Utah State University Staff Employee Association Bylaws

Article I. Organization

Section 1. Name

This organization shall be known as the Utah State University Staff Employee Association (USUSEA) and may be referred to throughout this document as the “SEA” or “Association.”

Section 2. Membership

Any benefit eligible employee (full-time or part-time, exempt or non-exempt) of Utah State University (USU) who is not a faculty member shall be considered a member of the Association.

Section 3. Association Year

The calendar year of the Association shall be July 1 through June 30.

Section 4. Governance

These bylaws shall govern the USUSEA and shall be consistent with USU policies and procedures.

Article II. Purpose

Section 1. Mission Statement

The SEA supports the mission, goals and objectives of USU, provides representation for the employees to the administration and University Committees, recognizes the dignity of individuals and promotes excellence and service.

Section 2. Goals and Objectives

The primary purposes of the Association are to:

• Foster a harmonious and cooperative relationship between administration, faculty, exempt and non-exempt staff members and students.
• Uphold and support the mission and goals of USU.
• Work with other USU groups in recommending and implementing policy concerning USU and the needs of all employees.
• Facilitate communication, understanding and cooperation among employees and with other USU groups (students, faculty, administration).
• Provide an authoritative voice within USU for expressing problems and concerns of Association members.
• Provide an amicable method of settling differences or grievances that may arise between the Association, its members, other USU groups or their members.
• Promote professional and personal development and job improvement of SEA members.
• Promote the objectives, general welfare, fellowship and mutual interests among the Association members and USU.

Article III. Governing Body

Section 1. Executive Council

The SEA shall be organized and represented by an Executive Council. The Executive Council shall consist of a Past President, President, President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer and chair-person from each SEA standing committee as outlined in Article IV, all of whom have voting authority.

No member of the Executive Council shall hold more than one elected position at a time in the SEA. All members of the Executive Council shall be representatives on an at-large basis.

Section 2. Voting Authority

Voting authority is given to the Past President, President, President-Elect, Past Vice President, Vice President, Vice President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer and each chairperson from the SEA standing committees for a total of 17 votes.

However, the President will only vote in the event of a tie vote, wherein the President shall cast the deciding vote.

Section 3. Quorum

A quorum of the Executive Council consists of one of the Presidents in attendance plus 2/3 of the Council (seven of the ten remaining positions) with voting authority present.

Section 4. Term of Office

All terms shall begin July 1 and shall end June 30. In order to serve on the Executive Council and be considered for nomination, members must be familiar with Utah State University procedures and guidelines and must have completed at least twelve months of consecutive SEA membership.

The Past President, President, President-Elect, Past Vice President, Vice President and Vice President-Elect shall each be one-year consecutive terms. At the conclusion of the expired term, the President shall succeed to the position of Past President, the Vice President shall succeed to the position of Past Vice President, the President-Elect shall succeed to the position of President, the Vice President-Elect shall succeed to the Vice President and a new President-Elect and Vice President-Elect shall be elected.

The Benefits and Staff Welfare Committee shall be a three-year term and consist of three members: the senior member serving as chair, a junior member and an alternate. At the completion of the chairperson’s term, the junior member position rotates into the chair position, the alternate becomes the junior member and a new alternate is elected.

All other members of the Executive Council shall serve for a term of two years; one year as the newly elected junior member and the second year of service as the senior member/chair. Elections for the junior member position shall be held every year.

Section 5. Elections

The Past President will chair and organize an Election Committee by February 28 of each year. The Election Committee will consist of the Past President, the President-Elect, and no fewer than two additional SEA members who may be selected from the general membership. The Election Committee shall be affirmed by a majority vote of a quorum of the Executive Council.

