Constitution of the Academic Senate

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Ratified April 1997

ARTICLE I

NAME The name of this body shall be the Academic Senate of City College of San Francisco, hereinafter referred to as the Senate. The Senate shall elect an Executive Council from its membership, hereinafter referred to as the Council.

SENATE MEMBERSHIP All faculty in the College are members of the Senate with all rights and responsibilities thereunto. Administrators and classified staff are not members of the Senate.

ARTICLE II

PURPOSE The purpose of the Council shall be, as the representative of the Senate, to make recommendations to the Administration, the Board of Trustees, and to other appropriate individuals and bodies regarding academic and professional matters; and, as provided by law and agreement, to make joint decisions with the Board of Trustees with respect to academic and professional matters; and to inform the Senate of current issues and hold meetings for discussion.

ARTICLE III

MEMBERSHIP The Council shall consist of 29 members elected at large, subject to the following provision: that no more than three Senate members from a department, as defined in the Bylaws, shall serve on the Council at one time, except ESL, which shall have no more than six.

ARTICLE IV

ELECTION OF COUNCIL MEMBERS The election of Council members shall be by secret ballot, and shall be conducted each year by an Election Commission appointed by the Council.

A candidate for membership on the Council must be nominated by written petition of three Senate members and must accept the nomination in writing on the petition. For public information, petitions will be posted at the Academic Senate office on the day they are received. The balloting must be completed at least four weeks before the end of the semester.

If at the time for nominations to close, the number of candidates does not equal twice the number of vacancies to be filled, the Council or the Election Commission shall postpone balloting one week, during which time additional candidates may be nominated upon the written petition of one Senate member and the written acceptance of the candidate. The postponed balloting shall then take place regardless of the number of candidates.

ARTICLE V

TERM OF OFFICE Council members shall serve for a two-year term beginning on the day of the last Council meeting of the semester in which the election was held.

Vacancies on the Council shall be filled at the time of the regular election, with the first 15 or 14 candidates, as the case may be, being elected for two-year terms, and the next runner ups filling positions for one year terms to complete the terms of those who have left the Council after one year or less of service. To be elected to fill an unexpired term, a candidate must satisfy the provisions of Article III. After serving two consecutive two-year terms on the Council, a member may not serve again until one year has elapsed. For the purpose of this article, a partial term of one year is regarded as a complete two-year term.

ARTICLE VI

OFFICERS The officers of the Council shall be the following: President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, and Secretary. Officers shall be elected by secret ballot from within and by the membership of the Council immediately after the newly elected Council members are seated. The term of office shall be one year. These officers of the Council shall be the officers of the Senate. In the event of a temporary absence of the President, the succession to the presidency shall be in the following order: First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary. If any office of the Council is vacated, the Executive Council shall fill the office by election.

The duties of the Vice Presidents shall be designated by the President.

ARTICLE VII

MEETINGS Regular meetings of the Council shall be held at least once a month during the academic year. The time, date, and place of such meetings shall be published prior to each meeting. Members of the Senate may attend any meeting of the Council. They may speak on an issue with the consent of the President or with the consent of the majority of the Council members present.

The President must place an item on the agenda of the Council meeting (a) at the request of any Council member or (b) on receipt of a signed, written request to the President by at least 10 members of the Senate.

The agenda for each Council meeting shall be posted at each faculty mailbox location at least two school days prior to such a meeting, and mailed at the same time to all Council members and Senate committee chairpersons.

The Council may not take action on any matter not on the agenda unless by a two-thirds vote of members present it declares that matter to be an emergency matter. The minutes of the Council meetings shall be distributed to all members of the Senate as soon as possible after each meeting.

Regular plenary sessions of the Senate shall be held once during each semester. Any matter within the purview of the Senate may be discussed and acted upon at a regular plenary session.

Special meetings of the Senate or Council may be called in the following ways:

(a) by the President,

(b) on petition of a majority of the Council, or

(c) on petition of 100 members of the Senate.

No business other than that for which special meetings are called shall be transacted at such meetings.

ARTICLE VIII

RECOMMENDATIONS The Council is authorized to make recommendations on behalf of the Senate subject to the following provisions:

a. The Council may, on its own judgment and in its own initiative, refer to the Senate any matter affecting the welfare of the college community.

