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Bylaws

Adopted May 8, 2009 (last amended April 14, 2023) 

Mission

The Ohio Faculty Council (OFC) represents the faculty of Ohio's 14 public universities.  It exists to provide a forum for discussion among faculty at member institutions and to advocate for the values of higher education:  the teaching, creation, preservation, and application of knowledge for the good of both individual students and the public.  Because of these values, it is committed to shared governance at universities so that the expertise of faculty may help shape academic priorities and policies at each institution, and endorses the principles of academic freedom and responsibility contained in the 1940 AAUP "Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure." 

The Ohio Faculty Council engages with policy makers and the public to share information about higher education and to partner with the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE), elected officials, and others to facilitate knowledgeable decision making on issues related to Ohio’s universities. 

Membership

  • Two faculty representatives and an alternate from each of the four-year public institutions of higher education in the State of Ohio (see current Membership).
  • One of the faculty representatives from each institution shall be the Chair of the Faculty Senate or comparable elected faculty leader.
  • The other faculty representative and alternate shall be selected in a manner designated by the faculty governance at the institution.
  • Each member of the OFC must be a faculty member at the institution and may not hold an administrative position above the rank of chair. 
  • Past OFC Chairs may serve as ex-officio, non-voting members.
  • The term of membership is ordinarily at least two years as circumstances allow, beginning the semester of a representative’s election to the seat. Terms within each institution's delegation should be staggered, when possible, to maintain continuity.
  • When a representative is unable to attend an OFC meeting, the alternate becomes a full member for that meeting.
  • By majority vote, the OFC may declare a seat vacant if a member fails to participate, either in person or remotely by telephone or videoconference, in more than four consecutive regular meetings without notice.  In that event, the Secretary of the OFC shall notify the Chair of the Faculty Senate of the affected University of the vacancy.

Organization

  • The OFC shall be organized by an Executive Committee consisting of a Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary.
  • It shall meet prior to each monthly meeting of the OFC to discuss needs of the body and draft a proposed agenda for the meeting, to be approved by the membership.
  • Election of the Executive Committee will take place each spring from among the membership of the OFC.
  • The Chair will be elected for a two year term and will be a member of the council for the length of his/her term subject to the restriction above (regarding administrative positions).
  • The Chair convenes both the Executive Committee of the OFC as well as the full membership, presides over monthly meetings, and serves as the representative of OFC to other organizations, including, but not limited to the Ohio Faculty Senate of Community and Technical Colleges (OFS), the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE), and the Inter-University Council of Ohio (IUC). The OFC Chair also serves on the Executive Committee of the Ohio College Teaching Consortium (OCTC).
  • The Vice-Chair and Secretary will be elected for one year terms.
  • The Vice Chair is responsible for the background of the meeting – preparing the space and maintaining it, and monitoring the online meeting (e.g. monitoring chat, raised hands, etc). When necessary, the vice chair serves as parliamentarian for the body about procedural questions. In absence of the chair, the vice chair will assume responsibilities of the presiding officer.
  • The Secretary is responsible for maintaining the communication list and updating the OFC website, taking minutes during the meeting, and sharing minutes and ofc information with the membership.
  • If an Executive Committee member is unable to complete his/her term, an election will be held to name a replacement for the remainder of the term.
  • Elections will be presided over by a member of the Executive Committee who is not being considered for re-election or by a designated member of the OFC who is not being considered for a position on the Executive Committee.
  • The Executive Committee may appoint committees to assist in carrying out the business of the Ohio Faculty Council.  
  • There will be an awards committee, made up of 3 committee members (at least 2 of which will be non-executive committee members), which will work with the executive committee to plan, coordinate, and execute presentation of awards given annually by OFC (e.g. The Annual Award for Tech Commercialization).
  • Members of the award committee will participate in 1-year, renewable terms, which will begin in early Fall. 

 

Meetings

  • The OFC normally meets on the second Friday of each month during the academic year, but with suitable notice the Executive Committee may call meetings at any time.  
  • In order to conduct business, a quorum of at least eight member institutions must be represented at a meeting. Each institution may have up to two individual voting members. Actions taken at meetings will require a majority vote of the individual members present.
  • Electronic means of communication may be used for any OFC business, including, but not limited to, holding OFC meetings. Meetings of the OFC may be held electronically or with individual members attending electronically if the technology enables all remote and in-person members to be clearly audible to one another.
  • Resolutions may be adopted by the Ohio Faculty Council outside of meetings by electronic mail (email) under the following conditions and by the following procedure.  Any member may offer a resolution by emailing it to all OFC members.  If another OFC member seconds the motion, which shall be done by email to all OFC members, and if the Chair determines that the proposed resolution is sufficiently urgent to require consideration before the next meeting, the Chair shall announce by email to all OFC members that the resolution is under consideration for adoption by email.  The Chair shall allow at least three business days for debate on the resolution and for subsidiary motions.  At the conclusion of debate, the Chair shall by email to all OFC members, call for a vote on the resolution.  Two business days shall be allowed for voting.  Votes shall be cast by email to all OFC members.  Adoption of a resolution requires an affirmative vote of a majority of the OFC membership entitled to vote, not counting vacant seats.
  • The first meeting of each academic year will allocate significant time to onboarding new members about the operations of the council, and to the duties and responsibilities of members and officers.