CFAES Staff Advisory Council By-Laws

The Council shall act in an advisory capacity to the Vice President of Agricultural Administration and Dean, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (hereafter Vice President/Dean).

The purpose of the Council is to: 

• Provide a formal vehicle for staff participation in the betterment of the College by shaping an environment that promotes mutual respect, builds teams, and creates a compelling place to work and learn; 
  • Increase the efficiency and scope of communication within the College and University by:
    • Serving as the staff voice/liaison to the Vice President/Dean
    • Relaying communication from the Vice President/Dean to staff,
    • Facilitating staff-to-staff communication, and
    • Broadening university-wide communication through its relationship with the University Staff Advisory Committee;
• Support the CFAES Core Goal “To be the standard of excellence for colleges of food, agricultural, and environmental sciences.”

Past Chair
Chair (moves to Past Chair) 
Vice Chair (moves to Chair)
Communications Director 
Secretary/Treasurer
Public Relations Officer/Archivist                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Terms will be for one year. Officers shall have been a member for at least one year. 

A. Elections 

• Elections shall occur  during the summer before the annual recognition banquet. The election process can occur electronically; 
• Vice Chair shall field all nominations for officers and conduct the election electronically or during a meeting prior to the annual banquet;
• All officers will be elected positions;
• Secret ballot will be held for any contested offices (i.e., more than one candidate for any office)
• Ties will be decided by a coin toss. 

At least two-thirds of the membership must vote on the officer team. A simple majority elects each position. Absentee ballots will be accepted in the event members cannot be present.

• Officers can be reelected to the same office with the exception of the Chair and Vice Chair; 
• Resignations by officers must be submitted to the Chair. Chair must submit resignation to the Vice Chair and to the Vice President/Dean of the College; and
• Officer vacancies will be filled by special election of the Council. A Chair vacancy will be filled by the Vice Chair with a new Vice Chair elected by Council.

B. Officer Duties

CHAIR:

• The Chair shall be responsible for preparing and distributing the agenda of all full Council regular or special meetings. Rough drafts of the agenda will be distributed to SAC members one week in advance of the scheduled meeting for inclusion and updates.
• The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Council and Executive Committee, in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, unless otherwise indicated.
• The Chair will be spokesperson for the Council in any official matters.
• The Chair will be the official link with any other college committees or will make an appointment to represent the Council on that committee or at the meeting.
• The Chair will provide leadership to the Executive Committee and full Council.
• The Chair will notify the CFAES Associate Dean when new appointments or vacancies are to be filled.
• The Chair of the full Council shall be an ex-officio member of all committees and task forces except when nominating new officers.
• The Chair and the Vice Chair will act as liaisons between the task forces and/or standing committees and the Council. This responsibility will be divided at their discretion.

VICE-CHAIR:

• Vice-Chair will act in place of the Chair when the Chair is absent.
• The Vice Chair and the Chair will act as liaisons between the task forces and/or standing committees and the Council. This responsibility will be divided at their discretion.
• Vice-Chair will assist the Chair with task force and/or committee report(s).
• The Vice-Chair will be responsible for any other tasks or duties as assigned.
• The Vice-Chair shall act as issues coordinator to insure exploration of and on issues brought to the Council.
• The Vice-Chair will coordinate the election process for new officers.

SECRETARY/TREASURER:

• The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for recording the minutes of all regular and special full Council meetings and submit them for approval at the next full Council meeting.
• The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for any other tasks or duties as assigned by the Chair, including correspondence.
• The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for monitoring the Council budget, submitting requests for expenditures to the Executive Committee for approval of all expenditures, and reporting to the full Council on the status of the budget. At the end of each Council year, the Secretary/Treasurer will collect from each Committee/Task Force Chair estimates of expected expenses for the coming year and will assist the Chair as necessary with the preparation of the budget for the coming year.
• The Secretary/Treasurer will maintain the current membership list and information on terms of office.

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR:

• The Communications Director serves as chief correspondent of external communication for the Council Website.
• The Communications Director chairs the Communications and Marketing Committee.
• The Communications Director serves in an administrative/resource capacity for coordination of task force(s) activities.
• The Communications Director will distribute to each member a packet of materials including the Committee’s charge from the Dean/Vice president, a brief summary outlining how the Council and Standing Committees function, and copies of all major reports from the previous year.
• The Communications Director will collect correspondence and add articles to CFAES publications.

PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER/ARCHIVIST

• The Public Relations/Archivist officer promotes upcoming events and activities of the Council via appropriate media outlets.
• The Public Relations/Archivist officer documents notable events of the Council in writing and through photography.
• The Public Relations/Archivist officer will be the contact for the Council display and is responsible for annual updates, maintenance and storage.
• The Public Relations/Archivist officer will work with Wooster council member for updates.
• The Public Relations/Archivist officer will maintain the past council membership and awardees list.

