CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
OF THE WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES COUNCIL
Constitution
Article I – Name
Section 1
The name of this organization shall be the Western Illinois University Civil Service Employees Council.
Article II – Objectives
Section 1
The objectives of this organization shall be:
a. To work with the Director of Human Resources in the formation of policies relating to all Civil
Service employees.
b. To consider problems of Civil Service employees and to make recommendations to the Director of
Human Resources and member or members representing this campus on the University Civil
Service Advisory Committee to the Merit Board regarding same.
c. To provide a medium for the passing of ideas and directives to the employee groups from the
Director of Human Resources.
d. To plan and organize social, recreational, and educational activities for Civil Service employees.
Article III – Membership Groups
Section 1
Representation on the Civil Service Employees Council shall be based upon employee groups.
Section 2
There shall be six recognized groups, namely: (1) administrative and professional; (2) clerical; (3) service
and technical; (4) union and prevailing; (5) secretarial; (6) Western Illinois University Quad Cities Campus
employees.
Article IV – Membership and Qualifications
Section 1
Membership of the Council shall be composed of three persons elected from each of the recognized
employee groups, with the exception of group (6) being composed of one elected member.
Section 2
Any permanent status Civil Service employee who has completed his/her initial probationary period shall
be eligible for election to membership on the Council.
Section 3
The term of membership shall be for a period of three years for members in groups (1) through (6) with
other exceptions as provided in Article VI, Section 4 of the by-laws. Members may serve a maximum of
two terms consecutively and may be re-elected after a one-year leave of absence from the council.
Section 4
The office of any member will be declared vacant whenever that member has unauthorized absences from
two meetings; or whenever that member has more than four absences, either authorized (as determined by
the executive committee) or unauthorized, in one council year.
Section 5
Western’s representative on the University Civil Service Advisory Committee to the Merit Board shall be
an ex-officio member.
Section 6
Western’s representative on the University Civil Service Advisory Committee to the Merit Board shall not
be an elected representative from CSEC.
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Section 7
The Public Relations (PR) Officer may or may not be a voting member of the Civil Service Employees
Council. A CSEC member shall be appointed and hold the PR position in the same manner as that of a
CSEC committee chairperson. A civil service employee other than a CSEC member shall be appointed to
the PR position by majority approval of the council as a whole. The PR Officer shall be an ad-hoc member
of the Award Selection Committee. A CSEC member serving as the PR Officer may provide a report at the
monthly council meetings. A non-council member serving as the PR Officer may provide monthly reports
to the chair of the Award Selection Committee for submission at the council meetings.
Section 8
Minutes of the meetings of all standing committees shall be prepared and distributed to committee
members, University Civil Service Advisory Committee Representative to the Merit Board and President of
the CSEC.
Article V – Officers
Section 1
The officers of the Council shall be: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Section 2
An Executive Committee of the Council shall be composed of the President, Vice President, Secretary,
Treasurer, and Western’s representative on the University Civil Service System Employee Advisory
Committee to the Merit Board.
Article VI – Election of Officers
Section 1
Officers shall be elected at the first meeting of the Council year. Retiring officers shall continue to hold
office until the new officers are elected.
Section 2
The officers of the Council shall be elected by the members of the Council from its own membership.
Section 3
In case of a vacancy of office, the members of the Council shall elect a replacement from their own
membership.
Section 4
No officer shall serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office. Any officer serving six months
or more in an office shall be deemed to have served one term.
Article VII – Amendments
Section 1
Any member of the Council may propose an amendment to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Council
by presenting it in writing to the Constitution Committee. The proposed amendment shall be submitted in
writing to the Chairperson of the Constitution Committee with a copy to the President of the Council. The
President shall assume all responsibility of informing all members of the Council of the proposed
amendment. The amendment may be voted upon at the next meeting, or at any succeeding meeting
following the one at which the amendment was presented, and shall be adopted, if approved by a two-thirds
majority of the Council.
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By-Laws
Article I
Section 1
The President shall:
a. Preside at all meetings.
b. Enforce all regulations and policies relating to the administration of the Council.
c. Call special meetings of the Council when he/she deems it necessary.
Section 2
The Vice President shall:
Assume the duties of the president in the event of the absence of that official.
Section 3
President Pro Tempore:
The Secretary shall preside in the absence of the President and Vice President from the meetings of the
Council.
Section 4
The Secretary shall:
a. Record all resolutions and proceedings of the meetings.
b. Conduct all correspondence relating to the Council.
c. Issue all notices of meetings.
d. Distribute copies of the proceedings and meeting notices to Human Resources, Council members,
and to all CSEC Information Monitors to post on the Civil Service bulletin boards. A synopsis of
all meeting proceedings may be published in the Campus Connection.
Section 5
The Treasurer shall:
Record all monies payable to the Council and make a report at each regular meeting of the Council on the
condition of the treasury.
Article II – Committees
Section 1 – Council Committees
a. Standing Committees – The Appeals, Award Fund, Award Selection, Committee on Committees,
Constitution, Education, Election, Salary, Search, and Social Events and Development shall be
standing committees of the Council. Membership of these committees shall be determined
according to the individual committee guidelines.
b. Ad Hoc Committees – Appointments to these committees may be made as deemed necessary by
the officers. Term of appointment shall be determined by time period required to complete
committee assignments.
c. Standing and Ad Hoc Committees – Shall be established as deemed necessary by the officers.
Section 2 – University Committees
a. Civil Service representatives shall be appointed to all University Committees for three-year terms
and shall be approved by a majority of the Council.
b. Civil Service representatives appointed to newly formed University Committees shall be
appointed in the following manner:
(1) Whenever there is only one Civil Service representative to a new committee, the new
appointment shall be in accordance with Article II, Section 2.a of the By-Laws.
