Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Name. The name
of this body is the university council.
(B) Defining shared governance. The
university council will operate under the principle of consultative
decision-making whereby the opinion and advice of the university council
membership are sought, but decision-making authority remains with the board of
trustees and its appointed agent, the university president. Thus, the
university council will function in a manner consistent with information
sharing and discussion rather than joint decision-making. The university
council provides open lines of communication and informs university
administration on matters of planning, policy, and programs that are pertinent
to the fulfillment of the university's mission. University council
recommendations shall be referred to the president, as provided for in these
bylaws. The faculty senate remains the sole body which proposes curricular and
academic changes to the board through the president.
(C) Duties:
(1) The university council is the primary
shared governance body of the university that deliberates and makes
recommendations to the president on matters such as strategic planning,
university policy, and other substantive matters that pertain to the strategic
direction, and operations of the university. University council helps to ensure
that the goals and objectives of the strategic plan are realized.
(2) Based on input from university council
committees and its own deliberations, university council contributes to
ensuring that university policy is based on sound principles of shared
governance, sound reasoning and adequate information.
(3) The university council receives topic
submissions from members of the university community. Through the executive
committee, topics are referred to the appropriate committee, campus
administrator, or campus unit for discussion and recommendation to university
council.
(a) All recommendations passed by the
university council shall be forwarded to the president.
(b) Within forty-five calendar days of
receipt of a passed recommendation, the president shall do one of the
following:
(i) Forward the recommendation to
the board of trustees for consideration;
(ii) Put the recommendation into effect if
the president deems it unnecessary to send the matter to the board of
trustees;
(iii) Send the
recommendation back to university council with a request for more
information;
(iv) Send the
recommendation back to university council with an explanation for
disapproval.
(c) The
president will notify university council of the disposition of each
recommendation, indicating whether the recommendation has been approved,
referred to the board of trustees, sent back for more information, or sent back
with an explanation for disapproval.
(4) University council will record its
recommendations in minutes of meetings that are publicly available on its
website and communicated to its members by email.
(D) Membership of university council.
(1) University council has three components:
The university council, the university council executive committee and
subcommittees (e.g., standing, ad hoc, and special).
(2) The university council and its standing
committees shall be composed of representatives from campus groups: faculty
senate, deans/senior administration, department chairs/school directors,
professional
staff advisory committee (PSAC), staff
employee advisory committee (SEAC), graduate student government (GSG) and
undergraduate student government (USG).
(3) Council members and standing committee
members shall be selected or elected by each of the campus groups as defined in
paragraph (D)(2) of this rule in a manner which each campus group deems
appropriate. Terms shall be for three years with the exception of USG and GSG
which will each have one year terms. Employees who retire from the university
and continue employment pursuant to a re-employment agreement may, if they
wish, continue to fulfill the duties of their unexpired terms, but may not run
for another term. Continuation of terms shall be subject to the approval of the
constituency group that selected or elected them.
(4) The university council shall consist of
twenty-five voting members:
(a) Fifteen
members: Three members from each of the following constituent groups: faculty
senate, SEAC, PSAC, USG and GSG. At least one of the three
representatives from each constituency shall be from its representative body. A
representative may be from its respective at-large community, i.e., not a
member of the representative body.
(b) One member: dean from the council of
deans.
(c) One member: department
chair from the association/caucus of department chairs/school
directors.
(d) Chairs of the
standing committees.
(e) The
president and executive vice president and provost shall be ex officio but
non-voting members.
(f) Appointed
administrators for support shall be ex officio but non-voting members of their
respective committees.
(5) Election of officers.
(a) The members of the university council who
are elected as chair, vice chair and secretary are also the officers of the
executive committee.
(b) Terms of
officers are for two years. If the seat is held by a member of USG or GSG, the
term shall be for one year.
(c)
Officers must be a representative of faculty senate, PSAC, SEAC, USG
or GSG.
(6) Membership of
the executive committee.
