CONSTITUTION OF CNM FACULTY SENATE
MISSION STATEMENT
The Faculty Senate represents the faculty of Central New Mexico Community College in fulfilling its professional and academic responsibilities to meet the goals of the Institute. The Faculty Senate shall exercise leadership in matters of education and institutional planning. The Faculty Senate shall coordinate faculty participation in all academic issues of the Institute.
ARTICLE I: PURPOSES
a. Communications
To promote open and effective communication within and among all organizational levels and all campuses.
b. Faculty Representation
1) To provide the faculty with participation in institutional decisions, procedures, and regulations.
2) To provide the faculty with representation to the President and the Governing Board on matters affecting institutional policies.
ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP
a. Voting members of the Faculty Senate will consist of the following elected faculty as designated from each department. Departments having four faculty representatives will divide their representation to consist of three full-time members and one part-time member. Remaining departments may divide full-time/part-time representation as determined by faculty of these departments.
Applied Technologies (AT) 3
Business and Information Technology (BIT) 4
Communication, Humanities, and SocialSciences (CHSS) 4
Educational and Career Advancement (ECA) 4
Health, Wellness and Public Safety (HWPS) 3
Math, Sciences, and Engineering (MSE) 3
Members of the Faculty Senate will be limited to terms of three years; members can not serve consecutive three-year terms. The Faculty Senate By-Laws will provide election guidelines to prevent a large turnover of membership during any one year. Part-time faculty members may serve on the Faculty Senate only during employment at CNM.
b. Nonvoting members of the Faculty Senate will consist of
1) One instructional technician selected by instructional technicians from all departments.
2) One counselor selected by all of the institute's counselors.
3) One departmental dean selected by all of the departmental deans, institute administrators, and the President.
4) A representative from the CNM Student Government.
ARTICLE III: ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES
a. Officers of the Faculty Senate will be elected annually by Faculty Senate voting members and will consist of a Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary.
b. The Faculty Senate will hold regular meetings once a month on a fixed day. All meetings will be announced in the Faculty Publication.
c. The Faculty Senate is empowered to call special meetings. The members of the Faculty Senate will be required to provide three days written notice to their constituents of the date, time, place, and agenda of any special meeting.
d. The Faculty Senate will adopt by-laws to establish rules of procedure and other provisions for implementing the intent and purpose of this constitution. In all matters of internal functioning not covered by the by-laws, the Faculty Senate will be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order.
e. Minutes of the Faculty Senate meetings will be distributed via the Faculty Publication within two weeks after the meeting.
ARTICLE IV: CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS
a. Proposals for consideration by the Senate will be presented in writing by one or more voting members of the Faculty Senate.
b. If a proposal for consideration is determined to fall under the objectives of an existing Senate committee, it will be presented to that committee at least three days prior to the committee's next meeting.
c. Proposals for consideration will be subject to the following:
1) A quorum will consist of 1/2 of all voting members.
2) A discussion of the proposal will be required during the meeting in which the proposal is initially presented.
3) When applicable, representatives from the affected institutional area will be asked to review and discuss the proposal with the Faculty Senate.
4) The Faculty Senate will vote on the proposal at the meeting following the initial presentation. A proposal requiring immediate action may be voted on at the meeting in which it is presented.
5) The proposal will be approved upon a simple majority vote of the Faculty Senate's voting members.
6) Twenty five percent of the faculty may petition for a proposal to be sent to the entire faculty for a vote.
d. The Senate will present approved proposals to the appropriate institutional unit.
ARTICLE V: RESPONSIBILITIES
a. The Faculty Senate will work with the administration in identifying and correcting problem areas that are not addressed through an existing committee and that directly affect students and faculty.
b.The Faculty Senate may review the decisions made by committees with faculty representation.
c. Faculty membership on committees in which representation from each department is required will be elected by the faculty of each department.
d. The Faculty Senate will select members for institutional committees whose membership is not selected by individual departments and whose objectives concern education and institutional planning.
