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FSD 20-17 Procedures for Remote Election of the Vice-Chair Elect

February 5, 2021

PURDUE UNIVERSITY NORTHWEST FACULTY SENATE

Procedures for Remote Election of the Vice-Chair Elect

Submission Date: February 12, 2021                                                       Faculty Senate Document 20-17

Nominating Committee

For Discussion:  February 12, 2021

For Action:  March 12, 2021

APPROVED

 

Whereas: The Nominations, Elections, and Awards Committee of the Senate is charged with conducting the election of the Vice-Chair Elect at the April meeting of the Senate, and

Whereas: there are no written guidelines for the conduct of this election when the Senate is meeting remotely, as during the Covid-19 pandemic, and

Whereas: It is in the best interests of the Senate to ensure a secure and orderly election,

Be it Resolved: When the Senate is meeting remotely, as during the Covid-19 pandemic, the election of Vice-Chair Elect shall be conducted as follows:

  1. The Chair of the Senate shall solicit nominations and self-nominations during the March Senate meeting, with such nominations to be sent electronically to the Chair of the Nominations, Elections, and Awards Committee at any time before the deadline listed in item 2. Nominees must be current senators, who have not served as Chair or Vice-Chair within the last three academic years (including the current one), and who agree to have their names placed in nomination.
  2. The deadline for receipt of nominations shall be the conclusion of the April Senate meeting.
  3. The will be time allocated at the April Senate meeting for each nominee to make a five-minute speech, where they should detail their qualifications and reason for running. Even if there is only one candidate, that candidate will be required to speak.
  4. The Nominations Committee shall prepare an electronic ballot containing the names of all the nominees agreeing to be considered, with directions for marking the ballot. Qualified senators will mark their ballots by ranking all candidates numerically, with their most preferred candidate being marked 1, next 2, and so forth.  Ballots will be scored by number of votes times order of preference, with the lowest total to be the winner.  To help document receipt of ballots by all eligible senators, there shall be an option for abstention on the ballot.
  5. Senators eligible to vote in the election shall be those with regular voting privileges present at the April Senate meeting, as determined by the Zoom roster kept by the Senate Secretary, and transmitted to the Chair of the Nominations, Elections and Awards Committee after the end of the April Senate meeting. All senators logging in to the April meeting at any time shall be eligible to vote.
  6. The Nominating Committee shall distribute the ballot to the senators eligible to vote by means of a secure and anonymous survey tool, such as that used for voting in promotion committees during the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey shall open at 5 p.m. on the day of the April Senate meeting, unless the Senate shall decide on a different time, and shall close 48 hours after it opens.  Senators will be able to use their unique survey links only once to cast their votes.
  7. If a senator who is eligible to vote in the election has a problem with the link sent to them, they must notify the Chair of the Nominating Committee within 24 hours of the time the survey opens. Upon receipt of such notification, the Nominating Committee will first ensure that no vote has been cast using the link, and that being the case, will eliminate the initial link and send the senator a new one.  The deadline for submitting a vote will remain the same.
  8. Following the close of the survey, as specified in Paragraph 6, the Nominating Committee shall meet in such a fashion, such as Zoom, as the Committee Chair directs and, together, count the votes cast. All Committee members must be present during the counting.  No later than 5 p.m one week following the April Senate meeting, the Committee shall report to the Chair of the Senate and the Secretary of the Senate the following items:
    1. The list of senators receiving a ballot.
    2. The list of senators returning a ballot, either ranking candidates or abstaining.
    3. The point totals for each candidate, with the lowest total being the winner, according to the Borda method prescribed in FSD 18-16.
  9. The Chair of the Senate shall then distribute these items to the entire Senate, and announce the winner.

Approved:

Ali Alavizadeh (Chair)

Tony Elmendorf

Amlan Mitra