Faculty Senate
A D H O C B Y L AW S C O M M I T T E E
January 11, 2016
In Attendance: Chair Cheryl Cardoza, Steven Bale, Thomas Dobbert, Anne Flesher, and Robert Kirchman.
Absent: Tara Lewis and Sue Turbow
Call To Order: 2:05 p.m., Sierra 111
1.
Approval of the Minutes: Minutes were approved unanimously after a motion by Robert Kirchman and a second
by Anne Flesher.
2.
Review of the Committee’s Charge: As the member missing last meeting was not present, Cheryl Cardoza
asked if anyone needed to review the charge or if we were good to move on. No one felt the need. Cheryl did a
brief two sentence encapsulation.
3.
Overall Bylaws Discussion: The committee started with some issues about organization of the bylaws. Steve
Bale brought up the numbering and how cumbersome it is. Several discussed the confusion that the placement
of bylaws on the Sabbatical Subcommittee was causing.
•
Organization: The committee agreed that bylaws about how committees are run should precede bylaws on the
specific committees. Cheryl Cardoza asked about why we have separate bylaws for the Chair duties for each
committee when there is significant overlap of duties. She proposed having a general section on Committee
chair elections and duties in the beginning of the bylaws. Steve Bale presented the history of section 9.6 and
the rationale for having committee duties under the specific committees. In the past this was seen as a way to
give committees autonomy. Cheryl Cardoza suggested that we just put those duties that are the same for each
chair in the beginning and include additional duties that are specific to each committee under their subsections.
This was generally approved. Anne Flesher asked why not all committee chairs are represented on the
Executive Committee. Cheryl Cardoza and Steve Bale replied that it had to do with release time for committee
chairs. There were questions about why the Part-Time Issues committee has no representation on the
Executive Committee. Cheryl said she would take it up with the Executive Committee.
•
Numbering: Steve Bale pointed out that the current numbering is cumbersome and does not follow the way
most bylaws are written. He suggested going to small letters to show changes instead of extending numbers to
the margins. The committee thought this would make the bylaws clearer. On this idea, Robert Kirchman
suggested that our bylaws could include a visual diagram of the committees and flow charts to show the
motion process. Everyone was in favor of this idea, but agreed to postpone it until the work is done.
•
Sabbatical Subcommittee Placement: Currently, the Sabbatical subcommittee is included in subsections 9.1.19.1.8. The committee felt that this placement doesn’t make sense and suggested some alternatives: As a
subsection of the Professional Standards Committee as it is a subcommittee of that body, as a subsection of
the Salary and Benefits committee as it is a benefit for faculty as well as a professional development
experience, as a subsection for both the above named committees. We also discussed the possibility of the
Sabbatical subcommittee moving to a stand-alone committee in its own right as there is no real reporting
relationship with Professional Standards. Cheryl Cardoza offered to take this to the Executive committee for
discussion. While discussing this, Steve Bale pointed out that it seems odd that the travel funds are handled
through Professional Standards instead of Salary and Benefits. Cheryl Cardoza said she would also bring this
up with the Executive Committee.
Page 1 of 3; Ad Hoc Bylaws Committee Jan. 11, 2016
TMCC is an EEO/AA institution. See http://eeo.tmcc.edu for more information.
Created: 1/29/2016; Rev: 1/29/2016
4.
Reorganization of General Bylaws about Committees: The committee discussed a new order for the bylaws that
put the general ideas first, then the particular bylaws governing individual committees. It was agreed that the
Sabbatical subcommittee would move to the individual committee section dependent on the advice of the
Executive committee. subsection 9.15 would also be moved up to be included in the general section. We also
discussed how to order the committee subsections. The consensus was that the committees should be in
alphabetical order in two sections: Executive Committee members, then others. The proposed numbering
would look like this:
o
9.1 Standing Committees of the Senate (including a list with bylaw references)
o
9.2 Committee Governance

9.2a Meetings, Motions, and Voting (9.2-9.4 +9.7)

9.2b Committee Membership (9.4-9.5)

9.2c Committee Chairs (add general chair duties, 9.6.1 + 9.15, something for chair term limits
and for interim chair terms.

o
9.3 on would be committees.
These discussions brought up some questions and issues. Two committees specify how many meetings
per year. We wondered if there should be a minimum of 2 per semester (4 per year). Term limits for
Chairs and how Interims are governed also came up. We also wondered why members of the senate
have to be confirmed. We also discussed the importance of having a section on Ad Hoc committees and
how those are formed and run at the Senate level.
5.
Implications of this organization on other parts of the Faculty Senate Bylaws: The previous discussion led to
some suggestions that we might want to look at other parts of the bylaws Articles X and XII should probably
appear earlier in the bylaws instead of being tacked onto the end of the document. Robert Kirchman
questioned 4.1.1 and 4.3.2 about who serves as faculty senators and how many serve. We discussed whether
committee Chairs should vote given that many of our chairs are not senators. Generally, representative bodies
with committees have voting members serve as chairs so we might want to consider giving those chairs a
voice. That brought up the question of whether chairs who are senators should have two votes. All of these
questions should be handled by the Executive committee.
6.
Preview of Library Committee Charges: The committee next turned to the Library Committee bylaws and what
worked. The general consensus was that this committee had too many charges and seemed too focused on
serving library needs instead of faculty concerns. The committee focused on which of the 15 charges should be
retained. Some were left out because they are really chair duties. Some were left out because they belong to
the library’s internal governance, not Faculty Senate. Suggested changes will be reviewed after the overall
review of the charges for all committees, but this is the preliminary discussion. Only the retained charges
appear below:
o
9.11.2: “Assist the library in publicizing the many services the library offers.” This needs to focus more
on letting faculty know as this is our focus.
o
9.11.5: “Recommend policies, policy changes and the implementation of programs and events as they
pertain to the Library Committee, Faculty Senate, and to the Library.” We felt that this charge should
focus more on how policies, implementations and possibly acquisitions affect the faculty. The focus is
too much on the committee and the library’s functioning which is outside the purview of the
committee.
o
9.11.7: “Schedule guest lectures and performances under the auspices of the library, often making use
of library space.” We felt that the actual scheduling of events should be done after the committee
researches and recommends possible events. Usually scheduling happens in the library and with other
bodies at TMCC.
o
9.11.11: “Help solve some of the communication problems between TMCC faculty and the library staff.”
The committee felt that this clause assumed communication problems and so should be reworded to
say “Facilitate communication between TMCC faculty and the library staff.”
Page 2 of 3; Ad Hoc Bylaws Committee an. 11, 2016
TMCC is an EEO/AA institution. See http://eeo.tmcc.edu for more information.
Rev.: 1/29/2016
o
9.11.14: “Review and make recommendations on other topics assigned by the Faculty Senate Chair
with the approval of the Executive Board.” This seems too narrow, but is a good clause that each
committee should be held to.
7.
Next Meeting: Cheryl reminded everyone that our next meeting is Friday, January 29th, 12-2pm in Sierra 111.
She asked that everyone concentrate on the four Executive Committee member committees: Curriculum,
Assessment, and Programs; Salary Benefits and Budgetary Concerns; Professional Standards; and Student
Learning Outcomes and Assessment.
Adjournment: 3:35 p.m.
Page 3 of 3; Ad Hoc Bylaws Committee an. 11, 2016
TMCC is an EEO/AA institution. See http://eeo.tmcc.edu for more information.
Rev.: 1/29/2016