Bylaws

Academic Staff Nominations Committee

Article I Purpose and Responsibilities

Section 1 Purpose

The purpose of the Nominations Committee is to nominate candidates for the Senate of the Academic Staff, academic staff committees (except the Nominations Committee), and all other committees as requested.

Section 2 Responsibilities

The Committee consults with the Office of the Secretary of the University in constructing yearly preference forms for university service. Utilizing the preference forms completed by academic staff, the Committee prepares the slate of nominees for the annual spring academic staff election. In the event that the Nominations Committee is not able to fill the slate of nominees with at least double the number of vacancies for a given committee from the submitted preference forms, the Nominations Committee will solicit nominations from the floor for that particular committee at the spring general meeting of the academic staff.
(AS Doc 104, 11/16)
(AS Doc 146, 1/24)

Article II Membership

Section 1 Structure

The Committee consists of six members: five elected academic staff members; and the Secretary of the University or a designee who is an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Committee.  No more than one member may be from any one college or division at the time of their election to the committee. All members must have at least a 50% appointment at UWM.
(AS Doc 71, 2/12)
(AS Doc 104, 11/16)
(AS Doc 146, 1/24)

Section 2 Nomination/Election Procedures for the Nominations Committee

Candidates are nominated from the floor at the Academic Staff spring general meeting.  If two candidates for each vacancy are not nominated from the floor, candidates are added to the slate by those members of the Nominations Committee who are in their last year of service.
(AS Doc 104, 11/16)

Section 3 Term of Office

The term of office begins on the first day of the fall semester contractual period as it appears in the academic year calendar published on the Secretary of the University’s website and ends the day before the next fall contractual period begins. All members serve three-year terms. No member may serve consecutive three-year terms.
(AS Doc 146, 1/24)

Section 4 Absences

Attendance at Committee meetings is part of each member’s duties. In instances where a committee member may have to miss two or more meetings for a significant medical or life event, a “leave” may be taken from the committee and a replacement appointed for a semester or year (as determined by the approved leave) with a subsequent return to the committee to fulfill the remaining term. Such a leave must be requested and approved by Committee Chair and Secretary of the University prior to the committee member’s second absence.

Members who miss one-third of the regular meetings, as scheduled at the beginning of each year in accordance with Article III, Section 2, Paragraph A of these bylaws, forfeit their committee membership. There are no excused absences.

Section 5 Vacancies

If a vacancy occurs, the position is filled by the eligible candidate who received the next highest number of votes in the most recent election.  That candidate will serve the remainder of the term associated with the vacancy.  If no eligible candidate is available, the Academic Staff Committee appoints an academic staff member to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term of service.
(AS Doc 40, 5/09; revised 7/09)

ARTICLE III ORGANIZATION

Section 1 Officers

The officers are the Chair and Secretary. Other officers are appointed by the Committee as necessary.

  1. Responsibilities
    The Chair prepares and distributes the agenda for all meetings and presides at these meetings. They accept nominations from the floor at the spring general meeting of the academic staff. In addition, the Chair is the liaison with the Office of the Secretary of the University and the Academic Staff Committee. At the end of each committee year, the Chair prepares a written report of Committee activities.
    The Secretary takes minutes and distributes them to Committee members, the Chair of the Academic Staff Committee, and the Office of the Secretary of the University; maintains the attendance records of Committee members; and conducts Committee business in the absence of the Chair.
    Responsibilities of other officers are determined when each position is created.
  2. Eligibility
    Any member of the Committee may become an officer regardless of prior length of Committee service.
  3. Election, Term of Office, and Vacancies
    Officers are elected at a regular meeting within three weeks after the annual election for one-year terms. If a vacancy occurs, the Committee elects a new officer at the next regular meeting to complete the unexpired term.

Section 2 Meetings

  1. Regular and Special Meetings
    The Chair calls the first meeting in September for organizational purposes and to establish a schedule of regular meetings. The Chair calls special meetings as needed or at the request of two or more Committee members.
  2. Quorum
    A quorum consists of three members.
  3. Standing Rules
    All Committee meetings are conducted according to the latest edition of “Robert’s Rules of Order”, unless otherwise specified in these bylaws.
  4. Agenda
    The agenda is distributed prior to each meeting. Any Committee member or academic staff member may place an item of business on the agenda of any regular meeting by contacting the Chair prior to the distribution of the agenda. Additional items may not be added to the agenda of special meetings once the agenda has been distributed.

ARTICLE IV AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS

A motion to amend these bylaws may be made only by a Committee member and must be placed on the agenda prior to a regularly scheduled meeting. Amendments must be approved by a majority vote of both the Nominations Committee and the Senate of the Academic Staff.  All proposed amendments must be reviewed by the Codification Committee for logic, clarity, and consistency prior to final approval by the Senate of the Academic Staff. Lastly, approved bylaw amendment(s) must be reported at the next general meeting of the academic staff.
(AS Doc 119, 4/19)

Nominations Bylaws
12/89
5/09
7/09
11/16
4/19
1/24