1) To select a qualified member to a committee, the Faculty Senate will submit a request for nominations. A call for nominations will be made in the Senate's minutes distributed via the Faculty Publication. Nominations will be submitted in writing to the Faculty Senate Chair at least three days prior to the next meeting. The Faculty Senate will elect the faculty member from these nominations.
2) The Faculty Senate will provide the opportunity for all faculty to participate in the institute's committees by ensuring that no faculty member is placed on or elected to more than two institutional committees concurrently and that no faculty member serves more than three consecutive years on the same committee.
3) A faculty member from each CNM committee may be requested to report the committee's activities to the Faculty Senate. These activities will be disseminated to the faculty by means of a Faculty Publication.
e. The Chair or a designated representative of the Faculty Senate will attend the Deans' Council meetings as a non-voting member.
ARTICLE VI: AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
a. Amendments to the Constitution will be presented by a voting member of the Faculty Senate in writing at a monthly Senate meeting.
b. Adoption of the amendment will follow the procedure of Article IV.
c. except that an amendment must be approved by 2/3 of the Faculty Senate's voting members.
ARTICLE VII: FACULTY PUBLICATION
The Faculty Senate will oversee the writing and distribution of a Faculty Publication to all employees of the institute and to the Governing Board. The purpose of this publication will be to
a. disseminate information about, but not limited to, the following:
1) minutes of the Faculty Senate meetings
2) activities of the institute's committees
3) institutional procedural changes or recommendations of procedural changes
4) articles submitted by faculty members
5) administrative activities
b. request feedback from the faculty on issues brought before the Faculty Senate.
ARTICLE I: MEMBERSHIP
Section I: Membership eligibility:
Membership is limited to those who are full- or part-time employees of the institute. Voting and non-voting membership is restricted to that which is outlined in the constitution of the Faculty Senate. If members of the Senate cease to be employees of the institute for reasons such as death, retirement, or resignation from the institute, then they also cease to be members for the Senate. It is the responsibility of their department to select anew member to fill the remainder of the term. If members change departments or otherwise change the status under which they were elected, then they must also resign their Senate seats.
Section II: Inactive Membership:
The Faculty Senate depends on the full participation of all of its members. Accordingly, if a member is absent for three consecutive meetings without notification of the Chair and/or provision of a substitute, the Chair will attempt to contact the member or designate another member who is able to, to contact the member who has missed the three meetings and encourage active participation. If the member misses the fourth consecutive meeting, then the Chair may ask for a motion to declare a vacancy, and if the motion carries, the department which the member represents shall be notified through other members from that department and an election shall be held to fill the remainder of the term. In the case of nonvoting members, that member’s representative group shall be notified and requested to provide another member as soon as possible.
Section IIA: Substitute Members:
When a voting member cannot attend some Faculty Senate meetings, he or she will notify the Chair and provide a substitute. The substitute will act in an informational manner and will constitute a voting member. The substitute's tenure will not affect the length of the absent senator's term.
Section III: Member Resignations:
To resign from the Faculty Senate, a member should submit a written resignation statement to the Chair of the Faculty Senate (or to the Vice Chair if the member is the Chair). It is also the responsibility of the member to inform colleagues in hi/her department, and if possible to serve until a new member is elected to fill the remainder of the term.
ARTICLE II: OFFICERS
Section I: Officer Designations:
The Faculty Senate shall elect a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer each of whom shall come from within its voting membership.
Section II: Officer Election and Tenure:
The four officers shall be nominated and elected at the July meeting, by committee members. Election of each office shall be by a majority of votes. If more than two nominations are accepted for an office and if none of the candidates receives a majority of the votes, then a runoff shall be held between the first and second place candidates. All Balloting shall be by closed ballot. If there is a tie for second place in the first round, or a tie in a runoff election, the candidates shall break the tie between themselves. Officers shall serve for one year, until the following July meeting. Members may serve consecutive terms if reelected to the office by the membership. If a vacancy occurs in the office of the Chair, then the Vice Chair shall assume the office of the Chair, and a new Vice Chair shall be elected from the membership to serve the remainder of the term. If a vacancy occurs in the office of the Vice Chair or of the Secretary, then this office shall be filled by election of a new officer by the membership to serve the remainder of the term. Special elections shall be conducted in the same manner as regular elections.
