Motions and Amendments
To place a motion on the agenda of a Senate meeting, it must be endorsed in one of the following ways:
- by a Faculty Committee
- by the UFC (on its own initiative or in response to a request by a Senate member)
- by any four members of the Senate
- by any twenty-five members of the University Faculty
Upon the recommendation of the UFC, motions that are for consideration are posted on the pending legislation webpage at least one week in advance of the meeting. Note: It is possible to propose a motion during a Senate meeting.
In general, the vote on a particular resolution never takes place during the meeting at which the resolution is actually presented. This rule also applies to Sense-of-the-Senate resolution.
Prior to a Meeting
- A week or so before each Senate meeting, the University Faculty Committee (UFC) meets to discuss and set the Senate meeting agenda.
- Shortly thereafter, the tentative agenda for the Senate meeting is posted on the DoF website. Comments relevant to the meeting can be posted on the agenda page.
- Senators are advised about the upcoming meeting and requested to contact the Dean of Faculty about any motions that they intend to advance at the meeting. This is to insure maximum use of faculty time.
- After the tentative agenda is published it is typically modified to produce the final agenda which is then circulated to the entire faculty on the Monday before the meeting.
During the Meeting
- Because of issues related to quorum, attendance needs to be taken. Physical/electronic sign-up sheets are circulated at the start of the meeting and processed well before any quorum-dependent action comes to the floor. Fifty percent attendance is required for quorum.
- There is a speaker and a parliamentarian who oversee the execution of the agenda. An effort is made to follow Roberts Rules. Here is a simplified version, Peter Stein’s version, and a more detailed version.
- Any member of the University or RTE faculties is welcome to attend a Senate meeting and speak. Anyone outside of the Faculty interested in attending a Faculty Senate meeting (either in person or via zoom) should contact the Dean of Faculty Office prior to the meeting to register their attendance. The Dean of Faculty Office can be reached via email, telephone at 607/255-4843 or in person at 315 Day Hall.
- Members are strongly encouraged to send all proposed amendments to the DoF office 24 hours prior to the meeting. Non-substantive (i.e., stylistic, grammatical, or clarifying) amendments may be freely introduced at a meeting without prior circulation. The speaker will rule substantive amendments out of order, but the speaker’s ruling can be reversed by majority vote of the body. Members may also move to postpone action to the next meeting if they believe a new approach deserves more timely consideration.
- The order of business of every meeting will include a brief “General Good and Welfare” section, where remarks (but not motions) on any subject of interest to the faculty will be in order. Faculty members must inform the Speaker of their intention to address the Senate prior to the start of the meeting. In the absence of prospective speakers, the Speaker will re-allocate the reserved time to other agenda items.
- At the discretion of the Dean of Faculty, a Senate roll call vote can be initiated at any time during a meeting with ballots submitted physically and/or electronically over a period of one week. For the legislation or action to take effect, the number of votes cast must be at or above the level of quorum. Electronic voting should never be triggered to short-circuit debate.
After the Meeting
- The day or two after the Senate meeting, a quick synopsis is emailed to each Senator.
- Senators and others who did not get a chance to speak can post their comments on the meeting webpage.
- A week or so after the Senate meeting, a tentative transcript is posted in the transcript archive where it can be reviewed for accuracy.
- Any resolution that passes during the meeting become part of the resolution archive.
- Pending legislation is posted here.
- After the minutes are approved at a subsequent Senate meeting, the transcript that has been posted in the transcript archive becomes “final.”
