FACULTY SENATE
A Faculty Senate will be nominated by the various organizational units from the faculty eligible to hold office and elected by the members of the College eligible to vote.
Faculty eligible to vote and hold office is defined as those persons with academic rank of instructor to professor, inclusive, below the administrative title of department chair or director, except for those department chairs who devote at least fifty percent or more of their time to teaching duties who are then eligible to vote and/or hold office.
Organizational units are defined as academic departments and support services. Support services shall be defined as all units other than academic departments. The list of organizational units may change as reorganization of the College takes place; and the list will be reviewed by the Faculty Senate and the faculty will be notified of changes before the annual election.
Composition of the Faculty Senate
1. One member for each ten members eligible to vote and hold office from each organizational unit. Organizational units shall have one representative for each ten members and one for a major fraction thereof from members eligible to vote and hold office. Organizational units with fewer than ten members shall combine and be represented by the appropriate number of senators as though they make up one unit. If there are still fewer than ten members after combination, they shall have one senator.
2. Three members of the Faculty Senate from the entire Delgado faculty. These members will be known as the Faculty Senate Members At-Large.
3. All Faculty Senate members shall serve a two-year term.
4. The newly elected senators will be seated with the remaining members of the then-standing Senate, who will serve out their elected terms. The newly elected senators will be voted on in April and take office in August.
5. The Faculty Senate shall elect from its ranks a president, vice-president, secretary, chairman of elections, and from the faculty eligible to vote, a Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) representative and FAC alternate.
General Provisions
1. Faculty Senate members cannot be elected for three consecutive terms.
2. Each year the president of the Faculty Senate shall notify organizational units, before mid-semester of the spring semester, of the number of members they will elect.
3. Three proctors (non-candidates) from those eligible to vote will be elected by the Faculty Senate to supervise the elections of the Faculty Senate.
4. Nomination of candidates for Faculty Senate shall be handled by each organizational unit. Member-at-large shall be nominated at a general faculty meeting or by submission of a name with five signatures of those eligible to vote.
5. Each organizational unit shall submit a list of nominees to the Faculty Senate by April 1.
6. The Faculty Senate shall prepare all ballots and common voting places shall be selected on the City Park, West Bank, and Northshore Campuses and at the School of Nursing.
7. Faculty members will vote for the representatives in their departments and for the at-large positions. Votes cast in other departments’ elections will not be counted.
8. No person shall be elected to serve on the Faculty Senate unless that person receives a majority of the ballots cast by the members of his or her department in the election.
9. A ballot will be rendered invalid if a voter does not vote for the exact number of candidates needed by the department and by the at-large positions. That number will be indicated on the ballot.
10. Any senator who fails to attend two consecutive regular Faculty Senate meetings will be warned by the president, and a third consecutive missed meeting will automatically result in that senators being excused from further Senate responsibilities and an election for the open Senate seat will be called. Any Senator excused from his/her responsibilities will automatically be ineligible to succeed himself/herself in the ad hoc election.
11. Petitions submitted for changes in the Senate by-laws shall be voted on by the faculty eligible to vote. Petitions for change shall be signed by fifteen members eligible to vote and must be submitted to the Faculty Senate ten days prior to the election. Changes in the by-laws shall be voted on at regular and special elections called by the Senate.
12. Special elections may be called by the Faculty Senate with a 2/3 vote of the Senators.
13. Only full-time positions will be counted in determining the number of senators for each organizational unit.
14. Each nominee of an organizational unit must be a member of that unit as determined by official school records (operating budget, personnel transactions).
Duties of Faculty Senate members
1. Work on special studies as requested by faculty or administration.
2. Concern themselves with any matters that pertain to the well-being and welfare of members of the faculty
Amended by a vote of the faculty on April 18, 2007.
Bob Lawyer, President, Faculty Senate