Elections and University Nominations Committee

(The Elections Committee was combined with the Committee on Committees in May, 2012 to form the Elections & University Nominations Committee)

• At the first meeting of the academic year
• Check Faculty Senate Membership
• Check Faculty Senate Committees
• Election for Faculty Senate Chair/Vice Chair
• Solicitation for Volunteers for Policy/Regulation Drafting Teams & Unexpected Vacancies on University Committees
• Election for Adjunct Faculty Senator
• Election of Faculty Regent
• Before the Regular Meeting in May
• Appendix (sample emails, letters, and timelines)

At the first meeting of the academic year, the committee should do the following: (top)

1. Elect a committee chair/co-chairs and secretary and inform the Faculty Senate Chair and Secretary.
2. Set monthly meeting day, time, venue for Fall and Spring and inform the Faculty Senate Chair and Secretary for posting to the Faculty Senate webpage.
3. Review the primary duties of the committee as stated in Faculty Handbook, Section Seven VII E 2 as well as,
   • http://facultysenate.eku.edu/internal/elections-committee
   • http://facultysenate.eku.edu/internal/all-committees
   • http://facultysenate.eku.edu/rules/standing-rules
   • http://facultysenate.eku.edu/sites/facultysenate.eku.edu/files/files/
     committees/CommitteeChecklist_REVISED_02-01-17.pdf 
4. Work to complete the charges of the committee as received from the Faculty Senate Chair in addition to addressing matters brought to the committee by constituents and other stakeholders regarding faculty elections.
5. Conduct nominations/elections for:
   1. Faculty Senate Membership
   2. Faculty Senate Committees
   3. Adjunct Senator
   4. Faculty Senate Chair/Vice
   5. Faculty Regent

The committee has an Appendix that includes the following:

• Sample Letter to Department Chairs (re: Senate replacements for outgoing senators)
• Sample Timeline and Email to Faculty Senate Chair (re: Adjunct Election)
• Sample Email to Department Chairs Soliciting Adjunct Names (for Adjunct Election)
• Sample Email to Eligible Adjunct Candidates (for Adjunct Election)

Check Faculty Senate Membership (top)

In mid-March, the Committee Chair, the Senate Chair and the Senate Secretary should work together in compiling a current list of Senate membership for the upcoming year. After the committee has the updated membership list, an email must be sent to all the departments who need a replacement for the fall semester reminding them to hold an election as soon as possible.  Remind them to also elect an alternate or alternates to serve in case the elected senator is unable to attend any meetings.  In addition, be sure to ask if any of their elected senators will be out on sabbatical or other leave in the fall and/or spring and if the elected replacement(s) will be temporary or permanent. Each department should review their number of full-time faculty to see if they have the right number of representatives on the Faculty Senate.  Include the table below in your correspondence.
 

FYI: Regular Senate terms are for 3 years and faculty can serve 3 consecutive terms.  After that they have to sit out one year before they can be re-elected to serve again.  (NOTE: The dean's term and the adjunct faculty term are for two years only.)

(See the E&UN Internal Procedures Appendix for a sample letter to send out to departments on getting updates for outgoing senators.)

Check Faculty Senate Committees (top)

Review the monthly Faculty Senate agenda to see if there will be any elections at the Senate meeting for vacancies on Senate Committees. Correspond with the Chair of Information Technology Committee (IT) to set up electronic voting for the election. Ensure that all incoming senators have the the latest information available on the voting process. Voting is facilitated by the Senate Chair.

Election for Faculty Senate Chair/Vice Chair (top)

The Elections and University Nominations Committee of the Faculty Senate will oversee the annual nomination and election of Faculty Senate Chair and Vice Chair. Nominations are taken at the April Faculty Senate meeting. Elections are held at the organizational meeting of the new senate in May.

Solicitation for Volunteers for Policy/Regulation Drafting Teams and Unexpected Vacancies on University Committees (top)

Faculty are limited to serving on a maximum of two University standing committees during the academic year.

