BFA-M-4-0500
Motion:
Changes to the Boulder Faculty Assembly Bylaws

Note: for existing statutes capital letters indicate new material and dashes through words indicate deletions.

1. Establish a Bylaws Committee as a standing committee of the Assembly

Motion: That the bylaws of the BFA be amended to establish a Bylaws Committee as a standing committee of the Assembly as follows:

Bylaws Committee (Article VI, new Section 9.)

1. Composition:
   The 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, who will serve ex-officio. The Committee shall be structured with three members elected from Arts & Sciences representatives, three members elected from non-arts and Sciences representatives, and two members elected at-large. Committee members may be elected to two consecutive terms but not to a third term until at least a year has passed in which the member was not on the committee
2. Functions
   The Committee shall:
   1. be responsible for proposing changes in the bylaws of the BFA, for action by the Assembly, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee;
   2. be responsible for interpreting the BFA bylaws, subject to review by the Executive Committee and the Assembly; and
   3. have an investigative function in determining the conformity of BFA legislation and acts to the bylaws of the assembly. It shall monitor the implementation of Assembly legislation, problems resulting from conflicting legislation, errors in the implementation of legislation, and report of these matters to the Executive Committee for appropriate action.

At present the bylaws are silent on matters of initiating change in and interpretation of the bylaws. They are equally silent on monitoring legislation for conflicts with the bylaws and other legislation, or for errors in implementation. These functions having to do with the Assembly's rules and the integrity of its actions have been left implicitly to the Executive Committee. But because they are not assigned to any specific person or group to monitor, detecting conflicts or other problems is left to happenstance. The proposed bylaw change is intended to establish a standing committee with explicit responsibility for oversight of rules and implementation of actions and to report any issues thereof to the Executive Committee or Assembly, as appropriate, for further action.

2. Establish a Nominating Committee as a standing committee of the Assembly

Motion: That the bylaws of the BFA be amended to establish a Nominating Committee as a standing committee of the Assembly as follows:

Nominating Committee (Article VI, new Section 10.)

1. Composition:
   The 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 Secretary, who will serve ex officio. The Committee shall be structured with three members elected from Arts & Sciences representatives, three members elected from non-arts and Sciences representatives, and two members elected at-large. Committee members may be elected to two consecutive terms but not to a third term until at least a year has passed in which the member was not on the committee
2. Functions
   The Committee shall:
   1. recommend to the Executive Committee for appointment or election of faculty members to all BFA standing committees and standing subcommittees;
   2. recommend to the Executive Committee for appointment of faculty members to campus-wide committees, as requested by the administration;
   3. recommend to the Executive Committee for appointment or election of BFA members to all BFA standing committees and standing subcommittees; and
   4. recommend to the Executive Committee for appointment of a specific administrator who is delegated to serve ex officio to the BFA or BFA committees, in consultation with the relevant administrative office.
   5. determine methods for filling temporary vacancies on the Assembly and on committees, subject to the provisions of these bylaws.

Discussion:

The bylaws of the BFA place executive authority with the Executive Committee of the Assembly. In this capacity, the Executive Committee is charged to tend to routine matters of maintenance of the Assembly in addition to its ongoing involvement in framing and addressing campus issues. This results in routine but important matters often going unattended until the last minute because no one in particular is charged to tend to them. The nominating committee function of the Executive Committee is one example of this. Without forethought to generating a slate of candidates, positions often go unfilled because no one stood for office. A related matter to filling BFA representative positions is the participation of faculty on campuswide committees. At present faculty members of campuswide committees are selected through BFA nomination and administrative appointment. This procedure results in faculty-elected representation often being in the minority of faculty members serving on such committees. Consequently, committees that are supposed to reflect faculty representation do not necessarily include faculty members who have been selected by the faculty itself as its representative. The proposed amendment to the bylaws creating a Nominating Committee as a standing committee of the Assembly is intended to address these concerns.

3. Committee on Elections

Motion: That the bylaws of the BFA be amended as follows, in conformity with the responsibilities delegated to the newly established nominating Committee:

Under Article VI, section 3, item b., delete iv (which is now 10.b.5 of the proposed new Nominating Committee section).

ARTICLE VI. Standing Committees
...
Section 3. Committee on Elections
...
b) Functions: The Committee shall:
(i) Use the fall list of members of the Senate as a basis for establishing proportional representation of academic units on the Assembly.
(ii) Determine rotational procedures to be used in the elections to assure that all academic units are reasonably represented on committees.
(iii) Supervise the conduct of the elections of members of the Assembly and of committees.
(iv) Determine methods for filling temporary vacancies on the Assembly and on committees, subject to the provisions of these bylaws.

4. Establish an Administrator Appraisal Subcommittee as a standing subcommittee of the Communications Committee

Motion: That the bylaws of the BFA be amended to establish an Administrator Appraisal Subcommittee as a standing subcommittee of the Communications Committee as follows:

Under Article VI. Section 8 Communications Committee add the following:

Article VI. Section 8a. Administrator Appraisal Subcommittee

1. Composition: The Subcommittee shall consist of ten members, with six elected from the faculty senate for staggered, three-year terms, two members of the assembly at large for staggered two-year terms not to exceed their tenure in the assembly, two elected by the Assembly from candidates nominated by the administration for staggered, two-year terms, and an ex officio member from the Office of Planning, Budget and Analysis selected with the concurrence of the Nominating Committee. The Committee shall be structured with three members elected from Arts & Sciences representatives, three members elected from non-arts and Sciences representatives, and two members elected from the assembly. Committee members may be elected to two consecutive terms but not to a third term until at least a year has passed in which the member was not on the committee
2. Functions:
   The Subcommittee shall:
   
   1. oversee the BFA evaluation of administrators during each spring semester;
   2. update or modify the evaluation questions and procedures in accordance with the faculty and evaluees' feedback;
   3. and keep current the list of administrator evaluees.