2. The Council may, on its own judgment and on its own initiative, forward recommendations to the Administration or the Board of Trustees, with respect to academic and professional matters.

3. If 100 members of the Senate so request in a petition delivered to the President of the Senate within three weeks of distribution of the official minutes in which any resolution has been passed by the Executive Council, that resolution shall be submitted to a referendum by secret ballot or to formal consideration at a meeting of the whole Senate.

4. On matters on which the Board of Trustees or the administration intends to act when the college is not in regular session, the Council, after a special meeting, may make recommendations to the Board of Trustees or the administration. The president of the Senate shall inform the Senate of all such recommendations at the next plenary session. If the president of the Senate receives within three weeks of the plenary session a petition signed by 100 members of the Senate objecting to any recommendation made to the Board of Trustees, the Council shall be required to submit the disputed recommendation(s) to the Senate for ratification.

5. Nothing herein shall prohibit the President of the Senate from addressing the Board of Trustees as a representative of the Senate on any matter within the purview of the Senate so long as the President does not make unauthorized recommendations on behalf of the Senate.

6. Outside of the regular school calendar, the President may act on behalf of the Council, provided the President is following established Senate policies and reporting regularly to the Council.

ARTICLE IX

AMENDMENTS Amendments to this constitution may be initiated by

a. two-thirds of the Council members, or

2. by petition of at least 150 members of the Senate. Amendments so initiated must be ratified by secret ballot by a two-thirds vote of the valid ballots cast. If less than 25 percent of the Senate members cast ballots, the amendment will be considered defeated.

Amendments to the Bylaws may be made by the vote of two-thirds of the Council. These amendments must be submitted to the Senate members for their information at least ten instructional days before the Council votes.

ARTICLE X

COMMITTEES Committees may be created at the discretion of the Council. The Executive Council shall appoint the faculty members to any committee requiring Senate membership or representation.

At the beginning of each fall semester, the Council shall select four Council members who will serve with the President as a Committee on Committees. This five-member committee shall recommend to the Council the Senate members to serve on all committees.

The power to appoint Senate members to all committees shall reside with the Council as a whole.

Since personnel matters are discussed, the meetings of the Committee on Committees shall not be open to anyone who is not a member of that committee.

CAMPUS COMMITTEES Each campus of City College of San Francisco may establish a Faculty Campus Committee (as defined in the by-laws) to deal with local site issues. Members of these committees shall be selected by the local faculty.

ARTICLE XI

REMOVAL OF AN OFFICER Any officer of the Executive council may be removed from office by a motion made by a member of the Executive Council which is properly seconded and passed by a two-thirds vote of those members of the Executive Council casting votes in a secret ballot. A proposal to remove an officer must appear on the agenda established prior to the meeting in which it will be considered. Replacement of an officer will be made according to Article VI of this Constitution.

REMOVAL FROM EXECUTIVE COUNCIL A vote to recall any member(s) of the Executive Council may be initiated by a petition signed by 150 members of the faculty and presented to the Executive Council.

The recall vote will take place by secret ballot of the Senate within three weeks. A two-thirds vote of the valid ballots cast will be required to recall any member of the Executive Council. Replacement for a recalled member of the Executive Council will be made according to Article V, unless more than three vacancies are created, in which case a special election will be initiated within three weeks.

BY LAWS OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO

ARTICLE I

For the purpose of implementing Article III of the Constitution, Senate members will be considered to belong to the department in which they spend the greatest portion of their professional time. The departments are constituted as listed below; this list may be revised by the Council.*

