Staff Advisory Council-Laws

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Laws
Last Update 06/30/2005

University of Nebraska (Omaha and Lincoln) College of Engineering and Technology Staff Advisory Council By-Laws

Article 1 – Name
The name of this organization will be the College of Engineering and Technology Staff Advisory Council, hereafter referred to as COET SAC or the Council.

Article II – Mission and Objectives
Mission Statement
The role of the College of Engineering & Technology Staff Advisory Counsel is to represent the interest of all non-faculty, non-student employees within the College of Engineering and Technology.

Objectives
• To encourage open dialog and unity within the College of Engineering and Technology.
• To assist in resolutions to all issues pertaining to all non-faculty, non-student employees within the College of Engineering and Technology.
• To provide recognition for those non-faculty, non-student employees within the College of Engineering and Technology who exemplify excellence in their field.

Article III – Organization and Membership
Membership of the COET SAC will consist of non-faculty, non-student employees of the College of Engineering and Technology. Members of the Council will have to be nominated by non-faculty, non-student employees and elected by non-faculty, non-student employees of the College of Engineering and Technology.

The term limit for a member of the Council is one year. Two consecutive terms may be held by a member of the Council. A Council member must spend a period of at least one year off the Council following his/her term(s) in order to be eligible for nomination and election to the Council again. The period of nonparticipation may be waived by the Council for districts that fail to provide a nomination for their representative(s).

The first Council will consist of members who will serve a 2 year term. Additional members will be nominated and elected for the second year based on the number of districts in place. During the third year, the original members will resign and be replaced by newly nominated and elected Council members. Following the third year, the one year term limits will be observed as outlined in this article, second paragraph.

Voting districts will consist of ten total districts divided with separate procedures for both campuses. The complete listing of districts can be found in Appendix A and will be updated annually prior to elections to reflect any changes in total employees in each district. The Lincoln campus districts are decided by geographic location and the Omaha campus districts are decided by general job description and/or employing unit. Representation from districts will be decided on by total population: 1-15 staff members will produce one representative, 16-30 staff members will produce two representatives.

The COET SAC mailing address will be the office address of the Council Chair. Employees who are not eligible for membership are represented by the Council and are encouraged to offer input, attend meetings, and seek Council assistance with problems and ideas. In the event that an elected seat on the SAC should be vacated, the executive officers may appoint an individual to finish the vacated term. The individual must be a non-faculty, non-student employee of the College of Engineering and Technology. The period of nonparticipation may be waived in this case. The executive officers of SAC should consider timeliness of replacement with respect to elections, fair and equitable representation of districts, experience and needed skills when making these recommendations.

Article IV – Officers
The executive officers of the Council are Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer.

The duties of the officers are as follows:
Chair
1. Prepares agenda
2. Presides at meetings of the Council.
3. Prepares reports on activities as requested.
4. Selects an alternate Secretary from the Council to take minutes in the absence of the Secretary.
5. Acts as Liaison to relevant authorities. 6. Attends other University committees as deemed necessary for the benefit of the Council.

Chair-Elect
1. Serve as stand-in for the Chair as needed until change in office occurs.
2. Interpret the Bylaws as needed.
3. Supervises the election process including, but not limited to, contacting nominees for acceptance of nomination, distributing ballots, and collecting ballots.

Secretary
1. Provides accurate minutes of each Council meeting, on a timely basis.
2. Maintains all records of the Council.
3. Reserves room for Council meetings.
4. Distributes Council meeting notices on a timely basis.
5. Responsible for all Council public communications.
6. Distributes agenda for all Council meetings.
7. Maintains list of Council committee members.

Secretary-Elect
1. Serve as stand-in for the Secretary as needed until change in office occurs.

Treasurer
1. Responsible for all financial arrangements for the Council.
2. Chairs any fundraising committees for the Council.
3. Acts as Liaison to the Dean for obtaining funding for Council activities when needed.

