Article I: Name

The name of the body hereby constituted shall be the Staff Senate, University of North Carolina Wilmington. (Hereafter in this document, the term “Senate” shall refer to the Staff Senate unless otherwise noted).

Article II: Mission Statement & Goals

Section 1.

The Senate was established to foster a spirit of unity, pride and cooperation among staff members by recognizing the leadership role staff plays in the daily work of the University. The Senate advises the Chancellor and senior officers on issues and concerns that are important to staff and supports the administration in the achievement of the university’s mission.

Section 2.

Specific goals of the Senate include:

1. Represent and advocate for SHRA and EHRA non-faculty employees.
2. Provide a two-way medium for communication with the university leadership regarding issues affecting staff.
3. Promote that staff members work in a supportive atmosphere in aligning with the Seahawk Respect Compact.
4. Facilitate a consensus voice for all staff through open meetings to seek ideas, and express, investigate and debate issues with the participation of a significant cross section of university staff members.
5. Foster recognition of staff contributions to the university’s mission.
6. Participate in and represent UNCW staff with the NC system-wide Staff Assembly.
7. Encourage a sense of community among all university employees.
8. Ensure ongoing communication regarding decisions made regarding staff-related issues, as well as communicating programs and benefits that may be of interest to staff.

 previous Senator was elected.

Section 4. Removal of Members

Senators are expected to fulfill the responsibilities of membership within the Staff Senate, including regular attendance and conduct consistent with the mission and integrity of the Staff Senate and the University. During their term, a Senator or Executive Committee member may be subject to removal from the Staff Senate for any of the following reasons:

1. Nonperformance of Duties. Failure to meet the responsibilities of the office, including but not limited to:

(1)   A documented pattern of unexcused absences from General Body meetings, committee meetings, or other official Senate events.

(2)   Absences alone shall not automatically constitute misconduct if the absences are given with notice to the Chair or Secretary. Concerns related to attendance will first be addressed through outreach and supportive communication.

(3)   Upon two (2) unexcused absences, the Parliamentarian shall contact the Senator to confirm continued interest and ability to serve. Committee Chairs may notify the Chair-Elect or Secretary of attendance concerns.

(4)   Ongoing lack of engagement or participation in Senate activities; or

(5)   Conduct detrimental to the mission, integrity, or effective operations of the Senate.

1. Egregious Conduct Injurious to the Senate or the University. Behavior that undermines the purpose, operations, reputation, or integrity of the Staff Senate or the University. Staff Senate follows the guidelines of the University Employee Handbook and the Seahawk Respect Compact. Examples of egregious conduct injurious to the Senate or University are defined in the Procedures Manual.
2. Recommendation for Removal. Any Senator may submit a written recommendation for the removal of a Senator or Executive Committee member to the Chair. The recommendation shall state the grounds for removal. Any recommendation for removal shall be handled privately to protect the dignity of the Senator and the integrity of the body.
3. Review and Vote.

(1)   Concerns will be subject to investigation and review by the Chair in consultation with the Executive Committee. The Chair shall call for an Executive Committee Meeting to conduct a confidential review of the matter.

(2)   After investigation and discussion, the Executive Committee shall vote on whether corrective action or removal is warranted. A unanimous vote by the Executive Committee shall be required for removal or corrective action.

(3)   If the vote is gridlocked, the vote will continue until a unanimous decision is made to remove or not remove.

1. Removal Process.

(1)   Upon confirmation of a unanimous vote, the Chair will meet with the Senator privately to share the result of the Executive Committee’s vote on the removal recommendation. The Senator will be given the opportunity to resign.

(2)   If the Senator declines, the Chair and Chair-Elect may ask for the Senator’s eligibility to serve to be revoked by their supervisor.

(3)   If these prior avenues fail, the vote of removal will be announced at the following Senate meeting.

(4)   The specific review process, eligibility for future service, and any appeal procedures shall be defined in the Procedures Manual.

Section 5. Duties

1. The members shall be responsible for attending regular scheduled meetings in person and, considering all matters presented therein, making recommendations for agenda items, serving on committees, performing additional business as presented to the Senate.

Section 6. Ex Officio Members

1. The Senate shall include a member from Human Resources as an ex officio, non-voting, non-office holding member.
2. The Senate shall include a member appointed by the Student Government Association as an ex officio, non-voting, non-office holding member.
3. Ex officio members cannot be counted towards quorum.

