Mansfield APSCUF Bylaws

Ratified April 15, 1976
Amended to November, 1976
Amended to May, 1978
Revised December 1981
Amended October 31, 1983
Revised/Amended March 6, 1989
Revised February 1, 1993
Revised/Amended April 6, 1999
Revised/Amended April 12, 2000
Revised/Amended April 14, 2003

ARTICLE I – NAME

The name of this organization shall be the Mansfield Local Chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties herein after referred to as the Mansfield Local Chapter of APSCUF or the Local Chapter.

ARTICLE II – PURPOSE

To serve as the local chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), and to represent APSCUF as the exclusive bargaining agent for Mansfield University.

To promote purposes of APSCUF including but not limited to:

Section 1. To promote among the professional personnel of Mansfield University the highest professional practices, encourage active participation in the solution of problems common to the state-owned universities, to promote a spirit of professional ethics, to constantly seek to improve relations between APSCUF and other groups working for the improvement of public higher education, and to serve the students of Mansfield University.

Section 2. To encourage continued high qualifications for professional entrance into the university, and to promote faculty participation in the formulation of policies which affect the academic community.

Section 3. To cooperate with community organizations and civic bodies having worthy educational objectives, and to aid in articulating to the public the problems and functions of higher education.

Section 4. To encourage faculty members to exercise their rights and privileges as citizens and to assume appropriate leadership responsibilities in civic affairs.

Section 5. To promote the professional welfare of the Mansfield University faculty.

Section 6. To promote a learning process which will enhance the effectiveness of the faculty and coaches in working with the students.

Section 7. To work diligently in the development and implementation of strategies for peer evaluation which will be used for improving the effectiveness of the faculty and coaches in working with students.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. The membership shall be composed of APSCUF members in good standing.

Section 2. The membership shall have the right to vote in all elections of officers and standing committees, except GRIEVANCE, to make recommendations to the Executive Committee, and to vote on all by-law and major policy changes.

Section 3. Dues shall be set and collected in the manner specified by the State APSCUF By-laws.

ARTICLE IV – OFFICERS

Section 1. The officers of the Local Chapter shall be the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and the immediate Past President.

1. The President, Vice-President and Secretary shall serve for a period of two years beginning April 15 of the year in which they are elected.
2. The Treasurer shall serve for a period of two years from September 1 of the year in which he/she is elected to August 31 of the second year of the term (to conform to the fiscal year concurrent with State APSCUF fiscal year).

Section 3.

The President shall:

1. Prepare an agenda for all meetings and preside over all meetings of the Local Chapter.
2. Be the Chairperson of the Executive Committee.
3. Be responsible for insuring that the provisions of these by-laws are observed.
4. Be responsible for the implementation of policy as determined by the Local Chapter and the Executive Committee.
5. Appoint all committees and chairpersons of such committees not otherwise provided for, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.
6. Be an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominations and Elections Committee and the Professional Committee, with voting privileges for the President to be determined by the appropriate committee.
7. Verify that the financial records of the Local Chapter are audited at least once a year.
8. Upon election serve as delegate to the Legislative Assembly, as part of the delegate entitlement for the Chapter.
9. Appoint a Meet and Discuss Team and the team spokesperson, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. This team shall include at least four members of the Executive Committee, one of whom shall be the Vice-President.
10. Develop a calendar of meetings for the Executive Committee, Meet and Discuss, and the membership of the Local Chapter.
11. Meet each September with the Professional Committee to discuss the Committee’s contractual responsibilities.
12. As immediate Past President serve a term of two years and assume all duties of the President in the absence of the President. In the event that the President is reelected to a consecutive term of office, the Vice-President shall assume the duties of the President in his/her absence.

Section 4

The Vice-President shall:

1. Serve as the APSCUF representative to University Senate.
2. Serve as the second alternate delegate to the Legislative Assembly.
3. Serve on the Meet and Discuss Team.
4. In the absence of the President or Past President, assume all duties of the President.
5. Serve as Chairperson for the annual APSCUF evaluation of the University President and Provost.

