BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY ASSOCIATION
OF THE
EL PASO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Preamble
We the Faculty of the El Paso Community College hereby establish a Faculty Association for the purpose
of participating in the governance of the institution.
ARTICLE I.
THE FACULTY ASSOCIATION
The Faculty Association, subject to the laws of the State of Texas and the policies of the Board of
Trustees of the El Paso Community College District, shall have the responsibility of participating in the
creation, development, and implementation of all college policies and procedures.
Section 1.
The Faculty Association shall consist of all non-administrative full-time and part-time
instructors, counselors, and librarians having employment with the college. The
Association shall meet and conduct business as a committee of the whole.
Section 2.
All Faculty Association members shall have one vote and be eligible to vote in:
a.
b.
c.
elections of officers of the Faculty Association;
referenda; and
Faculty Association meetings.
Note: Faculty Association members may confer their vote via proxy in a written
authorization granting such power to another voting member of the Association. Parttime faculty members hold Association membership only in academic terms of college
employment, and they may vote or present their proxy, or represent by proxy in such
academic terms only.
Section 3.
Officers of the Faculty Association, who shall also constitute the Executive Committee of
the Faculty Association, shall consist of:
a.
a President, who shall preside at Association and Executive Committee
meetings, and serve as a spokesperson for the Association, as well as sit on the
college councils, committees, and task forces. The President or a representative
designated by the President will also attend all of the Board of Trustee
meetings;
b.
c.
d.
two Vice Presidents, one each from the full-time faculty and part-time faculty.
The vice President from the full-time faculty will serve in the absence of the
President. The Vice President from the full-time faculty will be the only
Association officer to ascend to the presidency in the event that the elected
President is removed from office or is in any circumstance rendered unable to
complete the prescribed elected term of office; and
one Secretary, who shall keep the minutes of all Association meetings and
maintain current lists of Association members.
Elected officers of the Faculty Association may be alleviated of their
responsibilities and/or removed from officer under the following circumstances:
1.
2.
Section 4.
By self-initiated resignation,
By a vote of the Faculty Association for cause, misfeasance,
malfeasance, or nonfeasance, by a vote of fifty percent plus one of fulltime Faculty Association members acting as a committee of the whole in
a regularly convened assembly, as specified in Article I, Section 6 (a and
b), or as specified in Article I, Section 5.
Elections of officers of the Faculty Association shall follow the schedule and procedures
detailed in the Faculty Association/Senate Election Procedures, to be attached to the bylaws, and those additional procedures detailed below. The Faculty Association/Senate
election procedures will be created and/or revised by a committee appointed by the
Faculty Association President. Election procedures, including revisions, must be
approved by a majority vote of the Faculty Association or Faculty Senate no later than
30 days prior to the start of elections.
a.
b.
c.
The four elected officers of the Faculty Association shall be chosen by secret
ballot. The full-time faculty will nominate and vote for offices of President, Fulltime Vice President, and Secretary. The part-time faculty will nominate and vote
for offices of President, Part-time Vice President, and Secretary. Nominations
may occur during a two-week period, excluding Spring Break, beginning no later
than the last Monday in March of each academic year in which an election is
held;
No later than the twenty-first day of February, the President shall appoint an Ad
Hoc Elections Committee which will prepare and publish election materials and
deadlines for election of those standing for election: nomination forms listing
the names of the Ad Hoc Elections Committee members will be distributed to all
Faculty Association members via e-mail and by hard copy;
Nominations for positions may be made by any Association member as long as
the name and signature of the nominator is submitted to the Elections
Committee by its ballot preparation deadline;
d.
e.
All elections will be decided by the total vote cast for a particular position. The
election procedures will specify whether the winner is decided by majority vote
or by plurality and whether run-off elections will be held; and
All balloting shall occur during a continuous ten day voting process beginning no
later than the second Monday in April.
Section 5.
All terms of office shall begin with the first contract day of each academic year. Terms
shall end on the day prior to the first contract day of each academic year. Any Faculty
Association officer who misses three successive regular meetings of the Faculty
Association will be considered to have vacated that position, with the exception of the
President, who shall be replaced by the Vice President of the full-time faculty. A vacancy
in the Office of Secretary will be filled by a temporary appointment by the President.
Vacancies in the office of either Vice President will necessitate an election following the
procedure detailed in Article I, Section 4.
Section 6.
There shall be at least one Faculty Association meeting per semester in the regular
academic year, August through April.
Section 7.
Additional Faculty Association meetings may be called by
a.
b.
the President of the Faculty Association on his or her own initiative or at the
request of the President of the college, or
the Faculty Association on its own, or on pre-approval of the Association,
meeting as a committee of the whole, or on a written petition of thirty (30)
members of the Faculty Association.
