US03/04 10 – Enable the University Assembly to Convene with Full Legislative

   Authority

 

Sponsored by:               Frank Stahl, professor of biology emeritus

Action:                          Passed (voice vote) November 10, 2004, as substituted and amended

 

WHEREAS: Section 6.6 of the Enabling Legislation of the University of Oregon governance document requires that a University Assembly with full legislative power shall be convened after a petition to do so has been signed by 33% of the "Voting Faculty", and

 

WHEREAS: convening the University Assembly with "full legislative power" requires the attendance of a majority of the University Assembly members as prescribed by the Oregon Public Meetings Law, and

 

WHEREAS: in the absence of explicit provisions, this quorum is unlikely to be met, be it

 

MOVED THAT: The University adopt the following procedures to enable a University Assembly to convene with full legislative power:

 

(a)    Prior to circulating a petition to convene the Assembly with full legislative power, Petitioners will submit the text of their petition, endorsed by at least 40 assembly members, to the Secretary of the Faculty who will forthwith give notification of the petition to members of the Assembly. The announcement shall include the text of the petition and item (b) of this motion.

 

(b)   Deans, directors and department heads will adopt practices, appropriate for their administrative units, that promote the face-to-face accessibility of their University Assembly Members to petitioners.

 

(c)    In order for the petition to go into effect, petitioners must submit sufficient valid signatures to the Secretary within 100 days of the petition announcement.

 

(d)   A meeting of the University Assembly called by petition of 33% of the Voting Faculty shall be held at 3:30 PM, on a Wednesday, not less than ten nor more than 25 days from the time of submission of said petition, except that no meeting shall be scheduled for exam week, between quarters or during the summer quarter. In such an event, the meeting would be scheduled for the second Wednesday of the subsequent quarter.

 

(e)    The Secretary of the Faculty shall send timely notification of the meeting to all members of the University Assembly. The notification shall remind recipients that they are Members of the Assembly and that attendance at the Assembly Meeting may take priority over routine obligations. This wording was amended subsequently by US0506-1 to read e) The Secretary of the Faculty shall send timely notification of the meeting to all members of the University Assembly. The notification shall remind recipients that they are members of the Assembly and that the University will be closed from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM on the day of the meeting to facilitate attendance.

 

(f)     Further notification of the meeting shall include notices in the Daily Emerald and on the University Calendar, Senate, and Assembly Web sites. On the Monday immediately prior to the meeting, members shall be reminded to attend. The reminder shall include the text of this motion.

 

(g)    An alphabetical list of Assembly Members (without phone numbers or e-mail addresses) shall be maintained and linked from the University Assembly Web site. The list shall be headed by the criteria for membership as specified by the charter and the list shall be updated annually, as early in the Fall Quarter as is feasible.

 

(h)   An annually updated list of the Voting Faculty with campus addresses shall be maintained and linked from the University Assembly Web site. The list shall be headed by the criteria for membership as specified by the charter and the list shall be updated annually, as early in the Fall Quarter as is feasible.

 

(i)     The UO Secretary shall maintain an annually updated list of Assembly Members with phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The list shall be used only to forward communications, from the University President, the Secretary of the Faculty, or the UO Senate President, that are relevant to the business of the University Assembly.

 

(j)     A link to the text of this motion entitled "Assembly with Legislative Power" shall be maintained on the University Assembly web page. The web page containing the motion shall have a link to the " Charter, Enabling Legislation and Bylaws".