Last Amendment Approved (12/01/2023)

 I. Purpose

The Professional Staff Council, hereafter referred to as the Council, is an elected body of professional staff employees whose purpose is to advocate by providing a forum through which common concerns and opinions regarding University matters may be voiced. Matters concerning the policies and programs of the University which affect this group of employees, as well as administrative staff, directly or indirectly will be addressed. The Council will disseminate information to the General Membership that may be of interest to them and, where appropriate, solicit opinions from the General Membership. The Council advocates for the General Membership and submits its concerns, recommendations, and requests to University leadership through the Director of Human Resources.

II. General Membership

The Council represents all regular professional staff (full and part-time) and administrative staff of Southeast Missouri State University.

III. Council Structure

The Council consists of no less than 12 professional staff representatives from across the University and no less than 4 alternates.

To provide continuity of leadership, all representatives will hold three-year terms. One third of the representatives will be elected each year. Alternates will hold a one-year term. Both representatives and alternates are required to attend the monthly General Membership meeting.

The Council will elect, from among its representatives, a Chair-Elect who will serve a two- year term. The Chair-Elect will succeed to the Chairperson position in the second year of the term. The Chairperson will preside at meetings and will act as a spokesperson for the organization. In the Chairperson's absence, the Chair-Elect will act on their behalf.

The Council will elect a Secretary/Treasurer from among its members (representatives and alternates) for a one-year term. The Secretary/Treasurer will keep and disseminate minutes of the meetings and budget reports. They will maintain correspondence and budget records for the organization.

Vacancies among officers will be filled by election within the Council as follows:

• Chair: In the event of a vacancy, the Chair-Elect assumes responsibilities of the Chair for the remaining vacated term plus their elected term as Chair. An interim Chair-Elect will be selected from the Council in accordance with the Chair-Elect vacancy process.
• Chair-Elect: In the event of a vacancy, an interim Chair-Elect will be selected from the representatives, by a vote of the council. The elected person shall fill the remainder of the >year. A new election will be completed on the normal election cycle to determine a new two-year Chair-Elect appointment and a one-year Chair appointment, as there is no Chair-Elect to automatically assume the role.
• Secretary/Treasurer: In the event of a vacancy, a new Secretary/Treasurer will be selected from the membership (representatives and alternates), by a vote of the council and the selected person shall fill the remainder of the year. A new election will be completed on the normal election cycle.

IV. Nominations and Elections

Nominations and elections shall be held during the month of April. Newly elected Council members will take office at the first regularly scheduled Council meeting in May.

The methods of nominating and voting for Council members will be as follows:

• The Council Chairperson will create an ad hoc committee whose responsibility will be the management of the election process.
• Employees will be requested to submit both their nomination and election ballots via the Portal. The ballots will be counted and validated by the ad-hoc election committee.
• Nominations: All regular professional staff (full and part-time) employees are eligible to be nominated on the nomination ballot. Regular professional staff (full and part- time) employees who are representatives on the Professional Staff Council, and whose term is not expiring that year, will not appear on the nomination ballot.
  
  All professional and administrative staff employees may access the nomination ballot to cast nominations. The number of nominations each employee may make cannot exceed the number of open representative and alternate vacancies within the Professional Staff Council. Employees may nominate any staff member presented on the ballot, including themselves.
  
  Nominees will be contacted by a member of the ad hoc committee via phone/email and asked if they wish to serve before their names are placed on the election ballot. An affirmative response by a shared deadline, allowing at least two business days, is required to be placed on the ballot.
• Elections: A ballot which lists only the nominees who agreed to have their name placed on the election ballot for the number of open representative and alternate vacancies within the Professional Staff Council will be provided to all professional and administrative staff employees.
• Candidates will be ranked by number of votes from greatest to least. Representative and alternate vacancies within the Professional Staff Council will be filled by candidates who received the greatest number of votes in rank order until all vacancies are filled. In the case of a tie for the final representative position(s), the Chairperson will make the final selection; the remainder will become the first alternate(s). In the case of a tie for the final alternate position(s), the Chairperson will make the final selection to fill the final alternate vacancies or accept all alternates. Candidates will be contacted by a member of the ad hoc committee via phone/email congratulating them on being elected to the vacancy.

V. Operating Procedures

Ad hoc committees and their membership will be appointed by the Chairperson with the consent of the Council.

Membership to University standing committees will be from representatives and alternates serving on the council.

• All committees will report to the Council through the Chairperson.
• The Chairperson will appoint, with consent of the Council, professional staff constituents to serve on University standing committees as requested by the Administration.
• The Chairperson shall serve on Administrative Council and Benefits Review University Committees. Both the Chairperson and Chair-Elect shall serve on the University Budget Review Committee.
• In the event the term of a representative or alternate expires, but they continue to serve on the University standing committee, meeting minutes must continue to be submitted to the Chairperson, until a representative or alternate whose term does not expire is selected to the University standing committee.

Membership to other University committees, workgroups, and task forces will be chosen from representatives, alternates, or the general membership, at the discretion of the Council officers.

A quorum will consist of a majority of elected Council representatives.

• Council business will be approved by a majority vote of the quorum.
• If three-quarters of the elected council members are not present and a vote is required, all present alternates shall be permitted to vote. Council business will be approved by a majority of all voting members, so long as the total number voting meets or exceeds quorum.

A member may be removed from the Council by a majority vote of the Council for failure to attend Council meetings on a regular basis.

• Regular attendance shall be defined as missing no more than two consecutive meetings or four within an academic year.
• A vote will be taken on membership during the third consecutively missed meeting or the fifth absence in an academic year. If not removed, each additional absence shall trigger a new vote.
• A member can resign from the Council with a submitted letter of resignation to the Chair. Automatic removal will occur if job classification no longer permits serving on the Council, or if employment at the University ends.
• An officer may be removed by a three-quarters vote at a council meeting, notice of the vote having been given at the previous meeting.
• Exceptions may be granted for extended leaves approved by the University'’'s Human Resources Department.

Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the ballots returned by the General Membership.

Meetings of the Council will be called monthly and as needed by the Chairperson.

• Council meetings will be open to the university community and other interested parties, but without speaking privileges unless acknowledged by the Chairperson.
• A meeting of the General Membership will be called annually on a date selected by a vote of the Council. Additional General Membership meetings may be called by a vote of the Council

Minutes of all Council meetings will be disseminated to all professional staff employees via the Professional Staff Council website, after approval by the council.

All issues of parliamentary procedure will be referred to the Chairperson for clarification.

A manual detailing Council practices for conducting normal business meetings will be maintained by the Council and made available upon request