The Election Committee shall conduct the election of the Executive Council in accordance with the following:

• The general nomination of all open SEA officers shall be completed no later than June 1.
• The Election Committee shall accept nominations by the general membership of the Association, and shall screen the nominations to be sure the nominees are eligible, willing and able to serve.
• Biographical data for each candidate, consisting of no more than 200 words, may be prepared by the candidates and submitted to the Election Committee no later than one week before the scheduled election. The biographical data may be subject to editing by the committee.
• An electronic ballot, including biographical data, shall be prepared by the Election Committee and shall be distributed to all members of the Association. Ballots shall be electronically distributed and processed based on a list of current staff employees provided by human resources. SEA members may request a paper ballot from the Election Committee for those units where electronic ballots are not feasible. All ballots, whether paper or electronic, received by the appointed deadline shall be counted.
• Elections shall be completed by the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
• The Election Committee shall count all eligible ballots. The candidates with the highest count shall be declared the winner in each category. To decide a winner in the event two candidates receive the same number of votes, the Election Committee shall employ a means of chance to select the winner.
• The Committee shall announce the results at the next Executive Council meeting and through appropriate USU publicity channels.

Section 6. Duties of the Executive Council Members

President

The principal duties of the President shall be to preside at all SEA functions and meetings of the Executive Council. In conjunction with the Executive Council, the President will supervise, direct and promote the goals and objectives of the Association; serve as a representative of SEA to various university committees as appointed by USU administration and auxiliaries; attend meetings of the USU Board of Trustees and Utah Higher Education Staff Association (UHESA); and report proceedings to the Executive Council.

Past President

The principal duties of the Past President shall be to attend the monthly SEA Executive Council general meetings; mentor the President in current happenings; chair the Election Committee; work with the Employee Connections Committee should a grievance committee be required; be the representative for the University Parking and Transportation Committee and the University Calendaring Committee and report these proceedings to the Executive Council.

President-Elect

The principal duties of the President-Elect shall be to learn the duties of the President; discharge the duties of the President in the event of her/his absence; accept and discharge such special assignments as made by the President or the Executive Council; and serve on the Election Committee.

Vice President

The principal duties of the Vice President shall be to attend the SEA Executive Board and Council meetings. In conjunction with the SEA President, foster a collaborative environment with the university’s leadership and promote trust within the SEA. Facilitate a campaign of engagement and through meetings communicate the goals and opportunities the SEA provides and learn how the SEA can support and align with leadership objectives.

Past Vice President

The principal duties of the Past Vice President shall be to attend all SEA Executive Board and Council meetings; schedule meetings with university leaders ensuring the Vice President, Past Vice President and the Vice President Elect can participate in all meetings; as well as mentor the Vice President.

Vice President Elect

The principal duties of the Vice President Elect shall be to learn the duties of the Vice President; help the Past Vice President with scheduling as needed; attend all Executive Board and Council meetings; attend all university leadership meetings scheduled for the Vice President.

Secretary

The principal duties of the Senior Secretary shall be to keep an accurate record of the proceedings of all SEA meetings; prepare and distribute meeting agendas and minutes; prepare and distribute name cards with each member’s name and position for each Executive Council meeting; systematically and safely keep such books, papers, records, attendance and documents pertaining to the business of this Association as may be assigned by the Executive Council.

The Junior Secretary shall assist the Senior Secretary with their duties during the first year of term, and become the Senior Secretary during the second year of term.

Treasurer

The principal duties of the Senior Treasurer shall be to manage all funds pertaining to SEA; keep detailed financial records of approved budgets, annual budget proposals and year-end financial reports which shall be submitted to and reviewed by the Executive Council; prepare an annual budget and submit it to the Executive Council for approval.

Expenditures not approved in the fiscal year budget shall require approval by a majority vote of the Executive Council. The Treasurer shall have signature approval of all disbursement of monies as approved in advance by the Executive Council. In the absence of the Treasurer, the President or President-Elect may make necessary disbursements of monies.

The Junior Treasurer shall assist the Senior Treasurer with their duties during the first year of term, and become the Senior Treasurer during the second year of term.

Media and Public Relations

Work as the information link between the Executive Council and staff employees.