Article V – Election of Council Officers-Elect
Election of the Chair- Elect, Secretary-Elect and Treasurer-Elect for the Council will be done by open nomination, including self-nomination, by current Council members. An open poll will be taken at the time of nominations and the Chair-Elect, Secretary-Elect, and Treasurer-Elect will be chosen by simple majority of the voting Council members.

The first election of the officers-Elect will take place in June 2005 with the current officer terms ending in April 2006. The second and subsequent elections of the officers-Elect will take place one year prior to the term end of the current officer or officers.

Amendment 2 University of Nebraska (Omaha and Lincoln) College of Engineering and Technology Staff Advisory Council By-Laws Article V – Election of Council Officers-Elect Election of the Chair- Elect, Secretary-Elect and Treasurer-Elect for the Council will be done by open nomination, including self-nomination, by current Council members. An open poll will be taken at the time of nominations and the Chair-Elect, Secretary-Elect, and Treasurer-Elect will be chosen by simple majority of the voting Council members. The first election of the officers-Elect will take place in June 2005 with the current officer terms ending in April 2006. The second and subsequent elections of the officers-Elect will take place one year prior to the term end of the current officer or officers. Officers-Elect shall automatically serve one additional year on the Council beginning with their term as an Officer. passed by majority vote (8 for, 4 not present on 1/20/2006)

Article VI – Election Procedures
• Nominations, including self-nominations, are open nominations within districts for non-faculty, non-student employees.
• Nominees will be contacted by the Chair-Elect to ascertain their agreement to be placed on the ballot.
• Ballots will be sent to the districts by the Chair-Elect.
• The Chair-Elect will collect ballots

Article VII – Subcommittees
Subcommittees are hereby defined as a group of Council members given the task of directing additional efforts toward the said issue. A subcommittee should consist of a minimum of three members and a maximum not to exceed half the number of total current Council members.

Subcommittee shall be given the charge of collecting all information pertaining to said issue. They shall review and extract relevant information to be presented to the entire Council body and may include a written recommendation as to a course of action for said issue.

The abilities of a subcommittee shall not supersede that of the entire Council. Subcommittees shall not promise nor precede any course of action until their recommendation has been approved by the larger Council body.

Any Council member may suggest the formation of a subcommittee to deal with a specific issue. The suggestion must be seconded, after which a volunteer will be asked for to head the newly formed subcommittee. If there are no volunteers then the member who suggested the committee be formed will be the interim head.

The head of the committee will recommend how many members they feel are needed within the guidelines stated above, this must be seconded. After that, volunteers for membership will be asked for. In the event there are too few or too many volunteers, silent ballots will be used.

Disbandment of a particular subcommittee will occur once the issue resolution is submitted to the governing unit pertaining to the issue. Any follow up on the issue will be directed to the subcommittee members without formal reformation of the subcommittee unless deemed necessary by a majority vote of the Council.

Article VIII – Determination and Prioritization of Issues
The Council will take into consideration suggestions for issues to be considered for resolution from the non-faculty, non-student employees, higher administration, and any other sources within the College of Engineering and Technology in so far as the issue is one pertaining to the non-faculty, non-student employees of the College of Engineering and Technology.

The Council will vote to determine which issues are reasonable and relevant for the Council to consider. A simple majority vote of the current Council membership will be required for an issue to be included on the agenda for resolution. Prioritization will be determined by simple majority vote of the current Council membership based on factors such as immediacy of the issue, overall affect of the issue on non-faculty, non-student employees, and projected length of the resolution process for the given issue. The Council maintains the ability to re-vote on the prioritization of issues as circumstances change.

Article IX – Meetings
Quarterly meetings will be held which will be open to all non-faculty, non-student staff of the College of Engineering and Technology. Notification of these meetings will be sent to the non-faculty, non-student employees not less than 2 weeks in advance. Monthly meetings will be held by the Council as a minimum. These meetings will be open only to Council members except when they coincide with the quarterly meetings outlined above. Additional meetings may be scheduled by majority agreement of the Council when deemed necessary.

Article X – Quorum
A simple majority of the current voting members will constitute a quorum for any Council general or subcommittee meetings.

