BY-LAWS of The University of California
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
Last revision April 24 2008

PART I. BERKELEY DIVISION^[1]

1. FUNCTIONS

   The Berkeley Division is a committee of the Academic Senate. It has authority to:

   • Organize, select its own officers and committees, adopt rules for the conduct of its business;
   • Receive and consider reports and recommendations from the Faculties of colleges and schools located wholly or partly on the Berkeley Campus, from its Divisional committees, from local administrative officers, and from other Divisions;
   • Originate and take final action on legislation substantially affecting only the Division;
   • Establish Faculties in schools and colleges located wholly on the Berkeley Campus;
   • Transmit directly to the President resolutions on any matter of University concern, with copies to the Assembly of the Academic Senate;
   • Initiate Memorials to The Regents; and
   • Submit reports and recommendations to the Senate or to the Assembly concerning changes in Senate legislation and such other matters as it may deem appropriate.
   
   
2. MEMBERSHIP
   1. Members of the Division are: (Am. 9.91; Am. 4.27.06)
      • The President;
      • The Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, Provosts, Deans, Directors of academic programs, Assistant or Associate Vice Chancellor for Admissions and Enrollment, Registrar, and chief Librarian at Berkeley; (EC. 11.21.00; Am. 4.25.05)
      • All Professors, Professors in Residence, Professors of Clinical , and Acting Professors;
      • Associate Professors, Associate Professors in Residence, Associate Professors of Clinical , and Acting Associate Professors;
      • Assistant Professors, Assistant Professors in Residence, and Assistant Professors of Clinical ;
      • Instructors, Instructors in Residence;
      • Senior Lecturers with Security of Employment, Lecturers with Security of Employment, Senior Lecturers with Potential for Security of Employment, and Lecturers with Potential for Security of Employment, with full time teaching responsibilities in curricula under the control of the Academic Senate, whose duties lie primarily in Berkeley; and
      • Those Vice Presidents, Deans, and Directors of statewide units who choose to enroll in this Division.
   2. Instructors and Instructors in Residence of less than two years' service have no vote.
   3. Membership does not lapse because of leave of absence or transfer to emeritus status.
   4. The Committee on Rules and Elections determines whether a person meets the requirements for membership. (CC. 10.25.94)
      
      
3. OFFICERS OF THE DIVISION (Am. 10.89)
   1. Chair
      Term: The Chair of the Division is appointed by the Committee on Committees to serve for a term of one year beginning with the first day of instruction in the Fall Term. Normally, the Chair succeeds to this office and to Chair of the Divisional Council after having served the previous year as Vice Chair both of the Division and of the Council.
   Duties:
   
   • Presides at meetings of the Division and of the Divisional Council.
   • Sits, upon invitation or at his or her discretion, without vote, in deliberations of any committee of the Division.
     
   • Serves, ex officio, as a member of the Assembly of the Academic Senate and of the Academic Council, and as Chair of the Divisional Committee on Assembly Representation.
   • Refers matters to the officers or agencies of the Division and of the Administration, as appropriate.
   
   
   2. Vice Chair
      Term: The Vice Chair of the Division and of the Divisional Council is appointed by the Committee on Committees to serve a term of one year beginning with the first day of instruction in the Fall. The Vice Chair will normally succeed to the positions of Chair of the Division and of the Divisional Council.
      Duties:
      • Serves as Chair when the Chair is temporarily unable to serve.
      • Performs such duties as assigned by the Chair of the Division.
      
      
   3. Secretary
      Term: The Secretary of the Division is appointed by the Committee on Committees to serve for a term of two years, subject to reappointment, beginning with the first day of instruction in the Fall Semester. (Am. 10.17.95)
      Duties:
      • Prepares the Call and Minutes for each meeting of the Division in accordance with Senate By-Laws.
      • Assumes the duties of Chair in case of absence of both the Chair and Vice Chair.
      • Performs such duties as assigned by the Chair of the Division.
      • Maintains a complete file for the Senate of minutes, reports, and agendas of all Divisional committees and other Senate agencies. (Am. 10.25.94)

   4. Parliamentarian
      The Committee on Committees appoints the Parliamentarian to serve at the pleasure of the Divisional Council.


4. DIVISIONAL COUNCIL (En. 10.89, CC. 3.92) ^[2]
   1. Composition
   The Divisional Council shall be composed of fifteen members as follows:
   1. The Chair and the Vice Chair of the Division, who are also Chair and Vice Chair of the Divisional Council.
   2. Chairs of the following Committees:
      • Academic Planning and Resource Allocation
      • Educational Policy
      • Budget and Interdepartmental Relations
      • Graduate Council
      • Committees
      • Research
      • Status of Women and Ethnic Minorities
   3. Six At-Large members elected by the Division.
      The Secretary of the Division serves as non-voting secretary to the Council.
   2. Terms
      
   1. The Chair serves for one year.
   2. The Vice Chair will serve one year as Vice Chair and the next year as Chair of the Division and of the Divisional Council.
   3. Committee Chairs, ex officio, normally will serve the same term as the tenure of their Chairs. A Committee Chair may designate a Senate member of that Committee to serve in his or her stead on the Divisional Council (with approval of the Committee on Committees) for a period of one year. (Am. 11.13.03)
   4. At-Large members, half to be elected every year, will serve two-year terms. They cannot serve consecutive terms. (Am. 11.8.07)
   5. Terms begin on the first day of instruction of the Fall term, unless otherwise designated in Divisional legislation.
   6. A partial term counts as a full term.
   7. A vacancy occurring between regular elections is filled by the Committee on Committees.
   3. Duties
      The Divisional Council has the following responsibilities and authority.
      1. Proposes legislation as needed.
      2. Acts on behalf of the Division on matters other than legislative matters retained by the Division.
      3. Receives and distributes to the appropriate agency or agencies reports from Standing and Special Committees of the Division and from academic program and Organized Research Unit review committees.
      4. Coordinates activities of Divisional Standing and Special Committees.
      5. Proposes and approves establishment of Special Committees and task forces.
      6. Places items it considers routine on a Consent Calendar to be submitted to a meeting of the Division. Should the meeting not attain a quorum, the Consent Calendar would be taken as approved.
      7. Informs members of the Division of its agenda and actions by regularly circulated reports, public forums, Divisional newsletter, or other appropriate channels.
      8. May order a ballot by mail, in the event that a quorum was not achieved at a Divisional meeting, on any matter, including legislation that was presented in the Notice for that meeting. (En. 9.91; EC 4.26.05)

