and those with equivalent rank, holding Continuous or Specific Term appointments of 0.5 FTE or greater; (2) Assistant professors and above, and those with equivalent rank, holding 0.5 FTE or greater Special Appointments and having three successive academic years of paid faculty service at any professorial rank at UNL; (3) Lecturers and Senior Lecturers, holding 0.5 FTE or greater Special Appointment and having three successive academic years of paid faculty service at 0.5 FTE or greater at any faculty rank at UNL.

3.2.2 Meetings of the Assembly. Meetings of the Assembly can be convened on seven days notice by the Chancellor, the President of the Faculty Senate, a petition by one hundred members of the Assembly, or a majority vote of the Faculty Senate. A meeting may be convened with three days notice, if called jointly by the Chancellor and the President of the Faculty Senate. Any call to a meeting must specify the issue or issues to be considered.

3.2.3 Procedures and Powers. The discussion at meetings of the Assembly shall be informational and deliberative. The Assembly has the following powers relating to matters covered under section 2.12.1 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents:

• It may refer the matter for consideration to the Faculty Senate, appropriate campus wide committees or administrators.



• It may order a referendum by mail ballot or e-mail of all members of the Assembly. The adoption of a position by referendum by a simple majority of those members of the Assembly voting on that issue supersedes any action taken by the Faculty Senate.

3.2.4 E-Mail Referenda of the Assembly. The Chancellor, the President of the Faculty Senate, the Faculty Senate by a majority vote, or one hundred members of the Assembly by petition to the Faculty Senate may order a referendum by e-mail ballot of all members of the Assembly. The adoption of a position by referendum by a simple majority of those members of the Assembly voting on that issue supersedes any action taken by the Faculty Senate.

3.3 UNL Faculty Senate. There shall be established a UNL Faculty Senate with the powers specified in section 2.12.1 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.

3.3.1 Composition. The UNL Faculty Senate shall comprise: Members of the Assembly elected for staggered terms of three years by constituencies described in 3.3.5(a). A candidate for election to the Faculty Senate must be a member of the constituency he/she seeks to represent, a member of the UNL Assembly and have at least three years service at UNL.

3.3.2 Participation by non-members. Faculty and administrators who are not members of the Senate, the managerial/professional staff, the office/service staff, and students shall have the right to request the President of the Senate to place matters on the agenda of the Faculty Senate, and to participate in the resulting discussion.

3.3.3 Meetings. The Senate shall have nine regular monthly meetings during the academic year. The terms of the elected members and officers commence and terminate at the last meeting in April of the Faculty Senate. Special meetings of the Faculty Senate may be called with seven days notice by the President of the Faculty Senate, the Chancellor, any ten elected members of the Senate or any fifty members of the Assembly. The President shall preside at all meetings.

3.3.4 Attendance. Elected members of the Senate who miss more than three meetings in a Senate year may be removed from membership of the Senate by action of the Secretary with the approval of the President.

3.3.5 Electoral Constituencies. At the February meeting of even numbered years, the Senate shall consider and act on a report, developed by the Secretary of the Senate and recommended by the Committee on Committees, proposing the apportionment of Senate seats according to the following guidelines:

• Each department of the Assembly shall have one seat, those with more than twenty five shall have two seats and those over fifty shall have three seats.



• Colleges not subdivided into academic departments shall have a minimum of two seats. Colleges with over fifty members shall have three seats.

• Each of the research and extension district centers shall be treated as a single department.

D. The faculty of departments with two or more seats shall decide whether separate constituencies should be established within the department and, if so, how they shall be constituted.

• No Assembly member may belong to more than one constituency. A member associated with more than one department shall vote in the department designated on the personnel action form as the home department.

3.3.6 Conduct of Elections. Beginning in the week following the February meeting the Secretary of the Senate shall conduct elections. Nominations from a particular electoral constituency must be made in writing by an Assembly member from that constituency with the consent of the nominee. When the nomination process produces only one nomination, the Faculty Senate Office notifies the electoral constituency and allows an extended time period of ten (10) working days for the district to nominate additional qualified candidates. In the event no further nomination is received, the electoral constituency is notified, and the original nominee is considered to have been elected. In the event two or more nominations are received, an election is held. The voting shall be by secret ballot. In order to be elected, a nominee must receive the votes of more than fifty percent of the persons voting. In the event no person receives this requisite number of votes, the Secretary shall hold a run-off election between the two nominees receiving the most votes in the first ballot. A tie in the second ballot shall be broken by lot. The election of members shall be completed by the 15^th of April.