Section 5.

The Secretary shall:

1. Take the minutes of all meetings of the Local Chapter, the Executive Committee and Meet and Discuss.
2. The Secretary shall receive and hold the minutes of all meetings of APSCUF standing and special committees, University-wide committees and contractual committees.
3. Assist in the preparation of the Local Chapter Newsletter, including providing summaries of Local minutes or notes, when appropriate.

Section 6.

The Treasurer shall:

1. Be responsible for all financial matters of the Local Chapter subject to policy established by the Local Chapter and the Legislative Assembly of APSCUF.
2. Monitor all financial transactions and provide written Treasurer’s Reports for all Executive Committee meetings.
3. Be responsible for the supervision of a budget for the Local Chapter.
4. Insure that the financial records of the Local Chapter are audited at least once a year.
5. Be responsible for any other financial matters of the Local Chapter.

Section 7.

The Past President shall:

1. Serve a term of two years immediately following his/her term as President, unless reelected to the Presidency.
2. Assume all duties of the President in the absence of the President.

ARTICLE V – EXECUTIVE

Section 1.

The Executive Committee is the governing body of the Mansfield Local Chapter of APSCUF. It shall be composed of the Chapter President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Past President, Grievance Chairperson, M&D Chair, CAP Committee Chairperson, Legislative Committee Chairperson, Delegates to the Legislative Assembly, and one APSCUF member who may be appointed at-large for a period of one year by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee, and a coaches bargaining unit representative.

Section 2. The Executive Committee shall meet bi-weekly while the University is in session. It shall also call at least one APSCUF faculty membership meeting each semester.

Section 3. The President of the Local Chapter shall be the chairperson of the Executive Committee.

Section 4. The Executive Committee shall implement policy and undertake actions needed to achieve the objectives of APSCUF as stated in the State and Local By-laws, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and by the membership of the Local Chapter.

Section 5. The Executive Committee shall be authorized to make whatever decisions may be necessary to allow the Local Chapter to function properly between meetings of the membership.

Section 6. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for approving an annual budget.

ARTICLE VI – COMMITTEES

Section 1. The Grievance Committee

1. There shall be a Grievance Committee whose members and chairperson shall be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. One member shall be a coaches representative.
2. The functions of the Grievance Committee shall be to process grievances brought before it by members of the bargaining unit(s) represented by APSCUF, and to recommend action concerning policy grievances to either the Executive Committee or to the State APSCUF Grievance Committee.

Section 2. The Negotiations Committee

1. There shall be a Negotiations Committee, composed of the chairperson, the Local Chapter President, and five members, which shall be formed during the year following the signing of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). This committee shall remain intact for the duration of that CBA period. The chairperson shall be elected in the Local Chapter general elections. (see Article VII, below.)
2. The committee chairperson shall constitute the committee and shall submit the names of the committee members for Executive Committee approval by May 15 of that year.
3. The functions of the Negotiations Committee shall include but not be limited to: surveying the desires of the membership concerning local and statewide issues, preparing reports and/or proposals using the results of surveys to be transmitted to the Executive Committee, and aiding the State APSCUF Negotiations Committee in other appropriate ways.
4. The chairperson of the Negotiations Committee shall represent the bargaining unit(s) to the Executive Committee in matters concerning negotiations.

Section 3. The Nominations and Elections Committee (See also Article VII, Elections)

1. There shall be a Nominations and Elections Committee whose members (no fewer than three) and a chairperson shall be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. This committee shall be appointed and approved by December 1 of each year.
2. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall nominate candidates for all elected positions. Candidates for the office of President and Vice President shall be nominated or approved by the Executive Committee. An opportunity for any member of the Local Chapter to make additional nominations for all offices shall be provided. The list of nominees shall be distributed to the members of the Local Chapter at least two weeks in advance of the election.
3. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall conduct any special elections at the direction of the Executive Committee.

