BFA Bylaws Committee

"The Bylaws Committee shall consist of eight members elected from the membership of the Assembly for staggered, two-year terms, not to exceed their tenure in the assembly, plus the Vice Chair of the Assembly who will serve ex officio as chair. The Committee shall consist of three members elected from Arts and Sciences representatives, three members elected from non-Arts and Sciences representatives, and two members elected at-large. The Committee shall be responsible for proposing changes in the Bylaws and the Standing Rules of the Boulder Faculty Assembly; for interpreting the BFA Bylaws and Standing Rules, subject to review by the Executive Committee and the Assembly; and for determining the conformity of BFA legislation and acts to the Bylaws and Standing Rules of the Assembly. The Committee shall monitor the implementation of Assembly legislation, problems resulting from conflicting legislation, and errors in the implementation of legislation, and report these matters to the Executive Committee for appropriate action." BFA Standing Rules, Article V, Section 1(e).

Annual Report 2011-2012

Early in the fall semester the By Laws were revised to create a new BFA committee for "instructor track" faculty. This committee is now organized and up and running as a regular feature of the BFA.

We anticipated a similar change to regulate the role of Research Associates as members of the Boulder Faculty Senate but due to upcoming changes in BFA membership this change in the By Laws may not be necessary. It is recommended that the BFA By Laws Committee revisit this issue in the Fall of 2012 to determine if a by law revision is required to meet the composition of the BFA. Included in this revision should be the role of Research Professors as members of the BFA. There are far fewer Research Professors than there are Research Associates.

Some revision of the BFA Standing Rules is needed in the near future to bring the term of service of the CURFA representative to be consistent with the CURFA rules. Presently the BFA rules states that this representative will serve for 3 years (consistent with normal terms of service on the BFA) which conflicts with the CURFA rules which appoint the individuals for only 2 years. It is recommended that the BFA Standing Rules be modified to say "will serve up to 3 years" to be consistent with the CURFA rules.

By-laws clarifications
1. There is some confusion about the BFA’s use of “At Large” members.
The BFA elects 2 “At Large” members who are on the BFA executive committee and are required to attend Faculty Council each month. These are elected positions and held by only two people at a time. (There is some overlap….as there is now..as new people are elected and the term of the previous 2 people has not yet expired.) Other “at large” BFA representatives may represent their constituencies but are not on the BFA executive committee nor do they need to attend Faculty Council each month.
2. There are two different kinds of elections in the BFA. The one that has already taken place is for the Boulder Faculty Senate to elect members of the BFA which may be returning previous members or newly elected members. As I said this has already taken place. This included the election of new at large BFA representatives. The second type of election is for the BFA representatives to elect their leaders, which includes the BFA chair, the vice-chair, secretary, and the two At-Large BFA Executive Committee members. This is an election carried out by the BFA representatives and does not involve the large Boulder Faculty Senate.

We believe these issues just need to be described and discussed rather than a change be made to the by-laws.

Committee Resources

• Rules of the Boulder Senate, Faculty of the University of Colorado at Boulder (June 1983)

2011-2012 Committee Roster