ECUS OPERATING PROCEDURES

2006-2007 (Adopted August 21, 2006)

Committee Operating Procedures:  A summary of the standard operating procedures used to conduct business during the year.

• First and foremost the Executive Committee is a team and not a set of individuals.  To realize this philosophy we have adopted the following principles:
  • Communicate openly and candidly with each other -- holding back constructive criticism weakens the team
  • Resist communicating on behalf of the committee without consultation even if the item feels like a “no-brainer”
  • After consultation, copy the entire committee as you communicate on its behalf
  • It is the responsibility of all ECUS members to seek out and identify agenda items for discussion
  • It is expected that ECUS members practice circumspection and trust in committee processes and decisions that take place among members of the committee
• The Chair
  • Provides leadership and vision for the direction of the University Senate
  • Represents the University Senate at University Faculty meetings as necessary
  • Presents the Executive Committee Reports at University Senate meetings
  • Is perceived as the point person of the University Senate by those external to the Senate
  • Drafts the tentative agenda for meetings of the Executive Committee
  • Presides at meetings of the Executive Committee
  • Alerts the University Senate when agenda for a scheduled meeting is available
• The Vice Chair
  • Assumes all duties and responsibilities of the chair in the absence of the chair
  • Prepares minutes for Executive Committee meetings, alternating this duty with the Undersecretary.  Minutes preparation is defined as distributing a draft of the minutes for review to the Executive Committee within 48 hours of the meeting as well as incorporating  any revisions resulting from this review for submission to the Secretary of the Executive Committee within 96 hours of the meeting.
• The Secretary
  • Drafts minutes of the University Senate meetings.
  • Posts minutes of both Executive Committee and University Senate once the minutes have been reviewed by the respective bodies – including any amendments made as a result of the review.
  • Maintain parking lots, i.e. committee “to-do lists”, that detail and categorize items that require future consideration and action.  These parking lots should be distributed periodically to the committee via email.

o        Maintains the Executive Committee Action Tracking Form and posts this to the web.   Some agreements made by the committee require actions by one or more individual committee members to implement the agreement.   The Action Tracking Form is a cumulative list of these actions specifying the following information for each such action: the date the action was charged, the action itself, the point person responsible for completing the action, the status of the action while it is being completed, and the date completed.

• Nominates an individual to serve as University Senate archivist for approval by the Executive Committee
• Maintains an archive (in parallel with the University Senate archivist) of all minutes and handouts of both Executive Committee and University Senate meetings.
• Serves as Secretary of the Committee on Nominations, drafting and posting minutes of this subcommittee of ECUS.
• The remaining elected Senator on the Executive Committee shall serve as Undersecretary of the Executive Committee
  • The Undersecretary
    • Prepares minutes for Executive Committee meetings, alternating this duty with the Vice-Chair.  Minutes preparation is defined as distributing a draft of the minutes for review to the Executive Committee within 48 hours of the meeting as well as incorporating any revisions resulting from this review for submission to the Secretary of the Executive Committee within 96 hours of the meeting.
    • Maintains a list of the tentative agenda items for the following meeting.  This list is briefly reviewed by the entire committee just before adjournment.
• The University Senate Webmaster
  • Maintains the web presence of the University Senate
  • Drafts the agenda for University Senate meetings for review by the Executive Committee and posts the agenda at the website.
  • Collects reports from the committee chairs following a University Senate Meeting and links these reports to the electronic agenda for the meeting.
• Communication
  • Communicate via the ecus@gcsu.edu email list with the 48-hour rule – member of Executive Committee has 48 hours to respond to an issue/proposal to confirm receipt and communicate approval or share constructive suggestions for refinement.
  • Standing weekly meetings

Note:  The following details worked well for 2006-2007, but particular meeting and deadline times may require revision for future Executive Committees

§         Standing meeting time for Fall 2006 is Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 pm in the President's office/conference room.  The meeting time for Spring 2007 is to be determined, at present Tuesdays from 3:00 to 5:00 is proposed.  Typically the entire Executive Committee will meet during the first hour of the meeting block, followed by a meeting of the elected faculty during the second hour to attend to details of implementation as necessary.

• A tentative agenda for the next meeting is drafted by the Undersecretary  prior to the close of each meeting

§         No later than noon on Monday, either the meeting is canceled or a tentative agenda is distributed

• The tentative agenda is distributed by the chair by email as early in the week as possible and is finalized in consultation with the other members of ECUS
• Drafts of supporting documentation for agenda items are provided prior to the meeting whenever possible to encourage and facilitate review prior to the meeting
• Drafts of ECUS minutes are provided to members by Thursday afternoons for their review.
• Official minutes are posted  no later than noon on Monday
• ECUS members review the initial draft of the minutes of the University Senate meetings prior to distribution to the University Senate