EA: March 8, 2010 Draft Membership Change Resolution

Proposed Changes to Membership of the Employee Assembly

Whereas the Ad Hoc Charter Review Committee (the Committee) was charged to review the present allocation of membership in the Employee Assembly (the Assembly); and,

Whereas the Committee found that the present allocation of seats among exempt/non-exempt and statutory/endowed lines was inadequate for the following reasons:

• the interests of employees vary considerably among the academic and administrative divisions of the university, but representation of this diversity is not assured by the present allocation of seats;
• the Assembly has struggled to recruit members from the statutory and non-exempt employee communities to fill the allotted positions, leading to vacancies or staffing the positions with representatives who are often not members of the constituencies they represent;
• the present size of the Assembly, 13 voting members, is too small to facilitate effective communication with the large employee community of the university;
• the present allocation of seats allows for clustering where the membership consists of familiar employees in similar job classifications representing a very small number of units to the exclusion of the majority of the university’s divisions;

Whereas the Committee found that an allocation based on the structure of academic and administrative divisions in the University would effectively address these deficiencies and achieve the following valuable goals for the Assembly and the employee community:

• representation of each major unit of the university by design;
• assurance that each representative has a distinct and natural constituency in the unit that he or she represents;
• emphasis on representation of breadth and diversity of the institution;

Be it therefore resolved that the Charter of the Assembly is amended as follows:

ARTICLE 3 Membership

3.1 Eligibility

Members of the assembly must also be members of the constituency associated with their respective seats; however, changes of status with the university do not alter the eligibility of an existing member to complete an existing term of service so long as that member remains an employee of the University.

A voting member of the assembly may not serve concurrently as a trustee of the University.

3.2 Seat allocation

One employee of each unit identified in Appendix A of this document serves as a voting member of and representative to the assembly. Should any existing voting position in the assembly be excluded from Appendix A when it is adopted or amended, the current holder of that position shall serve as voting member of the assembly representing employees at large for the remainder of his or her term. No employee may simultaneously hold two voting positions within the assembly.

3.3 Ex-officio members

The assembly may designate in its bylaws any ex-officio members who serve without vote.

The following serve as members of the assembly ex-officio without vote:

1. the Employee Elected Trustee,
2. the Editor of PawPrint, and
3. the Vice President of Human Resources or a designee.

3.4 University Assembly

The assembly appoints five employees, of whom at least two are also members of the assembly, to serve on the University Assembly before May 1 of each year.

3.5 Vacancies

3.5.1 Vacancy Defined

A regular vacancy occurs when the term of a member expires, and may be filled by election.

An incidental vacancy occurs when:

1. a seat remains vacant after a regular election;
2. a member resigns or is removed from membership; or,
3. a member ceases to be eligible for membership.

An incidental vacancy is filled by automatic appointment of unseated candidate who would have been appointed in the most recent election held for the position if all members who resigned, were removed from membership, or are no longer eligible for membership are excluded from tabulation. Should no eligible candidates remain from the most recent election such vacancies may be filled by appointment.

3.5.2 Filling Regular Vacancies by Elections

The Elections Committee conducts elections according to the following process:

1. The assembly reviews and approves election rules, procedures, and a publicity plan for elections in the semester prior to the elections. The assembly also reviews Appendix A of this document to assure that employees of each unit defined therein can be accurately identified by the Office of the Assemblies in coordination with the Division of Human Resources.
2. Candidates may run only for the seats that match the constituencies to which they belong.
3. Employees may vote only for candidates to positions representing the units of the university of which they are members. Eligibility of voters will be determined by the Office of the Assemblies in coordination with the Division of Human Resources. If the Office of the Assemblies is unable to identify eligible voters accurately for a particular position, the Elections Committee may approve a suitable alternative means of conducting the election for that position.
4. To mitigate potential conflicts of interest, the Elections Committee resolves any disputes raised regarding election rules without review by the assembly.
5. Elections must be completed and results tabulated no later than the last day of April.

3.5.3 Filling Incidental Vacancies by Appointment

Should an incidental vacancy occur and no eligible candidates remain to be seated from the previous election, the assembly may fill the vacancy through appointment by the following process:

1. The assembly solicits interest from the employee community within two weeks of the vacancy’s occurrence. The solicitation proceeds for no less than one month, and continues until it is closed by the assembly.
2. At the next meeting after solicitation has been closed, the Vice Chair for Internal Operations presents a slate of eligible candidates to the assembly for a vote by the same procedure as for the election of officers.
3. To conduct the election the chair of the meeting:
   1. allows each candidate to make an opening statement of specified duration;
   2. allows all members present to ask questions of the candidates, including the candidates for the office, for a specified period of time;
   3. closes question and answer period;
   4. moves to a vote by secret ballot; and,
   5. repeats voting as needed until one candidate receives a majority of votes cast, eliminating the candidate receiving the fewest votes in each round of voting.

3.5.4 Terms of Members Who Fill Incidental Vacancies

Members who fill incidental vacancies shall serve the full remainder of the term.

3.6 Term

The term of membership is two consecutive sessions of the assembly. Terms are staggered such that only half of the voting members’ terms expire each year.

3.7 Removal

Any member of the assembly may move to remove another member for conduct that is unethical, illegal, disruptive, or otherwise in conflict with charter and bylaws of the assembly or the University. The assembly must allow the member affected by the motion to attend any discussion, deliberation, or vote related to the removal and must inform all members at least one business week in advance of any meeting where it will consider such a motion. The assembly may remove the member by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the seated membership.

Be it further resolved that the following is added to the Charter as Appendix A:

Appendix A: Allocation of Voting Membership Within the Assembly

A.1 Definition of Units

The units of the university and the employees recognized therein for the purposes of Article 3 of the Employee Assembly Charter (the Charter) will correspond to the Unit Id classifications presently maintained by the Office of Human Resources, notwithstanding any qualifications provided in this Appendix.

The Vice President of Human Resources or a designee must promptly notify the Assembly and the Office of the Assemblies of any changes to these classifications, and the Office of the Assemblies must update Section 2 of this Appendix to reflect the current allotment of Unit Ids.

A.2 Units Identified

The units of the university are:

• Acad Progs & Institunl Inits
• Academic Support Services
• Agriculture & Life Sciences
• Architecture, Art & Planning
• Arts & Sciences
• Assc Provst Admis & Enroll
• Dean of Students-CURW
• Dir Athletics & PE
• Director of Campus Life
• Engineering
• Government and Community Rels
• Graduate School
• Hotel Administration
• Human Ecology
• Industrial & Labor Relations
• International Programs
• Johnson School
• Law
• Office of Human Resources
• Office of Information Tech
• Planning & Budget
• President-Direct Report
• Provost-Direct Report
• Stndt&Acad Svc Drct Rpt
• University Communications
• University Health Services
• University Library
• Veterinary Medicine
• VP Alumni Affairs & Developmnt
• VP Campus & Business Svc
• VP Facilities Services
• VP for Financial Affairs
• VP for Research & Adv Studies
• VP Risk Mngmt and Public Sfty
• VPAdmin&CFO-Direct Report

A.3 Additional Units

The employees of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva will be treated as a separate and distinct unit regardless of whether they are identified as such in Section 2 of this Appendix.

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