Faculty Senate News

Nominations for Faculty Senate Officers Open April 8

April 04, 2022  / Anna Carlin 

Nominations will be taken at the April 8 meeting for officers of the Faculty Senate. The bylaws of the Faculty Senate describe this process in Section 3.03:

Each spring, the Senate elects a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, Communications Officer, and a Parliamentarian ... for one-year terms which begin the following fall semester. ... Candidates for all officers will be nominated at the penultimate meeting of the spring term.

April 8th will be our next to last meeting. Nominations for all officer positions will be collected at this meeting. All nominations for President must be name at this penultimate meeting and finalized. Additional nominations for all other positions (VP, CO, Parliamentarian, Secretary) may be made at the last meeting of the spring term. 

If you are a senator and would like to nominate someone or yourself (there are no rules against self-nomination) you just need to speak the nomination. Each nomination should get a second, and each nomination must be accepted by the nominee. For that reason, it is helpful to discuss the nomination with the nominee first. 

Elections for Senate offices will be held at the last meeting of the spring term, which will be April 22nd. Current senators will be eligible to vote.

At the final meeting, candidates will have the option of presenting a statement of no more than two minutes to the Senate at the last meeting. Senators may make a statement of no more than one minute regarding a candidate. Following the presentations by candidates, the election for President will be held. Nominations for Vice President, Secretary, CO, and Parliamentarian will be accepted at this meeting  and elections held for offices in that order. 

 

Eligibility for Officers:

Any academic advisor, instructor, assistant, associate or full professor or librarian who has completed one academic year of service in the FGCU Faculty Senate before the start of the term of office can be elected as the Faculty Senate secretary, CO or parliamentarian.  Any assistant, associate or full professor or librarian with at least three years’ experience as a faculty member at FGCU, including at least one year experience in the FGCU faculty senate, at the beginning of the term in question, can be elected to the office of faculty senate vice president or president. 

Description of Officer Roles (from the Faculty Governance Document/Bylaws):

  • The President facilitates Senate meetings, represents the Senate at the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates, the Dean’s Council, and the FGCU Board of Trustees. The Senate President is responsible for implementing the communication process between the Faculty Senate, and the administration.   
  • The Vice President facilitates Senate meetings in the absence of the President and assists the President in drafting resolutions, leads selected Faculty Senate special initiatives, serves as chair of the Senate Teams Council of Chairs (STCC), facilitates communication between the Faculty Senate and the STCC, and as the designated liaison, is responsible for communicating substantive results of Senate deliberations to the FGCU Board of Trustees.. The Senate, by majority vote, may also direct the Vice-President to transmit information items presented during a Senate meeting to the Board of Trustees.    
  • The Secretary takes minutes for Senate and STCC, and sends the minutes, agendas, and other relevant documents to the Communications Officer for posting to the website. The secretary also keeps track of the attendance of senators and collects the names of those who are using proxies. 
  • The Communications Officer (CO) ensures communication between the Senate officers, Senators, STCC, and university community. The CO maintains the Senate and STCC webpages, ensures the publication of Senate agendas and minutes in a timely manner, oversees any surveys or other feedback about Senate affairs, and acts as official Senate archivist. The agenda and minutes should be posted on the Senate web page at least 72 hours prior to the next Senate meeting. 
  • The Parliamentarian ensures that meetings are conducted, and Senate actions are taken, in accordance with the FGCU Faculty Governance Document. The Parliamentarian coordinates elections, and compiles a list of current Senators, Alternates, and members of senate teams and committees within two weeks after elections are complete.