(a) The executive
committee shall be comprised of eight voting members:
(i) The officers of university council are
the officers of the executive committee.
(ii) There shall be five additional members,
one from each of the constituency groups (faculty senate,
PSAC,
SEAC, USG, and GSG). They shall be elected by their constituency's
elected/selected representatives to university council from amongst
themselves.
(iii) Terms for
executive committee members shall be for two years except USG and GSG terms
which shall be for one year.
(b) The executive vice president and provost
will be an ex officio non-voting member.
(c) Elections shall be held by secret
ballot.
(7) Each standing
committee shall consist of twelve elected/selected members, as defined in
paragraph (D)(3) of this rule, and one appointed administrator for support:
(a) Membership.
(i) Ten members: two members from each of the
following constituent groups: faculty senate, PSAC, SEAC, USG
and GSG. At least one of the two representatives from each constituency may be
from its respective at-large community.
(ii) One member: dean or their representative
from the council of deans.
(iii)
One member: department chair/school directors from the association of
department chairs.
(iv) One member:
An appointed administrator for support shall be designated and appointed by the
executive vice president, and provost. The appointed administrator for support
shall be an official from the office of academic affairs or the vice president
that is most closely associated with the standing committee's topical areas.
The appointed administrator for support is a voting member of the standing
committee who is responsible for convening the first meeting every year to
elect committee officers and providing administrative support to the officers
of the committee sufficient to achieve the work of the committee.
(b) Officers.
(i) At the first meeting of the university
council year, the appointed administrator for support shall coordinate an
election for the chair, vice chair and secretary of the committee, if
necessary. The appointed administrator for support may not be an officer of a
committee.
(ii) Terms of office for
committee officers are two years. If the officer is a student representative,
the term shall be one year.
(iii)
The duties of the chair are to preside over committee meetings, which determine
their own agenda. The university council or executive committee may refer
matters to the committees directly. The chair of the committee shall coordinate
support for committee activities with the appointed administrator for
support.
(iv) The duties of the
vice chair are to assist the chair in such ways as the latter may request; and
in the absence of the chair, the vice chair presides over the meetings of the
committee.
(v) The duties of the
secretary are to record, transcribe and distribute the proceedings of the
committee to committee members and the university council, assist the chair in
such ways as the latter may request, arrange for orderly conduct of the
business of the committee, and in the absence of the chair and vice chair, the
secretary presides over the meetings of the committee.
(8) Vacancies.
(a) University council may, at its
discretion, declare vacant any university council seat and each standing
committee may, at their discretion, declare vacant any standing committee seat
for which the relevant council member:
(i) Is
no longer a member of the group from which they were selected, unless this is
due to retirement from the university. Employees who retire from the university
and continue employment pursuant to a re-employment agreement may, if they
wish, continue to fulfill the duties of their unexpired terms, but may not run
for another term. Continuation of terms shall be subject to the approval of the
constituency group that selected or elected them. If this approval is not
granted, a vacancy may be declared.
(ii) Is unable to regularly attend meetings
due to conflicting professional duties, imperative personal affairs, illness,
or student class schedule.
(iii)
Has, without notice, missed more than three regular meetings of the university
council or of regular meetings of standing committees during the previous
twelve months.
(b) Should
a university council vacancy occur the university council chair shall notify
the appropriate unit to select a new member to fill the vacant seat for the
balance of the unexpired term.
(c)
Should a standing committee vacancy occur, the committee chair shall notify the
university council chair to notify the appropriate unit to select a new member
to fill the vacant seat for the balance of the unexpired
term.
(E)
Service support.
(1) Membership on university
council or its committees contributes significantly to the university and is
therefore an essential component of university service by faculty, staff,
professional staff, and students.
(2) The administrative and academic units
shall recognize that active service on university council and its standing
committees, where not in conflict with established unit performance guidelines,
is critical to the functioning of the shared governance system of the
university and recognize such service accordingly. Administrators who find that
such service is in conflict with established unit performance guidelines shall
communicate that finding in writing to the executive committee.