  • Administration of Justice/ Fire Science
  • Aeronautics
  • African American Studies
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Asian American Studies
  • Asian Studies
  • Astronomy
  • Automotive/Welding/ Trade Skills Technologies
  • Behavioral Sciences
  • Biological Sciences
  • Broadcast Electronic Media Arts
  • Business
  • Career Development/ Placement Center
  • Chemistry
  • Child Development/ Family Studies
  • Computer Science/Technology
  • Consumer Education
  • Counseling Services
  • Culinary ARts/Hospitality Studies
  • Dental Assisting
  • Disabled Students Prog./Serv.
  • Earth Sciences
  • Engineering and Technology
  • English
  • ESL
  • Environmental
  • Fashion
  • Horticulture/ Floristry
  • EOPS
  • Film
  • Foreign Languages
  • Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Studies
  • Graphic Communications
  • Health Care Technology
  • Health Science
  • Interdisciplinary Studies
  • Journalism
  • Labor Studies/Apprenticeship
  • Latin American Studies
  • Learning Assistance
  • Library Information Tech
  • Library Services
  • Mathematics
  • Music
  • Nursing
  • Older Adults
  • Philippine Studies
  • Photography
  • Physical Education/Dance
  • Physics
  • Radiologic/Imaging Technologies
  • Social Sciences
  • Student Health Services
  • Theatre Arts
  • Transitional Studies
  • Vocational Nursing
  • Women's Studies
  • Special Assignment Faculty

*Revised 2/26/97

ARTICLE II

A Regular or Special Plenary shall be defined as an official meeting of the Senate as a whole. Any Plenary session must be held on an official College calendar day. Only Senate members may vote. A quorum at a Plenary Session shall consist of the members present if notification of the meeting has been given seven days in advance. Any plenary session called by the Council with less than seven days' notice shall be defined as an Emergency Session, in which a quorum shall consist of more than 25 percent of the members of the Senate.

ARTICLE III

A quorum of any meeting of the Council or any committee of the Senate shall be a majority of the members thereof.

ARTICLE IV

All meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, Revised.

ARTICLE V

The Council is authorized to establish its own rules and procedures.

ARTICLE VI

Members of the Council are expected to attend all Council meetings. Members who are absent excessively or who take a leave of more than two months' duration may be deemed by the Council to have resigned, and their seats will be filled under the provisions of Article V of the Constitution.

ARTICLE VII

1. Senate committees shall elect their own officers.

2. Each committee secretary or chairperson, in addition to sending notices of committee meetings to all committee members, shall also send copies of the notices to the President of the Council.

3. Each committee secretary shall keep minutes of all committee meetings, including the names of all members who were present and all members who were absent, and shall furnish a copy of the minutes to every committee member and to the President of the Council.

4. Reports made by committees to the Council shall be in writing and in sufficient copies so that every Council member may have a copy.

5. Any Senate member may attend any meeting of a Senate committee, except when personnel matters are discussed.

6. No committee or committee member is authorized to make recommendations to the Administration or Board of Trustees without prior Council approval. (This shall not be interpreted to prevent faculty members of bipartite or tripartite committees from functioning as members of those committees to the fullest extent possible.)

7. The Council may set the length of term of service on any committee.

8. A committee member who is absent from three consecutive meetings of the committee shall be deemed to have resigned and shall no longer be counted in determining whether a quorum is present, beginning with the third consecutive absence.

9. Members may be appointed to a committee at any time.

10. The Academic Senate's representative to the College Advisory Council (or its successor organization) shall be the President of the Academic Senate or his/her designee.

ARTICLE VIII

1. The faculty as defined in Article I, Section B of the Constitution, may form a committee at each of the various campuses of the City College of San Francisco, hereinafter, to be referred to as (insert name of local campus) Faculty Campus Committee.

2. Each Faculty Campus Committee is authorized to: discuss issues regarding matters that directly affect the welfare of that particular campus faculty (e.g., parking, room assignments, public safety, equipment, faculty lounges, etc.), and to cooperate with the local Student Council.

3. Each Faculty Campus Committee is authorized to establish its own bylaws, which shall not be in conflict with the Constitution of the Academic Senate.

ARTICLE IX

1. Upon ratification of the Constitution by both the Credit Senate and the Non-credit Senate of the San Francisco Community College District, this Senate under this Constitution and these by-laws shall be created. For a period of time not to extend beyond Spring semester 1992, the Executive Council of this Senate shall consist of the Council members of the aforementioned Credit and Non-credit Senates. The first order of business of the Executive Council under this Constitution and by-laws shall be to elect new officers.

2. For the first election of Executive Council members, the fifteen members with the highest number of votes shall be elected for two-year terms to the Executive Council. The fourteen candidates with the next highest number of votes shall be elected one year terms. The President of the Executive Council shall convene a meeting of the new Executive Council within two weeks of the tabulation of election results.