Section 7. Succession

1. The Office of Staff Senate Chair has a multi-year commitment in serving as Chair-Elect and in the advisory role of Past Chair to preserve institutional knowledge and avoid involuntary or burdensome extensions. Issues of succession shall be handled under the following bylaws. In the case of vacancy in the office of Staff Senate Chair, if:

(1)   The vacancy occurs before the 1st of February, the Chair-Elect shall assume the position of Chair for the remainder of the term to end on June 30th. This shall be considered an extension of the service term for which they were elected.

(2)   Else, if the vacancy occurs on or after the 1st of February, the Chair-Elect shall serve the remainder of the term as Interim Chair, with all duties, powers, and responsibilities awarded to the Office of the Chair until the end of that term on June 30th. The Interim Chair will then serve their duly elected term as Chair, from July 1st through June 30th fulfilling their one (1) year term.

1. In case of a vacancy in the Office of the Chair-Elect, the Chair shall call a special election to select a new Chair-Elect, pursuant to the election procedures in Article IV, Section 2 of the Staff Senate Bylaws. The candidate who receives a plurality of votes shall be appointed Chair-Elect.
2. In the event of a vacancy in any Executive Committee position other than Chair or Chair-Elect, the Executive Committee shall develop an interim leadership plan until the vacancy is filled. If an interim officer is selected, they will assume all duties and responsibilities of the position for the remainder of the term or until a special election is held, as determined by the Executive Committee. The Chair shall call for nominations and call for a special election during a general body meeting. If multiple Senators express interest, the vacancy shall be filled by a majority vote of the Senate, and the senator will assume responsibilities at the next meeting.

Article IV: Officers of the Senate

Section 1. Officers and Duties

1. Chair: The Chair shall preside at Senate meetings, serve as Chair of the Executive Committee, call special meetings as necessary, perform other duties usual to the office, and confer with and report regularly to the Chancellor on matters pertaining to the staff, Senate, and the university. The Chair is responsible for upholding the Bylaws of the Senate and conducting all meetings. The Chair shall serve as a member of the Staff Priority Issues Committee. The Chair shall serve for a term of one (1) year. The Chair is the UNCW delegate to the system wide UNC Staff Assembly during their one (1) year term. The Chair shall also serve on the Staff Assembly Chairs Committee during their tenure as Chair. In the event the Chair is unable to represent UNCW at such functions, the Chair-Elect may be appointed to serve in this capacity. The Chair serves on the following university committees: Parking, Traffic and Transportation Advisory Committee (PTTAC), Space Planning, Data Governance, and the CITI committee.
2. Chair-Elect: The duties of the Chair-Elect shall be to preside at all meetings of the Senate in the absence of the Chair or in the event the Chair requests the Chair-Elect to serve during the course of a meeting; to assist the Chair in performing leadership responsibilities; to serve by appointment on committees; to accept names of persons interested in serving on standing committees and to make appointments on the basis of the person’s preference, and/or make necessary appointments to committees in consultation with the chair; to make appointments to fill vacancies on committees; and to call a meeting of any committee that is not fulfilling its responsibilities and establishing organization by dictum. The Chair-Elect shall become exempt from the terms of members in Article III, Section 3.
3. Past Chair (Year 1): The Past Chair shall serve in this office for a period of one year with alternating months of attendance to the monthly Senate meetings. The duties of the Past Chair shall be to assist as requested by the Chair, may serve as a resource for the Staff Senate, to serve as an ex officio member of the Executive Committee and Senate.
4. Secretary: The Secretary will serve for one (1) year (through the completion of the July Senate Meeting). The duties of the Secretary shall be to take the minutes and attendance records of each meeting, including the distribution of minutes to the Senate at least five (5) working days before the next scheduled meeting of the Senate; to serve as Secretary of the Executive Committee, keep minutes of the Executive Committee’s meetings and notify its members of meeting dates and locations; and to serve by appointment on committees.
5. Treasurer: The Treasurer will serve for one (1) year (through the completion of the July Senate Meeting). The Treasurer shall serve on the Executive Committee and be responsible for recording and disbursing funds necessary to conduct Senate business, and for the creation of financial reports concerning Senate expenditures. It is preferred that those seeking to be the Treasurer have previous training and experience in UNCW Banner Financial systems.
6. Parliamentarian: The Parliamentarian will serve for one (1) year (through the completion of the July Senate Meeting). The duties of the Parliamentarian shall be to ensure that the Chair or presiding officer abide by the stated rules of order during meetings; to serve as a resource to Senate officers and membership regarding the rules and usage of the stated rules of order; to preside at all meetings in the absence of both the Chair and Chair-Elect and to serve as Chair of the Governance Committee. If the Chair, Chair-Elect, and Parliamentarian are unable to preside at a meeting, the Parliamentarian must notify the Secretary to cancel the meeting.
7. Communications Officer: The Communications Officer will serve as the Chair of the Communications Committee and will act as the main liaison to the Office of University Relations and the Staff Senators. It is preferred that those seeking to be the Communications Officer have previous training and experience in updating UNCW websites. They will serve as an ex officio to the Executive Committee by invitation from the Chair.
8. Alternate(s) and Delegates to the Staff Assembly: Each campus is granted four (4) representatives to the Staff Assembly. The Senate Chair (required) and two (2) additional delegates are allowed and will be voted on by the Staff Senate after nominations are made. The Alternate to the Staff Assembly shall serve as a member of the Staff Assembly. The duties of this officer shall be as requested by the Chair to attend any face-to-face meetings as needed and to attend any on-site video conference at UNCW. The Alternate once voted in to this position by the Staff Senate will become a non-voting member of the Assembly that will attend meetings. In the event a campus delegate is absent from the meetings, the Alternate may vote. The Alternates to the Staff Assembly shall serve as non-voting members of the Executive Committee of Staff Senate.

