March 27, 2003

To:       Members of the Library/General Division

From:   W. Ken Farr, Chair

            Executive Committee of the GC&SU University Senate

The Executive Committee met on March 26, 2003 and the following decisions were made to facilitate the election of faculty members to the 2003-2004 University Senate.  According to the newly adopted Bylaws of the University Senate (see Article II, Section 2,A of the University Senate Bylaws), the Executive Committee shall apportion thirty-four (34) University Senate elected faculty positions among the Schools and the Library/General Division (faculty not assigned to one of the academic schools shall constitute a group of faculty referred to as the Library/General Division). This apportionment shall be based on the percentage of the members of the Corps of Instruction (see Article V, Section 1.A of the University Statutes) assigned to each of the Schools and the Library/General Division.  Only Corps of Instruction faculty members that are counted in the numbers for apportionment of senators are eligible to serve on the University Senate and vote for faculty senators.*   The number of faculty senators apportioned to each School and the Library/General Division is as follows:

According to Article VI, Section 2.B of the University Statutes, the Executive Committee is charged with ensuring that terms for elected faculty senators are staggered so that no more than half the membership changes in any given year.  The apportioned numbers above are divided among one (1) and two (2) year terms of service to accomplish this requirement during the transition to the new form of governance.  In subsequent years, faculty elected to the University Senate will serve two (2) year terms.

According to the University Senate Bylaws, the Executive Committee will conduct the election of faculty senators that represent the Library/General Division (see Article II, Section 2.C of the University Senate Bylaws).  Nominations will accepted from members of the faculty that comprise the Corps of Instruction in the Library/General Division through April 7, 2003.  These nominations should be sent to Dr. Ken Farr, chair of the University Senate Executive Committee.  Faculty nominated will be notified and if they agree to the nomination their name will be included on the list of candidates.  Faculty in the Library/General Division will then vote by secret ballot for only one candidate prior to 4:00 pm on April 15, 2003.  The ballot and further instructions will be provided via a word document when the list of candidates is disseminated for voting.  The two (2) candidates that receive the most votes will then be elected to represent this group of faculty.  The candidate that receives the most votes will serve a 2-year term and the other will serve a 1-year term. 

To serve as faculty senators, faculty must be members of the Corps of Instruction and have at least two (2) years of service at Georgia College & State University at the time they take office in the fall of 2003.  Corps of Instruction faculty that started employment after Fall 2001 are therefore not eligible to serve on the University Senate for the 2003-2004 academic year (see Article VI, Section 2,B of the University Statutes).*

I’m sorry for the short amount of time to conduct these elections, but members of the transitional University Senate approved much of the procedure necessary for elections just this past Monday on March 24, 2003. 

For this new form of shared governance to work successfully, faculty that are elected must be willing to dedicate a lot of time and energy.  This is a grand opportunity and the members elected this year will have the chance to set the standard for the just how successful this type of governance will be at GC&SU.  Please keep in mind when voting to elect people that have a sincere interest in governance and that want to help pilot the future direction of Georgia College & State University.

* A list of faculty members in the Corps of Instruction assigned to the Library/General Division is available in an excel file attached to the email.