IUPUI Staff Council
 

By-Laws

ARTICLE I

NAME

 

The official name of this organization shall be The School of Science Staff Council (SOSSC), located on the IUPUI Campus, herein referred to as the Staff Council.  The Staff Council shall represent the School of Science staff on the IUPUI Campus.

 

ARTICLE II

MISSION AND PURPOSES

 

The mission of the Staff Council is to provide a forum to promote and support a unified voice in the communication and decision-making processes of the School of Science and to meet the needs of the staff as they embrace, support, and facilitate activities fulfilling the philosophy, goals, and mission of the School of Science.

 

The purposes of the Staff Council shall be:

·         To represent and integrate the staff in the communication processes and in the governance and affairs of the School of Science;

 

·         To increase the sense of identity, recognition and worth of each staff member;

 

·         To identify concerns relating to staff and seek their solutions;

 

·         To provide a channel of communication for staff with IUPUI administration and IUPUI Staff Council;

 

·         To promote staff career development and recommend policies which aid in retaining and recruiting highly-qualified personnel; and

 

·         To stimulate and facilitate staff social activities, publications, workshops, and seminars.

 

 

ARTICLE III

DEFINITION OF MEMBERSHIP

 

For the purpose of the Staff Council organization, the term staff shall mean bi-weekly, professional, or any other appointed employee of the School of Science not elsewhere represented.

 

Article IV

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

 

The purpose of the Staff Council Executive Committee is to manage the business of the Staff Council.  The committee will prepare and distribute an agenda for each regular and special called Staff Council meeting; monitor the progress of work assigned to other bodies/committees; and set the goals and objectives for the Staff Council for the academic year.

 

SECTION A:      OFFICERS: Each Officer shall serve on or chair a Standing Committee

  1. President:  The President shall preside over meetings of the Staff Council, oversee the disposition of all recommendations of the Staff Council, attend all School of Science Chair’s Council meetings and serve as proxy for the Vice President in attending the School of Science Dean’s Advisory Council meetings.

 

  1. Vice President:  The Vice President shall preside over all meetings of the Staff Council at which the President is not present, perform and conduct other duties as designated by the President, attend the School of Science Dean’s Advisory Council, serve as proxy for the President in attending the School of Science Chair’s Council meetings and assume all duties and responsibilities of the Presidency if the President is unable to complete his/her term of office.

 

  1. Secretary:  The Secretary shall be responsible for preparing and distributing the agenda as formulated by the Executive Committee, recording and distributing the minutes of the proceedings and actions of the Staff Council and shall call for the Bylaws ad hoc Committee.

 

  1. Treasurer:  The Treasurer shall maintain the financial records, disbursements of funds at the direction of the President or the Executive Committee and present financial reports at meetings.

 

  1. Past President:  The Immediate Past President shall serve in an advisory capacity to the Executive Committee.

 

SECTION B.      EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:  The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers, Chairs of all standing committees and the representatives to the IUPUI Staff Council.  The Executive Committee shall also have two non-voting members, one appointed from the Faculty Council and one appointed from the Student Council to serve in an advisory capacity.

 

SECTION C.      IUPUI STAFF COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES:  Staff representatives from IUPUI shall be elected in staggered year terms to interface between SOSSC and the IUPUI Staff Council.  Number of representatives and length of term shall be determined by IUPUI Staff Council Bylaws.

 

SECTION D.      MEMBERSHIP OF STANDING COMMITTEES:  The chairperson of each standing committee (except the Nominating Committee) shall be appointed by the Officers.  The Chairperson of the Nominating Committee is appointed by the Executive Committee and approved by a quorum at a general meeting of the Staff Council.  Three to five members, with representation from all classifications of staff, shall be appointed to each of the standing committees by the Executive Committee.

 

SECTION E.      RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

1.       Development Committee:  This committee shall have the responsibility for designing and implementing staff professional development opportunities.

 

  1. Events Committee:  This committee shall have the responsibility for organizing and coordinating special events, including but not limited to the annual Staff Council retreat.

 

  1. Orientation Committee:  This committee shall be responsible for the orientation of new staff members, including but not limited to keeping orientation materials up to date and ensuring that the steps in the orientation process are followed.

 

  1. Nominations and Election Committee:  This committee shall, after soliciting nominees, present to the Staff Council at a spring meeting, a slate of candidates for those offices and Executive Committee vacancies to be filled that year [see Article V, Sect. C].