• Work with all members of the Executive Council to get information to the Association.
• Develop, create, and distribute to all SEA members a quarterly newsletter to inform them of current issues and events. Newsletters or e-mail information may be presented more frequently at the discretion of the President and Executive Council.
• Develop, create, and maintain an SEA website that reflects the most current information for the Association.
• Develop and maintain social media to further the work of getting information out to our members.
• Collect member comments submitted through various media and distribute them to the SEA President and appropriate committee chair.
• Publicize activities or events that are employee related including but not limited to employee recognition, development and awards.
• Document events with photos or other media to be used as needed.
• Support other committees when needed for special functions.
• To reduce the quantity and ensure the quality of communication from SEA to its membership, notice of events not sponsored by a Utah State University organization will not be shared through official SEA channels.

Standing Committee Representatives

Each committee will be represented by two positions; the senior/chair position (second year of term) and a junior position (first year of term). The principal duties of the committee representatives shall be to preside over the specific committee to which they are elected and to supervise, direct and promote the goals and objectives of the committee. Committee Chairs shall also represent the committee with voting authority in the Executive Council meetings and business. The junior committee members also represent the committee at all Executive Council meetings, but only have voting authority in the chair person’s absence. All committee junior representatives will rotate into their respective senior or chairperson positions upon the completion of their first-year term, and elections will be held annually for every committee’s junior or alternate representative position.

Section 7. Vacancies

Should the senior position for any post (executive or committee) be vacated prior to the end of her/his term, the junior elected position shall assume the duties and responsibilities of the senior for the remainder of the term.

Should the junior or incoming position for any post (executive or committee) be vacated prior to the end of term, a member of the SEA shall be appointed by majority vote of the quorum Executive Council to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term, unless the term ends within three months of the end of their term. In that case, the remaining committee member has the option to work with other SEA Board members to support the committee functions during the interim, leaving the position unfilled until the next election. In the event that the President and President-Elect vacate during the same period, the Executive Council is encouraged to choose a sitting member of the Council to fill the position to ensure continuity if possible. Previous candidates for the position should also be considered if a sitting member of the Council is unable to serve.

For all other positions, in the event both the senior and junior position leave office during the same term, or if the membership of the Executive Council shall not constitute a quorum, a special election must be held and completed within sixty days of such occurrence. Such special elections shall be held in accordance with procedures set forth in Article III, Section 5, except that dates may be altered as necessary. The term of office of any person elected in a special election will begin the day following the close of that election. If the remaining term of office is less than six months, the newly elected officers shall serve for the interim period plus a full term of office. If the remaining term is more than six months, the interim term shall be considered a full term.

Section 8. Removal from Office

Any council member may be removed from office by a two-thirds majority vote of the full Executive Council for any of the following reasons:

• After three unexcused absences from Executive Council meetings (see Article V.3) in any year of office as recorded in the minutes of such meetings.
• After showing gross neglect of duty as determined by a due process resolution of the Executive Council.

In the event of a removal from office, the vacancy shall be filled as described in Article III, Section 7.

Article IV. Standing Committees

Section 1. Committee Formation

All committees shall have a senior chair and a junior member (excluding the Benefits Committee which will have 3 representatives). The senior chairs will report the activity of their committees monthly to the Executive Council and have voting authority. If the senior chair of the committee is unable to attend, the junior member may act in her/his place with full voting authority in the Executive Council. All committees are encouraged to invite other SEA members to participate, enabling more employees to be involved and help with implementation and responsibilities of the committees.

Section 2. Specific Committees

To promote the purposes of the Association, the following Standing Committees will be constituted as follows:

A. Benefit and Staff Welfare

Work with administration for the betterment of benefits, salaries and general welfare of our employees. Requires a three-year term commitment to meet requirements of the USU Benefit Advisory Committee.

• Serve on the USU Benefit Advisory Committee. Represent all employees concerns at these meetings to make sure all points of view are voiced.
• Be conversant with all policies and procedures of the University to advise and better understand changes that are discussed in the Benefit Advisory Committee.
• Attend all bid process committee hearings that are required by Human Resources and Purchasing for employee input and research each proposal for the mutual benefit of employees.
• Work closely with Human Resources to advise on matters that relate to salary, benefits and items that affect our workplace as a whole.
• Work closely with the Legislative Committee when lobbying in the legislature to represent our employees as a whole with items that affect our workplace, salaries or benefit programs.
• Support other committees when needed for special functions.
• Additional recognition may be coordinated by SE Statewide Campus chapters according to individual chapter procedures.

