fbpx Skip to Content
Skip to main content
Home / Human Resources / Faculty Association / Faculty Association Constitution /

Faculty Association Constitution

Preamble

Cooperation between the faculty and the administration is essential for the well being of the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, and this cooperation must be founded upon mutual respect and confidence. We recognize that both the administration and the faculty have distinct functions and interests which, though they may overlap, do not coincide. Each group also has its own rights and responsibilities, so that there is necessarily a limit to the prerogatives of each. The faculty has primary responsibility for such fundamental areas as curriculum, subject matter and methods of instruction, faculty status, and those aspects of student life which relate to the educational process.

However, the faculty must participate in making the decisions which will determine the future of the college. This participation is necessary in the interest of efficiency and harmony. Without it, the institution cannot make full use of the resources at its disposal. With it the school can promote the mutual respect and confidence essential to harmony. Only if the institution embodies a genuine partnership between administration and faculty can it be successful in carrying out the functions of a comprehensive junior college.

The Faculty Association
ARTICLE I. NAME AND OFFICE
  1. The name of this Association shall be the Faculty Association of NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA A&M COLLEGE.
    1. Selected from within the FACULTY ASSOCIATION shall be a group designated as the FACULTY SENATE.
    2. The FACULTY SENATE shall represent the FACULTY ASSOCIATION as prescribed in the Constitution
  2. The office of the FACULTY ASSOCIATION shall be on the campus of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in the city of Miami.
ARTICLE II. MEMBERS AND OFFICERS
  1. The FACULTY ASSOCIATION shall maintain a list of personnel qualified for membership, and admit to membership, upon application, all qualified personnel. Application for new membership shall be restricted to 30 days following the first day of each semester. Qualified personnel are here described as faculty members who comply with the following:
    1. Instructors, other than those designated Deans of Schools, with a nine-credit hour minimal (academic) responsibility per semester as described in the college catalogue or prorated equivalent, as in the case of nursing instructors.
    2. Professional counselors who are academically trained for this responsibility and whose prime obligation is to the college in a counseling and/or a prorated academic instructional capacity.
    3. Professional librarians who are academically trained for this responsibility and whose prime obligations are to the college in the care and management of the college library and/or a prorated academic instructional responsibility.
  2. The FACULTY ASSOCIATION may set and collect a fee to be designated “membership dues.” The amount of these dues shall be determined by and must be approved by a majority vote of the Association membership.
  3. Members of the FACULTY SENATE shall be elected by members of the FACULTY ASSOCIATION. Eligibility for election to the FACULTY SENATE shall be restricted to those who have maintained a membership in the FACULTY ASSOCIATION for two consecutive years.
  4. OFFICERS
    1. The officers of the Faculty Association shall be a PRESIDENT, a VICE-PRESIDENT, a SECRETARY and a TREASURER. The President and Vice-President shall be elected by the Association. The Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected by the Senate. These Officers shall also serve as officers of the Faculty Senate. Their terms of office shall be one year, beginning May 31 of the year in which they are elected.
    2. The Vice-President shall be designated President-elect and shall automatically assume the office of President upon completion of the President’s term of office.
    3. Other officers may be re-elected but may not serve more than two (2) full terms in succession.
    4. Duties of the President and Vice-President/President-elect are in the by-laws.
ARTICLE III. MEETINGS OF THE FACULTY ASSOCIATION
  1. Meetings of the Faculty Association shall be called by the President of the Faculty Association. There shall be at least one meeting of the Faculty Association each semester, and special meetings shall be called at the written request of the President of the College, a majority of the Faculty Senate, or ten percent of the Faculty Association.
  2. A quorum shall consist of 33% of the members of the Faculty Association.
The Faculty Senate
ARTICLE IV. PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE FACULTY SENATE
  1. The Faculty Senate shall acknowledge its special responsibilities to the Faculty Association. The purpose of the Faculty Senate shall be to advance the welfare and effectiveness of the College. In helping to achieve this end, the Faculty Senate shall serve as a regular channel of communication between the Faculty Association and the Administration. The Faculty Senate shall also act, subject to Faculty Association approval, on matters delegated to the Faculty Association by the Board of Regents or the President. Furthermore, the Senate shall advise the President or the Board of Regents on any matter of general concern to the Faculty Association or the institution. Such advice shall be given when these officials request it, or advice may also be offered on the initiative of the Senate or of the Faculty Association. Finally, the Faculty Senate shall seek to assure that representatives of the Faculty Association shall have a vote in the formulation, revision and supervision of school policy.
  2. As the official representative of the Faculty Association, the Faculty Senate must be responsive to the will of the Faculty Association and attentive to the views of each segment, whether those views be expressed by the elected representatives or through the process of petition described in Article VIII, Section C.
ARTICLE V. MEMBERS AND OFFICERS OF THE FACULTY SENATE
  1. The Faculty Senate shall consist of representatives of the Faculty Association.
  2. The officers of the Faculty Senate shall be the same as those of the Faculty Association. The President and Vice-President shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section D, and Article VI. The Secretary shall be elected by the Faculty Senate from among the members of the Faculty Senate. The President and Vice President of the Faculty Association shall have all the privileges accorded to regular Faculty Senate members.
