DUE AUG 30

1. Ensure all committee members have access to the committee’s official Senate Google drive folders.
2. Ensure meetings of your committee for the entire academic year are calendared and that all committee members have calendar invites. We recommend that links to the Google drive and important documents are included in calendar invites.
3. Review your committee membership using the online rosters spreadsheet hosted on the Senate website, and:

• Send any updates to your committee’s meeting schedule/details for the year (dates, times and locations/modality) to [email protected]. 
• Send a list of vacancies or term updates for your committee to [email protected].

DUE SEPT 30

1. Submit your Annual Agenda. Develop the committee’s Annual Agenda (list of priorities for the year) and save it in your committee’s official Senate Google drive folder before submitting it to the Senate SEC as an Information Item.

• Unless otherwise stated in the committee charter, your committee must convene at least once per semester. However, you can set the schedule based on what is required for the work load (e.g. referrals, committee-initiated projects). Scheduling days/times, especially for larger committees, may require Doodle polls, etc. to establish a time that works for most.
• Quorum is required for your committee to take action (e.g. voting), and quorum for committees is 50% of all seats (vacant or filled) present at a meeting. If quorum is not met, discussion can occur, but voting would need to wait until there is quorum established.
• Ensure all members have calendar invites, Zoom links, meeting materials ahead of time to prepare, etc.
• For larger committee projects, you may establish permanent or ad hoc (temporary) sub committees. Keep in mind that permanent subcommittees require an updated Committee Charter (policy file update).

Action Item: initiates change to a policy or procedure, or requires action to follow up. EX: updating a policy beyond editorial changes (changes the intent), confirming a nomination of someone to committee.

Information Item: describes an update on a project or status, or informs Senate of editorial based change in policy, etc. EX: reporting results of an election that has already occured or items already enacted, providing an update on progress.

NOTE: Monthly submissions to the SEC/Senate are not mandatory. This process applies during any month where the committee does have items to communicate to the Senate (e.g., policy updates, annual reports).

1. Construct the Action or Information Item Memorandum (often called and "Action Memo" or "Information Memo") and submit it to the Senate Executive Committee (SEC):
   • Address your memorandum to SEC and/or Senate.
   • Do not combine your information and action items in the same document -- submit each item in a separate memo.
   • PDF Format is preferred.
   • Any policy file changes should be red-lined so the member of the Senate can easily discern what changes have been made to the policy. The sample Action Memo provided shows an example of red-lining textual changes.
   • Items should be named with the following naming conventions: date-type of memo-committee-brief description. Note: do not use spaces or capital letters in the names.
     

     Example Naming Conventions

     SEC	2023-08-22_action_sec_app_brief-description.pdf
     	2023-08-22_info_sec_app_brief-description.pdf
     Senate	2023-09-05_action_senate_app_brief-description.pdf
     	2023-09-05_info_senate_app_brief-description.pdf

     SAMPLE Action Memo

2. Submit the memo and related documents (PDF) no later than the submission deadline published in the Senate Calendar (typically the Monday of the week BEFORE an SEC meeting). Items must be submitted to the SEC and reviewed before they are placed on the Senate agenda (unless added from the Senate floor -- see item #4 below). 

3. Items received after the submission deadline will be included on the agenda for a subsequent meeting and may be delayed in reaching the Senate. If the item is urgent, and it is arriving late, in addition to uploading your memo(s) to the shared folder, please also send a PDF of your submission to the University Senate ([email protected]) with the subject "Late Submission."

NOTE: Any Senator may make a Motion to Amend the Agenda during any Senate meeting to add or remove items from the Senate agenda during a meeting in progress, which requires the approval of 2/3 of the voting members present.

Upon receipt of a Referral Letter from the Vice Chair of the Senate:

1. Bring the referral to your committee and organize/complete the work to address it.
2. Use Trello, the web hosted referral chart, to input notes on your referral progress as needed.
3. Submit a an Action or Information Item memo for an SEC meeting for inclusion in the Senate agenda (instructions above) as your official response to the referral.
4. Present on your item at Senate.

