STANDING RULES

I. Academic Senate Meetings

  1. There shall be no more than two Academic Senate meetings per month, the first which shall be the regular meeting, and the second, whenever possible, shall be two weeks later.

  2. Regular (Special or Continuation) meetings of the Academic Senate will normally adjourn by 6:00 p.m. If any important items remain unfinished, the Senate will hold a continuation meeting to consider them.

II. Special Rule of Order: Time Limit to Achieve Quorum

The Holder of the Chair shall adjourn any called meeting of the Academic Senate that lacks a quorum one half hour after the announced time for the meeting.

III. Review of Senate Committee Documents

    All documents such as forms and questionnaires prepared by a Senate Committee shall be reviewed by the Executive Committee, prior to distribution, as to style, grammar, and related technical problems, but not as to substance. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to permit the Executive Committee to veto or unduly delay or amend the substance of any document.

IV. Administration of Elections

1. General:

  1. The Chairperson of the Elections Committee is authorized to draw up a candidate's pledge that asks each candidate to clean up his/her campaign material after the election.

  2. The Elections Committee has the right to withhold election results until candidates have cleaned up their campaign material from the campus.

  3. The Elections Committee has the right to remove candidates from the ballot if they seriously infringe upon the rights of other candidates.

2. Nominations:

  1. Nominating petitions, together with information regarding all necessary nominee qualifications and positions open for elections, and including all Senate standing rules pertaining to nominations, shall be made available for distribution at least two (2) weeks prior to the period designated by the Senate for acceptance of completed nominating petitions by the Elections Committee.

  2. The Elections Committee shall accept only those nominating petitions which contain all the information called for on the petition. Faculty and students may self-nominate.

  3. The Elections Committee shall accept only those nominating petitions delivered before the deadline established by the Senate for the end of the nominating period.

  4. Student status for the purpose of elections will be fixed as of the end of the first week of a two-week period.

  5. Nominating petitions declared invalid may be resubmitted in corrected form any time before the end of the nominating period; thereafter, they will not be accepted.

3. Ballots:

  1. The ballots for each constituency shall contain (i) balloting space for all elections permitted to that constituency and (ii) the names of all candidates verified by the Elections Committee as having filed proper nominating petitions for those elections.

  2. Space for write ins shall be provided on all ballots, the number of spaces provided being equal to the number of positions open.

  3. Write-in nominees, in order to achieve the same electoral status as candidates who have been verified by the Elections Committee, must have their names written in on ten (10) ballots.

  4. Candidates wishing to have one or more club affiliation(s) placed on the ballot are limited to a maximum of three (3) letters (as an acronym) for each affiliation, the acronyms to be placed directly after the candidate's name.

    1. No two clubs shall, for the purpose of elections, use the same acronym, nor any acronym containing the same two (2) consecutive letters.

    2. For the purpose of elections only, no club registering with the Office of Student Activities after February 19, 1976, shall be permitted to have the same name or any part of the same name as a previously registered club, unless the previously registered club has been defunct for at least three (3) years.

    3. Any conflicts arising from the previous two (2) sections shall be resolved in favor of the club with the earliest date of original registration with the Office of Student Activities.

    iv.  Absentee Ballots:

    Homebound students and student interns in Albany may present absentee ballots for student elections, as follows:The Academic Senate Elections Committee will send a Queens College Absentee Ballot Request form to homebound students through the Office of the Homebound and to Albany Intern Program students through the Political Science Department.  By filling out and signing the form, students interested in participating in Spring elections will be mailed an absentee ballot.  Only students registered with the Committee for the current semester will be allowed to vote.As soon as the Committee has prepared the appropriate ballot, students in each program will be sent the ballot which should be returned in a sealed envelope that will be marked absentee ballot.  Another envelope will be provided into which the student will sign his name and write his student I.D. number. The entire package must be mailed to the following address:Academic Senate Elections Committee


c/o Queens College Office of Student Activities
65-30 Kissena Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11367-1597

V. Composition of Dean Search and Dean Review Committees

  1. The membership may not include more than one faculty and one student member from any one department.

  2. Undergraduate student members must have completed 45 credits of college work, at least 15 credits of which have been completed at Queens College. Graduate student members must have completed at least 6 credits at Queens College.

  3. No person may simultaneously serve on a Dean Search or Review Committee and any other committee established to report on any facet of the person or office under search or review.

VI. Course and Faculty Evaluation Report

That copies of the most recent course and faculty evaluation reports shall be available for reference at each registration site and in student government offices, departmental offices and the College Library.

VII. Nominations from the Floor for Committee Membership

When nominations for membership on Academic Senate committees are made from the floor, the nominee or nominator shall indicate the nominee's department or major, class standing (if relevant) and shall provide a mailing address and phone number(s).

VIII. Nominations for Committee Membership for Nonmatriculated (Nondegree) Students

  1. All proposed nominations of non-matriculated students must first be reviewed by the Academic Senate Nominating Committee before they may be made on the floor of the Senate.