(2) Whenever there is more than one Civil Service representative to a new committee, at the
first time of appointments, the first nomination will be for three years, the second
nomination will be for two years, and the third nomination will be for one year.
Thereafter, appointments will be made in compliance with Article II, Section 2.a of the
By-Laws.
Section 3
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If a committee in its guidelines and/or procedures states how the membership of the committee (Council of
University) shall be determined, the committee shall follow those guidelines if they differ from Article II,
Section 1 and 2 of the By-Laws.
Article III – Civil Service Employees Council Year
The Civil Service Employees Council Year shall be from May 1 through April 30.
Article IV - Meetings
Section 1
Regular meetings of the Council shall be held monthly.
Section 2
Special meetings may be called by the President.
Section 3
All committees shall be subject to the call of their respective chairperson or of the Civil Service Employees
Council President.
Section 4
A simple majority of the Council members shall constitute a quorum for the handling of business duly
presented at the meeting of the Civil Service Employees Council. A majority vote of the members present
shall carry a motion except on a motion on the amendments to the Constitution or on a motion to initiate a
referendum. All votes shall be conducted by show-of-hand vote or paper ballot and voting tally duly
recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
Section 5
Council members must secure permission from their supervisor to attend Council meetings held during
working hours. When appropriate, Council members shall receive release time for attending meetings.
Section 6
New members shall be seated before the election of new officers at the first meeting of the Council year.
Article V – Representation of Human Resources at the Council Meetings
A representative of Human Resources may attend any regular or special meeting of the Council but shall
not vote.
Article VI – Nomination and Election of Members
Candidacy – Individuals who wish to run for Council membership should submit a written statement of
candidacy to the chairperson of the Election Committee at least two weeks before the election is scheduled.
Such statements shall be prepared by the Election Committee and will be made available in the Campus
Connection. Names shall appear on the ballot in the order the written statement of candidacy is received by
the chairperson of the Election Committee. If written statements are received at the same time, then
placement on the ballot will be determined by a drawing.
Section 1
All permanent employees beyond their initial probation in status shall have the right to vote for Council
members.
Section 2
Supervision of Elections – Elections shall be supervised by the Election Committee approved by the Civil
Service Employees Council consisting of six members, one from each employee group, and the chairperson
being a member of the Civil Service Employees Council.
Section 3
Elections
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a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
The Election Committee shall prepare an official ballot from the statement of candidacy.
At least one calendar week prior to the holding of an election, statements of candidacy shall be
posted and shall be published in Campus Connection.
Each person may vote for one or two candidates depending on vacancies in their own group.
The Election Committee shall tabulate the votes within three days after the polls are closed.
The Director of Human Resources or designee shall be responsible for notifying elected
candidates by campus mail in the form of a letter.
Absentee ballots may be obtained from Human Resources by the voter requesting a ballot in
accordance with a time schedule to be established by the Election Committee.
Section 4
Replacement of Members
a. Whenever a representative changes group status within the University system, that member shall
serve from the group which elected him/her until the next scheduled CSEC Election. At such time
the position shall be declared vacant and a new representative elected from the group to complete
the term.
b. In the event of a member of the Council resigning from the Council for whatever reason, the
person in that representative group receiving the next highest number of the votes cast in the
preceding election will assume the duties of the Council member. In the absence of such a person,
the Council shall appoint a replacement from the required group.
c. A member so appointed shall serve only for the remainder of the term of the person he or she
replaces.
d. In the event of elected Council members taking an approved leave from the University, the person
in that representative group receiving the next highest number of votes cast in the preceding
election will temporarily replace the person on the Council until the end of their leave. In the
absence of such a person, the Council shall appoint a temporary replacement from the required
group.
Article VII – Referendum
Section 1
Any matter of concern to the Civil Service employees shall be subject to referendum upon presentation of a
petition signed by twenty percent of the status Civil Service employees.
Section 2
A request for referendum shall be submitted to the President of the Council who shall present the petition to
the Council members at the next meeting.
Section 3
The Council may also initiate a referendum by a majority vote of the Council members.
Section 4
The Council shall conduct the referendum by ballot of the status Civil Service employees within thirty days
following the Council meeting at which the petition was presented.
Section 5
The results of the referendum and the recommendation of the Civil Service Employees Council shall be
forwarded to the President and to the Director of Human Resources for approval before becoming effective.
Article VIII – Donations
Section1
The Council will make a one (1) time donation of $100.00 to the cause, benefit/memorial, of a Civil
Service employee who is terminally ill, or passes while actively employed by Western Illinois University.
a.
While terminally ill a benefit is held in the person’s name, a one-time donation of $100.00
can be made to the benefit. Or
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b.
c.
d.
While terminally ill a benefit is held in the person’s name, and it is the wishes of the person
or family, a one-time donation of $100.00 can be made to a charitable organization in their
name. Or
A memorial is held for said person, a one-time donation of $100.00 can be made to the
memorial/charity organization of their choice.
If no election is made from Article VIII Sec. 1 (a-c) then a donation of $100.00 can be made
to the CSEC Scholarship Fund in said person’s name.
Section 2
All donations will be brought before the council and voted upon, if funds are available. A simple majority
vote is all that is required.
Article IV
The rules contained in the “Roberts Rules of Order Revised” shall govern this organization in all cases to
which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the By-Laws.
Adopted: May 1970
Revised: October 1970, December 1970, April 1971, July 1971, May 1972, July 1973, April 1979, May
1981, September 1990, November 1992, December 1999, May 2006, July 2007, June 2010.
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