Section 4. The Professional Committee

The Professional Committee at Mansfield University is the “University-wide committee” mandated by the CBA which acts upon tenure, promotion and sabbatical applications. The committee’s procedures and rules of operation are supervised by APSCUF to insure compliance with the CBA in matters brought before the committee.

1. The Professional Committee consists of three separate committees; one for sabbatical application review, one for tenure application review, and one for promotion application review. The Sabbatical committee to meet during the fall semester and the Tenure and Promotion committees to meet during the spring semester. The Chapter President, the Grievance Chairperson and the Meet and Discuss Spokesperson may not be a member of the Professional Committee.
2. Each committee will have 7 members elected by the faculty through the election process conducted by the University Senate. One member of each committee will be elected from the non-teaching faculty pool. All committee members will serve 3-year terms and no committee member may serve on more than one of the Professional Committees concurrently. Terms will be staggered to help ensure continuity of membership. If an elected committee member fails to complete her/his term of office, she/he will not be eligible to apply to that committee for the duration of the elected term.
3. Two or more alternate members shall be elected each year, with at least one alternate from each of the teaching and Administrative/Non-Teaching faculty categories. In the event of a resignation from one of the Professional Committees an alternate shall serve on that Committee for the remainder of the unexpired term of the member whom he/she replaces. If a member resigns from a Professional Committee for any reason, he/she may not return to complete his/her unexpired term. If a vacancy occurs and there are no alternates to serve, a special election shall be called in a timely manner by the University Senate Nominations and Elections Committee to elect an alternate from the appropriate faculty category to fill the existing vacancy on the specific Committee.
4. No faculty member shall serve on the Professional Committee when he/she or a member of his/her immediate family or a person residing in his/her household is an applicant for promotion or sabbatical leave. A committee member in this situation shall resign as soon as the conflict becomes known, but in no case later than the start of the academic year in which the conflict will occur.
5. The elections for the Professional Committees are conducted by the Nominations and Elections Committee of the University Senate, and are held at the same time as the Senate Elections. All faculty eligible to vote in the University Senate elections are eligible to vote in the elections of members of the Professional Committee.
6. The chairpersons of the Professional Committees shall be elected by the committees from the faculty members on the committees.
7. The duties of the Professional Committees shall be:
   • To have the chairpersons of the committees oversee the processes in the relevant areas of tenure, promotion and sabbatical leave.
   • To follow established University and CBA procedures in the review of tenure, promotion and sabbatical leave applications, and to present recommendations based upon established procedures and criteria to the University President or his/her designee.
   • To recommend to the APSCUF Executive Committee for its approval revisions to existing procedures and criteria by which faculty members are recommended for tenure, promotion and sabbatical leave. All revisions are submitted to State APSCUF for final approval.
   • To review established procedures and make recommendations concerning the maintenance of confidentiality of curricula vitae and other personal information necessary to the operation of the Professional Committee.
   • To meet each September with the APSCUF Local President for the purpose of reviewing the Committee’s responsibilities under the CBA.

Section 5. The Professional Development Committee

1. There shall be a Professional Development Committee consisting of three faculty members no two of whom may be from the same department; elected by and from the academic faculty, and two administrators selected by the University.
2. The terms of office of the elected faculty members shall be three years, beginning the first day of the academic year following the election. The terms of office shall be staggered in such a way that one-third of the elected faculty members are replaced each year. Elections for the committee shall be completed by March 1 of each year in accordance with the policies of Nominations and Elections and these By-laws.
3. The chairperson of the committee shall be elected by the committee from the faculty members on the committee.
   • Investigate and make recommendations (in the form of motions) and/or reports to the Executive Committee on such issues relating to faculty professional development as the committee may deem appropriate or as may be referred to it by the Executive Committee. These issues may relate to such matters as policies and procedures governing professional development programs, analysis of such programs, of allocation of resources for such programs.
   • Monitor the dissemination of information regarding professional development opportunities to the faculty.
   • Identify needs for faculty development opportunities and suggest ways in which these opportunities may be provided.

