Standing Institutional Committees (Procedure 1.0900)

This Procedure is Under Review

Purpose

Seminole State College (the College) is committed to utilizing various institution-wide standing committees to support effective planning and decision making within the College. Institutional committees shall provide support for strategic priorities and appropriate procedures for college-wide operations. The purpose of this procedure is to identify the College’s standing committees and to provide a general framework for committee responsibilities and processes.

Procedure

1. The following are standing committees and councils at Seminole State College:
   1. Academic Calendar Committee
   2. Council to Coordinate Standing Committees (CCSC)
   3. Curriculum Committee
   4. Employee Benefits Committee
   5. Employee Excellence Committee
   6. Environmental Health, Safety and Security Committee
   7. Equity Committee
   8. Library Committee
   9. Shared Governance Council
   10. Speaker Series
   11. Sustainability Committee
   12. Technology Advisory Committee
   13. Technology Enhanced Learning Committee
        The purpose and membership of each committee and council is described and listed in the institutional procedure relating to that specific committee.

2. Committees and their working units are defined as follows:

1. Committee: A body of persons assigned by procedure and membership and delegated to consider, investigate, and take action and report on some matter; a committee has a sustained presence that is seen through regularly scheduled meetings.
2. Subcommittee: Organized for a specific purpose to continue an aspect of committee work and whose members may or may not stem from the standing committee.
3. Task Force, Ad Hoc, Work Group: A temporary grouping of individuals for the purpose of accomplishing a definite objective, with members that may or may not stem from a standing committee. These groupings typically remain active for less than one year.

3. Except where membership is defined by job title or another term length is noted, all faculty and staff members serve three-year terms that are staggered with appointments being made each year for the following three years. For purposes of committee assignment, the year begins on the first day of the Fall Term and runs through the last day of Summer Term. Members may be re-appointed to serve more than one term. All part-time employee and student representation on committees will be specifically described in the committee procedure. All other committee membership shall be comprised of full-time faculty and staff.
4. The Council to Coordinate Standing Committees (CCSC) will coordinate the Standing Committee appointment process (see Procedure 1.0900.4).
5. Committee chairs will be determined according to each committee’s procedure. Elected committee chairs should be elected at least every three years.
6. Duties of Chairs and Co-Chairs. The committee chair and/or co-chairs will receive an orientation packet with information on the college-wide committee procedures annually from the CCSC. The committee chair and/or co-chairs will:
   1. Establish meeting times and locations.
   2. Create and distribute an agenda in a timely fashion.
   3. Conduct meetings in an orderly manner, allowing appropriate participation of all individuals present.
   4. See that minutes are written, approved, distributed promptly and posted to the Web.
   5. Ensure that a clear consensus or vote is taken on action items.
   6. Act as a mentor or assign a mentor to new committee members who are unfamiliar with the committee or the College’s governance.
   7. When utilizing a co-chair, announce to the committee members how chair/co-chair duties will be divided.
   8. When serving as co-chairs, communicate regularly with each other over the construction of the agenda and other relevant work.
   9. Collaborate with the committee in evaluating committee effectiveness for the year and submit the standing committee annual assessment to the appropriate College leader and CCSC annually by June 30.

7. Duties of Members. All committee members will:

1. Attend meetings regularly.
2. Keep their constituent groups informed of committee actions. This includes informing the appropriate employee council (for example, CSEC, PTEC, or Faculty Senate) of pertinent committee business. If more than one committee member is represented by an employee council, then those committee members shall designate a liaison to the appropriate employee council.
3. Complete assignments associated with committee work in a timely fashion
4. Perform their duties in a courteous and professional manner.

8. Attendance at committee meetings and participation in electronic communication is required. After a committee member has missed two meetings, the committee may request that the absent member be replaced. The committee chair will contact their CCSC liaison to inform them of the open committee seat. The CCSC liaison will then bring the vacancy to the attention of the CCSC committee chair. CCSC will recommend a replacement according to CCSC procedure.
9. Ex-Officio Members. All standing committees may elect to request ex-officio members by title in their committee description. All others in attendance at meetings are guests or visitors. Ex-officio members:
   1. May serve a committee by providing information and advice as deemed necessary by the committee
   2. Do not vote on committee action
   3. May not serve as committee chair/co-chair.

10. Each committee shall meet in accordance with their procedure. Meetings may be face to face, via e-mail, by conference call, or by other electronic/digital means.
11. A quorum shall exist when a majority of voting members is present.
    1. During the meeting, voting shall be by voice unless a written ballot is requested by any member of the committee
    2. By a majority decision of the committee, a vote may be conducted electronically. When conducting an electronic vote, members submit their vote to the committee chair in a manner that follows the spirit of an in-person written ballot (for example, votes shall not be cast via a “reply all” email). All voting must remain open a minimum of 24 hours occurring within College business days. Results of a vote may be announced immediately following the close of the voting period. 
12. Agendas and minutes.
    1. Agendas:
       1. Agendas will be distributed to all committee members and others in attendance and posted to the Standing Committee Web page.
       2. Any member of the committee may request to have an item placed on the agenda prior to the scheduled meeting time. The chair/co-chair will decide to add the item, defer the item, or decline the item with an explanation to the member.
       3. Any non-member may request to have an item placed on the agenda by contacting the committee chair/co-chair or applicable constituent representative member. The chair/co-chair will decide to add the item, defer the item, or decline the item with an explanation to the member.
    2. Minutes:
       Minutes will be posted to the College’s Standing Committee Web page by the recorder determined by each committee.
13. By June 30 of each year, each committee chair will collaborate with the committee to complete the Standing Committee Annual Assessment.
    1. The assessment will be forwarded to the appropriate College leader and CCSC for review.
    2. The College leader and CCSC will follow up on assessment recommendations as appropriate
    3. Following approval by Executive Team, each committee’s Annual Assessment shall be posted to the Standing Committees website.
14. Changes to the standing committee structure will be accomplished in accordance with the Procedure on Procedures 1.0001.