Section III: Officer Duties:
The Chair of the Faculty Senate shall be the presiding officer, and shall call and preside over all regular and special meetings of the Faculty Senate. The Chair shall have the authority to solicit members and designate them for service on institutional committees. The Chair shall attend all meetings of the CNM board, and shall designate two representatives to serve on Management Council as the representative of the Faculty Senate and a representative to serve on Dean’s Council as the Faculty Senate representative. If the representative is unable to attend such a meeting, and then the Chair may request that another member of the Faculty Senate attend and report back to the Senate. The Chair may vote in Faculty Senate proceedings. Additionally, the Chair has the responsibility to disseminate the agenda to all members one week in advance of the meetings; as well as to disseminate any information necessary for keeping the Senate informed. The Chair shall have other duties as prescribed in this document.The Chair's compensation for performing these duties shall be two course releases in the fall and spring terms and one course release in the summer term as resolved 2006-03.
If the chair is present, the Vice Chair shall serve as parliamentarian, and should become familiar with Robert’s Rules of Order, as described in the Constitution. The Vice Chair shall assume all of the duties of the Chair at any meeting where the Chair is not present, in which case the Vice Chair shall appoint a temporary parliamentarian until the Chair can resume the duties of his/her office.
The Secretary shall cause the minutes of the Faculty Senate meetings to be recorded. The Secretary shall prepare and distribute meeting minutes to each of the members. If the Secretary is absent from a meeting, the Chair or acting Chair shall appoint a temporary Secretary until the Secretary can resume the duties of the office. If both the Chair and the Vice Chair are absent from the meeting, the Secretary shall assume the duties of the Chair for the duration of the meeting and shall appoint a temporary Secretary to record the meeting, along with a temporary parliamentarian.
The Treasurer will provide a yearly audit in June and when there is an officer change to the Senate in order to account for expenditures from the CNM Faculty Senate account held at the CNM Foundation. All expenditures will be voted on by the Senate. The Treasurer shall be responsible for making requests for expenditures from the CNM Faculty Senate account held at the CNM Foundation. The Treasurer will understand and follow all fiscal, legal, and accounting requirements relative to this account. In order to make requests for expenditures from this account, two authorizing signatures, the Treasurer's and the Chair's are required.
If the Chair, the Vice Chair, and Secretary are absent from a Senate meeting, the Treasurer shall assume the duties of the Chair for the duration of the meeting and shall appoint a temporary Secretary to record the meeting, along with a temporary parliamentarian.
If all of the officers are absent but a quorum is present, then those members present may designate an acting Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary to conduct the duties of these offices during the meeting.
Section IV: Judiciary:
Three members of the Senate shall serve as the Judiciary of the Faculty Senate. These members may not simultaneously serve as an elected officer. Their duties shall be to make rulings on and clarifications of the Faculty Senate Constitution. These rulings must be made at the request of the Chair or acting Chair, or by two thirds of those present at any meeting. They should be presented in writing at the meeting following that at which the verbal request was made, although the Judiciary can as a group request an additional month if they have not reached a consensus. A split ruling is possible, in which case the opinion expressed by two members of the Judiciary is considered binding, although the dissenting member has the right to present his/her interpretation at the meeting in which the ruling is announced. Members of the judiciary must be nominated to a vacancy on the Judiciary by the Chair, and this nomination must be approved by a majority of the members present. The member so nominated and approved continues to serve on the Judiciary until leaving, either through resignation, or by expiration of that member’s elected term. If a member of the Judiciary is elected to a Faculty Senate office, then that member must resign from the Judiciary before assuming the duties of the office to which he/she is elected. The Judiciary shall designate one member to keep a record of all opinions concerning the Constitution, along with any dissenting opinions. When this member ceases to serve on the Judiciary, this record should be passed on to the next member of the Judiciary to accept this responsibility. The Judiciary may also make interpretations of the by-laws, but these do not need to be written.