  2. The Nominating Committee may only consider the proposed nomination of a non-matriculated student if a majority of the Committee membership passes a resolution asserting that consideration of that student is in the best interests of Queens College.

  3. The Nominating Committee shall, when making a nomination on the floor of the Senate, advise the Senate that a proposed nominee is a non-matriculated student.

  4. A non-matriculated student must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 at the time of nomination.

IX. Eligibility for Academic Senate Committee Seats

  1. Section VIII.A of the Academic Senate Charter shall be read to include Law School students and faculty and those graduate students who are registered at the CUNY Graduate Center if they are enrolled in or instruct any class at Queens College, or are conducting research under the guidance of a Queens College faculty member within the following limitations:

    1. Students and faculty of the Law School are not eligible for Senate Committee seats that are limited to members of a particular Queens College division. Law students are not eligible for Senate Committee seats that are limited to undergraduate students.

    2. Graduate Center students who are enrolled in or instruct any class at Queens College are eligible for Senate Committee seats at large and in the division in which the course they are enrolled in or instructing is offered. Graduate Center students are not eligible for Senate Committee seats that are limited to undergraduate students.

    3. Graduate Center students who were elected while they were enrolled in or instructed any class at Queens College may complete their term of service on the Senate Committee that they were elected to even though they have completed the course or laboratory research in question, as long as:

      1. The student remains a graduate student at the Graduate Center (this includes doing dissertation work), and

      2. The student states, in writing to the Chair of the Committee, his/her continued interest in serving on the Senate Committee, and

      3. The student does not miss more than two consecutive meetings of the committee. If more than two meetings of the committee are missed, the Chair of the Committee may declare the seat vacant and ask the Executive Committee to request that the seat in question be filled in accordance with regular Senate procedures.

X. Interpretation of Section II.B.1 and 2 of the Charter regarding the eligibility of Freshmen and Graduate students to run for the Academic Senate:

  1. Section II.B.1 of the Academic Senate Charter shall be read to allow freshman or transfer students, who have not yet received any grades by the record date and therefore have no cumulative index at that time to run in the Senate elections for class or at-large seats, if they are not on probation.

  2. Section II.B.2 of the Academic Senate Charter shall be read to allow graduate students who have not yet received any grades by the record date and therefore have no cumulative index at that time to run in the Senate elections for graduate Senate seats, if they are not on probation.

XI. Committee on Athletic Policy (CAP)

  1. Criteria for Subsidization of Athletes (Grants-in-Aid)

    1. CAP may award grant-in-aid to students who exhibit a high degree of athletic talent (as verified by the coaching staff), and also meet the academic requirements listed in Tier I or Tier II below. The number of each team's Tier I awards may not exceed 60% of the total awards designated for that team. At least 40% of each team's awardees must meet Tier I or Tier II standards.

      1. Tier I. Eligibility consists of either admission (at time of award) through the normal admission process, or being a current Queens College student with a Grade-Point average of 2.0.

      2. Tier II. Eligibility consists of either entering the College from high school with an average of 85 or above, or having 1100 on the SAT's, or being a current Queens College student or transfer student with a Grade-Point average of 2.75 or above.

      3. All awards are for a maximum of four years regardless of the student's athletic performance. A student can lose his or her aid only by becoming academically ineligible.

  2. Scholar Athlete Incentive Award

    An award of $100 per semester may be offered by CAP to any current athletic grant-in-aid student who achieves a 2.85 index in the preceding semester.

  3. Grant-in-Aid Awards

    Shall be limited to reimbursement for the following educational expenses: tuition fees, books, meal allowance and transportation. The amount of each award shall be proposed by the Athletic Office, and approved by CAP for consistency with Title IX, and College and NCAA guidelines.

XII. N.B. Article VIII, Section 5.a) Senator Vacancies:

"Vacancies in the Day Session Student Senator category shall be filled by a vote of the remaining Day Session Student Senators at a meeting called for the purpose of such election" -- shall henceforth be interpreted to mean that ALL Day Session Student Senators shall be eligible to vote to fill ANY vacancy in Day Session Student Senators.

XIII. Expanded Alternate Seating

At each meeting of the Academic Senate, if the procedure of Article V, Section 6 does not result in the filling of a vacant seat by a voting Alternate Senator, the following order of ranking shall be followed for that meeting:
  1. College-wide At Large - Faculty:

    1. Alternates in rank order, as defined in Article V, Section 6, from the Divisional At Large category of the Senator(s) not present.

    2. Alternates from the Department(s) of the Division of the Senator(s) not present chosen by lot by the Secretary at the start of the meeting and when there is a call for a quorum.

    3. Alternates from the Departments of the other Divisions chosen by lot by the Secretary at the start of the meeting and when there is a call for a quorum.

  2. Divisional At Large - Faculty:

    1. Alternates from the Department(s) of the Division of the Senator(s) not present, chosen by lot by the Secretary at the start of the meeting and when there is a call for a quorum.

  3. Students:

      1. Alternates from all student constituencies chosen by lot by the Secretary at the start of the meeting and when there is a call for a quorum.