Faculty Senate to vote on Constitution ratification

The Faculty Council last week called for a vote to approve proposed changes to the Faculty Senate Constitution.

Following the council’s advancing of the changes at the Aug. 29 meeting, held virtually, Faculty Council Chair Alastair Norcross said Faculty Senate members will be provided a summary of the proposed changes and will have 60 days to vote whether to approve them.

Generally, CU faculty with an appointment of 0.5 FTE or greater are voting members of the Faculty Senate; eligibility is detailed in the current Faculty Senate Constitution. A response rate of 200 voters is necessary for any action to go forward; approval among those voters must reach two-thirds to pass.

One significant change to the Constitution would revise the Faculty Council’s current officer structure.

“Most other institutions like ours elect a chair-elect, who automatically becomes chair after a year, and the current chair becomes the past chair,” Norcross said. “The changes to the Constitution formalize the positions of chair-elect, chair and past chair.” Boulder Faculty Assembly is working on the same changes for their officers.

Norcross also updated Faculty Council on potential changes to the governance group’s bylaws. The changes would be presented as a notice of motion at the Faculty Council’s next meeting in September or possibly the October meeting; no vote would be taken before the meeting after the notice of motion. Approval would only be needed from the voters of the Faculty Council, not the full Faculty Senate.