  3. The Faculty Senate shall have a membership of approximately fifteen percent of the Faculty Association. The total number of senators shall never be less than twelve with preferred membership from each department.
    1. Each of the Schools recognized by the Board of Regents shall have three representatives with no more than one School representative from each department within a School.
    2. No more than two of the School representatives may hold a Departmental Chair position.
    3. There may be six representatives-at-large.
    4. The total number of representatives-at-large shall include no more than two representatives holding a Departmental Chair position.
  4. Representatives of the Faculty Association shall take office on May 31 of the year in which they are elected and shall serve for three years. Approximately one third of these senators shall be elected each year.
  5. A vacancy shall occur upon death, resignation, or non-attendance. Non-attendance shall be determined by the by-laws of the Faculty Senate.
ARTICLE VI. ELECTIONS
  1. All elections shall be by secret ballot. Absentee ballots may be obtained four days prior to the election, from the Chairman of the Election Committee. The absentee ballots must be cast at least one day prior to the day of the election.
  2. Each year the President shall appoint a committee of three senators to supervise the nomination and election of the Vice-President and the at-large members of the Faculty Senate. The Vice-President election shall be held at least one week prior to the election of the Senators-at-large. The election of at-large representatives shall take place not later than May 1.
  3. The Election Committee shall announce the dates of the election at least one month in advance and shall in its announcement solicit nominations from the faculty. Nomination shall be by petition for Vice-President, and Senators-at-large; the petition shall be signed by at least three Faculty Association members and shall be in the hands of the Election Committee by 4:00 p.m. seven days before an election.
  4. If seven days before an election the committee shall not have received two valid nominations for each vacancy, the committee shall propose names of Faculty Association members to make up the deficiency.
  5. At a meeting of the Faculty Association, Senators-at-large shall be elected by secret ballot, and each Faculty Association member shall be permitted to vote for as many candidates as there are vacancies to be filled. Candidates shall be elected by a run-off election among the top candidates. The number of candidates in the run-off election shall be one greater than the number of positions to be filled.
  6. GROUP REPRESENTATIVES. Within one week after the election of at-large members, the outgoing senator(s) of a School shall serve as chair/co-chair of these meetings. Elections shall be by secret ballot.
  7. FILLING VACANCIES. If the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice President shall assume the post and shall serve for the remainder of the school year. When the Office of Vice-President or any other Faculty Senate seat is vacant, the President shall assure that it is filled by special election as soon as possible. Group representatives shall be chosen by their groups, and the Vice-President and other at-large members shall be chosen by the Faculty Association. A person chosen to fill a vacancy shall complete the term of the person whom he is replacing.
  8. DATE AND PROCEDURES. Elections shall be held on any date set by the Faculty Association President or his representative, except on days of association meetings. Procedures will be determined by the Faculty Association President or his representative.
ARTICLE VII. MEETINGS OF THE FACULTY SENATE
  1. The Faculty Senate shall hold regularly scheduled meetings each month school is in session. The time and date shall be set by the senate.
  2. Special meetings may be called at the written request of the President of the College, President of the Faculty Association, of three senators, or of ten percent of the Association membership. The time of the meetings shall be set so the Faculty Association can be notified in advance of the subjects to be discussed at the meeting.
  3. THE AGENDA
    1. Before each meeting, the Secretary shall prepare an agenda setting forth clearly each subject to be discussed by the Faculty Senate and shall provide each member of the Faculty Association with a copy of the agenda.
    2. Items shall be placed on the agenda at the request of any member of the Faculty Senate or of ten percent of the Faculty Association. When a Faculty Association member feels that the Faculty Senate should discuss a subject, he shall normally ask his group representative or one of the at-large representatives to place it on the agenda. In the event that no senator is willing to bring up the matter, the Faculty Association member may require the Faculty Senate to discuss the subject by presenting it to the Secretary as a petition signed by at least ten percent of the Faculty Association at least seven days before a regularly scheduled meeting, or in the same petition he may require a special meeting of the Faculty Senate under the provisions of Section B of this article.
    3. The requirement that the agenda be published shall in no way prohibit the Faculty Senate from discussing any matter which shall arise, but the body shall not vote on any matter not announced in the agenda, unless it is routine business, without the unanimous approval of the senators present.
  4. Within a week following each regular session and within twenty-four hours following a special session, the Secretary shall provide each member of the Faculty Association with a written report of the meeting. Any Faculty Association member may request perusal of the minutes of any meeting of the Senate.
  5. A quorum shall consist of a majority of the Faculty Senate.
  6. The President shall normally preside at meetings of the Faculty Senate. If he is absent, the Vice-President shall preside. If both the President and the Vice-President are absent, the Senator whose name comes first in the alphabetical order shall preside while the Senate elects a chairman pro tem.
  7. Except for the provisions of this constitution, the Faculty Senate shall determine its own rules of procedure and shall alter those rules or suspend them temporarily upon the approval of a majority of the Faculty Senate.
ARTICLE VIII. REFERENDUM

