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Staff Council

Staff Council Guidelines

Georgia Southern University Staff Council Guidelines and Responsibilities A. Function      Staff Council shall participate in the process of the university governance by acting in an advisory capacity to the Director of Human Resources about issues such as conditions of employment, employee benefits and other matters that affect the general welfare of the University. Staff Council shall continue to promote the development of staff and recognition of the staff’s contributions and support for the mission of Georgia Southern University. B. Criteria for Representation and Appointment      A maximum of 22 people shall comprise the Council. Appointment of new members and new terms begin January 1st. Members of the Council shall have a minimum of one year of service at Georgia Southern University and classification as a regular, full-time classified or professional-admin staff member. Membership is based upon representation from the five division areas. Each division, other than Academic Affairs (Provost) division, shall select members of Staff Council in accordance with the following schedule:      1 – 99 staff employees shall have one representative      100 - 199 staff employees shall have two representatives      200 - 299 staff employees shall have three representatives      300- 399 staff employees shall have four representatives      400- 499 staff employees shall have five representatives Provost division shall have a representative from each reporting division with that area. The five divisions are the Office of President, the Provost division, the Student Affairs division, Business and Finance division and University Advancement division. The Office of the President shall include all other administrators who report to the President, their offices and Staff. C. Selection and Appointment Procedures      Recommendations are solicited from Vice Presidents for new members to replace members whose terms expire. Requests shall be sent to Vice Presidents of the represented area of the Council members whose terms expire. Vice Presidents/Deans/Directors, as appropriate, will forward a maximum of eleven (11) names of eligible classified staff to the Director of Human Resources for consideration and possible selection to the Staff Council. Eleven (11) members will rotate off every year under normal circumstances after having served a two year term. Selection and appointment will be made with the joint approval of the Director of Human Resources and the Staff Council from the recommendations. Selection will be made in late Fall semester and new terms shall begin Spring Semester, January 1st. New members will be asked to attend the December meeting to vote for officers and a review/update. The new members will meet with the Director of Human Resources and the Chair for an orientation of the Council responsibilities. New appointments should contribute to and maintain a representative profile of the Georgia Southern workforce, including organizational units, gender, race, job classification and geographical location on campus. Newly selected members will be notified by mail of their selection and provided with Council guidelines and responsibilities, list of Council members and scheduled meeting dates. D. Structure      Officers will be Chair, Co-Chair, Secretary and Parliamentarian. E. Nominations and Vacancies      Candidates for various officers will be nominated and approved by the Council. A representative must be in good standing and have served at least one term before being eligible for office. However, nominations of members in their first year can be made so they will have completed one year by the time they take office. The Co-Chair may become the Chair at the start of the next business year. Nominations will be held at the final regularly scheduled meeting of the business year with new officers seated immediately upon the start of the next business year. When vacancies occur in the structure of the officers, the Council will nominate another representative to fill vacancy. The Co-Chair will succeed the Chair if the Chair must vacate the office before the term expires. Vacancies can be filled by any member regardless of service time. F. Duties Chair. The Chair will preside at all meetings and is responsible for upholding procedures. Co-Chair. The Co-Chair may succeed the Chair at the beginning of the next business year. The Co-Chair will assist the Chair and perform duties of Chair in the Chair’s absence. Secretary. The Secretary will be responsible for taking minutes at each Personnel Advisory Council meeting; distribute minutes of the previous meeting to committee members at least three (3) working days before the next scheduled meeting; maintain roster of Council members and their attendance at meetings; maintain other Council records as needed. Parliamentarian. The Parliamentarian shall assure that proper meeting procedures are maintained. G. Staff Council Member Responsibilities Enhance the communications network for staff throughout the university community. Attend monthly meetings regularly held each month. Solicit employee views on employment issues for review, discussion, and/or action by the Staff Council. Appoint standing committees and ad hoc committees as determined by majority of the Council. A council member may be accepted as a nominee, but excluded from the award of merit process. Evaluate nominations and select Award of Merit winners. The Staff Council shall not be authorized to consider or determine individual grievances. Organize and implement the annual Awards of Excellence Ceremony. Serve in an advisory capacity to the President as representatives of the staff workplace. Serve on ad hoc committees at the request of the President in response to issues requiring further study or action. H. Term of Office      Each delegate shall serve a two (2) year term beginning January 1. Terms are staggered with approximately half of the delegates rotating off Staff Council each year. A delegate may be reappointed for a maximum of two (2) consecutive terms. If a delegate fulfills an un-expired term vacated by another representative, the individual may serve up to one (1) year in that capacity and be reappointed to two (2) additional consecutive terms. I. Attendance      Members who are absent without notice from two (2) consecutive meetings will be reminded of their responsibilities to the Council. When a member does not respond to their reminder notice, the Council shall consider the nonattendance as a resignation and have the authority to appoint a replacement to serve out the remainder of the non-attending member’s term. J. Replacing a Council Member Who Terminates, Resigns or Becomes Ineligible      A Council member who terminates employment at Georgia Southern, resigns, or becomes ineligible to represent classified staff by changing his/her job classification or area of representation shall be replaced by direct appointment from recommendation of the Dean/Director whose area the member represented. The interim appointment will be made by the Director of Human Resources with the endorsement of the Staff Council. Replacing a terminated or ineligible member will be subject to the following restrictions: No replacement will be made if the Council member has less than six (6) months left of his/her term. No temporary replacements will be made during Fall Semester. The appointed member will serve out the remainder of the term that he/she is replacing.