Guidelines for Conducting Business Between Faculty Governance Meetings

1. In the context of these guidelines, business refers to deliberations necessary for committee decisions, as well as the decisions themselves.
2. While faculty governance committee meetings should remain the primary setting for conducting committee business, there may be instances where business, including voting, must occur between scheduled meetings. When considering this option, the committee chair should evaluate whether it unduly increases the committee’s workload. Business between meetings should be conducted sparingly to help maintain a reasonable workload and keep the committee’s work efficient, while allowing for timely responses to urgent matters.
3. Committee decisions (including votes) outside of meetings shall only occur under one or more of the following conditions:
   1. The vote pertains to matters typically handled in executive (closed) session, such as personnel issues, grants and awards, faculty candidate selection, or confidential materials. (A meeting may enter executive session through a majority vote of members present.)
   2. A scheduled meeting is canceled or lacks quorum.
   3. The committee chair determines that the issue is urgent and must be addressed before the next meeting.
4. The following procedure shall guide committee decisions that occur between meetings:
   1. Committee members shall be given at least two (2) business days to respond.
   2. For any decision to be valid, the number of votes cast must meet the quorum required during a regular meeting.
   3. If any member objects to resolving the issue between meetings, the decision must be postponed and the matter added to a future meeting agenda.
5. All decisions made between meetings shall be reviewed at the next scheduled meeting and documented in the meeting minutes.

Structure and Functions maintains these guidelines, which were approved by the Academic Senate on 5/15/2025.