UWTSA bylaws

Revised September 22, 1998
Revised January 11, 2001
Revised February 13, 2002
Revised December 2, 2002
Revised December 21, 2004
Revised July 14, 2006

Article I. Name

The name of this organization shall be the Staff Association of the University of Washington Tacoma (UWTSA).

Article II. Objectives

Section A. UWTSA facilitates communication among UW Tacoma classified and professional staff and librarians and between staff, faculty, and administrators and UWT campus-wide issues.

Section B. UWTSA seeks to unify staff at UW Tacoma to enhance the working experiences and ability of staff to contribute to the larger campus community. 

Section C. The UWTSA does not deal directly with personnel issues specific to individuals or individual job categories represented by other professional organizations.

Article III. Membership

Section A. The following shall be considered members of the UWTSA:

• Classified Staff - Full or Part-time, Permanent and Temporary
• Professional Staff - Full or Part-time, Permanent and Temporary
• Librarian - Full or Part-time, Permanent and Temporary

Section B. Work study and Student workers are not eligible to be members of the UWTSA.

Article IV. Officers

Section A. The elected officers of the UWTSA shall be:

• Co-chair
• Co-chair
• Secretary
• Treasurer

Section B. Only members of the UWTSA shall be eligible to serve as officers of the UWTSA.

Section C. The officers shall assume their duties on January 1.  Their terms of office shall be:

• Co-chairs each serve two years; with one position beginning in odd numbered years and the other position beginning in even numbered years.
• Secretary serves two years.
• Treasurer serves two years.
• The terms of the Secretary and Treasurer shall also be staggered so that both positions do not come up for election at the same time.

Section D. Vacancies

1. Vacancies occurring in any position shall be filled by special election. The term of service for the winner of the special election shall be the remainder of the previous representative’s unexpired term.
2. Should a Co-chair position become vacant the Secretary shall serve as Co-chair until such time as an election can be held.
3. Should both Co-chair positions become vacant, the Secretary and the Treasurer shall serve as Co-chairs until such time as an election can be held.
4. Should the Secretary’s position become vacant the Treasurer shall assume the responsibilities of the Secretary until such time as an election can be held.
5. Should the Treasurer’s position become vacant the Secretary shall assume the responsibilities of the Treasurer until such time as an election can be held.
6. No position shall remain vacant for more than sixty days.

Article V. Duties of Officers

Section A. The Co-chairs shall:

• Direct all UWTSA affairs.
• Chair the general and board meetings of the UWTSA.
• Act as spokesperson for the Association.
• Maintain the UWTSA email list (uwtstaff@u.washington.edu).
• Coordinate the Association’s programs.

Section B. The Secretary shall:

• Record the proceedings of the UWTSA general meetings.
• Distribute the minutes of the meetings through the UWTSA email list (uwtstaff@u.washington.edu).
• Maintain the records of the UWTSA which will include a record of all UWTSA committees and the members therein.

Section C. The Treasurer shall:

• Collect and disburse all funds.
• Present a financial report at the general meeting.

Article VI. Meetings

Section A. The UWTSA shall hold a general meeting at least once per quarter.

Section B. Special meetings may be called by the Co-chairs or on the petition of 5 members presented to the Co-chairs.

Section C. The time and place of the general meetings shall be set by the Co-chairs.

Section D. The agenda of the general meeting shall be set by the Co-chairs.  For a meeting called on petition, the first items on the agenda must be those on the petition.  At the general meetings, time must be reserved for the introduction of business from the floor.

Section E. For all meetings, the Secretary shall notify the UWTSA members of the time, place and agenda at least seven days in advance.  A reminder notice the day prior to any meeting is at the discretion of the secretary but is strongly recommended.

Section F. Members present at a general or special meeting shall constitute a quorum for conducting the business of that meeting.  The drafting of new bylaws shall have its own quorum as defined in Article IX and therefore shall not be governed by this bylaw.

Article VII. Committees

Section A. The Co-chair(s) may appoint committees and members as necessary.  The size, scope, and members are to be reported to the Secretary who will keep records of this information.  Members of committees should be representative of the campus and thus effort should be made to include as many departments as possible in all committees.

Section B. The standing committees are:

• Elections Committee.
  • One chair appointed by the board to serve a one-year term. The board may renew the appointment of this committee chair no more than two consecutive times (one person may serve a maximum of three consecutive years as committee chair).
  • The Elections Committee chair may appoint additional members as she/he sees fit.
  • The Election Committee chair shall administer all voting and election procedures for the Staff Association, including handling nominations for the Distinguished Service Award.
  • No member of the Elections Committee shall be a candidate for office if the election would take place during their term of service.
• Mentoring Committee
  • One chair appointed by the board to serve a one-year term. The board may renew the appointment of this committee chair no more than two consecutive times (one person may serve a maximum of three consecutive years as committee chair).
  • The Mentoring Committee Chair may appoint additional members of the committee as she/he sees fit.
  • The mission of the Mentoring Committee is to "Facilitate, through mentoring, the transition of new staff members into the UWT community."
  • Guidelines for this committee are outlined in the “Mentoring Committee Guidelines” document.
• Distinguished Service Award Selection Committee.
  • Composition shall be selected in the following manner:
    • There shall be seven members distributed as follows:
      • One UWTSA Board Member who will serve as chair of the committee.
      • One representative of the Chancellor’s choosing.
      • One representative of the Faculty Assembly’s choosing.
      • One representative of the Student Government’s choosing.
      • Two representatives of the Staff Association’s choosing at least one of which shall be staff as defined in Article III.
    • The members should be selected during Winter Quarter.
    • Participation is voluntary and thus should any group fail to send a representative the UWTSA Board will appoint a representative.
    • No person may both nominate someone for the award and serve on the committee during the same year.

