Election Procedures

1. Electorate

The electorate for FAC shall consist of those faculty who are currently appointed full-time tenure track or tenured.  The electorate for other Department committees, such as the Program Committees, will include the electorate for FAC plus others who may be on administrative appointment but also hold professional faculty rank, with the sole exception of the Department Chair.  This broader electorate will also be consulted in any straw polls or other ballots authorized by FAC.  The electorate for full-time NTT faculty representatives to Department committees shall consist of faculty on all campuses who are members of this bargaining unit.  The electorate for part-time faculty representatives to Department committees shall consist of faculty on all campuses who hold such appointments.  Any questions about eligibility will be decided by the Department Chair upon consultation with the Chair of the Elections Committee, and, if appropriate, additional consultation with FAC.

All graduate students are eligible to vote for graduate representatives to the Writing Program Committee, the Undergraduate Studies Committee, the Graduate Studies Committee, and FAC, as well as the officers of AGES.  Elections for graduate representatives will be conducted by AGES in accord with the provisions of its constitution and bylaws.

2. Electoral Process

All of the following stipulations hold for all Department elections and all Program Committee elections except those for graduate student representatives.

• Committee elections will be conducted in two stages, comprising a nominating ballot and a subsequent election ballot for all elective positions.  Faculty applying for promotion in a given year will stand for nomination at their current rank.  Faculty on administrative appointment may not stand for election to committees in the following year regardless of their intent to return to non-administrative status.  Sufficient time and notification must be allowed between the stages to allow the nominees to withdraw from elections if they so choose.  Normally, the nomination round will begin no later than February 1 in any academic year.  Results of each round will be published in the weekly newsletter or in another appropriate manner.  Successive ballots will be timed by the Election Committee to insure that elections are completed at the close of the Spring Semester.

• If only one person is nominated for any elected position, that person shall be deemed to have won the election.  In all post-nomination round elections, the candidate with a plurality shall be deemed to have won.  In the event of a tie, there shall be a run-off election immediately after the results are announced.

• Balloting shall be secret.  Voters sign the envelopes containing their ballots.  It shall be the responsibility of the Election Committee to open the ballots in such a way as to guarantee that secrecy is maintained.

• Candidates represent the rank which they hold at the time of the election.  If their rank changes after they win an election, they will be ineligible to serve, and replacements shall be selected in accord with the policy described below.

• If a vacancy in an elective position occurs, the runner-up for the position shall fill the vacancy for a period no longer than one year.  If the runner-up to an elective position on FAC cannot serve, a special election will be held to fill the position.  If the runner-up to any other elective position is not available to serve, the Department Chair shall appoint a suitable replacement.

• Elections to FAC of at-large representatives shall be conducted after elections of representatives by rank.  The first round will be for at-large representatives selected by campus affiliation; the final round will be for the at-large representative from all campuses.