Amended 30 May 2003

Bylaws Governing The Professional Employees Governance Board
of the State University of New York at Stony Brook

A. Scope

These Bylaws shall govern the operations of the Professional Employees Governance Board (PEG Board) of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, as constituted and mandated by the University Senate, the Policies of the Board of Trustees and by the Constitution and all amendments thereto.

The Professional Employees Governance Board (PEG Board) is the point of contact for all official communication between professional employees at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University Senate and the academic unit senates.

These bylaws govern the procedures for election of professional employees to the academic unit senates/University Senate, to academic unit senate and University Senate standing committees, and to other committees as appropriate. These bylaws supersede and replace any previous bylaws pertinent to professional employees.

B. Membership

The PEG Board is composed of:
(a) professional employees who have been elected as senators to the University Senate (election to the University Senate simultaneously confers election to the senate of the academic unit to which the professional employee is attached); and
(b) professional employees who have been elected to University or academic unit senate standing committees or other committees, as appropriate.

C. Definitions

Constituency: All professional employees of the State University of New York at Stony Brook in positions that carry no designation of academic rank. Ex officio members of the Senate, interns, residents, post-doctoral fellows, and students are excluded from the professional employee constituency.

Academic Units: (1) Arts & Sciences Senate constituencies (including College of Arts and Sciences departments and programs, the Marine Sciences Research Center, and the Division of Physical Education and Athletics), the Libraries, Student Affairs, School of Professional Development, Provost's Office, and the Graduate School; (2) The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), including Harriman College; (3) and the Health Sciences Center/University Hospital (HSC/UH), including the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Social Welfare, Health Technology & Management and Long Island State Veterans' Home.

Non-Academic Units: Any unit that does not report to an academic officer of the university including, but not limited to: (1) the Division of Information Technology; (2) The Department of Environmental Health and Safety; (3) Campus Police; (4) office of the Vice President for Administration; (5) office of the Vice President for Operations.

Academic Unit Senates: The Arts & Sciences Senate (A&S Senate), the Health Sciences Center Senate (HSC Senate), and the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Senate (CEAS Senate).

Constitution: The Constitution of the Professional Employees Governance Board (PEG Board) of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, all its amendments and bylaws.

D. Officers and Election Procedures

1. The PEG Board shall elect one chair from among east campus professionals and one chair from among the west campus professionals. A secretary from either east or west campus will also be elected. Each chair nominee shall have served on the PEG Board for at least one year within the last five years to be eligible for nomination. PEG Board co-chairs and the secretary may be from academic or non-academic units.

2. The first PEG Board meeting of the fall semester of the academic year shall be convened by the co-chairs of the previous year.

3. PEG Board elected officers shall have a term of one year and shall be filled by elections to be held two weeks after the first meeting of the fall semester.

4. At the first meeting of the PEG Board in the fall semester, the convening chair(s) shall announce elections of all offices to be filled and request nominations.

5. PEG Board members may nominate themselves or other members of the PEG Board. Nominations may be submitted orally at the PEG Board meeting or transmitted by e-mail to the convening co-chair(s) and shall include the nominee's name, area or department, and telephone number.

6. All nominees must respond by e-mail to the convening co-chairs, either declining or accepting nomination. If accepting nomination, nominees shall agree to serve if elected.

7. Convening co-chairs shall distribute the names of all nominees and offices to the PEG Board membership by e-mail prior to the election meeting.

8. Elections shall occur two weeks after the announcement of elections to be held.

9. At the scheduled election meeting, a ballot listing all nominees for all offices shall be presented to the PEG Board and nominations shall be closed. Voting shall be by secret ballot with a majority of PEG Board members present. Ballots shall be counted by the convening co-chair(s) or the designee(s) and results reported by email to the members of the PEG Board.

10. If a PEG Board officer resigns during his or her one-year term, the co-chairs of PEG Board shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of that year.

E. Distribution of Senate Seats

1. The number of professional employee senators (15% of the number of faculty senators) is determined in the constitution of the University Senate.

2. At the beginning of each spring semester the Secretary of the University Senate will inform the co-chairs of the PEG Board of the number of faculty senators from each of the three academic units so that the number of professional senators can be determined for the next academic year. Professional senators from each academic unit will number 15% of the faculty senators from that academic unit, with a minimum of two professional employee senators from each academic unit.

3. Elected terms on senates and committees shall be for three years. The maximum length of service in any one elected committee position shall be six consecutive years. Membership in PEG Board runs concomitant with membership on senate or committee.

4. If a senator or member of any senate standing committee is unable to serve or complete his/her term, the PEG Board Committee on Appointments and Elections (CAE), described below, shall be notified by the resigning senator. The co-chairs of the PEG Board will select alternative representation for this position in accordance with the bylaws.