Section 2. Elected officers shall form the Executive Committee

1. Election Procedures for Officers:

(1)   The Officers of Senate shall be elected at a regularly scheduled meeting each July, except the Chair-Elect which shall occur at a regularly scheduled meeting each April, using the following procedures:

(a)   Nominations may be made to the Chair(s) of the Governance Committee starting in January through March. The nominated Senators for Chair-Elect must have served at least one (1) year, or are currently in their first term, as a Senator before being nominated. A firm time will be set to close all nominations, and absolutely no nominations can be accepted after that time.

(b)   The Governance Committee shall contact the nominees. Each nominee must accept the nomination and consent to their name being placed on the ballot.

(c)   A letter, or an email, must be received from the nominated person’s supervisor supporting their service as Chair of Staff Senate.

(d)   Once the nominations have been confirmed, the ballot shall be prepared for the election.

(e)   In the event of a tie, when voting for Chair-Elect, there will be a runoff election of the two tied individuals. Voting will be done via written ballot by present Senators. Senators in attendance online (with prior approval) will send their vote to the Parliamentarian via e-mail to present to the Governance Committee Chair(s) for consideration.

(f)    The Chair and Chair-Elect shall begin service on July 1 of each year. The Secretary, Treasurer, and Parliamentarian shall begin service at the conclusion of the Senate meeting in July.

1. Staff Senate Officers:

(1)   Staff Senate Officers who are elected as Executive Officers of the UNC Staff Assembly will remain ex officio officers attending Executive Committee meetings in the UNCW Staff Senate until their term as Executive Officer in Staff Assembly expires. In the event of a tie in an officer election, a runoff election will be held.

Article V: Committees

Section 1. Standing Committees

The Senate Chair shall accept volunteers to chair the standing committees each July. If more than one person volunteers to chair a committee, the committee chair shall be determined by a vote of the Senate at large. If no one volunteers to chair a committee, the Senate Chair shall appoint a Senate member to chair a committee. The Chair-Elect will ensure that each standing committee has at least one member who served on that committee the previous year to preserve continuity of policy and procedure within that committee.

1. Executive Committee. The Executive Committee provides leadership and administrative direction for the Senate. It acts on behalf of the Senate in emergency situations, develops meeting agendas, conducts annual guideline reviews, recommends motions to the Senate, and oversees new senator orientation.
2. Communications Committee. The Communications Committee oversees internal and external communication on behalf of the Senate. Responsibilities include developing communication strategies, maintaining updates for SHRA and EHRA non-faculty staff, and managing Senate visibility across social media platforms.

(1)   One member serves as Webmaster, responsible for maintaining the Senate website.

1. Engagement Committee. The Engagement Committee identifies, organizes, and supports activities and initiatives for staff engagement both on and off campus. This includes coordinating participation in campus events and fostering a sense of community across UNCW.

(1)   One committee member serves as the Senate’s liaison at New Employee Orientation (NEO) and welcome seminars.