Section 6. Other committees may be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee, provided that an appropriate change to such committees is specified.

ARTICLE VII – ELECTIONS

1. The elected positions of the APSCUF Local Chapter shall be the President, the Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Chairperson, Delegates to the Legislative Assembly, and the Negotiations Chairperson. No individual may hold more than one elected office at any one time.
2. All elected positions shall be filled by a vote of the members of the Local Chapter, unless otherwise specified.
3. All elections conducted by the Local Chapter shall be by mail ballot. All elections shall be conducted by secret ballot.
4. The annual election to fill elected positions shall be completed by March 1. The President, Vice-President, Secretary, Membership Chairperson, and the Negotiations Committee Chairperson shall begin their terms of office on April 15 of the year in which they are elected. The Treasurer shall serve as specified in Article IV, Section 2, b, above.
5. Delegates and Alternates to the Legislative Assembly of APSCUF shall be selected in accordance with State APSCUF By-laws, Article V, Sections 2 and 3. The delegates to the Legislative Assembly shall serve for a period of two years beginning on September 1 of the year in which they are elected.
6. The Membership Chairperson shall be elected for a one-year term and will begin office on April 15 of the year the election is held.
7. In the event of a vacancy in the office of President, the Vice-President shall become President and shall serve for the remainder of the current term.
8. In the event of a vacancy in any other elected positions, except for the immediate Past President, an election shall be held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term. Until such time as the election is held, the office may be filled by an appointee of the President. Such an election shall be held as soon as possible, but shall be completed no later than 60 days after the beginning date of the vacancy.
9. In any election, the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes must win at least 40% of the votes in order to win the position; failing this the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall participate in a run-off election.
10. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall be responsible for conducting the elections, tallying and recording the votes, conducting run-off elections, and announcing the election results to the Local Chapter President, the Executive Committee and to the membership of the Local Chapter.

ARTICLE VIII – RECALL

Section 1.

Individuals holding elected positions in the Local Chapter shall be removed from office upon the affirmative vote of 67% of the total membership of the Local Chapter. Section 2.

A vote to recall an elected official shall be conducted upon the presentation to the Executive Committee of a petition requesting such a vote which is signed by 20% of the members of the Local Chapter. Such a vote shall be conducted by mail ballot. The vote shall be conducted by secret ballot. Section 3. Individuals holding appointed positions in the Local Chapter serve at the pleasure of the President.

ARTICLE IX – MEETINGS

The President shall call a meeting of the Local Chapter at his/her pleasure. The President shall call a meeting of the Local Chapter if so directed by the Executive Committee or by a petition signed by at least 10% of the membership. There shall be a minimum of one meeting per term of the academic year. The members of the Local Chapter shall be notified of any meeting at least one week in advance of the date of the meeting.

ARTICLE X – QUORUM REQUIREMENTS

Section 1. At general meetings of the Local Chapter a quorum shall consist of 20% of the membership.

Section 2. At committee meetings a quorum shall consist of 50% of the members of the committee.

ARTICLE XI – PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Robert’s Rules of Order, most recent version, shall be the authority on all questions of procedure not otherwise provided for in these By-laws.

ARTICLE XII – AMENDMENTS

Section 1.

A proposed amendment to these By-laws must be disseminated to the membership by the Executive Committee at least one week before it is to be voted upon.

Section 2.

An amendment to these By-laws must be approved by a majority of the total membership of the Local Chapter. The vote on a proposed amendment must be conducted by mail ballot and shall be by secret ballot. The vote on a proposed amendment may not be conducted until the amendment has been discussed at a meeting of the membership.

The amendment must then be submitted to State APSCUF to assure its consistency with State By-laws.

ARTICLE XIII – PROVISION

If any section of these By-laws is in conflict with State APSCUF By-laws, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, or existing laws, that section of these By-laws shall be invalid.

ARTICLE XIV – TRANSITION

These By-laws shall take effect on the date approved by State APSCUF.