Section V: Removal of Officers:
If a majority of the members agree that an officer should be removed from office due to lack of attention to the duties of the office or due to other actions which are causing harm to the Senate, then a motion to remove the officer may be placed on the agenda if a petition signed by at least half of the members is presented to all officers at least ten days prior to the meeting. This item should be placed at the top of the agenda, and may only be preceded by roll call and approval of minutes of any previous meetings, although the officer named in the petition or another member in the event of that officer’s absence may request a delay of not more than a month if the officer will be unable to attend the meeting. The officer named in the petition must temporarily step down from the designated duties of the office until the motion has been voted on. If the officer is the Chair, then the Vice Chair shall assume the acting duties as described in section III above, and otherwise the Chair shall appoint an acting Vice Chair or Secretary as described. A spokesperson selected from among those who have signed the petition shall enunciate the concerns of that group, and the officer so named may respond immediately to these concerns. If the officer is not present then any member may respond if so inclined. Debate shall then continue in the usual manner as per section IV of Article III. However, unlike other motions made in the senate, a motion to remove an officer shall require the support of ¾ of those members who are present in order to carry. If it does carry, then an immediate vacancy shall be declared in the office and shall be filled as per section II of Article II, or Article IV of section II if the vacancy is in the Judiciary.
ARTICLE III: MEETINGS
Section I: Frequency of Regular Meetings:
Faculty Senate meetings shall be held monthly at such time and place as shall be specified by the Chair, usually with the advice and consent of the Faculty Senate. Meeting times and places shall be established for a period of at least one year in advance. Such times and places are subject to change as conditions necessitate.
Section II: Special Meetings:
Special meetings may be held as appropriate. These meetings may be held at any time at the discretion of the Chair. Additionally, they may be held if a motion to hold a special meeting is made, seconded and passed by a vote at any regularly scheduled or special meeting. The Chair shall announce the time and place of the meeting and disseminate this information to the membership at least five working days in advance of the meeting.
Section III: Agenda:
Any member, voting or non-voting, may request the Chair to place an item on the agenda under New Business for the next meeting. This request shall be made at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the meeting. The Chair shall do so, unless in his/her opinion, the item does not require immediate action, and the agenda is likely to be lengthy. If both of these conditions are met, then the Chair may put it on the agenda for the following meeting. If an item is discussed but is either tabled or not completely resolved in a meeting, then a vote can be taken by the Senate as to whether to include it under Old Business at the ensuing meeting. If the member who requested that the item be placed on the agenda wishes to withdraw the item, he/she may make a motion to do so. If the motion is seconded, a vote may be taken on the motion to withdraw. If the member who requested that the item be included on the agenda is absent, a motion may be made and voted on to postpone the item until the next meeting. If this vote fails, then the item shall be debated at the current meeting.
Section IV: Discussion:
The Chair shall first give the member who proposed an item a chance to explain it. After this, there shall be a discussion in which it is the responsibility of the Chair to see that all who wish to comment can do so. The Chair may act as a member and speak on the issue if the Chair so desires. At any time during the debate, a motion is seconded, those who have previously indicated an interest in speaking may do so, after which a formal vote may be taken. If the Chair believes that debate has continued for long enough, he/she may request that such a motion be made. If the motion fails, debate will continue.