(3) Membership carries expectations of
attendance at and preparation for committee meetings. The chair, appointed
administrator for support, vice chair, and secretary of each committee has the
responsibility to encourage all committee members to contribute in a
substantial manner to committee activities.
(4) Supervisors or instructors of members of
university council are expected to support all university council committee
member activities and consider such service as both professional development
and part of the member's work duties.
(5) University council membership work shall
be planned to the greatest extent possible and should not diminish unit-level
activities.
(6) Contributions to
university council shall be considered in the annual assessment of employee
performance and shall be recognized appropriately in the compensation
decision-making process. Supervisors may choose to secure feedback from the
chair and appointed administrator for support on the level of involvement of
their employees in university council activities.
(F) Material and record support.
(1) Material support. The university shall,
subject to approval of the board of trustees, provide suitable office space, a
budget for appropriate expenditures including funds for providing reassigned
time or stipends to officers, and at least one fulltime staff person for
support of the university council activities.
(2) Appointed administrators for support for
standing committees are responsible for providing materials support to the
committee to which they are assigned.
(3) Records. All inactive documentary
material and related records of the council shall be handled in a manner
consistent with rule
3359-11-11 of the Administrative
Code.
(G) Meetings.
(1) Meeting requirements.
(a) Meeting agendas of university council and
each standing committee shall be distributed with the meeting
announcement.
(b) Meetings shall be
held in physical or digital form where all members are able to communicate
synchronously. Email can be used to inform the activities of a meeting, but
cannot be used to replace a meeting.
(c) Members cannot miss more than three
regular meetings of the university council or of regular meetings of standing
committees during the previous twelve months without notice. Members cannot
designate individuals to substitute for them when they are unable to attend a
meeting.
(d) For purposes of
conducting business, a quorum of the council shall be a majority of the filled
council seats.
(e) For purposes of
conducting business, a quorum of any standing committee shall be a majority of
the filled committee seats.
(f)
Voting. To ensure the ability of members to provide effective independent
inputs, all votes shall be made by secret ballot.
(g) Scheduling of university council and
standing committee meetings shall be determined by their respective chairs. The
university council shall meet at least once a month, year round and standing
committees shall meet at least once a month, year round.
(h) All meetings of the university council
and standing committees shall be open to the public.
(2) Specific guidelines on meetings.
(a) University council.
(i) Announcement of meeting dates and an
agenda shall be available electronically at least one calendar week prior to
each regularly scheduled meeting accompanied by the minutes of the previous
meeting.
(ii) Requests to have
items placed on the agenda of the council shall be submitted in writing to the
secretary of the council by a university council member at least two calendar
weeks prior to a meeting of the council.
(iii) Special meetings may be called at any
time with one week's notice by the chair of the university council.
(iv) Items referred to the council by the
president shall be automatically placed on the agenda of the council.
(b) Standing committees.
An agenda shall be made available electronically at least two
full business days prior to each meeting, accompanied by the minutes of the
previous meeting.
(H) University council executive committee.
The executive committee is responsible for agenda-setting and
coordination of the work of university council to facilitate deliberation,
communication and action. Executive committee recommendations shall be
considered in a timely manner by the standing committee to which it is
referred.
(1) Duties of chair,
vice-chair and secretary.
(a) Duties of the
chair of the university council/executive committee: Presides over meetings of
the university council and executive committee, calls special meetings of the
university council, acts as or designates the official spokesperson for the
university council in all of its external communications, forwards to the
president all recommendations passed by the university council, supervises the
clerical staff of the university council, and undertakes such tasks as are
directed by the council. Upon the expiration of the chair's term of office, the
ex-chair shall for one year be a non-voting member, ex officio of the
university council if that individual they otherwise would not be a member.
During that period, the ex-chair shall also be a non-voting member ex officio
of the executive committee.
(b)
Duties of the vice chair of the university council/executive committee: Assists
the chair in such ways as the latter may request; and in the absence of the
chair, the vice chair presides over the meetings of the university
council/executive committee.
