For May 12, 2004 Senate meeting

WHEREAS: Section 6.6 of the Enabling Legislation of the UO governance document requires that a UO 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 Assembly with "full legislative power" requires the attendance of a majority of the Assembly members as prescribed by the Oregon Public Meetings Law, and

WHEREAS: in the absence of explicit provisions, this quorum cannot be met, be it

MOVED THAT: The University adopt the following procedures to enable an 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 to the University Secretary who will forthwith give notification of the petition to those Members of the Assembly who have e-mail. 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 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 announcement described in item (a).

(d) A meeting of the UO Assembly called by petition of 33% of the Voting Faculty shall be held at 3:30 PM, on a Wednesday, not less than 10 nor more than 25 days from the time of submission of the petition, except that no meeting shall be scheduled for exam week, between quarters or during the summer quarter.

(e) The University shall send notification of the meeting time and place to all members of the Assembly by mail. The notification shall remind recipients that they are Members of the Assembly, that their attendance at the Assembly meeting is expected, and that attendance at the Assembly Meeting takes priority over routine obligations. This first notice shall be timely, permitting Assembly Members to make the best possible arrangements. The mailed and e-mailed notices (section f) shall include the text of the WHEREAS section of this Motion plus items (d) - (g).

(f) Assembly Members shall be further notified of the meeting by notices in the Daily Emerald and on the University Calendar, Senate, and Assembly Web sites. On the Monday immediately prior to the meeting, Audix and/or email will be used to remind members to attend.

(g) A list of Assembly Members (without phone numbers or e-mail addresses), organized alphabetically, shall be maintained and posted on the UO Assembly Web site. The list shall be updated annually, as early in the Fall Quarter as is feasible. Faculty on sabbatical leave who are not in residence are not Assembly members during their leave.

(h) An annually updated list of the Voting Faculty with office addresses and phone numbers, organized by department, shall be maintained and posted on the UO Assembly Web site. Faculty on sabbatical leave who are not in residence are not Voting Faculty during their leave.

(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 University Secretary, or the UO Senate President, that are relevant to the business of the Assembly.

(j) A link to the text of this Motion, entitled "Assembly with Legislative Power" shall be maintained as a discrete item on the UO Assembly Web site. A secondary link to the "Charter, Enabling Legislation and ByLaws" shall be found there.

Statement of estimated financial impact:

Section 6.6 of the Enabling Legislation of the UO Governance Document states that "the University Assembly, with full legislative power, shall [emphasis added] be convened after a petition to do so has been signed...".

Beyond the costs incurred by that legal requirement, which is independent of this Motion, the present motion anticipates costs as detailed below:

• (a-c) No cost.
• (d)
•  (1) A work-day was selected because an Assembly meeting is a University work-related activity. Attendance can be expected only if the meeting is called for a time when workers are on campus.
•  (2) In 1995, when the governance document was approved by the Assembly, the meeting time for the Assembly had been Wednesday afternoon for at least 35 years. In the absence of evidence in the Assembly Minutes to the contrary, it is likely that the intent of the 1995 legislation was for Assembly meetings on Wednesday afternoons. Thus, this section incurs no new costs.
• (e) Notification by mail continues present practice. Thus, section (e) incurs no new costs.
• (f) Notification by Audix and e-mail is free. The Emerald notice is present practice. Web postings are free.
• (g) No cost to the University.
• (g) - (i) One day's wage at student rate, once each year for the set.
• (j) No cost

1. Proposed Amendments to the motion
2. Statement of estimated financial impact of Motion US03/04 10
3. OpEd submitted to the Emerald Frank Stahl October 8, 2004
4. Proposed substitute motion to be presented at the November meeting of the UO Senate by the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Assembly Motion.
    

 

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