B. Research & Evaluation

The Research & Evaluation Committee has the charge to advise and support the research and evaluation needs of the USU Staff Employee Association. The committee member(s) will work with SEA leadership to identify specific issues and needs, and then develop the appropriate tools to gather staff input that will help inform SEA planning and decision-making. The committee member will develop, collect, analyze, and disseminate the results of their various data collection efforts in the monthly SEA communication.

The Research & Evaluation Committee’s roles and responsibilities include:

• The development of surveys, interview protocols, focus groups, or other data collection methods that will help inform SEA priorities and efforts.
• Analysis of data and the dissemination of results in the monthly SEA newsletter to help raise awareness and inform staff.
• Develop appropriate linkages and collaborations with other SEA committees, university offices, colleges, departments, and other USU employee groups to strengthen, promote, and support SEA research & evaluation efforts.

C. Employee Connections

Serve as a resource for all workplace issues. Provides information to SEA employees that promotes awareness and involvement in the SEA and USU as a whole.

• Welcomes and invites new hires to participate in the SEA and provide information about USU and the benefits of the workplace.
• Work with the Past-President on matters concerning grievance committees.
• Work closely with Human Resources on workplace issues, grievances, new hire information and changes in policy or procedures for USU that relate to employees.
• Work with Media and Public Relations Committee to disseminate information as needed.
• Support other committees when needed for special functions.

D. Employee Recognition

Recognize outstanding staff employees through selection of an employee of the month. An employee of the year will be chosen by a vote of the SEA membership from the employees of the month selected during the calendar year.

• Solicit nominations for employee of the month, collect nominations and track nominations and awardees. Present employee of the month award to the individuals selected after a subcommittee ranks nominations received that meet the following criteria:
  • Less than one year from date of nomination
  • Employee has not been selected as an employee of the month within the last three years
  • Employee has been employed for more than one year at Utah State University
• Report employee of the month awardees to the SEA Treasurer who will coordinate a one-time monetary payment or other award as determined by the SEA Executive Committee and budgetary allowances.
• Provide information on awardees to the Media and Public Relations committee chair so that employee of the month and year information can be included in the SEA newsletter and on the SEA website.
• Coordinate with the Employee Development committee to provide recognition information at a public SEA event.
• Current SEA Executive Council members are not eligible for this award.
• Support other committees when needed for special functions.

E. Employee Development

Promote, organize and coordinate professional and technical development for the staff employees through workshops and informational programs. Organize and present special functions that celebrate the staff employee experience.

• Organize forums or workshops to be presented throughout the year to promote employee education, promotion and wellness utilizing the campus wellness program.
• Organize employee socials to develop closer ties to all employees.
• Work with Employee Scholarship committee to promote and organize events to enable donations to the SEA scholarship fund.
• Endeavor to procure door prizes for the yearly banquet, social or for special award services.
• Work with the President and President-Elect to plan the annual employee banquet, social or special award services.
• Coordinate with the SEA Treasurer and the Vice President of Business and Finance to facilitate these functions.
• Support other committees when needed for special functions.

F. Employee Scholarship

Promote, facilitate, organize and recognize staff employees’ needs for further education of themselves or eligible family members.

• Work with Employee Development committee to promote and organize events to enable donations to the SEA scholarship fund.
• Solicit applications for scholarships for employees.
• Evaluate and notify Executive Council of the spendable amount that is in the scholarship fund.
• Determine and propose to the Executive Council for approval the number and dollar amount of scholarships to be given in the fiscal year.
• The full Employee Scholarship Committee shall evaluate applications for scholarships and determine recipients.
• Notify recipients of awards.
• Recognize recipients at a public SEA event, e.g. banquet, social or special award presentation.
• Work with SEA Treasurer for accounting of and access to fund amounts.
• Work with Scholarship Office in Financial Aid for the award of scholarship to recipients.
• Support other committees when needed for special functions.