1. Advocacy Committee. The Advocacy Committee gathers, analyzes, and communicates staff priorities and concerns. It coordinates the biannual staff priorities survey, maintains communication with staff constituency groups and committees, and reports findings to Staff Senate leadership.

(1)   This committee will also assign liaisons as needed for external committees and groups.

(2)   One member serves as liaison to the Faculty Senate.

1. Governance Committee. The Governance Committee reviews and recommends revisions to the Senate bylaws and internal procedures. It also administers all nominations and elections as outlined in the bylaws. All proposed bylaw amendments must be submitted to the Senate by May of each year for consideration.
2. Recognition & Development Committee. The Recognition & Development Committee oversees the Staff Senate scholarship fund, awards processes, and other related initiatives. It collaborates with Human Resources and other university partners to identify professional development and staff recognition opportunities.

Section 2. Ad Hoc Committees

The Senate Chair may appoint ad hoc committees as needed to address specific issues or support Senate initiatives. Membership may include staff, administration, and faculty. Ad hoc committees dissolve upon completion of their assigned task.

Section 3. Committee Reporting

Each standing and ad hoc committee shall investigate matters within its area of responsibility and report findings to the Executive Committee and the Senate. Committees shall provide activity updates at each regular Senate meeting.

Article VI: Meetings

Section 1. Meeting Schedule and Attendance

1. The Senate shall meet monthly beginning in July of the Fiscal Year at a time agreed upon by the Senate. Attendance at meetings and activities is considered work time provided arrangements have been made with the appropriate supervisor for attendance. It is expected that members shall attend all Senate meetings and other activities and shall be given permission to adequately represent their constituencies in this manner.
2. Staff Senate meetings are open meetings. All Senate meetings shall be announced in a widely available email to the university with a hybrid solution included. A working draft agenda will be provided to Senators no later than one (1) week prior to the meeting, with the final agenda being provided when the Senate convenes. Attendance by non-Senate members at monthly meetings, committee meetings and other activities is strictly voluntary.

Section 2. Agenda for Regular Meetings

1. Items to be reported or discussed should be sent to the Chair of Staff Senate at least two (2) weeks prior to the meeting. The Chair shall prepare an agenda for each meeting. The order of business shall be:

(1)   Call to order

(2)   Roll call (by Secretary)

(3)   Confirmation of quorum

(4)   Reading of the Conflict-of-Interest statement

(5)   Approval of the minutes

(6)   Reports from the Chair

(7)   Committee Reports

(8)   Old Business

(9)   New Business

(10) Adjournment

1. The agenda will also provide updates by the University Chancellor or designee, as well as guest speakers, as needed.

Section 3. Minutes and Custodian of Records

1. Minutes shall be taken at each meeting. The minutes are to be made available for inspection by all staff at a place or location to be determined by the Senate. The Secretary of the Senate shall serve as custodian of the Records according to the university’s retention policy. The Chair of each committee shall provide by email a summary of their committee reports to the Secretary no later than the day of the Staff Senate Meeting, prior to the Meeting. The Secretary of the Senate shall provide by email a reminder of Committee reports being due, no later than one (1) day prior to the Staff Senate Meeting.

Section 4. Special Meeting

1. The Chair may call a special meeting of the Executive Committee or full Staff Senate. A special meeting may be requested by a member of the Executive Committee, the Chancellor of the University, an active Senate member or by an individual presenting the request directly to the Chair. The request for the meeting must include an agenda. At least two (2) working days must be laid between the announcement of a meeting and the scheduled date of the meeting.

Section 5. Quorum

1. A two-thirds (2/3) majority of the members of the Senate shall constitute a quorum for meetings of the Senate.

Section 6. Staff Senate Team Site

1. The Staff Senate Microsoft Teams site is for members only and should not be shared with anyone who is not an elected member of the Staff Senate.
2. The Executive Committee will be added as administrators of the Microsoft Teams site.

Article VII: Parliamentary Procedures

The current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern this Senate in all parliamentary procedures in which they are applicable and in which they are consistent with the University’s Policies & Procedures.

Article VIII: Amendments to the Bylaws

Section 1. Proposal Process

1. Amendments to the bylaws may be proposed by any member of the Senate at a regular meeting or submitted to the Parliamentarian to be referred to the Governance Committee for study and recommendation for a vote at a regular meeting.

Section 2. Approval Process

1. Amendments to the bylaws shall be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the full membership of the Senate.

Section 3. Review Process

1. These bylaws shall be reviewed by the Governance Committee at least once a year and updated as necessary.