University Faculty Elections and Referenda Procedures

These procedures apply to the following three categories of elections and referenda:

• The total faculty electorate in the University,
• The constituency of a College/Library, and
• The membership of the Academic Senate.

A. ALL-UNIVERSITY ELECTIONS

All-University elections include, among other possibilities, those that select faculty representatives for at-large membership on the Academic Senate, the Statewide Academic Senate, administrative consultation committees, and the Academic Freedom Committee. The University Promotions Committee elections will be discussed in a separate section, although many of the provisions which follow also apply.

1. Elections Committee

There shall be an Elections Committee composed of three members chosen by the Executive Committee. It shall be the responsibility of this Committee to review periodically election procedures of the University, Senate, and Colleges to recommend any appropriate revisions. In any instances of disputed all-University or Senate elections, the Elections Committee shall serve as final arbitrator. Additional functions of this Committee are described, where applicable in the following paragraphs.

2. Announcement of Elections

Announcements of elections shall be made in Faculty Action and by direct communication wit the College Deans.

3. Electorate

In most instances of all-University elections the electorate is determined by the provisions of the Faculty Constitution. In any instance where the Constitution would not determine the electorate, the Academic Senate shall have this responsibility.

4. Nominations

Nominations may be made by any member of the electorate so longs as the person being nominated agrees in writing to stand as a candidate. In some instances the Academic Senate or the Executive Committee of the Senate might wish to serve as an initial nominating committee, especially for such ad hoc all-University committees which might be deemed necessary. There shall be a minimum of ten working days' notice between the announcement of an all-University election and the deadline for the receipt of nominations. This deadline shall not be extended as long as there have been nominated twice as many candidates as there are offices, but must be extended for only five working days (and publicized) should the number of nominations fall short of this requirement.

5. Distribution of Ballots

The distribution of ballots is the responsibility of the Office of the Academic Senate. The up-to-date listing of the electorate shall provide the basis for this distribution. The distribution should be by department, with responsibility resting at the departmental level for the final distribution to faculty members.

6. Return of Ballots

All ballots must be returned with the accompanying signature of the voter on the external envelope. No ballots shall be counted which do not arrive in the Office of the Academic Senate by the deadline listed on the ballot. The deadline shall not be less than five working days (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) nor more than ten full working days from the submission of the ballot. For purposes of processing, envelopes containing ballots may be opened on a flow basis and the ballots numbered sequentially to ensure that they are counted just once, and delivered immediately to the Computer Center for data entry. During the processing, only Senate and Computer Center staff shall have access to any open ballot. No tabulation of ballots shall occur until after the announced deadline for ballots to be received has passed and all data have been entered.

7. Listing of Names on Ballots

Names will be listed on ballots by a random drawing of lots. The identifying description of the candidate will coincide with the listing of the individual in the University Bulletin or other official records; e.g., Associate Professor of Sociology or Professor of Accounting; Department Chair, Accounting.

8. Approval Voting System

In an all-University election, the system known as approval voting will be used. Regardless of how many candidates there are or how many places are to be filled, under approval voting the voter may vote for any number of candidates, but may not cast more than one vote for a candidate. Winning candidates are those with the highest number of votes. In the event of ties that preclude determination of winner or winners, a run-off election will be held among those so tied.

9. Void Ballots

Ballots will be considered void if they are not accompanied by the voter's signature, if they arrive past the deadline, or if they violate any other specific requirements in the election. There shall be no requirement that a voter must vote for the required number of candidates.

10. Replacements

Should a vacancy develop during the academic year in any position selected by an all-University election, the individual the highest number of votes among those not elected in the most recent election for that office will serve as a short-term replacement for the remainder of the year; i.e., should an elected member leave the University or resign from office in the middle of the year, this system would provide a substitute for the remainder of the year. Should an elected member go on leave for not more than one year, his/her substitute would be determined by this process. Should a representative be absent from his/her seat for more than a year or should a representative resign from a seat when there is more than one year remaining in his/her term, the balance of the term shall be filled at the next regularly scheduled annual election. At any election at which both full and partial terms are at stake, individuals will be assigned to the full and partial terms as determined by their rank order in the election. Any problem not met by these replacement procedures will be settled by the Elections Committee.

11. Statements by Candidates

Candidates for all-University elections should be encouraged to file statements reflecting their views that are pertinent to the particular election. These statements shall be distributed with the ballots.

12. Counting of Ballots

It is the responsibility of the Elections Committee to make decisions on the legitimacy of individual ballots and to certify the results of the elections.

B. UNIVERSITY PROMOTIONS COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

Except where indicated below, the procedures for other all-University elections shall be followed in the election of faculty members to the University Promotions Committee (i.e., provisions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 presented in Part A of this document apply).