Section 8.
Recognized parliamentary procedure shall govern the conduct of Faculty Association
meetings. Questions regarding the parliamentary procedure shall be referred to and
decided by a Faculty Association member or members acting in the capacity of
parliamentarian and designated as such by the President for that specific meeting.
Roberts Rules of Order will be the standard compendium consulted for general
guidelines governing procedures of the Faculty Association.
Section 9.
Faculty Association voting shall consist of a show of hands, unless an Association
member requests a secret written ballot or a roll call vote and said request is approved
by a majority of the Association members present.
Section 10.
Minutes of all Faculty Association meetings and special meetings shall be provided to all
senators within two weeks following the meeting upon which they are reporting and
shall be distributed to all Faculty Association members no less than five days prior to the
next Faculty Association or Faculty Senate meeting. An oral summary provided by the
Faculty Association President of any special meetings may substitute when such
meetings take place within five working days of a regularly scheduled Faculty
Association meeting.
Section 11.
Ratification of, amendments to, changes or alterations of Bylaws of the Faculty
Association:
a.
ARTICLE II.
Ratification of Bylaws, amendments to, or changes or alterations to said
document will be submitted to the Faculty Association for consideration thirty
days prior to a vote of the Association for adoption. The Association, acting as a
committee of the whole, shall vote on ratification of, amendments to, changes
or alterations of Bylaws on the meeting of the Association in the monthly
meeting following the submission of said ratification, amendment, change or
alternation, and as specified in Article I, Section 6 of the Bylaws detailing
Association meetings.
THE FACULTY SENATE
To facilitate the exercise of the responsibilities outlined in Article I above, the powers of the Faculty
Association are hereby delegated to a representative body to be called the Faculty Senate. This
delegation of authority is subject to revision by the Faculty Association.
Section 1.
The Faculty Senate shall consist of the following:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Section 2.
the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, serving a two-year term,
composed of the officers of the Faculty Association as outlined in Article I,
Section 3,
two delegates (full-time faculty), serving a two-year term from each of the
instructional divisions,
one delegate each from the counselors and from the librarians, each serving a
two-year term,
one delegate (full –time faculty), serving a two-year term from each of the
present five campus facilities, and
one delegate (part-time faculty), serving from each of the present five campus
facilities for a term of two years, but not in excess of their actual term of college
employment; a representative not continued in college employment will
necessitate an appointment by the part-time faculty Vice President of a parttime faculty member to fill the unexpired term and serving at the campus of the
departing representative.
Elections of officers and at-large representatives of the Faculty Senate shall follow the
schedule and procedures detailed in the Faculty Association/Senate Election
Procedures, to be attached to the by-laws, and those additional procedures detailed
below. Elections procedures may be changed by vote of the Faculty Senate no less than
thirty days prior to the election.
a.
b.
The two delegates representing each instructional division shall be selected by
their constituency groups no later than the last day of the fall Faculty
Development Week through procedures determined by each constituency
group;
The at-large campus delegate Senate nominees shall be chosen by their
respective constituents. Nominations may occur during a two-week period,
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
excluding Spring Break, beginning no later than the last Monday in March of
each academic year for those standing for election;
The at-large campus representatives, both full and part time, shall be chosen by
secret ballot by the respective Association members of each campus, for those
standing for election;
No later than the twenty-first day of February, the President shall appoint an Ad
Hoc Elections Committee which will prepare and publish election materials and
deadlines for election of those standing for election; nomination forms listing
the names of the Ad Hoc Elections Committee members will be distributed to all
Faculty Association members via e-mail and by hard copy;
nominations for positions other than instructional and representative group
may be made by an Association member as long as a nomination form showing
the printed name and signature of the nominator is submitted to the Ad Hoc
Elections Committee by the ballot preparation deadline;
All the elections will be decided by the total vote cast for a particular position.
The election procedures will specify whether run-off elections will be held;
All balloting shall occur during a continuous ten day voting process beginning no
later than the second Monday in April.
Section 3.
All terms of office shall begin with the first contract day of each academic year. Terms
shall end on the day prior to the first contract day of each academic year. Any Faculty
Association officer or Faculty Senate delegate who misses three (3) successive regular
meetings of the Faculty Senate will be considered to have vacated that position. With
the exception of the President, who shall be replaced by the Vice President from the
full-time faculty, vacancies in any elected Executive Committee position will be filled, in
the instance of the Office of Secretary, by a temporary appointment by the President.