A. Frequency - Regular meetings will be held at least four to six times per year at various locations in the state or by other means deemed appropriate. 

B. Duration - The length of the meeting will average 3-5 hours at the discretion of the Chair. 

C. Attendance - Members will notify Chair if unable to attend. A quorum of 50  %of the membership must be present to hold an official business meeting.

Special meetings may be called by the Chair. 

A. Executive Committee will include the slate of officers plus the Past Chair as a non-voting member. The administrative liaison to the Council will be an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.

B. Additional standing committees must be approved by vote of the full Council before inclusion in the Bylaws.

A. A task force (TF) will be formed at the discretion of the Council on a voluntary basis.

B. The TF Lead shall be a Council member chosen from within the TF.

C. Each TF should be composed of a minimum of three Council members. If additional TF members are required (including those outside of Council), they may be appointed by the TF Lead.

D. All TFs shall report to the Council during regular business meetings

A. Membership - Membership will consist of one representative from each of the following CFAES Departments, Council, School, or units as listed below.  Membership is not to exceed 26 total members. 

• Academic Programs
• Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics
• Agricultural Communication, Education and Leadership
• Animal Sciences
• Dean’s Operations
• Entomology
• Finance
• Food Animal Health Research Program
• Food Science and Technology
• Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
• Horticulture and Crop Science
• Human Resources
• Marketing and Communications/Advancement
• Piketon
• Plant Pathology
• School of Environment and Natural Resources
• Wooster Campus Representative
• Wooster Staff Council
• Five (5) Extension Representatives, not to exceed two (2) per any region (see Appendix A, attached map in PDF bylaws).

The following group designations of the represented units will establish term rotations so as to facilitate even membership changeover from year to year. If for some reason, unit representation changes occur, group designation may be altered at the discretion of the council.

Group A:

• Food Science & Technology
• Marketing and Communication/Advancement
• School of Environment and Natural Resources
• Two (2) Extension Representatives
• Entomology
• Piketon
• At-Large 1
• Wooster Campus Representative

Group B:

• Dean’s Operation
• Finance
• Horticulture & Crop Science
• Food Animal Health Research Program
• Two (2) Extension Representatives
• Animal Sciences
• At-Large 2

Group C:

• Academic Programs
• Agricultural Communication, Education and Leadership
• Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics
• Food, Agricultural & Biological Engineering
• Human Resources
• Plant Pathology
• One (1) Extension Representative
• Past Chair (if applicable)

B. Terms - Terms of membership shall be three years, with one-third of the membership rotating off the Council each year. The exception being “Wooster Staff Council” representative which is a one year, liaison, non-voting position that is held by the current year Wooster Campus Staff Council Chair. A maximum of two consecutive terms (including the appointment to an unexpired term) can be served. There shall be a minimum 12-month waiting period before a member who has served two consecutive terms can be eligible for reappointment (if a new representative is not able to be identified from the appropriate department, the previous representative may be considered for reappointment, if approved by a two-thirds majority vote of membership). Terms begin and end at the annual retreat of the appropriate year.

C. Eligibility - Any College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences staff member (CCS, A&P or senior A&P), who is not covered by a bargaining agreement, nor is a member of a union represented at the University, is eligible for membership. Members must be able to meet the eligibility term requirements with their part-time (≤50FTE) or full-time position. 

D. Appointments - Membership/nominations will come from the unit/department heads as established by the Vice President of Agricultural Administration for each term to be served. A member who transfers to another unit/department within the College while serving on the Council continues to serve out his/her term, but once the term has expired the new appointment comes from the originating unit/department. The at-large positions will be filled via an application process made available by the Council during the appropriate years. Applications will be accepted and decision by the SAC Executive Committee will be made prior to the incoming board installation (October/November).

E. Resignations - Any member wishing to resign from the Council shall submit his/her resignation in writing to the Vice President of Agricultural Administration, the Chair of the Staff Council, and their unit/department head.

F. Vacancies - Council representatives shall notify the Chair to solicit an appointment from the vacating unit/department head to fulfill the remainder of the vacated term. All subsequent terms will be served following the above specifications. Former members who have been off the Council for 12 months are eligible for appointment.

G. Participation and Attendance - Members are expected to attend all Council meetings and activities. In the event a member cannot attend a Council meeting they must contact the Chair at least 24 hours in advance, when possible. Should any member exceed two unexcused absences from meetings, the Chair may request assistance from the Associate Dean who will contact the member and their employer in an attempt to facilitate a resolution. If a resolution cannot be attained, a removal may be pursued. Members are expected to participate in the following Council events: Staff Appreciation events, Wooster Fun Fest, and Annual Retreat. The only exception is if the member works off-campus of the event location.