Section 1
Unless otherwise indicated herein, meetings of the Academic Senate or Academic Senate Council, and its committees are open to all persons. The Chairpersons of the Academic Senate and its committees may extend floor privileges to those persons who are not members.
Section 2
The Academic Senate shall meet on call of the Chairperson of the Academic Senate at least two times per year. Joint meetings of the two Assembly bodies are not precluded. The Academic Senate may also be convened on the initiative of the Chancellor, or on formal petition to the Chairperson of the Academic Senate by ten (10) percent of the members of the Academic Senate; such meeting shall be held within fifteen (15) calendar days of the presentation of the petition. At any meeting the Chairperson shall preside or in his absence, the Chairperson-Elect, or in the absence of both, the Chairpersons designee.
Section 3
The Academic Senate Council shall meet every two months to conduct the general business of the Academic Senate.
The Academic Senate Council shall compile an agenda for all meetings and forward it to the Chairperson-Elect who shall distribute it to all members of the Academic Senate through the campus mail not later than one week before the time of the meeting. All items to be considered by the Academic Senate or Academic Senate Council must be submitted to the Chairperson of the Academic Senate Council. A request to the Academic Senate Council for the inclusion of any item of business, if bearing the names of ten (10) or more of the members of the Academic Senate, and if submitted no later than two weeks before the regular meeting of the Academic Senate or Academic Senate Council, shall require that this item of business be included on the agenda. Decisions regarding inclusion of requests bearing fewer than the ten (10) required names shall be left to the discretion of the Academic Senate Council. At any meeting, the Academic Senate or Academic Senate Council shall take no final action on any business that is not on the agenda for that meeting.
Section 4
The secretary of the Academic Senate shall promptly prepare minutes of each meeting and shall forward them to the Chairperson-Elect of the Academic Senate. The Chairperson-Elect shall thereupon promptly duplicate the minutes and send them to all members of the Academic Senate. In addition, a copy of these minutes shall be made publicly available in the UAMS Library.
Section 5
Fifty-(50) members of the Academic Senate or nine (9) members of the Academic Senate Council members shall constitute quorums unless otherwise specified.
Section 6
Unless specified otherwise, matters placed before the Academic Senate and Academic Senate Council for a vote shall be decided by a majority vote of those present and voting, providing a quorum is present. Voting shall ordinarily be by voice, (except Academic Senate elections) but in cases of doubt, any member may request a hand count vote. In Academic Senate and Academic Senate Council meetings with a quorum present, other methods of voting may be required by request of twenty-five (25) percent of the members present. There is no provision for proxy or cumulative voting. In the event that a quorum is not present, discussion of items on the agenda may occur, but voting must be done at the next meeting unless the majority of those present ask for a mail ballot. In such mail voting, a majority vote of at least twenty (20) percent of the Academic Senate membership is necessary.
Section 7
Except as otherwise noted, all members of the Academic Senate shall be governed by the parliamentary procedures in the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.