Standing Committees
Bylaws and Procedures Committee
2009-2010 Bylaws and Procedures Committee Annual Report
Annual Report AY 08-09
Open Letter regarding Elections Chair
See below or click on above link to a pdf.file
Posted - May 22, 2008
NOTICE TO MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE
FROM THE OFFICERS OF THE SENATE
Proposed changes to the Senate Bylaws were approved by both Faculty Assembly and Senate Council members at the May 6 and May 14 meetings respectively. Please visit the Senate website at www.pitt.edu/univsenate to view the Bylaws in their entirety. If you have any questions or if you wish to receive a hard copy of the Senate Bylaws, please contact Lori Molinaro, Director, Office of the University Senate, at 412-624-6505. The substantive changes and rationale are:
Article V. Committee for Elections and Method of Election
Section 2. Composition:
(b) The most immediate past president of the Senate shall be a nonvoting member Ex Officio.
Section 3. Chair: The Elections Chair will be held by the immediate past president. If the immediate past president is seeking office, then the Committee for Elections will shall elect a chair from its membership annually.
Rationale: The change gives a consistent process to determining who will chair the Elections Committee each year, and who is responsible for making sure that the committee begins meeting in time to develop a slate of candidates for elections.
NOTE: These changes will become effective 45 days after this announcement unless the Senate Office received a petition signed by at least 50 members of the Senate requesting a vote of the full membership. If you are not in agreement with recommended changes you are encouraged to submit a petition to the Senate Office as outlined in Article VIII Amendments.
We hope you will use this opportunity to learn more about the University Senate by viewing other sections of the Senate website as well.
Professor John J. Baker
President, University Senate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTICE TO MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE
FROM THE OFFICERS OF THE SENATE
Proposed changes to the Senate Bylaws were approved by both Faculty Assembly and Senate Council members at the January/February 2007 meetings. Please visit the Senate website at www.pitt.edu/univsenate to view the Bylaws in their entirety. If you have any questions or if you wish to receive a hard copy of the Senate Bylaws, please contact Lori Molinaro, Director, Office of the University Senate, at 412-624-6505. The substantive changes and rationale are:
Proposed Bylaws change in Article II
Section 2. Composition
The Faculty Assembly shall consist of directly elected and ex officio voting members:
(a) Directly Elected Members from the four major components of the University: (1) School of Arts and Sciences: at least 15 members, with a minimum of five elected members from each of the three divisions (units) – Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences; (2) Professional Schools (non-health): at least sixteen members with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each professional school (unit) and the University Library System (unit); (3) Health Sciences: at least fourteen twenty-one members, with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each school (unit) of the Health Sciences and the Health Sciences Library System (unit) except for the School of Medicine (unit) which shall have 9 members; (4) Regional Campuses: at least eight members with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each regional campus (unit); (5) Should the number of faculty within a unit of any of the four major components of the University be greater than 100 (excepting the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine), there shall be one additional elected member from that unit.
Rationale: To increase School of Medicine representation due to the extraordinary growth in the number of SOM faculty.
NOTE: These changes will become effective 45 days after this announcement unless the Senate Office receives a petition signed by at least 50 members of the Senate requesting a vote of the full membership. If you are not in agreement with the recommended changes you are encouraged to submit a petition to the Senate Office as outlined in Article VIII Amendments.
We hope you will use this opportunity to learn more about the University Senate by viewing other sections of the Senate website as well.