Vacancies in the Office of Vice-President shall necessitate an election following the
procedure detailed in Article I, Section 4. Vacancies in any Faculty Senate delegate
position will be filled from the appropriate constituency group under the direction of
the Executive Committee, using procedures determined by that constituency group.
Section 4.
There shall be at least one meeting of the Faculty Senate during each month of the
regular academic year in which there is no regularly scheduled Faculty Association
meeting, August through April. Additional meetings of the Faculty Senate may be called
and representatives should be available during the summer months or confer their
proxy in the appropriate manner to another seated Faculty Senate delegate for the
duration of their absence. Summer meetings will be:
a.
b.
c.
Section 5.
at the discretion of the Faculty Association President,
by the decision of the Faculty Senate at a previous meeting, or
by petition signed by five members of the Faculty Senate and presented to the
Faculty Association President.
Recognized parliamentary procedure shall govern the conduct of Faculty Senate
meetings. Questions shall be decided by a Senate delegate or delegates assigned by the
Senate to serve in that capacity on a meeting by meeting basis.
Section 6.
A quorum shall consist of 50% plus one of the full-time faculty members of the Faculty
Senate including the Executive Committee members.
Section 7.
Each member of the Faculty Senate shall have one vote.
Section 8.
Terms of members being replaced by newly elected members shall expire on the day
preceding the first contract day of each Academic Year.
Section 9.
When possible, Faculty Senate meetings are to be scheduled prior to any Regular
Monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Section10.
The Executive Committee shall be responsible for publishing Association and Senate
meeting agenda no less than five days prior to any regularly scheduled meeting.
Section 11.
Minutes of all Faculty Association and Faculty Senate meetings shall be published to all
senators within two weeks following the meeting upon which they are reporting and
shall be distributed to all Faculty Association members no less than five days prior to the
next Faculty Association or Faculty Senate meeting.
Ratified by the Faculty Association on January 10, 2008
Amendment
El Paso Community College Faculty Association/Senate Elections Procedure
1. Information regarding the El Paso Community College Faculty Association/Senate elections
nomination process and voting dates are found in the By-Laws of the Faculty Association of the El Paso
Community College, Article I, Section #4 and Article II, Section #2.
2. In the case of paper ballots, members of the ad hoc Elections Committee will deliver sealed, secure
ballot boxes to each campus library or announced location such that they are available at the start of the
election. In the case of online voting, members shall prepare an online ballot by the start of the election,
which will be accessible from the Senate webpage.
3. Each faculty member may submit only one ballot. For purposes of voting, each faculty member
declares a “home campus,” and can only vote for the at-large senators/representatives who are running
to serve that home campus. Each faculty member can also vote one time for the officers who are
running for district-wide positions. Ballots will be customized for each campus.
4. In the case of paper ballots, each faculty member will present photo identification and will sign for
receipt of their ballot. Voting is strictly anonymous and confidential. In the case of online voting, faculty
will access and submit a ballot using their employee identification number.
5. In the case of paper ballots, as soon as the voting period is over, the secure ballot boxes will be
delivered back to the ad hoc Elections Committee for the vote count. All ballot boxes must be delivered
by the stated time and date that the vote count is to begin. Ballot boxes will be unsealed and opened by
the chair of the ad hoc Elections Committee only in the presence of the members of the ad hoc Elections
Committee. The vote count process is open to all members of the Faculty Association/Senate. The ad
hoc Elections Committee chair will be the only person in possession of the ballot box keys throughout
the elections process. In the case of online ballots, the ad hoc Elections Committee will oversee
tabulation and certification of online ballots.
6. All races for Faculty Association/Senate offices shall be decided by plurality. In the case of a tie, a
runoff election will be held within seven days following the above-stated procedure for elections.
Election results shall be published by e-mail and/or on the Faculty Association/Senate webpage.
7. Any candidate may call for a recount of votes by sending an e-mail message to the chair of the ad hoc
Elections Committee and at least one Faculty Senate officer.
8. Violations of the elections procedure, Senate By-Laws, or College procedure may be reported to any
Faculty Senate officer. The complaint shall be heard by the Faculty Senate, and further action will be
determined by the Faculty Senate, to include possible invalidation of the elections and/or removal from
office. This process will be documented.
9. Distribution of Faculty Association/Senate campaign materials must comply with College policies and
procedures, including College procedure 2.04.01.18 (Distribution of Printed Materials on Campus),
2.05.01.34 (Electronic Mail Services, Personal and Broadcast Email, and Email Restrictions), and
2.05.01.54 (Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources).
10. No College funds are to be used for personal campaign materials or activities.
11. All candidates for office will have equal space made available to them on the EPCC Faculty
Association/Senate webpage.
Ratified by the Faculty Association on January 10, 2008