G. Statewide Campus & Extension

Represent the voice and issues of Statewide Campuses and Extension office SEA members, with the exception of Eastern (Price) (see section H) on the Executive Council.

• Develop and organize communication between represented campuses and Extension offices for employee support and considerations.
• Participate in all Executive Council meetings and activities as necessary to represent the Statewide Campus’ and Extension office concerns.
• Representatives may attend executive meetings in person or electronically.
• Report to other campus employee staff organizations where necessary.
• Work with all committees to promote activities, recognition or information to and from the Statewide Campuses and Extension offices.
• Support other SEA committees when needed for special functions.
• Member must be located at a Statewide Campus and/or Extension office.

H.Activities Committee

Promote, organize, oversee, and execute a diverse range of events throughout the year. Carefully designed to enhance work-life balance and overall well-being of staff.

• Work with event services to provide buildings, rooms, food, etc. for the Development Conference and banquet.
• Collaborate with the Development, Employee Connections, Scholarship, Employee Recognition, and Statewide Extension committees to strategically plan and organize the Development Conference
• Plan the annual Gratitude Gathering and other social events such as networking events, Logan Aquatic Day, Family Day on the Quad, Tubing at Cherry Peak and assisting with special university activities.

I. Eastern Chapter

Represent the voice of and issues of the Eastern Chapter on the Executive Committee.

• Representatives will be elected by Eastern Chapter membership as per Eastern chapter procedures.
• Conduct all activities related to Eastern Chapter according to the chapter procedures as approved by chapter members and within chapter budget.
• Coordinate communication for Eastern employee support and considerations.
• Participate in all Executive Council meetings and activities as necessary to represent Eastern staff concerns.
• Representatives may attend executive meetings in person or electronically.
• Report to Eastern campus employee staff organizations where necessary.
• Work with all SEA committees to promote activities, recognition or information to and from the Eastern Chapter.
• Support other SEA committees when needed for special functions.

J. University Committees

Representation on other University Committees will be assigned to the Past-President or designee of the Executive Council. Reports will be given to the general Executive Council when appropriate.

• Parking: Attend the general and special parking meeting and represent all employees.
• Calendaring: Attend the calendaring meeting that pertains to University calendaring and special occasions that require advance notice of University participation.

K. Ad Hoc Committees

To promote the purposes of the SEA, the Executive Council may establish ad hoc committees as needed.

Article V. Meetings

Section 1. Rules

• All SEA Executive Council meetings shall be open to all SEA members.
• Parliamentary procedures, according to Modern Rules of Order, shall be used.
• Members shall be notified of meeting dates, times and locations shall be publically posted on the SEA website.
• Regularly scheduled general meetings of the Executive Council shall be held at least monthly during customary working hours.
• Reports to the Executive Council from the Executive Committee and Standing Committee chairs will be given at each Executive Council meeting.
• Any other presentations or items for discussion by the Executive Council need to be delivered to the Secretary for distribution with the agenda one week prior to the Executive Council meeting.

Section 2. Additional/Special Meetings

Additional meetings of the Executive Council may be called by the Association President, the President’s designate, a quorum of the Executive Council or members of the University Administration.

Section 3. Absences

For an absence to be considered excused, notification must be given to the SEA President and Secretary prior to the meeting. The absentee member shall arrange with her/his junior committee member or alternate committee member to attend the meeting in her/his behalf so that all committees have a representative in attendance.

Article VI. Amendments

A proposed amendment to the bylaws may be initiated by any member of the Executive Council and shall be prepared and distributed to the council members with the agenda for deliberation. Upon a two-thirds majority affirmative vote of the full Executive Council, the proposed amendment(s) to the bylaws shall be adopted and become effective immediately. The President will ensure that a copy of the new bylaws will be submitted to Human Resources, University Administration and posted on the SEA website.