GUIDE: Managing Referrals in Trello

NOTE: It is the chairs responsibility to check Trello regularly and ensure all active referrals, even the ones that existed before you were chair, are addressed. If you have questions about the referrals in your committee's section of the Trello site, please email [email protected].  

In order to ensure information and documentation for each committee is preserved, all committees are assigned an official Senate Google Drive folder. These folders must be kept organized and are meant to store committee documents such as:

• Annual Agendas
• Rosters
• Meeting Agendas & Minutes
• Action and Information Items
• Annual Reports

Note: Senate Core Committees are required to publish each agenda/minutes within 30 days of a meeting.  Combining the agenda and minutes in one single document is the preferred method.

STORE: Committee Documents

Report as needed to [email protected]:

• Mid-year change to committee membership.
• A member of your committee has stopped attending without explanation or communication, and does not respond to your inquiries.

NOTE: Typically students are not identified for committee seats until September, so you can expect them to begin attending in Sept/Oct of eacxh year.

1. Review the committee's charter in the policy file for accuracy and assess if any updates to the charter are warranted. You can find your committee’s charter by downloading the most recent policy file and then using the CTRL+F function to search for the name of your committee. The charter is the section of the policy file that defines the committee’s background, membership, functions, subcommittees, etc. 
2. Review any and all sections of the policy file related to the committee’s work (e.g. CCE might review and/or update the policy governing how elections are run). If you aren’t sure which sections of the policy file apply to your committee’s work, brainstorm some key terms. For example, CCE might brianstorm terms like elections, substitutes, committees, etc. Once you have your list of terms, download the most recent policy file and complete a series of CTRL+F searches for each of the terms you came up with to find relevant sections. If there is not already a list of policy file sections related to the work of the committee saved in the committee’s official Senate Google drive folder, create one and revise it as appropriate.
3. If the committee feels updates to the charter or other sections of the policy file are warranted, they should develop revised policy file language and submit requested updates as an Action Item to SEC for inclusion on the SEC/Senate agendas.  

 

Note; It is recommended that each committee complete the annual poicy review as early as possible each year, so that any proposed updates have the opportunity to get through the Senate in that same year.

DUE APRIL 15

1. Ensure your committee elects a chair for the following academic year. 
2. Consult with each committee member about their plans for the following academic year and if they will continue on the committee. Don't assume members will return because they have not yet completed thier term (e.g. sababtical). 
3. Email [email protected] with a final roster update that identifies the new/continuing chair, and all expected vacancies for the committee.
4. Collate your committee’s Annual Report and submit it as an Information Item for the final SEC/Senate meetings of the year. An Annual Report should include: 

• Summary of referral-based and non-referral action: list all referrals completed and still open with progress notes, as well as any committee driven initiatives and their status. Note any work you expect to complete by the end of May, etc.
• Tentative agenda for next AY.
• Chair-elect for the next AY.
• List of continuing members and vacancies for the next AY.

NOTE: If your committee’s Annual Report is delayed for any reason, be sure to submit it as an Information Item for the first SEC/Senate meetings of the following year no later than May 30. 

SAMPLE Annual Report

• Senate and Senate Core Committee Chairs do not appoint members to their committee (this includes students and staff). Per the policy file, members are nominated by CCE and confirmed by the Senate. If there is a vacancy on your committee, and you have someone in mind who may want to serve on the committee, you can pass along when you notify CCE about the vacancy (email: [email protected]). CCE will identify the replacement member based on policy file requirements, and provide the name and contact information of the nominated committee member.
• You shall respond to Committee Roster Audits (may be sent from CCE, Senate Officers, or the Senate Analyst)..
• Develop your committee members to be future chairs! Committees that have disrupted leadership changes can falter, or experience setbacks in their work, which can be detrimental to shared governance. The more engaged and involved your committee members are, the more likely they will be willing to chair when you are ready to step down. Bring them to Senate meetings to co-present, have them do minutes or help with agendas or annual reports.