Parliamentary Procedure and Definition
Robert's Rules of Order will be used to govern the procedures at meetings of the Faculty Senate and Assembly. Since the efficient transaction of faculty business requires familiarity with the standard rules of procedure, a very brief digest of Robert's Rules as well as a chart of the standard motions and their rank is appended.
The Executive Committee members of Faculty Senate are the President (chairperson), Provost, Vice-Chair, and Secretary. The president of the college shall serve as the non-voting chair of the Senate. the vice chair of the Senate shall be elected in a faculty-wide election for a three-year term and is a voting member of Faculty Senate. The secretary of the Senate is elected by the Faculty Senate from among currently serving or just elected senators at the last spring meeting for a two-year term. The parliamentarian is an officer of the Senate and is appointed from among currently serving or just elected senators by the Executive Committee of Faculty Senate for a one year, renewable term. This appointment is ratified at the first meeting of the year.
Committees perform many duties; generally, they do those things which cannot be efficiently done by the entire body. It is customary to have two types of committees: (1) standing committees and (2) special or ad hoc committees. Standing committees deal with regular and continuing matters. They may initiate action and recommendations and dispose of certain matters when empowered to do so by the parent body. Such committees traditionally develop their own modes of operation and, to some extent, their rules of procedure. Special or ad hoc committees are appointed whenever necessary to deal with unusual matters or a special problem. Such committees are generally appointed with a specific mandate and are dissolved as soon as that mandate is fulfilled. Both types of committees generally follow modified rules of procedure which allow for a great deal of informal discussion. It is desirable to develop a standing committee structure sufficiently open and flexible so that the need for special committees is minimized.
Frequently the chairperson of the parent body is an ex officio member of all standing and special committees, unless specifically excluded. We have followed that practice in recommending that the President be ex officio a member of all faculty committees; we have also designated selected administrators as ex officio members of committees dealing with the administrator's area of jurisdiction. An ex officio member has the right, but not the obligation, to participate in the proceedings of the committee, and is not counted in the quorum. He or she is a full-fledged member with all the accompanying rights, and has all the privileges of membership, including the right to introduce motions and vote.
In a well-organized meeting, a standard order of business is used. First the minutes of the preceding meeting are read and approved by a majority vote. Following that, the standing and special committees give their reports. Then unfinished business from previous meetings is dealt with. New business may then be introduced by the members; next members may submit miscellaneous matters, such as announcements or requests, that require no formal action. The meeting is concluded by adjournment, approved by majority vote. Deviations from the order of business are permissible any time, for instance, if the body wishes to devote a large block of time to some special matter.
Occasionally a body may wish to go into executive session to consider matters which should not be communicated outside the membership of the body. Executive session is a meeting, or a portion of a meeting, of a deliberative assembly at which proceedings are secret. A motion to go into executive session is adopted by a majority vote. Only members, special invitees, and such employees or staff members as the assembly or its rules may determine to be necessary are allowed to remain in the hall. A member may be punished under disciplinary procedure if he or she violates the secrecy of an executive session. Anyone else permitted to be present is honor-bound not to divulge anything that occurred. The minutes of an executive session must be read and acted upon only in executive session.
The standard method of initiating action in a meeting is by use of a motion. A motion is a brief, precise statement of a proposed action, and can be made only when the mover has the floor, i.e., has been given permission to speak by the presiding officer. Discussion is not permitted until the motion has been seconded or supported, by another member of the body. The members then debate the motion. If any one wishes to change the motion he or she must move an amendment, which must be supported and can be debated. No discussion on the main motion is allowed while an amendment is being considered. If the motion to amend is successful, then debate continues on the motion as amended. Debate on the main motion continues until every member who wishes to speak has done so; however, members of the body may end or limit debate at any time by a 2/3 majority. A motion must be disposed of before another item of business may be considered. If it is impossible to complete action or make a decision on a motion, it must be tabled, referred to a committee, or disposed of in some other way before new business is introduced.
Motions are of four types: privileged, subsidiary, incidental, and main. These various categories are explained in the attached table.
Voting on motions normally takes place when there are no more requests to speak, or after debate has been ended by a 2/3 majority vote. The chairperson then restates the motion and asks for a voice vote; he or she then announces whether or not the motion has passed. Any member of the body questioning the chair's ruling may request a show of hands. The chairperson normally votes only when that vote would change the result.
This brief summary touches only the major points of parliamentary procedure; Robert's Rules of Order should be consulted whenever questions arise.
We append a brief glossary and a table of the types of motions used in parliamentary procedure.
Revised August 1991 to use inclusive language.
Revised August 1995 including Faculty Senate changes.
| LANGUAGE | INTERRUPT SPEAKER? |
SECOND NEEDED? |
MOTION DEBATABLE? |
MOTION AMENDABLE? |
VOTE NEEDED? |
|
| PRIVILEGED MOTIONS deal with the welfare of the group, rather than with any specific proposal. They must be disposed of before the group can consider any other motion. | ||||||
| Adjourn the meeting | I move that we adjourn |
no |
yes |
no |
no |
majority |
| Recess the meeting | I move we recess until | no |
yes |
no |
yes |
majority |
| Complain
about noise, room temperature etc. |
Point of privilege | yes |
no |
no |
no |
none,
chair rules |
| SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS provide various ways of modifying or disposing of mail motions. They must be acted upon before all other motions except privileged motions. | ||||||
| Suspend debate on a matter without calling for a vote | I move we table the matter | no |
yes |
no |
no |
majority |
| End debate | I move the previous question | no |
yes |
no |
no |
2/3 majority |
| Limit length of debate | I move debate on this matter be limited to | no |
yes |
no |
yes |
2/3 majority |
| Ask for a vote by actual count, to verify a voice vote | I call for a division of the house | no |
no |
no |
no |
|
| Postpone consideration of a matter to a specific time | I move we postpone the matter until | no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
majority |
| Have a matter studied further | I move we refer this matter to a committee | no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
majority |
| Consider a matter informally | I move the question be considered informally | no |
yes |
yes |
no |
majority |
| Amend a motion | I move that this motion be amended by | no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
majority |
| Reject a main motion without voting on the motion itself | I move the question be postponed indefinitely | no |
yes |
yes |
no |
majority |
| INCIDENTAL MOTIONS grow out of other business that the group is considering. They must be decided before the group can return to the question that brought them up. | ||||||
| Correct an error in parliamentary procedure | Point of order | yes |
no |
no |
no |
none, chair rules |
| Object to a ruling by the chair | I appeal the chair's decision. | yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
majority |
| Consider a matter that violates normal procedure, but does not violate the constitution or bylaws | I move we suspend the rules | no |
yes |
no |
no |
2/3 majority |
| Object to considering some matter | I object to the consideration of this matter | yes |
no |
no |
no |
2/3 majority |
| Obtain advice on proper procedure | I raise a parliamentary inquiry | yes |
no |
no |
no |
none, chair rules |
| Request information | Point of information | yes |
no |
no |
no |
none |
| Withdraw a motion | I request leave to withdraw the motion | no |
no |
no |
no |
majority |
| MAIN MOTIONS are the tools used to introduce new business. | ||||||
| Introduce business | I move that | no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
majority |
| Take up a matter previously tabled | I move we take from the table | no |
yes |
no |
no |
majority |
| Reconsider a matter already disposed of | I move we reconsider our action relative to | yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
majority |
| Strike out a motion previously passed | I move we rescind the motion calling for | no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
majority |
| Consider a matter out of its scheduled order | I move we suspend the rules and consider | no | yes | no | no | 2/3 majority |
