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The Cadre, Sept. 23, ]975, page ]2 ' a

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{At lgsfSenate Ru’l

As of June 5, 1975, the rules of Senate were final— ized by the registrar, Mr. Hennessey,and the president, Mr. Baker, after a three and a half month effort to col— last and establish a docu— mented Senate procedure. This was accomplished by sending to each Senate mem- ber a questionaire urging him or her, as the case may be, to make available any Senate rules (established precedents via usage over the last six years ) gthus the explanation for the con— siderable lapse of time in the documentation of these rules, supplied by the vari— ous members of Senate. The crux of this document is the fact that for the first time in the history of UPEI

there has been made a- vailable an established Senate procedure whose con- text shall henceforth dic- tate the methodology with— in which Senate functions. As of yet, these regulations have not been ratified by Senate itself, but it does, at present, provide a base from within which the newer members as well as interest— ed students may operate.

The bygone days of almost non—existent student parti— cipation other than those with seats on Senate are hopefully at an end. It might even encourage a few more faculty members to show up. There need no longer be that lurking doubt in the back of the individual's' mind of speaking up for fear of being out of order, thus sounding a bit foreign and being laughed at by Senate (I assure this has happenei however, I'm sure this fact will not deter anyone from voicing their opinion.)

The provisions.of these rules opens the door for student involvement with-’ in thegbody that dictates policy making for any and all academic decisions af- fecting this university. .If there are any academic dis- senters in the crowd, I wholeheartedly suggest that you retain this issue of the Cadre or drop by the Student Union offices in the basement of Memorial Hall and pick up‘a copy of these regulations before making your way to the next‘ Senate meeting on Thursday, September 25, 1975 at 2:00 PM in the faculty lounge.

, Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Baker and Mr. Hennessey you have been proVided with a comprehensive grasp of the mechanics of this revered body known as the UPEI Sen— ate.

SenatevPr'ocedures

1. Agenda items are to be sent to the Secretary of Senate 10 days before reg— ular meetings. To date, all items proposed for the agen— da have been placed on the agenda. '

2. Notice of a regular meeting and papers relevant to that meeting are sent

out 7 days before the meet— ing.

'3. Special meetings are «

called from time to time either to clear up business or in cases of emergen-

cy. At special meetings, only those items on the a— genda for the special meet— ing may be discussed. ’ 4. Meeting dates: From 1975 on, regular meeting dates will be included in the Cal— endar(starting with the 1975-76 Calendar.).

5. The first item of busi—

k,

‘-

es of 0rdér SR eV‘eal‘exd 1' ‘

discussion,.thusrprevent ing a series of amme' and ammendments t’ ments.

7. it has been the prac— tice of the Chair to recog- nize everyone who wishes to speak, regardless of whe- ther they are speaking pro or con or whether they have spoken before. ’7

8. It has been the prac— tice of the Chair to recog— nize members of the Univer— sity community in the audi— ence, provided there is no

'objection from the Senate.

9. To avoid wrangles over procedure, it has been the practice of the Chair to make a ruling on procedure, often on the advice of a . member of the Senate, and then to invite a challenge . of the ruling. Such a chal— lenge does 335 constitute

a motion of non-confidence.

GENTLEMEM— 1HE Fun V IS ovate. we , HAVE FINALLy. y RECEIVED

ness at a meeting is the ap—

proval of the agenda. Items may be moved forward in the agenda with the majority support of Senate. Except in emergencies or very spe— cial cases where it is im- possible to give sufficient notice, Senate does not con- sider items that are not on the agenda with appropriate notice. On occasion, how- ever, it has discussed items and accepted notices for future meetings.

6. On complex proposals, it

has been the pratice of Sen- ate to ask the mover to in- troduce the proposal and then to have general dis— cussion and comment before Calling for a second and‘ formal discussion. The pur— pose of this procedure is

to have thorough discussion so that the motion might

be modified-in the light of

002 RULES

‘3’?

51.. even:

It is a device to avoid procedural dispute.

10. Reconsideration: At present, the Senate has ask- ed for a formal proposal on reconsideration. Earlier, on the understanding that it did not consitute a pre— cedent, Senate daeided that a two—thirds vote of those present was necessary for reconsideration.

ll. Committees: The Senate received notice of the need to elect the Nominating Committee. Nominations are sent to the Secretary. Further nominations may be taken from the floor, and the election is conducted. ‘12. The normal procedure

for other committees is that

,Senate refers the matter to its Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee~ asks for suggestions and‘

volunteers and posts notices

NOL’NI ‘an

on the campus seeking vol— unteers. It then notifies Senate of its nominees. At the appropriate Senate meet. ing, members may nominate from the floor, and if nec- essary balloting takes ' place. On occasion, Senate has delegated to the Nomi- nating Committee the pow- er to set up an §g_hgg committee. a "

13. Open/closed meetings: All meetings of the Senate are open to all members of the University except those that deal with the grant— ing of degrees or in other ways involve the naming of individuals where embarraSS- ment to the individual may be caused by a public meet— ing (e.g. academic dismis- sals.)

14. Senate could move into closed session by vote.

15. It has been the prac— tice of Senate that ithhe Chairman, as a member of sen ate, wishes to vote, he vote when everyone else votes. I the event of a tied vote,*th motion shall be lost. The Chair shall not act as a tie breaker. «Voting has, in gem eral, been by a show of hands, but any member can ask for a secret ballot or for a recorded vote. I

16. Election of the Chancel— lor: The Chancellor is elect ed by.a committee half from the Board and half from the Senate, plus the President. To date, the President has chaired meetings.

17. Quorum: Senate has been operating with a quorum of 50% of the membership plus one, but, in general, it has tried very hard not to con— duct business With a minimum of members. ’ 18. Course proposals: Deans or Faculties should submit to Senate concise summaries of discussion points raised in their Faculties on course

,proposals at the time of the

forwarding of course propo— sals to the Academic Planning Committee; three copies of the complete proposals shOuld be made available for further information in the Library: Coursedescriptions should at— company the Dean's notes sent to all Senate members; the Academic Planning Committee should similarly forward to all Senate members summaries of additional points raised in their deliberations.

19. Senate has agreed that, in the event of procedural deadlock, the final authority will be Robert’s Rules of '

. Order.

Charles M. Mills‘