V. Meetings

1. General Membership

a. Meetings of the Association may be called by the President, the Executive Board, or by written petition by twenty percent (20%) of the membership.

b. Notices of the Association meetings including date, place, time, and purpose of the meeting shall be made available to all members of the Association at least three (3) workdays prior to the meeting except during crisis situations.

c. For emergency meetings during crisis situations, the Executive Board shall adopt procedures to notify the Association membership of meeting dates, places and times.

d. A majority of all ballots cast by those in attendance shall be required for decision‑making at a meeting of the general membership except in the case of a contract ratification informational meeting. No proxy votes shall be allowed. The Elections Committee of the Association shall conduct the vote, tally the ballots, and announce the results.

e. Contract ratification informational meetings shall be called by a majority of the Executive Board.

(1) Written Information regarding proposed changes to the preceding or existing contract shall be provided to individual unit members three (3) workdays prior to the meeting date.

(2) A vote on the terms of the contract shall commence one (1) workday after the meeting and shall conclude within five (5) workdays of the meeting. The Elections Committee of the Association shall conduct the vote, tally the ballots, and announce the results.

(3) No proxy votes shall be allowed.

2. Representative Council

a. The Representative Council shall be composed of the following active members:

(1) Executive Board, ex officio;

(2) Faculty Representatives or their elected alternates.

(3) Committee Chairs (ex officio, non‑voting unless otherwise authorized).

b. Faculty Representatives shall be elected by open nominations and secret ballot by and from the active members who are assigned to that faculty group.

c. Each faculty group shall be entitled to at least one representative and shall have one representative for each twenty (20) Association members or fraction thereof.

d. Active members who are not represented through an individual school faculty group shall be counted as a special faculty group entitled to the same representation on the Representative Council as individual school faculty groups.

e. Faculty Representatives shall:

(1) Conduct constant and ongoing liaison between the Representative Council and the active members of the faculty unit;

(2) Serve as the official channel through which written communications and publications can be easily and quickly transmitted between the Association and the active members; and

(3) Represent the views and input of the active membership of the faculty in votes taken in the Representative Council, conducting frequent and regular polls of such membership for this purpose.

f. Alternate Faculty Representatives shall be selected by and from the active members of each faculty group as necessary to serve as a replacement in case of absence or incapacity of the regular incumbent for any reason.

g. A recall of any Faculty Representative may be initiated by a petition signed by twenty percent (20%) of the active membership of the represented faculty group.

(1) A statement of the reason(s) for the proposed recall shall be part of the recall petition.

(2) Each person named in the recall petition shall have the right to make a rebuttal statement which shall be distributed to the faculty group at least seven (7) days before the recall vote.

(3) Recall shall be by the faculty group; a two‑thirds (2/3) vote shall be required to effect a recall. The Elections Committee of the Association shall conduct the recall vote, tally the ballots, and announce the results.

h. A disciplinary notice of “failure to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position” may be issued to any Faculty Representative.

(1) A statement of the reason(s) for the disciplinary notice shall be part of the notice.

(2) The notice may be initiated and served by any of the listed parties or methods:

(a) The President with the majority approval of the Executive Board;

(b) A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Executive Board;

(c) A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Representative Council;

(d) A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the represented faculty group.

i. Authority

(1) The policy‑making body of the Association shall be a Representative Council. The Representative Council, comprised of members of the Association, derives its powers from and shall be responsible to the membership.

(2) The Representative Council shall:

(a) Establish Association policies and objectives;

(b) Direct the Executive Board and/or the President to perform duties, enact policies, and pursue objectives;

(c) Establish or discontinue ad hoc committees;

(d) Appoint chairpersons and members to ad hoc committees established by the Representative Council;

(e) Approve the establishment or discontinuance of committees recommended by the Executive Board or the President;

(f) By a two-thirds (2/3) vote, remove a chair or member from any committee of the Association;

(g) Declare the condition of a “crisis situation”;

(h) Establish the dues of the Association.

j. Special meetings of the Representative Council may be called by the President, the Executive Board, or by the petition of twenty percent (20%) of the membership.

k. For emergency meetings of the Representative Council during crisis situations, the Executive Board shall adopt procedures to notify representatives of meeting dates, places, and times.