Section V: Voting:
When a motion is made and seconded, the Chair may ask for a vote by yeas and nays. He/she shall announce his/her impression of the outcome. If there is any doubt, then the Chair shall request a show of hands. Immediately following the announcement of the decision of the Chair, any member may request a show of hands, which shall be considered binding. Alternatively, the member or Chair may request a recorded vote, in which case the Secretary or acting Secretary shall read the roll call and record the vote (yea, nay, or abstain) of each Senator and record them in the minutes, along with the total. If the Chair or a member requests a show of hands, any member may request immediately that the vote be a recorded vote instead, in which case a recorded vote is taken. In the event of a tie vote, there shall be a brief discussion period (ten minutes) after which a second vote shall be taken. If there is still a tie, the issue shall be tabled for the next meeting, or if it is an issue requiring action before that time, no action shall be taken. If a member is not present for a vote, a vote may not be cast by proxy or by written or verbal instruction to another member.
ARTICLE IV: ELECTION OF MEMBERS
Section I: Elections:
Each department may elect members to the Senate according to the allocation given that department in the Constitution. This election shall be administered by the current members of the Senate from that department, including the outgoing members. Elections at the end of a term shall be held in September so that the new members may attend the October meeting. The rotation of terms shall be as follows. (F) designates a constitutionally mandated full-time seat. (P) designates a constitutionally mandated part-time seat. Seats with neither designation may be filled by either part- or full-time faculty members at the departments’ discretion.
(I) Elections due in 1995, 1998, 2001, and every three years thereafter:
Arts & Sciences (F), Business Occupations (F), Adult & Developmental Education (F), Adult & Developmental Education (P), Technologies, Trades & Service Occupations, Health Occupations
(II) Elections due in 1996, 1999, 2002, and every three years thereafter:
Arts & Sciences (F), Arts & Sciences (P), Business Occupations (F), Adult & Developmental Education (F), Technologies, Trades & Service Occupations
(III) Elections due in 1997, 2000, 2003, and every three years thereafter:
Arts & Sciences (F), Business Occupations (F), Business Occupations (P), Adult & Developmental Education (F), Technologies, Trades & Service Occupations, Health Occupations
ARTICLE V: COMMITTEES
Section I: Institutional Committees:
If the Faculty Senate is asked by the Institute to provide representation on a committee, then the Chair shall solicit volunteers for the committee. These volunteers need not be members of the Faculty Senate, and it is allowed for Senators to nominate other faculty members for service on the committee. If more members or nominees want to serve than there are positions, then they should try to decide among themselves, and failing this the Chair may decide with a goal towards seeing that the faculty concerns will be addressed, as well as assuring balance and diversity on the institutional committee. If there is an insufficient number of volunteers or nominees, then the Chair may directly solicit individual members until the positions are filled.
Section II: Ad-Hoc Committees:
The Senate may form ad-hoc committees at any time to work within the Senate. Members may volunteer for a committee when it is formed or at any time prior to the next meeting. If members wish to join the committee at a later time, they must inform the Chair, who will ask members of the committee whether they feel that this is advisable, and then make a decision, If an ad-hoc committee is too small due to workload, term expirations or resignations, then members of that committee may solicit additional volunteers at a later meeting. The Chair may appoint members to ad-hoc committees if necessary. When an ad-hoc committee has completed its assigned duties, that committee shall be dissolved. Any ad-hoc committee which has been in existence for more than a year shall be placed on the agenda for review, at which time the Senate shall debate whether to dissolve the committee, continue on as an ad-hoc committee, or dissolve the ad-hoc committee in order to form a standing committee.
Section III: Standing Committees:
The Senate may form standing committees if a motion is made to do so which explicitly defines the responsibilities of the committee, seconded and then passed. Membership shall be selected in the same manner as for an ad-hoc committee. A motion must be made, seconded, and passed at a future meeting in order to dissolve a standing committee or to redefine its duties.
ARTICLE VI: AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS
Section I: Amendments:
These by-laws may be amended by a vote of the majority of the Senators present if a motion is made and seconded in the presence of a quorum. It is the responsibility of the Secretary to record the full text of the amendment, and upon request to provide an updated copy of the by-laws to any member requesting it.