5. Election procedures carried out by the CAE shall be made public by means of a statement submitted by the PEG Board to the Secretary of the Senate and to the university community, if requested.

F. Qualifications for Senate and Committee Seats:

A&S Senate seats/University Senate seats attributed to Arts & Sciences: Professional employees from the A&S Senate Constituencies or from any non-academic unit not considered part of the CEAS or HSC. Election as a senator to the A&S Senate constitutes election to the University Senate.

A&S Senate committee seats: Professional employees from the A&S Senate Constituencies.

University Senate Seats attributed to the HSC: Professional employees from the HSC/University Hospital, including the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Social Welfare, Health Technology and Management and the Long Island State Veterans' Home; professional employees from Department of Environmental Health & Safety.

University Senate seats attributed to CEAS: professional employees within the CEAS academic unit, including the Harriman School.

University Senate standing committee seats: professional employees from any academic or non-academic unit, unless the committee specifies otherwise.

G. Election Procedures for Senators and Committee Members

1. All elections will be coordinated and run by the PEG Board's Committee on Appointments & Elections.

2. The CAE shall be composed of one member from an academic unit, one member from a non-academic unit, and one additional member appointed from the PEG Board by the co-chairs.

3. The CAE shall keep an up-to-date list of professional employees who are interested in serving on campus and senate committees.

4. When requested, the CAE shall present a list of suggested names of professional employees for appointment to ad hoc, presidential and other committees. This list will be presented to the entire PEG Board for approval, if possible, or be reviewed and forwarded by the PEG Board co-chairs alone if limited time precludes consultation. For search committees at the level of vice president and above, the CAE shall recommend a minimum of two professional employees.

5. Elections will be held at the same time for University senators and for members of academic unit and University Senate standing committees.

6. Nominations: On April 1, a description of position openings, terms of office and restrictions on nominations, shall be sent by e-mail to all professional employees designated by Human Resource Services. Senate positions will be listed by academic unit to insure that nominations for academic unit senate seats and academic unit committees are made only by members of that academic unit. Additional nominations may be made by the CAE for all vacancies for which there are fewer than two nominees. All nominations are to be returned via campus mail to the Secretary of the University Senate by April 15th.. Nominations other than self-nominations must also be signed by the nominee. No individual may be nominated for more than two positions.

7. Elections: Ballots will be emailed to the general membership by May 1. Ballots will be printed out and returned to the Secretary of the University Senate via campus mail within three weeks. Each professional employee may vote for as many senators as there are openings in his or her academic unit. Each academic unit will have a separate ballot to insure that professional employees are electing senators from their individual units. For each seat to be filled, the ballot will include the incumbent's name.

8. Ballots will be opened and counted by the CAE in the presence of the secretary of the University Senate. The CAE will notify the co-chairs of the PEG Board of the results of the balloting before June 15th.

9. The co-chairs of the PEG Board will notify the successful candidates, the electorate, the secretary of the University Senate and individual unit senates of the results of the elections by June 30th.

H. Procedures for Replacing Senators and Members of Senate Committees Between Elections

1. If a senator or a senate committee member resigns, requests a leave of absence, or fails to serve in his or her elected capacity (with failure to serve defined as no participation on the senate standing committee or in the senate for three consecutive meetings), the PEG Board co-chairs shall contact the CAE to determine whether there had been other nominees for that seat in the election in which the incumbent was elected. If there had been other nominees, then the CAE will ask the person receiving the next greatest number of votes for that seat if he/she would like to fill the vacancy. If that person declines to serve, the next person in rank order shall be contacted and so on down the list until the vacancy is filled. In the event of a tie, the PEG Board will decide how to break the tie. In the event that no one from the ballot agrees to serve, the co-chairs in consultation with members of the Board, shall name a replacement. The replacement shall serve for the remainder of the academic year (or the duration of the leave, if it is less than one year).

2. If the term for this seat continues beyond the current academic year, the appointee may (at the next regular election for senators and members of Senate committees) stand for election to complete the remainder of the term.

I. Review and Amendments of these Bylaws

1. The PEG Board shall regularly review these bylaws and recommend any amendments considered desirable.

2. Amendments to these bylaws may be initiated by majority vote of the PEG Board or by petition of 10% of the general membership.

3. Proposed amendments must be submitted to the elected Secretary at least 20 days prior to a regular or special meeting of the PEG Board. They will be circulated to the membership at least 15 days prior to the scheduled meeting.

4. Within ten business days after the meeting at which amendments were proposed, all members will be mailed ballots via email to the members' official campus email addresses. All ballots must be returned by campus mail to the office of the Secretary of the University Senate within 15 business days of mailing and shall be counted within two business days from the date the ballots were due

5. Amendments shall become a part of these Bylaws if approved by two-thirds of the members voting..

6. Amendments shall be effective immediately unless specifically worded otherwise.