Throughout the year, it is possible that the Senate Chair will ask the Committee to solicit volunteers, who may or may not be serving on the Faculty Senate, to serve on policy/regulation drafting teams or to fill unexpectedly vacant faculty positions on university standing committees. Ask the Associate Provost and the Senate Chair for recommendations. If that yields no one, advertise the opening on EKU Today. For vacancies designated for representatives of specific colleges, the Committee must ask the dean of the college or the chair of the given committee for nominations. For certain committees, membership is identified in accordance with a specific policy provision.

Election for the Adjunct Senator (top)

The Elections and University Nominations Committee of the Faculty Senate will oversee the nomination and election of the adjunct faculty representative on Faculty Senate. The adjunct faculty representative shall serve a two-year term that is contingent upon the adjunct representative’s being contracted by the University to teach again.

If the adjunct faculty representative is unable to complete the full two-year term, the first runner-up in the election process will be offered the opportunity to fulfill the remainder of the term. If the first-runner up is not available, the second runner-up will be offered the opportunity to fulfill the remainder of the term.

IN FEBRUARY: Establish a timeline for the election process and contact chairs of each department (or request that the Faculty Senate Chair initiate contact) requesting names of eligible adjunct faculty to serve as the adjunct faculty representative on Faculty Senate.

(See E&UN Appendix for sample timeline email and sample email to department chairs.)

IN MARCH: Contact the candidates requesting a short bio that includes their reason for wanting to serve on Faculty Senate.

(See E&UN Appendix for sample email to candidates.)

IN APRIL: Correspond with the Office of Institutional Research for dissemination of an election ballot listing the nominees and their bios. Forward the results to the Faculty Senate chair and Secretary.

Election of Faculty Regent (top)

Term of Office

The Faculty Regent shall serve a three-year term, which begins on April 1 of the academic year in which the election is held and ends on March 31. The Faculty Regent shall serve for a term of three years and until a successor is elected and qualified. The Faculty Regent shall be eligible for reelection but shall not be eligible to continue to serve as a member of the Board if no longer a member of the teaching or research faculty staff of the University. Elections to fill vacancies shall be for the unexpired term and shall be held in the same manner as the original election.

Eligibility to Vote for Faculty Regent

All full-time faculty members, clinical faculty, and university librarians holding comparable rank are eligible to vote for the Faculty Regent. However, faculty with administrative assignments at or above the level of department chair are not eligible to vote in the Faculty Regent election.

Eligibility to Serve as Faculty Regent

In order to serve as the faculty member on the Board of Regents the faculty member must:

1. Hold the rank of Assistant Professor or higher;
2. Be a full-time member of the teaching or research faculty whose faculty-load assignment includes 50 percent or more teaching and/or research. (KRS statute 164.321).

Nomination of Faculty Regent

1. A faculty member is nominated by the submission of a petition for nomination to the Faculty Senate Committee on Elections. The petition must be signed by at least twenty (20) members of the faculty who are eligible to vote and who have signed no other petition for nomination in the current election.
2. The Committee on Elections and University Nominations shall certify the validity of the nominating petitions prior to making up the ballot for the election.
3. Each eligible voter may vote for one of the persons nominated.
4. If no person receives a simple majority of the votes (50% + 1) cast on the first ballot, the Committee on Elections and University Nominations shall prepare a second ballot, which will contain the names of the two persons receiving the highest number of votes on the first election ballot, and conduct a second election. The candidate receiving a simple majority of votes (50% + 1) shall be elected to the position.
5. The Committee on Elections and University Nominations shall certify the results of the election and deliver the results to the Chair of the Senate.
6. The Chair of the Senate shall certify the results of the election and deliver the results to the Secretary of the Board of Regents.