(c)
Duties of the secretary: oversees the preparation and posting of council
agendas and minutes to all constituent groups and interested members of the
university community, assists the chair in such ways as the latter may request.
In the absence of the chair and vice chair, the secretary presides over
meetings of the university council.
(2) Responsibilities of the executive
committee.
(a) The executive committee shall
forward university council policy recommendations to the president, and monitor
their disposition.
(b) When
policies are enacted by the board of trustees, the executive committee may
monitor their implementation or may delegate such monitoring to a standing
committee.
(c) The executive
committee shall ensure that all policy questions that come to the university
council will be referred to the appropriate standing committee for discussion
and recommendations to university council. It shall also ensure that their
disposition is managed through a system that will be available to all members
of the university community.
(d)
The executive committee shall accept items for consideration by university
council or one of the university council standing committees, from the
president, or the executive vice president and provost, or from a member of the
university council constituency groups.
(e) The executive committee shall oversee and
monitor the operations of the standing committees and ensure that the business
of the standing committees and ad-hoc committees are completed in a timely
fashion.
(f) The executive
committee shall receive reports of standing committees and transmit them to the
university council for disposition. Each such report must be on the university
council agenda.
(g) The executive
committee shall recognize and notify, prior to the first meeting of the
university council in each council year, all new members as having been duly
chosen based on information provided by the presiding member of each
constituency group. Notifications are to be provided to the persons selected,
the constituency, the chair of the standing committee and such others as the
executive committee may designate.
(h) The executive committee shall participate
in meetings with the president at least once per semester (fall, spring,
summer).
(i) The executive
committee shall ensure that university council and its committees convene in
joint session, once per year.
(j)
Orientation of new university council members: The executive committee shall
oversee appropriate orientation of new members (prior to October first of each
year) to the university council. Orientation should consist of university
council history, organizational structure and operational protocol at a
minimum.
(k) Members of the
executive committee serve on the university planning group (or its equivalent).
The university planning group (or its equivalent) shall be responsible for
creation, updating and execution of the strategic plan.
(3) Special committee and awards and
recognition.
(a) The special committee on
awards and recognition (awards special committee) is responsible for overseeing
the nomination, selection and recognition of faculty, staff and
professional staff through the achievement award
function. Further, the committee is responsible for studying, monitoring and
making recommendations on employee achievement and recognition issues in
collaboration with staff, professional staff, and
faculty in appropriate departments.
(b) Members of the awards special committee
shall consist of volunteers and past award recipients from university council
and the campus community. The special committee may ask for additional
volunteers to serve only during the selection of finalists in order to ensure a
robust and diverse working group for selection of finalists. An appointed
administrator for support who is from the rank of vice president and is most
closely aligned with the special committee's topical area shall be designated
by the executive vice president and provost. This appointed administrator shall
provide administrative support to the special committee sufficient to achieve
the work of employee awards and recognition. Members shall not serve in the
selection of finalists in an award category in which they have nominated a
colleague and must recuse themselves due to the conflict of interest.
(c) At the first meeting of the special
committee for the new university council year, the appointed administrator
shall facilitate the selection of a chair, vice chair and secretary for the
special committee as appropriate based on expiration of terms or vacancies.
Terms and conditions for officers and duties for each shall follow those
outlined for standing committees.
(I) Standing committees.
(1) General charges/responsibilities of each
standing committee:
(a) Recommends mid and
long-range plans for standing committee work.
(b) Provides recommendations for action on
policy, operations, organization and other matters related to the committee
domain to the university council.
(c) Develops procedures and measures to be
used to evaluate progress toward achieving the goals of the mid and long-range
plan(s).
(d) Conducts an annual
assessment of the progress toward achieving the goals of the mid and long-range
plans(s) based on the procedures and measures referenced above.
(e) Reports monthly to the full university
council in writing made available electronically.
