6. Nominations, Elections and Governance Committee

In accordance with Article IX, Section 2.F. (2) of Faculty Senate Bylaws it shall be the responsibility of the committee to prepare a slate of candidates for the following positions in the Faculty Senate: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Senators. This Committee shall be responsible for reviewing and adjusting the distribution of representatives among departments or units, and the determination of eligibility for voting membership in accordance with Article IV, Section 1 of the Faculty Senate Bylaws. This Committee shall make recommendations to fill vacancies as they occur on Committees and in the Faculty Senate. It will supervise all elections and examine all procedures to make sure they are in keeping with the Faculty Senate Bylaws. It will review the Bylaws at least once every three years and make recommendations for changes to the President of the Senate. This committee shall also be charged with nomination and election duties for the MCC Association Board representatives and the SUNY Faculty Council on Community Colleges representative. This committee shall be charged with insuring that principles of democratic governance are being followed in all constituent areas of the governance system.

6.1 Nominations, Elections & Governance Committee Procedures

6.1.1 Determination of Eligibility for Voting Membership (2010) (2017)

1. Voting Faculty shall be determined according to Article IV, Section 1 of the Faculty Senate Bylaws.
2. Faculty Senate constituencies are determined according to Article VI, Section 1 of the Faculty Senate Bylaws.
3. Prior to any Faculty Senate election, the Committee shall verify voter eligibility, both across all constituencies, and within each constituency.
4. The list of voting faculty and their assigned constituencies shall be used for voter verification. A copy of the list shall also be given to the Faculty Senate Secretary to use as a distribution list.

6.1.2 Nominations and Elections of Faculty Senate Officers (2017)

1. Every two years the Nominations, Elections and Governance Committee shall solicit nominations from voting faculty via the MCC Daily Tribune for Faculty Senate Officers: President; Vice President, Teaching Faculty; and Vice President, Professional Staff. Nominations shall be submitted to the NEG chair or designated representative via e-mail in a pre-designated period announced to the community sometime during the months of March or April.
2. Nominations will additionally be received from the floor of an April Faculty Senate meeting.
3. The Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates from the nominations received. The Committee shall publicize the slate of candidates and candidate statements with voting guidelines and a date for the election to voting faculty by the first week of May.
4. Elections should be completed by the end of the third week in May.
5. Voting shall take place over the course of five business days utilizing an electronic balloting process conducted and validated by the Office of Institutional Research.
6. Ballots shall include for each office:
   1. The name(s) of any candidate(s) running, along with their respective titles and departments;
   2. The options to either “approve” or “disapprove” the election of the individual in instances where a candidate is running unopposed;
   3. No option for write-in candidates, or other expressions of approval or disapproval for the candidate(s) listed.
7. Winning candidates shall be determined as follows:
   1. In contested elections, the winning candidate shall be that person who receives the highest number of votes cast;
   2. For an individual running unopposed to be declared the winner, the votes indicating “approval” for that candidate must constitute a majority of all votes cast;
      1. In the event that an unopposed candidate does not receive the required votes, the office shall remain unfilled, and a new special election will be necessary, with a new call for candidates;
      2. The special election will be executed immediately, using the same process described above, except that it must be undertaken no later than the first week of June.
8. Officer vacancies following elections.
   1. In the event that, following officer elections, one or more of the officer positions remains unfilled, then the following shall be necessary:
   2. If the presidency remains unfilled due to an unresolved special election, and every effort has been made in an academic year to fill that position, then on September 1 of the following academic year, the newly elected Vice President, Teaching Faculty assumes the duties of president for that academic year. A new election for president will take place in the following spring semester in accordance with all other procedures regarding officer elections outlined in the Faculty Senate Bylaws and Resolutions.
   3. If a vice presidency remains unfilled, and every effort has been made in an academic year to fill that position, then the Executive Committee, with the approval of the Faculty Senate, may appoint for a term of up to one year a person to serve in that capacity. A special election for that office will be held in the following spring semester in accordance with all other procedures regarding officer elections outlined in the Faculty Senate Bylaws and Resolutions. This provision will also apply for instances when the Vice President, Teaching Faculty has assumed the office of President of the Faculty Senate.
9. The Committee shall inform MCC community of the results of the election via the MCC Daily Tribune.

6.1.3 Distribution of Representatives Among Academic Departments and Professional Areas (2017)

1. Each year, after compiling the list of voting faculty, the Committee shall review and when indicated adjust the distribution of representatives among academic departments or professional areas according to Article VI, Section 1.A of the Faculty Senate Bylaws.
2. The Committee shall then determine the number of Senators who need replacement and the length of their term. A list of staggered terms of office shall be provided by the Committee whereby one third of the Senators are replaced each year, equally divided among areas.