FACULTY REGENT NOMINATION PETITION

for the term April 1, 20____

through March 31, 20____

(Change dates as appropriate)

We, the undersigned, are eligible to sign a petition of nomination for candidates for the position of Faculty Regent, support the nomination of the below named faculty member, and certify that we have signed no other nomination for a candidate for the cited term of office.

______________________________________________
Nominee's Name, Academic Rank, Department

Petitioners

Provide as many lines as you can on the page, but space them far enough apart to be easily read.

A brief (100 word) biographical sketch including educational background and professional experience should accompany this petition.

Page _____ of _____

(end of Faculty Regent section)

Before the Regular Meeting in May (top)

The committee chair should prepare a year-end report to present at the regular May Faculty Senate meeting. The report should include a summary of the committee’s progress on assigned charges as well as recommendations for charges for the next year’s committee. When completed, forward report to the Senate Secretary for inclusion with the Senate agenda when distributed.

E&UN Appendix (top)

Sample Letter to Department Chairs

(Request for replacement Senators before May Organizational meeting – Share revised letter when available with Senate Chair who will distribute the letter via listserv.)

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

At the time you elect a senate replacement, please be sure to elect an alternate (or alternates) who can attend meetings if your elected representative cannot attend. Remember, elected alternates have the same voting rights as your elected representative. (Substitutes, who attend for the representative but have not been elected as an alternate, may speak on issues but are not eligible to vote on actions.) Please forward the names of your elected representative and alternate(s) to Chair (insert chair name) (chair email address) and Secretary (insert secretary name) (secretary email address).

All chairs, inform the Senate Chair and Secretary if you have a senator whose term is still current but will be unable to serve for the 2022-2023 (adjust years as needed) academic year (examples: sabbatical, medical leave, etc.) and identify who will be filling in for them for the fall and/or spring semester or completing the rest of the elected term.

All chairs should review their total number of full time faculty to see if their number of elected representatives has changed. This is especially important if areas or departments have combined as this may affect the total number of representatives for your area. Be sure to let us know of any changes that will affect the number of representatives your area is entitled to serve on Faculty Senate. Also, please let us know if your area or department name has changed and/or college location so we can update our records.

Sample Timeline and Email to Faculty Senate Chair Re: Adjunct Election

The Elections Committee is in the process of filling the Adjunct Faculty Senator seat. We will solicit names from the department chairs through February (insert date). On March (insert date), we will ask for short biographies from the candidates to create the ballot. We will then have the election beginning on April (insert date) in order to have an elected Adjunct Senator in place for the May organizational meeting.

The first step in the process is to send the message below to the department chairs. In the past, the Senate Chair initiates this contact. Would you please send the message below to the department chairs?

Thank you,
E&UN Committee

Sample Email to Department Chairs Soliciting Adjunct Names

(Send to the Senate Chair, who will distribute the letter via listserv.)

Dear Chairs,

The Elections & University Nominations Committee of Faculty Senate is looking for an adjunct faculty member to serve as Adjunct Faculty Senator. Moving forward, we need a list of eligible adjunct faculty members in your department. In order to be eligible, the faculty member must be currently contracted by the University to teach.

Please submit a list at your earliest convenience or before February (INSERT DATE) to
(INSERT NAME OF COMMITTEE CHAIR) (INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS).

Thank you very much for your participation in the shared governance of EKU.

Sample Email to Eligible Adjunct Candidates

(Committee Chair sends memo to candidates)

Hello,

My name is (INSERT NAME), and I am the Chair of the Faculty Senate Elections & University Nominations Committee. Your name was provided by your department chair as someone eligible for, and perhaps interested in, the vacant Adjunct Faculty Representative position on Faculty Senate. If you are not interested in this position, you may delete this email. If you are interested and are indeed an adjunct faculty member, please respond with a short bio that includes your reasons for wanting to serve on Faculty Senate before (INSERT DATE).

The next step in the process will be the actual election to fill the vacant seat.

Thank you very much for your time!

Updated 03-06-23