1. Membership

  1. The membership of the Committee will be as described in the Faculty Senate Bylaws (Section 5.0 Article 5.1: Committees). The Committee chair shall be elected or appointed as described in the Faculty Senate Bylaws (Section 5.0 Article 5.6: Committees).

    • “4 Faculty Senate Representatives elected from the Faculty Senate
    • 1 Academic faculty from each degree granting college and school
    • 1 Librarian
    • 1 Representative from the Administrative Faculty Unit
    • 1 Vice President and General Counsel (non---voting ex---officio)”
  2. The membership of the Committee will be nominated and elected by their respective units according to unit bylaws. Membership shall consist of a two---year term (Section 5.0 Article 5.8).
  3. Meeting attendance shall be governed by the Faculty Senate Bylaws (Section 5.0 Article 5.16).
    • “If members of any standing or ad hoc committee or a Senate Representative on any other committee(s) are absent from more than two committee meetings per year without a proxy, they shall be automatically dismissed from service on that committee. At that time the number required for a quorum shall be reduced accordingly.”
  4. Faculty Senate confidentiality forms shall be distributed to and completed by the Committee members if required for personnel actions.

Purpose

  1. Per Section 6.0 Article 6 (Functions of Standing Committees) of the Faculty Senate Bylaws, the University Bylaws Committee shall have the following functions:
    1. The University Bylaws Committee shall have the responsibility of maintaining the university bylaws (formally Title 5, Chapter 6 in the Board of Regents Handbook) and see to their timely and accurate posting on the faculty senate website.
    2. The Committee shall conduct periodic reviews of the UNLV Bylaws to ensure compliance with the Board of Regents Handbook and Regent policies. 6.16.2 The Committee shall make changes to the UNLV Bylaws that are properly approved by the majority of the voting faculty.
    3. As requested, the Committee shall advise the Faculty Senate Chairperson and the Executive Committee on interpretation of the UNLV and Faculty Senate Bylaws.
    4. The Committee shall review UNLV and its division’s bylaws, and recommend revisions whenever desirable. It shall also serve to interpret UNLV and its division’s bylaws, and recommend such interpretations to the Faculty Senate. (3/10)
  2. The Committee shall undertake any additional action as directed by the Faculty Senate Chair (Section 5.0 Article 5.10 “A matter within the jurisdiction of any standing committee must be submitted to that committee by the Chair of the Senate”). The committee shall also consider requests for action items for possible amendments to the UNLV Bylaws from the following constituencies. In all cases, the Committee chair shall inform of the Faculty Senate Chair and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee of each of its actions and recommendations.
    • Unit Faculty
    • Members of the Committee
    • Faculty Senate Executive Committee
    • President or Provost or their designees

3. Meetings

  1. Meeting Agenda
    1. The Chair of the Committee shall distribute the agenda with all necessary documents for a meeting at least three (3) working days prior to a scheduled meeting. The Chair shall call a meeting of the Committee as necessary for actions regarding interpretation of the bylaws.
      • Notice of meetings shall be distributed using UNLV official email. A special meeting of the University Bylaws Committee with agenda shall be scheduled if at least 50% of the membership agrees.
    2. The Chair of the Committee may also distribute materials necessary for the work of the Committee at the time of a scheduled meeting.
    3. Meetings shall follow an agenda with these elements: Approval of Meeting Minutes, Chair Announcements, Action Items, Future Action Items, Other Business.
  2. Quorum
    1. Per Section 5.0 Article 5.15, “Quorum of Senate Committees will be at least fifty percent of the voting members of the committee. Units that have not elected members will not count against the quorum. Committee members shall follow the same procedures as do Senate members in delegating proxies.”
  3. Proxies
    1. Committee members shall follow the same procedure as for Faculty Senate members in delegating proxies (Faculty Senate Bylaws Section 1.0, Article 1.2).
  4. Actions to conduct business shall be approved by a simple majority of members present. Results of all votes taken shall be recorded in the Meeting Minutes.
    1. If required, dissenting reports or views of the Committee membership shall be recorded in the Meeting Minutes by the Chair
  5. Amendment to these bylaws shall be as described in Faculty Senate Bylaws Section 8.0, Article 8.1.