Article XI – Procedure
All official business of the Staff Advisory Council shall be conducted in accordance with these Bylaws. The interpretation of these Bylaws shall be the duty of the Chair-Elect.

Article XII – Changes to the Bylaws
The Bylaws of the COET SAC are a living document. To that effect, any member of the Council can propose an amendment to the Bylaws. The amendment must be presented in written form to the Council at least one week prior to the next scheduled meeting. Proper time and consideration will be at the discretion of a majority vote of the Council. The Council will hear any supporting evidence on the amendment in both written and presentation form. A simple majority vote of the active membership of the Council will amend the proposal to the Bylaws.

Appendix A District Listing 2004
Total Lincoln representation – 11
Total Omaha representation - 3

District 1 (22 staff – 2 reps) UNL Dean’s office (19) Research Center (3)	Representative 1 Representative 2
District 2 (27 staff – 2 reps) Chemical Engineering (27)	Representative 1 Representative 2
District 3 (17 staff – 2 reps) Civil Engineering – UNL (5) Engineering Mechanics (2) Mechanical Engineering (2) Electrical Engineering (6) Mid-America Transportation (2)	Representative 1 Representative 2
District 4 (6 staff – 1 rep) Construction Management Engineering (1) Industrial & Mgmt Systems Engineering (2) Engineering Extension (3)	Representative 1
District 5 (7 staff – 1 rep) Midwest Roadside Facility (7)	Representative 1
District 6 (13 staff – 1 rep) Computer Science and Engineering (13)	Representative 1
District 7 (25 staff – 2 reps) Biological Systems Engineering (25)	Representative 1 Representative 2
District 8 (8 staff – 1 rep) Omaha Campus Dean’s Office	Representative 1
District 9 (4 staff – 1 rep) Omaha Campus lab managers/technicians	Representative 1
District 10 (4 staff – 1 rep) Omaha Campus departmental support staff	Representative 1

Amendment 1
Final - Approved 6/29/2005
University of Nebraska (Omaha and Lincoln) College of Engineering and Technology Staff Advisory Council By-Laws

Article V – Election of Council Officers-Elect
Election of the Chair- Elect, Secretary-Elect and Treasurer-Elect for the Council will be done by open nomination, including self-nomination, by current Council members. An open poll will be taken at the time of nominations and the Chair-Elect, Secretary-Elect, and Treasurer-Elect will be chosen by simple majority of the voting Council members.

The first election of the officers-Elect will take place in June 2005 with the current officer terms ending in April 2006. The second and subsequent elections of the officers-Elect will take place one year prior to the term end of the current officer or officers.

Change:
Article V – Election Procedures will become
Article VI – Election Procedures Article VI – Subcommittees will become
Article VII – Subcommittees Article VII – Determination and Prioritization of Issues will become
Article VIII – Determination and Prioritization of Issues Article VIII – Meetings will become
Article IX – Meetings Article IX – Quorum will become Article X – Quorum
Article X – Procedure will become Article XI – Procedure
Article XI – Changes to the Bylaws will become Article XII – Changes to the Bylaws

passed by majority vote (7 for, 1 abstain on 6/29/2005)

Amendment 2
University of Nebraska (Omaha and Lincoln) College of Engineering and Technology Staff Advisory Council By-Laws

Article V – Election of Council Officers-Elect
Election of the Chair- Elect, Secretary-Elect and Treasurer-Elect for the Council will be done by open nomination, including self-nomination, by current Council members. An open poll will be taken at the time of nominations and the Chair-Elect, Secretary-Elect, and Treasurer-Elect will be chosen by simple majority of the voting Council members.

The first election of the officers-Elect will take place in June 2005 with the current officer terms ending in April 2006. The second and subsequent elections of the officers-Elect will take place one year prior to the term end of the current officer or officers.

Officers-Elect shall automatically serve one additional year on the Council beginning with their term as an Officer.

passed by majority vote (8 for, 4 not present on 1/20/2006)