6.1.4 Nominations and Elections of Senators (2017)

1. Every year, the Committee shall distribute guidelines and timetables for nominations and election of Senators to involved departments/areas during the first week of April.
2. Elections should be completed by the end of the third week in May.
3. Elections for contested seats will be held utilizing an anonymous form of ballot casting. If only one candidate is nominated from a department or area, the candidate will become senator with the approval of the Executive Committee unless a constituent of that department or area requests a ballot election. A ballot election may be requested by contacting the chair of the NEG Committee within one week of the announcement of nominations to the department.
4. The Committee shall inform voting faculty of the results of the senator elections for their department or area via e-mail.
5. Every year after the election of Senators, the Committee shall survey all Senators regarding Faculty Senate Committee preferences. The Committee shall forward the results of the survey to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

6.1.5 Procedure for Amending Faculty Senate Bylaws (2017)

1. The Committee shall receive and review proposals for amendments that are
   1. Submitted in writing to the Chairperson of the Committee with a rationale for the change.
   2. Raised at Faculty Senate Meetings and are recorded in the minutes.
2. The Committee shall review written proposals as they are received and shall report to the Executive Committee and then provide a written response to the proposer indicating its recommendation about the amendment. Proposals that require immediate action shall be forwarded to the Executive Committee immediately after review by the Committee.
3. After the Committee receives the recommendations of the Executive Committee, the Committee shall process proposals for amendments according to Article X, Section 5 of the Faculty Senate Bylaws.

6.1.6 Procedure for Revising the Faculty Senate Resolutions (2022)

1. Revision proposal to amend the Faculty Senate Resolutions may originate from any individual member of the Faculty, any department or office represented in the Faculty Senate, or any committee or subcommittee organized by the Faculty Senate. Proposed revisions shall be directed to the appropriate Standing Committee for review and discussion.
   1. As part of its review process, the assigned committee reserves the right to consult directly with the proposer(s) to discuss and/or propose revisions to the original proposal.
   2. The assigned committee may also include in its review of proposals its own research on the impact of proposed revision on affected stakeholders, which may include open hearings.
   3. The assigned committee will report its findings and recommendations to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee once its discussion and research has concluded.
2. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee may take up to two regularly scheduled meetings of the EC to consider the committee’s findings and recommendations.
3. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee will make available to the Faculty Senate, if appropriate, for its consideration, the original committee report on any proposed Resolutions revisions, along with any additional report of the EC’s recommendations.
4. It shall be the responsibility of the assigned Committee to organize and execute the process for the Faculty Senate vote on any proposed revisions.
5. The vote shall be taken of the Faculty Senators during a regularly scheduled Senate meeting. Of the Faculty Senators casting ballots, a two-thirds majority vote in favor of any proposed revision is required for adoption to the Resolutions.
6. Revisions earning the required supporting vote of the Faculty Senate shall be officially added to the Faculty Senate Resolutions.
7. All timelines indicated in this section of the Resolutions should be understood to include periods that the Faculty Senate is engaged in ongoing business during fall and spring semesters only

6.1.7 Nominations and Elections of Representatives to the MCC Association Board (2017)

1. There shall be two representatives to the MCC Association Board elected from the voting faculty.
   1. Each representative shall serve a three-year term, renewable once, for a total service of up to six consecutive years;
   2. One representative must be teaching faculty;
   3. The terms of office of the two representatives shall be staggered.
   4. The term of office shall run from Oct 1 through September 30.
2. Every year that a term of office for a representative to the MCC Association Board expires, the NEG Committee shall solicit nominations from voting faculty for a representative to the MCC Association Board via announcement in the MCC Daily Tribune. Nominations shall be submitted to the designated Committee representative via e-mail.
3. The Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates from the nominations received via e-mail. The Committee shall publicize the slate of candidates with guidelines and a date for the election to known voting faculty.
4. The Committee shall conduct the election during the spring semester, consistent with the timeline and process described in Faculty Senate Resolution 6.1.2 for Faculty Senate officers.
5. The Committee shall inform the MCC community of the results of the election via the MCC Daily Tribune.

6.1.8 Nominations and Elections of Representatives to the SUNY Faculty Council on Community Colleges (FCCC) (2017)

1. There shall be two representatives to the Faculty Council on Community Colleges (FCCC) elected from the voting faculty: a voting member, and an alternate.
   1. Each representative shall serve a three-year term, renewable twice, for a total service of up to nine consecutive years;
   2. Any individual serving the role of voting member or alternate may serve a total of twelve consecutive years, when accounting for service in both offices;
   3. The elections and terms of office of the two representatives shall be aligned.
   4. The term of office shall run from September 1 through August 30.
2. For each representative respectively, every three years the NEG Committee shall solicit nominations from voting faculty for a representative to the SUNY Faculty Council on Community Colleges via an announcement in the MCC Daily Tribune.
3. The Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates from the nominations received by e-mail. The Committee shall publicize the slate of candidates with guidelines and a date for the election to known voting faculty.
4. The Committee shall conduct the election during the spring semester, consistent with the timeline and process described in Faculty Senate Resolution 6.1.2 for Faculty Senate officers.
5. The Committee shall inform voting faculty of the results of the election via the Monroe Tribune.
6. Any vacancies created in either office, for whatever reason, may be filled for a period of up to one year, until the next election cycle, using the following process:
   1. In the event that the FCCC Voting Representative position is vacant, then the Alternate may serve in that capacity on an interim basis;
   2. If the Alternative Representative position is vacant, then the Executive Committee may nominate an individual to serve on an interim basis;
   3. The Faculty Senate, by majority vote, approves the interim service of the nominated individual