Professor John J. Baker
President, University Senate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTICE TO MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE
FROM THE OFFICERS OF THE SENATE
Proposed changes to the Senate Bylaws were approved by both Faculty Assembly and Senate Council members at the January/February 2007 meetings. Please visit the Senate website at www.pitt.edu/univsenate to view the Bylaws in their entirety. If you have any questions or if you wish to receive a hard copy of the Senate Bylaws, please contact Lori Molinaro, Director, Office of the University Senate, at 412-624-6505. The substantive changes and rationale are:
Proposed Bylaws change in Article II
Section 2. Composition
The Faculty Assembly shall consist of directly elected and ex officio voting members:
(a) Directly Elected Members from the four major components of the University: (1) School of Arts and Sciences: at least 15 members, with a minimum of five elected members from each of the three divisions (units) – Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences; (2) Professional Schools (non-health): at least sixteen members with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each professional school (unit) and the University Library System (unit); (3) Health Sciences: at least fourteen twenty-one members, with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each school (unit) of the Health Sciences and the Health Sciences Library System (unit) except for the School of Medicine (unit) which shall have 9 members; (4) Regional Campuses: at least eight members with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each regional campus (unit); (5) Should the number of faculty within a unit of any of the four major components of the University be greater than 100 (excepting the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine), there shall be one additional elected member from that unit.
Rationale: To increase School of Medicine representation due to the extraordinary growth in the number of SOM faculty.
NOTE: These changes will become effective 45 days after this announcement unless the Senate Office receives a petition signed by at least 50 members of the Senate requesting a vote of the full membership. If you are not in agreement with the recommended changes you are encouraged to submit a petition to the Senate Office as outlined in Article VIII Amendments.
We hope you will use this opportunity to learn more about the University Senate by viewing other sections of the Senate website as well.
Professor John J. Baker
President, University Senate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1-30-06 - Report to the Faculty Assembly from the University Senate Bylaws and Procedures Committee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SENATE COMMITTEE ELECTRONIC VOTING BYLAWS CHANGES
(2) The names of nominees for each committee, and the accompanying background statements, shall be arranged on the ballot alphabetically. Ballots for all committee positions shall be mailed made available to members of the Faculty Assembly electronically by April 30. Ballots will be submitted cast and returned by the members of the Faculty Assembly no later than May 15. With the ballot there shall be enclosed the background statements provided for in Section 7(a). Additional nominees for each committee may be certified at the Faculty Assembly meeting in April by the presentation of a nominating petition signed by at least two members of the Faculty Assembly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Open letter to all members of the
University Senate
See below or click on the above for a link to a pdf file.
NOTICE TO MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE
FROM THE OFFICERS OF THE SENATE
Proposed changes to the Senate Bylaws were approved by both Faculty Assembly and Senate Council members at the November/December 2006 meetings. Please visit the Senate Web site at www.pitt.edu/univsenate to view the Bylaws in their entirety. If you have any questions or if you wish to receive a hard copy of the Senate Bylaws, please contact Lori Molinaro, Director, Office of the University Senate, at 412-624-6505. The substantive changes and rationale are:
a) Article V, section 7(3) – deleted mailed and inserted “made available electronically”. Deleted the return of the ballot and inserted “completing the electronic ballot”.
(3) The ballot for Senate Officers shall be mailed made available to all members of the University Senate electronically, while the ballot for Faculty Assembly members from each unit shall be mailed made available electronically to all members of the University Senate in that unit. All ballots shall be accompanied by the background and personal statements provided for above, a listing of members of the Faculty Assembly whose terms do not expire, and instructions for the return of the ballot completing the electronic ballot.
b) Article V, section 7(4) – deleted The "double envelope" method for voting shall be employed. To be counted, the outer envelope must bear the name, school and signature of the voter and inserted “Ballots must be authenticated using a secure system for faculty identification.” Also deleted returned and inserted “submitted”.
(4) The "double envelope" method for voting shall be employed. To be counted, the outer envelope must bear the name, school and signature of the voter. Ballots must be authenticated using a secure system for faculty identification. The ballot must be returned submitted not later than May 1.
Rationale: To allow and facilitate moving to electronic balloting.
NOTE: These changes will become effective 45 days after this announcement unless the Senate Office receives a petition signed by at least 50 members of the Senate requesting a vote of the full membership. If you are not in agreement with the recommended changes you are encouraged to submit a petition to the Senate Office as outlined in Article VIII Amendments.
