Faculty Association Constitution

METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY

INTER FACULTY ORGANIZATION (IFO)

-Faculty Association Constitution-

Unanimously Approved by Mail-Ballot of the Metro State Membership in April, 1996

The Constitution was revised by a vote of the faculty in April, 2005

1) Name: The name of this organization will be the Metropolitan State University Faculty Association.

2) Purpose: The purpose of the association will be to promote the welfare of the faculty of Metropolitan State University and to cooperate with other Minnesota State University faculty via the IFO in the promotion of the welfare of the faculties of these universities. The term “welfare” shall be deemed to refer to academic and professional matters as well as matters of salary, benefits and the like.

3) Membership: The membership in this organization will be limited to those members of the Metropolitan State University faculty who belong to the IFO.

4) The Faculty Council: The Faculty Association will be governed through a representative system, in which members elect representatives to a Faculty Council. The Council will conduct all official business of the association, review issues and reports, and develop and voice all official positions of the faculty association. The Faculty Council will generally meet once a month as needed.

A) Membership: The Council will include the following members:

1) The officers, elected at-large as follows:

-President (resident or community faculty),

-Vice-president (resident faculty),

-Vice-president (community faculty),

-Secretary (resident or community faculty),

-Treasurer (resident or community faculty);

2) One standing resident faculty representative from each academic unit (“academic unit” is defined as a body such as a college or school with resident faculty assigned to develop and teach a curriculum specific to that academic unit, and with a non-faculty administrator such as a dean or director who reports to someone other than the administrative head of a different academic unit);

3) Additional proportional resident faculty representatives that will total not more than ten percent of all resident faculty IFO members as measured each year on a date determined by the officers. This date must occur between March 1 and June 1, and be followed within ten days by the election for the next academic year’s officers and all representatives. Academic units will garner proportional representation based on the number of faculty per academic unit;

[Example: Assume there are 100 resident faculty. Then total proportional representation is 10 (.10 x 100). An academic unit with 20 resident faculty (20% of the total membership) would gain 2 proportional representatives (20% of the total proportional representatives, or .20 x 10).]

4) One standing community faculty representative;

5) Additional proportional community faculty representatives that will total ten percent of all community faculty IFO members as measured on the same date determined by the officers for the measurement of resident faculty IFO membership.

B) Election and Voting Procedures:

1) All officers and all representatives will be elected to one-year terms, with no limit on the number of terms any IFO member may serve.

2) In determining proportional representation, the officers shall count all resident faculty IFO members, whether full- or part-time, in residence, or on leave or sabbatical. If the computation of proportion yields any fractional numbers, the computation will in each case fall back to the next lower whole number.

3) Each faculty member chooses a single academic unit to join for governance purposes for each fiscal year, and during that year will academic unit voting rights on all matters in the chosen academic unit only, consistent with the IFO contract. In this regard, the community faculty as a whole is the equivalent of an academic unit, so that for governance purposes a community faculty member will choose for each fiscal year to vote in either the appropriate academic unit, or the community faculty, but not both.

4) Both resident and community faculty members vote for officers. Elections for Faculty Association officers will be conducted in the spring (see 4.A.3.), by mail ballot with two exceptions. In the event that the elected president is unable to fulfill his/her term, the Vice President for Resident Faculty shall become President at that time. In this case, a new election by mail ballot shall be held for the office of the Vice President for Resident Faculty within one month of that office becoming open. In the event any other elected officer is unable to fulfill a term, Council shall appoint a replacement to serve for the duration of the academic year.

5) Proceedings to recall an officer of the Faculty Association may be initiated by filing with the officers a petition signed by twenty-five percent of the Association. Within ten days an election will be held. A vote to recall by a majority of all members in good standing is needed to recall an officer.

6) If an employee is a member of another state bargaining unit or is excluded from IFO membership for any reason, the employee is not eligible for Faculty Association membership. If the employee is an IFO local member on another campus, he/she may not have IFO membership at Metro State. In the event of a dispute, the location with a majority of his/her assignment shall determine the cation of the voting.

C) Quorum: A quorum of the Faculty Council will consist of a majority of its elected members.

D) Executive Committee: The Executive Committee will consist of the officers, as voting members. In addition, ex-officio, non-voting members will be appointed by the Council from the faculty at-large: state negotiator, grievance officer, and State IFO Board Representative(s).

E) Meet and Confer Team: The Meet and Confer Team consists of the Executive Committee. In case of need, the president may appoint any IFO member as an alternate to the Meet and Confer team.

F) Committees:

1) All Faculty Association committees (standing, ad hoc, and joint initiative teams) are established by the Faculty Council.

2) The Executive Committee will recommend and Council will appoint members to Faculty Association committees, search committees, university task forces, as well as to all other committees. The Executive Committee may request that academic units choose representatives for committees as appropriate. Every faculty association committee must include resident and community faculty slots as appropriate. When appointing committees, the Executive Committee shall be concerned with achieving balance of gender and race. Appointments to Local Association committees shall be for one year.

3) Committees will be given assignments by the Council and report directly to the Council. Committee chairs are responsible for achieving balanced input from both resident and community faculty as appropriate.

5) Academic Unit Meetings and the Community Faculty Caucus:

A) The Faculty Association will hold academic unit meetings and a community faculty caucus monthly or as needed.

B) Each academic unit meeting will be open to all resident and community faculty who are members of the IFO in that academic unit. Each academic unit and the community faculty caucus will select a chairperson for the meetings from among its elected representatives to the Council.

C) Each spring all academic units and the community faculty elect their standing representatives and proportional representatives for service during the following fiscal year. Consideration will be given to balance of gender and race in selecting representatives. (See also 4.A.3.)

D) Academic unit associations and the community faculty caucus will receive and consider all committee reports, proposals or other agenda items forwarded by the Council, and may forward to the Council issues of concern, through their representatives.

6) Faculty Forum: To provide wide opportunity for discussion of issues, and an all-university perspective, the association may conduct Faculty Forums. These forums will provide a setting for wide dissemination of information, and will give academic units and council members a broad sense of faculty issues and concerns. Forum topics will be chosen in advance and widely publicized.

7) Amendments: This constitution may be amended by a majority vote (mail ballot only) of Faculty Association members in good standing who vote, with at least fifty percent of the membership voting. Amendments must be submitted to all members at least ten days prior to voting.

8) Rules of Order: Roberts Rules of Order shall govern all meetings of the components of this Local Association, unless otherwise specified herein. No proxy shall be permitted in any Faculty Council or regularly scheduled academic unit meetings or in the community faculty caucus.