Election for Faculty Regent
Once every three years, the Committee on Elections and University Nominations must oversee the election of a new Faculty Regent. If a member of the Elections and University Nominations Committee is a candidate for Faculty Regent, that member may not participate in any of the functions of the Committee on Elections and University Nominations during the entire process.
- November Executive Committee Meeting
- December Senate Meeting
- December Meeting of the Committee on Elections and University Nominations
- Immediately After This Meeting
- Immediately At The Start Of Spring Semester
- January Executive Committee
- By February 1
- By The February Senate Meeting
- By February 20
- By The March Senate Meeting
- By March 10
- By March 25
- At The April Senate Meeting
- If Faculty Regent Vacates Office During Term
- Criteria and Procedures for Faculty Regent Election
- Faculty Regent Nomination Petition Form
November Executive Committee meeting (top)
Have a copy of the Criteria and Procedures and a sample nomination petition sent to the Executive Committee for inclusion with the December Senate Agenda. Request that the Senate sponsor the Regent's Forums.
December Senate meeting (top)
Announce to Faculty Senate that there is to be a Regent's election.
December meeting of the Committee on Elections and University Nominations (top)
Have a meeting to establish exact dates for the balloting. Set up several tentative times and dates for the Forums. It would be best to have several alternatives. Draft an email and EKU Today notice to all faculty giving them the following information: the exact times the petitions will be sent and when they are due back to the Committee on Elections and University Nominations; the date the first ballot will be held; and, assuming it is necessary, when the second ballot will be held. Explain that voting will be done electronically via a link in an email to eligible faculty. Ballots will then be tallied by the Office of Institutional Research with the results reported to the Elections and University Nominations Committee and the Chair of the Senate.
Immediately after this meeting (top)
Reserve rooms for all the possible dates for the Forums. Two different periods on different class patterns are necessary, plus some additional times since you will have to adjust to the candidates' schedules.
Immediately at the start of spring semester (top)
E-mail your letter, a copy of the Criteria and Procedures and a sample petition to all eligible faculty.
January Executive Committee meeting (top)
Ask the Chair of the Senate to make an announcement that the Senate is sponsoring the Forums. The Senate Chair and Chair of the Elections and University Nominations Committee must decide who will be moderator.
By February 1 (top)
The petitions should be returned to the Committee on Elections and University Nominations.
By the February Senate meeting (top)
The Committee should have met, verified the signatures of eligible voters and eliminated any that appeared on more than one petition. The Committee should compile a list of the candidates. As soon as the eligible candidates have been identified, call each of the people who submitted petitions and tell them whether or not they had sufficient signatures. For those who did, ask each about the times set up for the Forum. Eliminate any times that any one of the candidates cannot be present. Determine the two best times for the Forum to be scheduled. Call the Chair of the Senate and the Office of the President and provide the names of the candidates and the times of the Forum. Prepare an announcement of the scheduled times for the Forums and send an email to all faculty with this announcement.
By February 20 (top)
The Forums should be completed and the Elections and University Nominations Committee should have drafted the cover letter for the ballots. Check with the Office of Institutional Research about creating the ballots and doing the tabulations of the vote. The cover letter should be taken to the Office of Institutional Research, and they will then send out the ballots with the cover letter to all eligible faculty.
By the March Senate meeting (top)
The first ballots should be tabulated by Institutional Research and the eligible voting faculty verified. Immediately after the votes have been counted inform the Chair of the Senate, the candidates, and the Office of the President of the results. The results of the election should then be posted on the Senate website by the Senate Secretary. At the Senate meeting give a complete account of the voting, including the number of votes received, the number that had to be discarded (and why), and the results.
By March 10 (top)
The second ballot (which has typically been necessary) should be emailed. You will again need a very brief cover letter with a link to the second ballot emailed to all eligible faculty by the Office of Institutional Research.
By March 25 (top)
The second ballots should be back and tabulated by Institutional Research. Immediately after the votes have been counted inform the Chair of the Senate, the candidates and the Office of the President of the results. The results of the election should then be posted on the Senate website by the Senate Secretary.
At the April Senate meeting (top)
If a second ballot is needed, provide another report to the Senate. It is extremely unlikely this will be fresh information since the new Regent has been seated since April 1.
If Faculty Regent Vacates Office During Term (top)
If the Faculty Regent resigns or prematurely vacates the office, a new election should be held following the procedure described above but with a revised time line set by the Chair of the Senate.
CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES FOR FACULTY REGENT ELECTION (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 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.
Criteria (top)
Eligibility to Vote for Faculty Regent
All faculty members of the rank of instructor or above, or librarians holding comparable ranks 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:
- Hold the rank of Assistant Professor or higher;
- Be a member of the teaching or research faculty whose faculty-load assignment includes 50 percent or more teaching and/or research.
- not have a relative1 who is currently employed at Eastern Kentucky University (anti-nepotism statute, KRS 164.360 (2))2
1 "relative," as defined by KRS 164.001, includes "a person's father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law."
2 This statute is under review by the Office of the Attorney General and a decision is expected before the 2013 election. Candidates who may be affected by this criterion are therefore currently eligible to run with the understanding that in the event the review changes the interpretation of the statute the candidate could be allowed to serve if elected.
Procedures (top)
Nomination of Faculty Regent
- 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 has signed no other petition for nomination in the current election.
- The Committee on Elections and University Nominations shall certify the validity of the nominating petitions prior to making up the ballot for the election.
- Each eligible voter may vote for one of the persons nominated.
- If no person receives a majority of the votes 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 Committee on Elections and University Nominations shall certify the results of the election to the Chair of the Senate.
- The Chair of the Senate shall certify the results of the election to the Secretary of the Board of Regents.
FACULTY REGENT NOMINATION PETITION (top)
for the term April 1, 2____
through March 31, 2____
(Change dates as appropriate)
We, the undersigned, being 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
Signature Printed Name Rank Unit
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Get 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.
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