We hope you will use this opportunity to learn more about the University Senate by viewing other sections of the Senate Web site as well.
Professor John J. Baker
President, University Senate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 27, 2006 Report of the Senate Committee on Bylaws and Procedures to the Faculty Senate on the Question of Electronic Balloting for Election of Officers of the University Senate and Representatives of the Faculty Assembly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FROM: Ted L. Rice, MS, FASHP, BCPS
Chair 2005-2006, Senate Bylaws and Procedures Committee
Michael R. Pinsky, MD, FCCM, FCCP
Vice President 2005-2006, University Senate
TO: All who are interested in shared governance at the University of
Pittsburgh
DATE: February 2006
REGARDING: Allocation strategy for directly elected voting members of
Faculty Assembly.
Colleagues, the Senate Bylaws and Procedures Committee has been asked
to review and modify our current policy regarding the number of directly
elected members of Faculty Assembly. At issue is the question of whether
there should be more members from those divisions (units) that have a
comparatively large number of faculty. This request was made by Senate
members from the School of Medicine who felt that the fixed number of
seats allotted to their School did not adequately reflect the relatively
recently large increase in the number of their faculty. It was suggested
that the School of Medicine be excluded from the Health Sciences unit,
and be identified as a single, stand-alone unit. Please review the following
paragraphs that list the current allocation strategy and one possible
modification, based on the School of Medicine request. The proposed modification
to the Bylaws of the University Senate would insure eleven School of Medicine
representatives as opposed to the present condition wherein the entire
Health Sciences has fourteen positions, of which, usually only three are
filled by faculty from the School of Medicine
==========================================================================
Current policy in the Bylaws of the University Senate regarding directly
elected voting members:
(a) Directly Elected Members from the four major components of the University:
(1) School of Arts and Sciences: at least fifteen members, with a minimum
of five elected faculty members from each of the three divisions (units)
-- Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences; (2) Professional
Schools (non-health): at least sixteen members with a minimum of two elected
faculty members from each professional school (unit) and the University
Library System (unit); (3) Health Sciences: at least fourteen members,
with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each school (unit)
of the Health Sciences and the Health Sciences Library System (unit);
(4) Regional Campuses: at least eight members with a minimum of two elected
faculty members from each regional campus (unit); (5) Should the number
of faculty within a unit of any of the four major components of the University
be greater than 100, there shall be one additional elected faculty member
from that unit.
Proposed modification of the Bylaws of the University Senate:
"(a) Directly Elected Members from the five major components of the
University: (1) School of Arts and Sciences: at least fifteen members,
with a minimum of five elected faculty members from each of the three
divisions (units) -- Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences;
(2) Professional Schools (non-health): at least sixteen members with a
minimum of two elected faculty members from each professional school (unit)
and the University Library System (unit); (3) Health Sciences: at least
twelve members, with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each
school (unit) of the Health Sciences and the Health Sciences Library System
(unit), excluding the School of Medicine; (4) School of Medicine: at least
eleven members, with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each
of the two largest departments (unit) and one elected faculty member from
each set of two other departments (unit); (5) Regional Campuses: at least
eight members with a minimum of two elected faculty members from each
regional campus (unit); (6) Should the number of faculty within a unit
of any of the five major components of the University be greater than
100, there shall be one additional elected faculty member from that unit."
==========================================================================
Let me assure you that the Senate Bylaws and Procedures Committee has
addressed this issue on multiple occasions and could not come to a consensus
regarding the “optimal” allocation strategy for voting members
of the University Senate. Our plan is to canvass the University via this
letter in order to determine if the University community agrees that there
is a need to revise the current allocation strategy. Therefore, we ask
that you advise us of your opinion, by telephone, or sending an email
or letter to our Director of the Office of the University Senate, Fran
Czak. Her contact information is:
Fran Czak, Director
Office of the University Senate
1234 Cathedral of Learning
Phone: (412) 624-6505
Fax: (412) 624-6688
EMAIL: usenate@pitt.edu
|