1. Nominations

Candidates for the University Promotions Committee must be tenured full professors. (Persons not eligible for membership on the Committee include University Deans, administrative officers of Colleges, department chairs, and members of the Academic Senate. No person shall serve simultaneously on the department promotions committee and on the University-wide Promotions Committee.) Persons due to be on leave the following year are not eligible.

Nominees shall be elected by each College and the Library. The person being nominated must agree in writing to stand as a candidate. Only those Colleges (or the Library) who would not have members continuing on the University Promotions Committee may submit nominees for the annual election to the Committee.

2. Statements by Candidates

No statements will be required by candidate but they will be expected to assist in the preparation of a biographical summary that will appear in the ballot.

3. Timing

The University Promotions Committee elections will be conducted in the spring semester and should be completed by June 1. The announcement for nominations should be issued no later than February 16. Nominations will be accepted during the remainder of February.

C. COLLEGE/LIBRARY ELECTIONS

The elections referred to in this section include only those in which unit (College/Library) representatives are selected for the Academic Senate, all-University standing committees, and other ad hoc committees at the University level requiring unit representation.

It is not the intent of the Academic Senate to prescribe election procedures for the units. The principle of a large degree of decentralization and autonomy seems appropriate. However, to ensure a minimum amount of uniformity and regularity, the following procedures shall apply:

1. All units shall select an Elections Committee which will have the responsibility for conducting elections and such other duties as might be delegated to it.

2. All units shall develop and file in the Academic Senate Office a statement of election procedures.

Beyond these two requirements, units are free to operate as they desire. In elections where eligibility for candidacy and voting are specified in the Faculty Constitution, these limitations will naturally apply. Many of the procedures listed in this document as requirements for all-University elections should serve as guidelines, with some modification, for unit elections. This would include the procedure requiring majority vote or approval voting, the replacement provision, and the nominations process.

D. SENATE ELECTIONS

Elections in which only the Academic Senate membership votes include the Senate's election of its own Executive Committee, working committees for Senate business, and some ad hoc all-University committees. It shall be the responsibility of the Academic Senate to determine which ad hoc all-University committees are to be chosen by the Senate and which are to be determined by the total faculty.

1. Executive Committee Elections

a. The spring organizational meeting of the Senate shall be held as soon after completion of election of new members as practicable, but in no case later than the end of instruction in the spring semester. At that meeting, the identified members of the Senate for the next academic year shall elect their officers.

A Senate member on leave for the fall semester shall be deemed eligible to vote for Senate officers. In the instance of a Senate member on leave for the entire academic year, the replacement shall be deemed eligible to vote.

The new Senate will assume its official duties on June 1.

b. Offices shall be filled one at a time in order of chair, vice chair, secretary, first at-large member, second at-large member.

c. Nominations shall be made by individual members of the Senate by secret ballot.

d. Senate members shall have the opportunity of withdrawing their names from nominations after the nominations have been announced.

e. Voting shall be by written ballots unless there is only one nominee.

f. To be elected, a Senate member must receive a majority of the votes cast. (A written abstention shall not be considered vote cast.) In a run-off election, the candidates shall be those listed in rank order of votes received whose combined total of votes first exceeds a majority (i.e., if the top two have such a majority, they will be the candidates; if it takes the top three for such a majority, they are the candidates, etc.)

g. For the purpose of this election, the chair shall appoint two retiring Senate members as an Elections Committee to handle the voting procedures.

2. Elections: Senate Working Committees and All-University ad hoc Committees chosen by the Senate

In view of the diversity of such elections, procedures that would encompass all such elections would be complex and burdensome. Thus, the procedures suggested below are intended only as guidelines for most elections. The Executive Committee shall either decide on the procedures for specific elections or delegate this final decision to the Senate.

a. The Executive Committee shall serve as a nominating committee for such committees. Senate members may make floor nominations and shall be notified of the elections in sufficient time to secure nominees who have agreed to run. Where appropriate, the Senate shall attempt to expand the number of faculty involved in academic governance.

b. In instances where there are numerous nominees for a particular position, the majority vote requirement is advisable.

c. The term of service on committees shall be two years unless specified otherwise for an individual committee.

E. REFERENDA

When referenda have been decreed by the Faculty or the Senate, the Executive Committee shall have the responsibility of deciding whether or not position statements on the referenda issues should be promulgated with the ballot. Should such statements be required, the Elections Committee or the Executive Committee will be responsible for spelling out the issues in the referenda.

Procedures for all-university elections (Part A) shall be followed, where applicable (i.e., provisions (2) announcement of elections (referenda); (3) electorate; (5) distribution of ballots; (6) return of ballots; (9) void ballots; (12) counting of ballots.)

F. The names and addresses of the chairs of the sponsoring groups should be included on all campaign literature.

G. TERMS

The term of service for any person elected or appointed to a committee by the faculty, the Senate, or the executive Committee shall be a specified duration for that committee.