5. MEETINGS (CC. 10.89)
   1. Regular
      The Division holds two regular meetings each academic year, one early in the Fall term and the other in the Spring when the Divisional Council presents its State of the Campus Message. The Chair and the Secretary arrange the schedule of regular meetings.
   2. Special
      • A Special Meeting of the Division may be called by the Chair. Upon written request of twenty-five voting members a Special Meeting must be called by the Chair or, in his or her absence or disability, by the Vice Chair. (Am. 4.24.08)
      • The call to a Special Meeting must be sent to all members of the Division at least five days of instruction prior to the meeting.
   3. Emergency
      • With the concurrence of a majority of the Divisional Council, an Emergency Meeting may be called by the Chair or, in his or her absence or disability, by the Vice Chair.
      • The call to an Emergency Meeting must be communicated at least 48 hours prior to the meeting to the Chair of each academic department for transmittal to members of the department.


6. QUORUM

Fifty voting members of the Division are required for a quorum.

9. DIVISION ELECTIONS (En. 11.8.07)


1. General Provisions
   Subject to provisions in these By-Laws, all Divisional elections and ballots are to be conducted by paper or electronic means. If an election is conducted electronically, Berkeley Division members may request a paper ballot from the Secretary in writing. The Divsion Secretary, in consultation with the Committee on Rules and Elections, shall decide whether the election or ballot will be conducted by paper or electronic means.
2. Notice of Election
   Not fewer than 30 days of instruction prior to the election, the Secretary must send to each voting member of the Division a Notice of the Election. (Am. 4.26.01)
3. Nominating Petitions
   • Nominateg Petitions must be filed with the Secretary within 10 days of instruction after the Notice of Election has been sent. (Am. 4.26.01)
   • A Nominating Petition must be signed by five voting members of the Division, and must state the departmental affiliation of the nominee and nominators.
   • The nominee must certify acceptance.
4. Voting
   1. By paper ballot:
   • At least 14 calendar days before the Election, the Secretary must mail to each voter a list of all nominees, stating their nominators and departmental affiliation of each. (Am. 4.26.01)
   • The list of nominees must be accompanied by a ballot listing the nominees alphabetically, a plain envelope in which the voter is to enclose the marked ballot, and a further envelope addressed to the Secretary to be used for return of the sealed ballot.
   • The voter must be notified that:
   • All ballots must be returned to the Secretary no later than the date of elections;
   • A ballot is invalid if more names are marked than there are vacancies to be filled, or if the ballot lacks the signature of the voter in the space provided on the return envelope;
   • A voter who spoils a ballot may, by tearing it across once and returning it to the Secretary, obatin another. (EC.00)
   2. By electonic ballot:
   • At least 14 calendar days before the Election, the Secretary must make available to each voter an electronic ballot of all nominiees, stating their nominators and departmental affiliation of each.
   • Each voter will have access to a secure, web-based voting system that is administered by the Academic Senate office.
   • The voting system will authenticate the identity of each voter and separate the identity of each voter from his or her vote to maintain the confidentiality of the voting process.
   • The voting system will be designed so that once a vote has been cast, neither the voter nor anyone with access to the esystem can change the vote.
   • If a Senate member prefers a paper ballot, the Berkeley Division will make one available upon written request. If a voter submits both an electronic and a paper ballot, the electronic ballot will take precedence and the paper ballot will be destroyed prior to the count.
5. Election of At-Large members to the Divisonal Council
• At-Large members shall be elected at the same time as members of the Committee on Committees and in the manner outlined in this By-Law, except that the number of nominations must be at least twice as many as there are places to be filled; the Committee on Committees will add the necessary number of nominees to complete the slate if the number of Nominating Petitions received from the membership is fewer than the number required.
6. Election of Committee on Committees Members
• Committee members are elected in accordance with Senate and Berkeley Division By-Laws.
• Candidates receiving votes on at least 35% of the valid returned ballots are to be declared elected.
• If more candidates receive votes on at least 35% of the valid ballots cast than there are vacancies to be filled, those having the highest percentage are to be declared elected.
• If fewer candidates receive votes on at least 35% of the valid ballots cast than there are vacancies, a second ballot must be taken. It must list the nominees not elected but receiving the highest percentage on the first ballot, but not to exceed twice the number of remaining vacancies. (CC. 12.6.07)
• Those receiving the highest percentage on the second ballot are to be declared elected for such vacancies as exist. A tie for the last vacancy is broken by lot.

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ENDNOTES

^[1] By-Laws 1 and 2 are excerpts from the Standing Orders of The Regents, 105.1. As voted at the 3.92 meeting of the Division, the By-laws have been altered where necessary to remove gender designations.
^[2] To place the newly enacted "Divisional Council" in proper sequence in the Manual, it was renumbered "By-Law 4" instead of "By-Law 8" as proposed. Subsequent By-Laws in Part I were renumbered accordingly.