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Bylaws

The formality of the installation of officers and other elected personnel shall be at the discretion of the outgoing President at the April meeting of CALSFA.

A.    Officers of the CALSFA assume their duties on July 1.

In cooperation with the Dean, the CALSFA executive committee shall be responsible for maintaining a dialogue between the faculty and the administration. As appropriate, actions of the CALSFA executive committee need to be communicated to the faculty.

A.    Officers

1. The Past President shall offer advice and counsel to the CALSFA executive committee.

2. The President shall call and conduct all meetings. The President shall also serve as CALSFA representation on the CALS Governance Council, serving as liaison with the Council and the Executive Committee and ensure that timely input will occur for decisions regarding policy. The President shall oversee the nominations and election process [section IV].

3. The Vice President shall represent the CALSFA at meetings when the President is absent. The Vice President shall be in charge of administering CALSFA social activities and events and conduct surveys of the CALSFA members as needed.

4. The Treasurer shall maintain accurate financial records, pay bills, and prepare a treasurer's report for each general meeting.

5. The Secretary shall keep and distribute minutes of all meetings of the Executive Committee. The Secretary also shall maintain the communications needed to update the CALSFA webpage, such as posting approved minutes, advertising the meetings and events of the CALSFA, and updating faculty representation.

Once elected to the Secretary position, this person will matriculate through all officer positions annually in the following order:  Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, President, and Past President; completing a total of 5 years of service. 

A. Dates - Regular meetings of the Executive committee shall be held approximately once per month during the academic year and others as necessary.  All faculty are welcome to attend any meeting.  All meetings will be advertised on the CALS calendar.

B. Quorum - the quorum for all meetings wherein any official business is transacted shall be a minimum of three (out of five) executive committee members.

C. Voting – All members of the Executive Committee must vote on policy or bylaw changes.  A majority (3/5) is required to pass; all member votes shall be recorded. These votes may be completed via e-mail if full attendance is not present.  

A. Procedure for Regular Elections

1.     The President shall strive to select nominees such that there can be broad representation from various departments and from teaching, research and extension.

2.     Upon notification of open positions from the University liaison[CL1] , a questionnaire shall be sent to the CALSFA members by the President soliciting their interest in serving in any of the elected capacities. Information obtained is to be used by the President for both regular and special elections.

Elected capacities include:

CALSFA Secretary (to participate on the CALSFA executive committee)

Faculty members elected to CALS Governance Council (4; 3 on campus, 1 AREC)

Faculty members elected to CALS Committee on Academic Program Policy (7)

Faculty members elected to CALS Committee on Extension and Research Program Policy (5, including on 1 from AREC)

Service on University Committees and Commissions  

3.     No person having served a full term as a CALSFA officer or member of a CALSFA standing committee shall be eligible for re-election to that same office within a period of one year.

4.     A slate of candidates shall be prepared and submitted by the President.

5.     Candidates may be solicited via third-party or self-nomination. Consent of each nominee shall be obtained before his/her name is placed on the ballot. A record of permission will be compiled (e.g., e-mail confirmation).

6.     Ballots shall be prepared by the President and e-mailed to all members of the faculty as recorded on the CALS faculty listserv by mid-April. The ballot will be completed electronically.  The survey will close within ten (10) business days with one reminder e-mail sent to the faculty at the midpoint.

7.     The President will compile the results and present them to the CALS faculty listserv via email.

8.     The CALSFA Secretary-elect will attend the last meeting of the fiscal year, in preparation for the start of their new term.

B. Procedure for Filling Vacancies for the Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and elected University Committee members.

The same procedure shall apply as for regular elections, except for dates. When a vacancy in an elected position is made known to the President, nominations are to be solicited from the faculty. If there is more than one nomination, an election will be held by electronic ballot sent by e-mail to the members of the faculty and completed within ten (10) business days.  Elected individuals will assume responsibility for the elected position immediately.

C. Procedures for filling vacancies on non-elected University Committees.

The President will provide nominees as requested by the University liaison for service on University Committees.  Nominees will not be recommended to serve more than four consecutive years on any given committee.  Nominees will be solicited from the faculty. If there are more than two nominations for any given committee, an election will be held by electronic ballot sent by e-mail to the members of the faculty and completed within ten (10) business days.  Elected individuals will assume responsibility for the position immediately. 

No dues will be collected directly from membership.  Rather, CALS and its academic departments contribute.  CALS provides a portion of the dues and the remaining academic departments contribute the balance, which is proportional to the number of faculty members in that unit. 

In the event the CALSFA Executive Committee wishes to form Ad Hoc committees, the committees shall report on request to the CALSFA Executive Committee upon request of the President. All CALSFA committees shall prepare minutes of their meetings, as a permanent record of committee activity. A full archival set of minutes of past meetings shall be maintained by each committee and shall be accessible, as required or requested, through the CALSFA Executive Committee. 

Notice of proposal to amend the bylaws shall be given in the CALSFA agenda and considered at no fewer than two meetings of the Executive Committee prior to voting.  A copy of the proposed amendment shall be distributed with the agenda. A two-thirds present (CALSFA Executive Committee) affirmative vote of the members of the committee is required for approval. 

Last modified:

  • 06/18/14, R. Boyer
  • 10/19/15, S. Doak
  • 11/19/15, R. Grange
  • 4/10/18, CALSFA