3.3.7 Interim Elections. When an elected member ceases to serve in the Senate, the procedures for electing a replacement for the remainder of the term shall follow those in 3.3.6 and commence within fifteen days of the seat becoming vacant.

3.3.8 Election of Officers. At its last meeting in April, the Senate shall elect from among its members a President Elect who shall take office as President at the end of one year. The Senate shall also elect one of its members to serve as Secretary of the Senate for a term of one year.

3.3.9 Executive Committee Composition. The Executive Committee of the Senate shall be composed of the President, President Elect, Immediate Past President, the Secretary and nine ordinary members of the Senate at the time of their election. They shall be elected by the members of the Senate at the last meeting in April. Any member of the Executive Committee whose term as an elected member of the Senate has expired shall become an ex officio voting member of the Senate until the term on the Executive Committee expires. No more than four members of the Executive Committee can be from one college or IANR. At least one member from IANR must be an Extension Educator.

3.3.10 Duties of the President.

• The President shall be the chief representative of the UNL Assembly to the Campus and System Administrations, the Board of Regents and the State.



• The duties of the President in addition to those specified in sections 3.2.2, 3.3.3, 3.3.4 and 3.4 shall include:
• Serving as the chair of all meetings of the Executive Committee.

• Arranging the agendas for the Faculty Senate in consultation with the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors and the Executive Committee.



• Ensuring that motions of the Senate that require response are brought promptly to the attention of the appropriate administrators or committees, and that the responses are reported back to the Senate as expeditiously as possible.



• Dealing with any matter of importance to the Faculty. The President may delegate duties to the officers or other suitable faculty members, and may establish ad hoc committees in consultation with the Executive Committee.



• In the absence of the President, the President Elect shall assume the duties of the President.

3.3.11 Duties of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall act for the Faculty between meetings of the Senate and the Assembly. The Executive Committee shall meet with the Chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at least twice per month, except that one of these meetings may be waived by mutual consent if the Chancellor appears and answers questions at the regular meeting of the Senate for that month. The Executive Committee shall advise and otherwise assist the Chancellor in carrying out all the duties and administrative functions specified in Section 2.8.1 and 2.3.2 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. The Executive Committee shall report to the Senate about such meetings and receive instructions from the Senate concerning the position of the faculty relating to the operations of the University.

The Executive Committee shall also meet with the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at least bimonthly, and shall advise and otherwise assist the Senior Vice Chancellor in carrying out the duties and functions specified in Section 1.5.1 of the Bylaws of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Executive Committee shall meet with the Vice Chancellor for Agriculture and Natural Resources at least bimonthly, and shall advise and otherwise assist the Vice Chancellor in carrying out the duties and functions specified in Section 1.5.2 of the Bylaws of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, particularly with regard to academic matters, items affecting the relationship of IANR with other academic units, and concerns affecting academic personnel within the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

3.3.12 Recall of Representatives. Upon receipt of the Senate Office of requests from at least 50% of the members of a constituency described in 3.3.5, for the recall of a representative of that constituency, and receipt of a consent form from at least one eligible constituent agreeing to run for one vacancy resulting from a recall, then the Senate shall conduct, within 14 days, a recall vote by secret ballot of the constituency. If more than 50% of the persons voting are in favor of recall, then the seat is vacated and an interim election shall be conducted as in 3.3.7. If not more than 50% of the persons voting are in favor of recall, then for the remainder of that annual term of the Senate (as defined for 3.3.9), that representative shall not be subject to another recall vote unless requests from more than 50% of the members of the constituency are received in the Senate Office. Recall requests are to be held in confidence by the Senate Office, except that the Senate Secretary (or the Senate President, in such cases that request is to recall the representative serving as the Senate Secretary) may review and confirm the authenticity of the requests.

3.4 Senate and Other Campus-Wide Standing Committees. The Senate shall publish annually a Syllabus of Senate and other campus-wide standing committees. The Faculty Senate shall have power to modify the number and charges of Senate Committees at any time. The President of the Senate shall appoint a member of the Senate as a non-voting member of every standing, campus-wide committee that lacks a representative from the Senate.

3.5 Amendments. In addition to the provisions of Chapter VII of the UNL Bylaws, any amendments to this chapter on Faculty Governance must be approved by a majority of the members of the Assembly voting in a mail or e-mail ballot ordered in accord with Section 3.2.3(b) or Section 3.2.4 above, or by a two-thirds majority of those voting in a vote of the Senate.

Revised April 2007