Article VIII. Nominations and Elections

Section A. Board Nominations

• The UWTSA members will be notified of a vacant position or of a general election at least 75 days prior to the next term.
• Nominations shall be submitted to the Elections Committee chair or his/her designated representative in writing, or by electronic mail, within 60 days of the next term in contest.
• Nominations must be written (electronic mail messages will suffice as written nominations) and must be seconded.
• The Elections Committee chair shall present to the Staff Association the names of all eligible nominees who have accepted their nominations at least 45 days prior to the next term.
• The Secretary shall record and archive the names of all nominees along with their written acceptance.

Section B. Board Elections

• The Elections Committee Chair shall prepare an official ballot and distribute said ballot to all members within 30 days of the beginning of the contested term.
• Ballots must be returned to the Elections Committee no more than 15 days later.
• Simple majority of all votes cast shall constitute election. A minimum of 20% of the membership must participate for the results of an election to be valid.
• The chair of the Elections Committee shall notify the successful candidates, the unsuccessful candidates, and the Staff Association of the results.
• In the event of a tie, a run-off vote by written ballot between the two candidates having the highest number of votes shall be held at the next general meeting of the Staff Association.
• The privacy of voters and Elections Committee members shall be protected as detailed in Article X.

Section C. Distinguished Service Awards Nomination and Selection

• Eligibility
  • Any permanent UW staff member who works on the Tacoma campus is eligible, including part-time employees. Temporary staff, student workers and work-study students are not eligible.
  • Previous recipients of the award are eligible to be nominated in successive years.

• Nominations
  • Shall be solicited after the second week of Winter Quarter.
  • Solicitations will take place via email.
    • All campus members shall be solicited.
    • Text of the solicitation should be decided by the Elections Committee Chair but should include the following information:
      • Explanation of process.
      • Information regarding cover sheet.
  • Nominations should be accompanied by a cover sheet which will have the following composition:
    • Nominee’s name.
    • Nominator’s name.
    • Nominee’s approval.
    • Criteria for selection.
  • Nominations will be accepted from any UW Tacoma community member.
  • The nomination cover sheet shall be sent to all campus members as an attachment to the solicitation email.
  • Additional copies of the cover sheet will be made available to campus members by contacting any member of the UWTSA Cabinet.
  • Limitations on nominations:
    • Nominators are limited to nominating one person per year.
    • Nominations will be limited to one signature per nomination.
    • Nominations must be approved by the nominee.
    • Campaigning:
      • Campaigning is defined as
        • Any person soliciting nominations from others.
        • Any person approaching committee members about selecting their candidate.
      • Campaigning can be cause to disqualify a nominee.
    • Nominators are strongly encouraged to link nomination material to the criteria for selection.
  • All nominations become the property of the Staff Association.
    • No nomination will be returned to nominator or nominee.
    • Committee members will not release information pertaining to nominations, nominees, or nominators at any time.
    • Nominators who wish to have their nomination made public may do so by providing a copy of the nomination to whomever they wish.

• Selection:

• The Selection Committee will use one or more of the following criteria for selection:
• Excellence in job performance.
• Substantially exceeded in quality or quantity the performance expected for the position or assignment.
• Inspirational service to the UW Tacoma community.
• Significant contribution to the UWT mission.
• Exceptional contribution to the off-campus community that may bring credit to UW Tacoma.
• Original and innovative resolution of a critical issue.
• The Selection Committee will decide upon the time, number, and scope of meetings.  And will be charged with crafting the selection process.
• Selection will occur prior to the 6th week of Winter Quarter.
• Two candidates will be selected.

• Announcements:

• All nominees shall be announced after selection but prior to the awards ceremony.
• The award selection will also be announced prior to the awards ceremony.
• Announcement shall be made by the awarding body: the Chancellor’s office.

Article IX. Drafting of new bylaws

Section A.  Proposals

• Must be submitted to the Staff Association in writing.
• Submissions will be accepted by email addressed to one of the two co-chairs or,
• Officially at the general UWTSA meetings.
• Debate will follow with text being made available to all staff via the Staff Association email list (uwtstaff@u.washington.edu) or by provision of paper copy or by provision of electronic copy.
• Redrafts will be written based upon debate.
• Votes shall be recorded on secret ballot sent to all Staff Association members.
• Quorum shall be reached if 20% of members have responded.
• Tally of votes will be done by the Elections Committee chair or his/her appointee.
• Confidentiality will be protected as well as the medium can allow.

Section B.  Revisions

• Revisions of existing bylaws shall be submitted, debated, and voted upon in the same manner as newly proposed bylaws.
• No bylaw shall be exempt from this bylaw.

Article X. Privacy

Section A. Privacy is defined as the right of members to withhold information relating to creed, ethnicity, gender, political affiliation, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Article XI. Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern meetings of the Association in all cases to which they are applicable in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws.  In general, the meetings will be conducted informally and the Staff Association will meet as a committee of the whole.  A parliamentarian will be appointed as needed by the presiding officer.