If there is sufficient dissatisfaction with any decision of the Faculty Senate, the Faculty Association shall have the power to reverse the decision. The dissatisfied Faculty Association members may require a special meeting of the Faculty Association by presenting to the Secretary a petition protesting a particular action of the Faculty Senate. To be valid, the petition must contain the signatures of at least ten percent of the Faculty Association and must be in the hands of the Secretary within one month of the time the disputed decision has been made. When such a valid petition has been received by the Secretary, the President shall call a meeting of the Faculty Association within a reasonable time and notify all members at least one week beforehand. Within a week after the Faculty Association has discussed the matter, the Secretary shall poll the Faculty Association by secret ballot. The chairman shall appoint three tellers; one senator, one petitioner, and one disinterested member of the Faculty Association. If a majority of the Faculty Association members vote to reverse the decision, the disputed action of the Faculty Senate shall be void.

ARTICLE IX. COMMITTEES
  1. A planning committee shall be appointed by the Faculty Senate to help the senate develop and ensure implementation of plans and strategies that will help the Faculty Association achieve its goals and objectives.
  2. The planning committee will have the responsibility for those duties outlined in the Association by-laws.
ARTICLE X. AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
  1. An amendment to the constitution shall be submitted to the Faculty Association for approval when it is recommended by a majority of the Faculty Senate at a regular Faculty Senate Meeting or when it is presented to the Secretary in a petition signed by at least twenty percent of the Faculty Association and received by the Faculty Senate at a regular meeting.
  2. The President of the Faculty Association shall set the date of the election, which shall be held within forty-five (45) days after the date of the distribution of the proposed amendment to the Faculty Association by the Secretary. The proposed amendment to the constitution must be distributed to the Faculty Association members within seven (7) days after approval by the Faculty Senate. The President shall also appoint a committee of three (3) Faculty Association members who are not Senators to supervise the election and counting of ballots. Elections shall be held on any date set by the Faculty Association President or his representative. Procedures will be determined by Faculty Association President or his representative.
ARTICLE XI. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

This constitution goes into effect when ratified by two-thirds of those voting.

8/23/00
Amended 4/1/2004

Back to top