(f) Participates in evaluation of the
development of objectives, strategies, initiatives, and action steps for
academic support units to enable the academic units to successfully accomplish
the academic mission of the university.
(2) The standing committees of university
council are:
(a) Student engagement and
success committee.
The student engagement and success committee is responsible for
studying, monitoring and making recommendations regarding the university's
student engagement and success strategies and practices in collaboration with
staff, professional staff, and faculty in appropriate
departments.
(b) Information
technology committee.
The information technology committee is responsible for
studying, monitoring and making recommendations regarding information
technology planning, policies, strategies and practices in collaboration with
staff, professional staff, and faculty in appropriate
departments.
(c) Budget and
finance committee.
The budget and finance committee is responsible for studying,
monitoring and making recommendations to university council on the development
of all university budget, finance and purchasing policies and resource
allocations in collaboration with staff, professional staff, and
faculty in appropriate departments.
(d) Physical environment committee.
The physical environment committee is responsible for studying,
monitoring and making recommendations related to overall campus planning,
safety, and the use and assignment of university space, physical facilities and
equipment in collaboration with staff, professional staff, and
faculty in appropriate departments.
(e) Communications committee.
The communication committee is responsible for: assessing and
making recommendations regarding the university's internal/external
communication strategies and practices; providing/receiving feedback to/from
university council on systemic communication issues; tracking issues that have
a direct institution-wide impact and recommend action as appropriate; gathering
feedback from the constituents that each committee member represents and bring
attention to issues for consideration by the whole committee in collaboration
with staff, professional staff, faculty and students in
appropriate departments.
(f)
Campus wellness committee.
The campus wellness committee is responsible for developing
policy in support of building a campus community that provides a foundation for
the life-long wellbeing of each student, employee, partner, and alumnus. It is
an institutional priority to continually mold thriving individuals to be
citizens that use a lifelong model for reflection, resilience, meaning, and
lifelong happiness.
(g)
Talent development and human resources committee.
The talent development and human resources committee is
responsible for studying, monitoring and making recommendations on the
development of all university policies and practices relating to inclusive
excellence and to the wellbeing of employees of the university, subject to
existing contractual agreements. Issues of wellbeing would include but are not
limited to fringe benefits, insurance, employee performance, recreation and
wellness and other aspects of working conditions in collaboration with staff,
professional staff and faculty in appropriate
departments.
(h)
Institutional advancement committee.
The institutional advancement committee is responsible for
studying, monitoring and making recommendations on development and alumni
issues in collaboration with staff,
professional staff and
faculty in appropriate departments.
(J) Rules. The parliamentary authority for
the university council shall be "Robert's Rules of Order," in its most recent
edition. In any conflict between the university council bylaws and "Robert's
Rules of Order," the council bylaws take priority. A person who is not a member
of the university council may be appointed parliamentarian by the chair of the
university council.
(K) Amendments.
(1) Amendments to these bylaws may be
proposed in writing by a member of university council at any regularly
scheduled meeting.
(2) A vote by
the university council on a proposed amendment may be taken only at a
subsequent regular or special meeting of the university council.
(3) To pass, a proposed amendment requires a
positive vote by at least two-thirds of the voting members present at a regular
or special meeting of the council.
(4) Amendments shall take effect upon
approval by the board of trustees.
(L) Bylaws revision
(1) University council bylaws will undergo a
complete review every three years or earlier if circumstances warrant a
review.
(2) The executive committee
of the university council will oversee the process and present recommendations
to university council for approval.
(M) Authority of board of trustees.
Notwithstanding the preceding, Ohio law vests full authority and responsibility
for the operation of the university in its board of trustees which retains and
reserves exclusively to itself all rights, powers, prerogatives,
responsibilities, and authority vested in it, whether exercised or not. Nothing
in this rule shall be construed to limit, reduce, modify, or relinquish any
authority or power of the board to govern the university consistent with the
powers conferred on the board by law. Any delegation of authority by the board
may be enlarged, reduced, modified, or withdrawn at the discretion of the
board.
