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SCFA BYLAWS

 

SIERRA COLLEGE FACULTY ASSOCIATION BYLAWS

 

Article I: Membership Rights

 All members of SCFA shall have the right to:

Section 1.   Vote in all polls and elections conducted by SCFA, including the election of President, Vice-President, and constituent Representatives (i.e.   full time faculty vote for the full time constituent Representatives and part time faculty vote for the part time constituency Representatives);

Section 2.   Vote on any constitutional revisions or amendments;

Section 3.   Vote on any contract ratifications;

Section 4.   Campaign for and hold constituent office on the SCFA Executive Board;

Section 5.   Attend and participate in all general meetings of SCFA;

Section 6.   Call for a general meeting of SCFA by presenting a written request signed by at least ten (10) SCFA members to the President of SCFA;

Section 7.   Submit motions, signed by at least ten (10) SCFA members, to the President, who shall call a general meeting of the SCFA membership and/or direct the Secretary to conduct a ballot on the motion(s) within two weeks.

Section 8.   Vote on any motions and resolutions proposed at general meetings of SCFA;

 

Article II: Officers

  Section 1.   The elected Officers of the SCFA are:

 a. The President;

 b. The Vice-President;

 c. Four (4) Full-Time constituent Representatives;

 d. Four (4) Part-Time constituent Representatives.

Section 2.   The term of office of the President, the Vice-President, and the Representatives shall be two years.

Section 3.  The President and two full-time Representatives and two part-time Representatives shall be elected in even years and the Vice-President and remaining Representatives shall be elected in odd years.

Section 4.   The appointed officers of the SCFA are:

a. The Secretary

b. The Treasurer

c. The Dispute Resolution Officer(s)

d. The Chief Negotiator

e. The Communications Officer

Section 5.   Appointments shall be at the will and pleasure of the Executive Board, with no specified term of office.

Section 6.   Appointed and elected officers shall remain members in good standing of the SCFA.

Section 7.   There shall be no limitation on the number of times an elected officer may be reelected, nor upon the number of times may an appointed officer be reappointed.

Section 8.   All members of the Executive Board shall be encouraged to obtain a private email account, separate from the Sierra College email or intranet system, for the purpose of enhancing communication between members.

Article III: The Executive Board

 Section 1.   The President of SCFA shall be the presiding officer of the Executive Board.

Section 2.   In the event an elected Executive Board position is vacated for any reason other than recall, the Executive Board shall appoint a constituent from the general SCFA membership to fill said vacancy.   The appointment shall be by a majority vote of the Executive Board.

Section 3.   The term of any member appointed in accordance with this Article shall be that length of time from the date of appointment until the next regularly scheduled election, at which time the remainder (if any) of the term created by the vacancy shall be filled by election of the general membership.

Section 4.   The member appointed to fill a vacancy shall be considered to have the rights, privileges, and duties of the vacated elected member of the Executive Board.

Section 5.   The Executive Board may remove from office, by majority vote, any SCFA officer for abandonment of office.

(a) Abandonment shall be defined as absenteeism in excess of 50% of regularly scheduled Executive Board meetings within a 90 day period.

(b) The filling of any vacancy hereby created shall be in accordance with Article III Section 2.

Article IV: Duties and Responsibilities of the President

The President shall:

(a) call general meetings of the faculty whenever required by the provisions of the SCFA Constitution or these bylaws or when it is apparent that a meeting is necessary in order to inform the faculty or seek direction from the faculty.

(b) preside at general meetings of the membership and at meetings of the Executive Board and shall conduct such meetings in a collaborative manner carrying out the provisions of these bylaws; or, if necessary, use Robert's Rules of Order when consensus cannot be reached through a collaborative process.

(c) when presented with a request for a general meeting of the membership shall call such a meeting within two (2) weeks.

(d) when presented with a motion(s) shall call a general meeting of the membership and direct the Secretary to conduct a ballot on the motion(s) within two (2) weeks.

(e) shall direct a member of the Executive Board to conduct elections whenever required by the provisions of these bylaws.

(f) direct a member of the Executive Board to poll the membership whenever required by the provisions of these bylaws or whenever the President deems it necessary to seek the view or support of the general membership.

(g) share with the Executive Board the responsibility for insuring that the faculty is informed about the actions of SCFA and that faculty opinion is solicited.

(h) optionally designate any individual, with the consent of the majority of the Executive Board, to act as spokesperson for the membership of SCFA in its dealings with the public, the administration, or the Board of Trustees.

(i) consult with the officers of the faculty Senate on a regular basis, along with the other elected officers.

(j) optionally delegate any of these duties to any member of the Executive Board.

Article V: Duties and Responsibilities of the Vice-President

The Vice-President shall:

(a) assume all the duties and responsibilities of the President if for any reason the President is temporarily unable to perform those duties and responsibilities.

(b) perform any of the duties and responsibilities of the President which the President chooses to delegate.

(c) be responsible for processing new memberships, but may be assisted by the Membership Committee.

(d) be solely responsible for determining the membership standing of members.

(e) update the membership roll at the beginning of each semester and a least one other time during the semester to insure an adequate count of membership.

Article VI: Duties and Responsibilities of the Secretary

The Secretary shall:

(a) keep minutes of faculty meetings of membership and make them available to members for review within two (2) weeks after the meeting.

(b) keep minutes of all meetings of the Executive Board and shall distribute them to the Executive Board within two weeks after the meetings for correction and approval. The mode of distribution may be either email or printed copy.   Upon approval the minutes shall be published on the SCFA website, the SCFA newsletter, or posted in the SCFA office.

(c) assist the President with official correspondence both on and off campus.

(d) insure that all elections and ratification balloting are conducted according to the provisions of these bylaws.