Adopting this proposed change will require:

1. Insert to VI.8.(a) "in addition, the chair of the Administrator Appraisal Subcommittee, described in 8a below, shall be a member of the Committee. "

   ARTICLE VI. Standing Committees
   ...
   Section 8: Communications Committee
   (a) Composition:
   The Committee shall be structured according to the provisions set forth in Article V., Section 2. of these bylaws., WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT NO STUDENT REPRESENTATION IS REQUIRED. IN ADDITION, THE CHAIR OF THE ADMINISTRATOR APPRAISAL SUBCOMMITTEE, DESCRIBED IN 8a. BELOW, SHALL BE A MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE.

2. Delete current VI.8.(b).i, which states the content of "functions" for the proposed subcommittee as outlined above.

   ARTICLE VI. Standing Committees
   ...
   Section 8: Communications Committee
   ...
   (b) Functions:
   The committee shall:

   1. oversee the evaluation of administrators during each spring semester. They shall update or modify the evaluation questions and procedures in accordance with the faculty and evaluees' feedback, and keep current the list of administrator evaluees. They shall assist the Executive Committee in developing a report to the faculty and monitor the effect of the appraisal on the administration.
   2. conduct faculty polling on issues raised by the Assembly, the Executive Committee or the Administration.
   3. provide timely content for the Boulder Faculty Assembly newsletter and web site.

Discussion:

With respect to the Communications Committee, the effect of the vote at the last BFA meeting is to establish the Administrator Appraisal Process as the responsibility of a de facto subcommittee of the communications committee. We recommend that this change be reflected in a bylaw amendment that formalizes this arrangement under the Communications Committee and brings the subcommittee membership under the proposed changes above, as is the case with the Faculty Compensation and Benefits Subcommittee of the Budget and Planning committee.

5. Miscellaneous

Motion: That the bylaws of the BFA be amended as follows:

• Under the Definitions section of Article I, delete "University" and insert "United" in the description of the United Government of Graduate Students.

  Article I. Definitions
  ...
  The terms UCSU and UGGS mean, respectively, the University of Colorado Student Union and the University UNITED Government of Graduate Students, of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

• Under Article V., section 2., item d., delete punctuation error.

  Article V. Committee Procedures
  ...
  Section 2. The Standing Committees will normally be composed of eight faculty and two student members elected as follows:
  ...
  (d) One undergraduate student will be named to a one-year term by the UCSU. One graduate student will be named to a. one-year term by the UGGS. A student is defined in the Constitution of the University of Colorado Student Union (UCSU), page 6, D.1, as follows: "Student shall be defined as any student fee-paying member of the University of Colorado Student Union."

• Under Article VI., section 2., item a., delete "Benefits and Compensation" and insert "Compensation and Benefits" to accurately reflect the name of the BFA Faculty Compensation and Benefits committee.

  ARTICLE VI. Standing Committees
  ...
  Section 2. Budget and Planning Committee (amended 09/03/98 BFA M-1-0998)
  (a) Composition: The Committee shall be structured according to the provisions set forth in Article V., Section 2. of these bylaws. In addition, the Chair of the Faculty Benefits and Compensation COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS Standing Sub-committee (described in 2a below) and an at large member selected from the Boulder Faculty Senate shall be members of the Committee.

• Under Article VI., section 4a., item a., delete "20" and insert "22;" and insert "for staggered, three-year terms;" and insert "and two members of the Assembly elected by the Assembly at large for staggered two-year terms not to exceed their tenure in the Assembly;" and insert "Committee members may be elected to two consecutive terms but not to a third term until at least a year has passed in which the member was not on the committee;" and insert the letter "s" following "Arts and Science."

  ARTICLE VI. Standing Committees
  ...
  Section 4a. Libraries Committee
  a) Composition: The Committee shall consist of 20 22 members chosen as follows: Nine members from the College of Arts and ScienceS FOR STAGGERED, THREE-YEAR TERMS (three to be selected by the Council for Natural Sciences, three to be selected by the Council for the Humanities and the Arts, and three to be selected by the Council of the Social and Behavioral Sciences), AND TWO MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY ELECTED BY THE ASSEMBLY AT LARGE FOR STAGGERED TWO-YEAR TERMS NOT TO EXCEED THEIR TENURE IN THE ASSEMBLY. The other schools and colleges shall each have one member on a rotating basis FOR STAGGERED, THREE YEAR TERMS. The UCSU shall name an undergraduate student member, and the UGGS shall name one member. COMMITTEE MEMBERS MAY BE ELECTED TO TWO CONSECUTIVE TERMS BUT NOT TO A THIRD TERM UNTIL AT LEAST A YEAR HAS PASSED IN WHICH THE MEMBER WAS NOT ON THE COMMITTEE.

• Under Article VIII., section 1., item c., delete punctuation error.

  ARTICLE VIII. Meetings of the Assembly
  Section 1. Procedures
  ...
  (c) The Chairs or Co-Chairs of the UCSU .and the UGGS are invited to attend meetings of the Assembly and to speak on matters of interest to students.