 

  1. Recognition Committee:  This committee shall be responsible for organizing and coordinating recognition activities, including but not limited to nomination of staff for awards (e.g. Staff Council Award, Irwin Award, IUPUI Employee Awards nominations), and annual staff display case.  Committee members shall also assist in coordinating the Annual Faculty/Staff Recognition ceremony. 

 

  1. Communications and Participation Committee:  This committee shall be responsible for creating and implementing effective means of disseminating information to staff to encourage active participation in all activities of the Staff Council, including but not limited to publishing a staff newsletter and creating and maintaining membership lists. 

 

SECTION F:      MEMBERSHIP OF NON-STANDING COMMITTEES:  Membership of non-standing committees shall be decided by vote, volunteerism or appointment by the Executive Committee.  When possible, the Staff Council membership shall decide how the non-standing committee membership shall be chosen based on a show of hands at a regularly scheduled Staff Council meeting.

 

ARTICLE V

ELECTIONS

 

SECTION A.      THE STAFF COUNCIL YEAR:  The Staff Council year shall be from July 1 through June 30 of each year.

 

SECTION B.      ELIGIBILITY FOR VOTING:  All appointed staff, as defined in Article III, who are currently employed within the School of Science are eligible to vote in elections.

 

SECTION C.      VOTING PROCEDURES:  Members of the Executive Committee shall be elected by (See Article IV, Sect. E, #4) the voting members in the spring and announced at the final meeting of the academic year.

 

SECTION D.      TERM OF OFFICE:  Each term of office shall run for two (2) years.  Rotation of elections for Executive Committee members shall be according to the following schedule:

 

  1. President and Treasurer shall be elected in even year elections.

 

  1. Vice President and Secretary shall be elected in odd year elections.

 

  1. IUPUI Staff Council representatives shall be elected as outlined in Article IV, Section C.

 

SECTION E.      VACANCIES.

 

1.       Creation of Vacancies.  A member of the Executive Committee who terminates employment with the School of Science shall automatically lose membership in the Staff Council.

 

  1. Filling of Vacancies.  The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for soliciting candidates for the election of individual(s) to complete any unfinished term(s) of office on the Executive Committee.

 

ARTICLE VI
MEETINGS

 

A minimum of 10 members with a representative from each Department and the Dean’s Office shall constitute a quorum for conducting meetings.  All meetings shall be open, except that a majority of Staff Council members present may vote to go into Executive Session.  Meetings shall be conducted under the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.  Any conflict between those rules and these by-laws shall be resolved in favor of these by-laws.

 

SECTION A.      GENERAL MEETINGS:  The Staff Council shall have regularly scheduled meetings as set by the Executive Committee.  These shall normally be held monthly, but at least every two (2) months.  Meeting shall be during daytime working hours and in accordance with Administrative Policy of 1988, members may be granted time off from their School of Science job duties without loss of pay up to three hours in any month.  The meetings shall proceed according to the agenda.

 

SECTION B.      AGENDA:  Any member may present an item to be considered for the agenda of regularly scheduled meetings.  These items shall be submitted at least one week prior to the General Meeting to a member of Executive Committee of the Staff Council. 

 

SECTION C.      VOTING:  Voting on all matters other than elections shall be by voice vote or show of hand unless a secret ballot is requested.  At the discretion of the President, voting can be done electronically. Members may vote by proxy, but vote must be submitted in advance of the meeting at which the voting occurs.

 

SECTION D.      MOTIONS:  Motions may be proposed at any time and require a majority vote of the membership present to pass.  Motions shall follow the procedures of Robert's Rules of Order.  Each Council member has the right to request that a motion be considered as a resolution [see Article VI, Section E].

 

SECTION E.      RESOLUTIONS:  Resolutions shall be introduced at least one Staff Council meeting prior to presentation for vote.  A majority vote of the Staff Council members present is required for the adoption of a resolution.  Reports of resolutions adopted and action taken shall be communicated to the staff by the appropriate means.

 

SECTION F.      SPECIAL MEETINGS:  Special meetings may be called by the Executive Committee or at the request of 20 percent of the Staff Council members.  Executive Committee shall contact each member of Staff Council at least two days prior to the special meeting date and shall inform said membership of the time, place and topic to be discussed.

 

ARTICLE VII

AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS

 

These by-laws can be amended at any regularly scheduled meeting of the Staff Council by a two-thirds vote of the Staff Council present, provided that the meeting constitutes a quorum as defined in Article VI and the amendment has been submitted in writing at a previous meeting.

 

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES

Robert's Rules of Order [Newly Revised, 1978] shall govern the conduct of the Staff Council meeting except where these by-laws may otherwise provide.

 

 

Approved by Bylaws Task Force, October 2001

Adopted by Staff Council,