(e) be responsible for the safekeeping of all permanent records of SCFA.

Article VII: Duties and Responsibility of the Treasurer

The Treasurer shall:

(a) maintain all financial records and monetary transactions of SCFA and shall, not less frequently than monthly, report to the Executive Board the financial position of the Association.

(b) handle the financial affairs of the Association.

Article VIII: Standing Committees

Section 1.   The standing committees of SCFA may include the Negotiations Committee, the Dispute Resolution Committee, the Membership Committee, and any other committees required by the contract then in force or established by the Executive Board.

Section 2.   There shall be no limitation on the number of times that an appointed member of a committee may be reappointed or the number of committees on which a member may serve.

Article IX: The Dispute Resolution Officers The Dispute Resolution Officers shall:

(a) be comprised of the Dispute Resolution Officer and as many additional Officers as the Executive Board deems necessary.

(b) be appointed by the Executive Board

c) serve as the initial contact for any faculty member(s) initiating a dispute and shall assist the disputing faculty member(s) through the appropriate process.  

(d) be responsible for being thoroughly knowledgeable about the current contract between SCFA and the Sierra College district.

(e) make every reasonable effort to become familiar with rulings of the Public Employees Relations Board and other matters which could affect the contract between the faculty and the Sierra College district.

(f) report promptly to the President all disputes initiated and provide ongoing regular reports to the Executive Board.

Article X: The Negotiations Committee

Section 1.   The purpose of the Negotiations Committee shall be to represent SCFA in contract negotiations with the Board of Trustees or its designates.

Section 2.   When negotiations are in progress, at least one member of the Negotiations Committee shall attend the regularly scheduled Executive Board meetings to provide information to and receive direction from the Executive Board regarding negotiations.

Section 3.   The membership of the Negotiations Committee shall be the , Chief Negotiator, who may be either a full time or a part time SCFA member, and at least two additional members, one full time and one part time.

Section 4.   The Negotiations Committee shall keep the Executive Board completely informed about the progress of negotiations and shall be directed by the Executive Board in proceeding with negotiations.

Article XI: Duties and Responsibilities for all Members of the Executive Board

Members of the Executive Board shall:

(a) recruit members;

(b) coordinate balloting and polling processes;

(c) assist the President and Secretary in maintaining communications with the faculty;

(d) assure balloting secrecy on formal ballots and on contract ratifications and to insure voter validation.

(e) propose a local dues structure.

(f) perform additional duties as requested by the President.  

Article XII.   Release Time and Stipends

The Executive Board, in public session at a regular meeting, shall set the release time and/or stipends for appointed and elected officers and committee members. The minutes, containing the positions and the amount of release time and/or stipends, shall be publicly posted as provided for in these By-Laws.

Article XIII: Election and Recall

Section 1.   Annual vacancies in elected offices of SCFA shall be filled by elections conducted during May of each year.   Those persons elected during the regular May elections shall assume office on the last day of school in the Spring semester in which they are elected.

(a) The Board will accept nominations for the vacated position(s) for 30 days prior to the election date.

(b) The nominee who receives a plurality of the votes from the ballots cast shall assume the term of office.

Section 2.   The President, Vice-President and members of the Executive Board may be recalled.  

For the President and Vice President, the Executive Board, when presented with a recall petition signed by 25% or greater of the faculty membership of both the full and part time sections separately, for each member being recalled, shall prepare and conduct a recall election within 20 days of receipt.

For a member of the Executive Board, the Executive Board, when presented with a recall petition signed by 25% or greater of the faculty membership of the member's constituency, for each member being recalled, shall prepare and conduct a recall election within 20 days of receipt.

(a) All members shall be eligible to vote in the recall of the President and Vice-President.

(b) Only that member's constituent faculty membership shall be eligible to vote in the recall of a Board member.

(c) If the recall vote of the President, Vice-President or Board member is supported by a majority of the votes cast, the President, Vice-President or Board member is recalled and the position is vacated.

(d) If a majority is obtained, the Executive Board shall announce to the membership that the recall has passed.   The Board will accept nominations for the vacated position(s) for 20 days after the recall has passed.  

(e) The Board shall hold an election within 20 days of the close of the nomination period.

(f) The nominee who receives a plurality of the votes from the ballots cast shall assume the remaining term of the recalled officer or member’s position.

Article XIV: Miscellaneous

Section 1.   Unless otherwise required herein or in the SCFA Constitution, all polls, ballots, elections, and contract ratifications shall be decided by majority vote of members casting ballots, and all voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.   Nothing in these bylaws shall prohibit SCFA from conducting polls of the entire faculty by secret ballot and using or reporting the results as appropriate.

Section 2.   General meetings of SCFA shall be called for discussion and informational purposes only.   While motions may be presented at such meetings, no official action may be taken without a secret ballot).

Section 3.   The Executive Board may appoint members to district governance committees.

(a) Appointees shall be made from the SCFA general membership and shall be approved by a majority vote of the Executive Board.

(b) Appointees to governance committees shall report back to the Executive Board at the pleasure of the Board.

Section 4.   The SCFA shall establish and maintain office space for the purpose of conducting SCFA business.

(a) Said office space shall be equipped and staffed with any and all equipment or personnel deemed necessary by the Executive Board for the proper operation of the office.

(b) Expenses for equipment and staffing shall be borne by the SCFA as approved by a majority vote of the Executive Board.

Section 5.   These bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of SCFA members casting ballots.

     
REV: March 11 2004

 

I certify that this document has been adopted by a vote of the members on March 11, 2004.  

s/Winsome Jackson, President                             03/18/2004

 

s/ Margo Marvin, Secretary                                   03/18/2004

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