Massachusetts Commonwealth Honors Programs Information Exchange: By-Laws

 

Bylaws for the Commonwealth Honors Program

Adopted and approved by unanimous vote by the Council of the Commonwealth Honors Program on May 26, 2006 meeting at Quinsigamond Community College. (Revised May 6, 2011)

Section 1: Authorization

A. The mission and character of the Commonwealth Honors Program (CHP) and its governing Council are established in its charter, the “Commonwealth Honors Program Approval Process Guidelines,” (Guidelines) adopted and revised periodically by the Board of Higher Education. The authority for these Bylaws stems from Section IV.A of the Guidelines that mandates the CHP Council to organize its own operations. The Guidelines take precedence when clarifying, amplifying or amending the Bylaws.

Section 2: Council Membership

A. Pursuant to Guidelines Section IV.A, membership with voice and vote on the Council of the Commonwealth Honors Program is limited to representatives from public colleges and universities constituting the higher education system of Massachusetts.

B. A “member institution” is a public college or university whose honors program is currently approved by the Board of Higher Education as a member of the Commonwealth Honors Program. A “provisional institution” is a public college or university whose honors program approval has lapsed before renewal by the Board of Higher Education or whose program has yet to be approved by the Board of Higher Education.

C. Each public college or university in the Massachusetts higher education system sends one or more representatives to the Council. The representatives will usually be the honors directors (or equivalent position) or designated substitutes. The persons representing each public college or university are named by the administration of each institution.

D. The Council exercises no direct authority over who serves as an institutional representative, but the Executive Committee may direct appeals to a particular college or university administration when the Committee determines by majority vote that the performance or behavior of that institution’s representative conflicts with the interests of the Commonwealth Honors Program.

E. Every representative from both member institutions and provisional institutions has voice in the deliberations of the Council.

F. Pursuant to Guidelines Section IV.A.1 one staff representative from the Director of Higher Education has voice and vote on the Council and its committees.

G. Pursuant to Guidelines Section IV.B.1, administrative observers with voice but no vote are welcome at all meetings of the Council or its committees.

Section 3: Voting

A. Regardless of the number of its representatives, each institution has one vote in all actions taken by the Council and in voting for officers and Executive Committee members.

B. In cases where an institution has multiple representatives and those representatives cannot agree on casting the vote of that institution, then no vote is cast or recorded from that institution.

C. When serving on program committees, each individual representative has one vote in all committee transactions, even when multiple representatives from a single institution serve on the same committee.

D. Only member institutions may vote during Council proceedings for officers or on budgetary measures; however, both member institutions and provisional institutions are eligible to vote for amendments to this Bylaw and for Executive Committee members from their sector.

E. Absentee votes may be acknowledged in discussion to register the opinion of absent members, but absentee votes will not be included in the final tally for approving or rejecting a measure. There are no absentee ballots for officers or Executive Committee members.

F. Abstentions may be recorded in the minutes, but they are not included in the vote totals for a particular motion. Abstentions have no bearing on the number of representatives used in determining a quorum.

G. In situations where timing is critically important, the Executive Committee may vote electronically. The deadline by which Executive Committee members must cast their votes shall be posted at least 7 days in advance by the Chair. At least five Executive Committee members, with at least one representative from each of the three sectors, must cast a vote to obtain an official result (pass or fail).

Section 4. Quorum rules.

A. There is no quorum required for ordinary deliberations or elections by the Council.

B. Adoption of budgetary measures require either

1) a quorum comprised of at least forty percent (40%) of the member institutions and comprised further of at least one representative from a member institution from each of the three sectors (community college, state universities, UMASS) of the Commonwealth Honors Program; or

2) in the absence of the quorum defined in Section 4.B.1, the Council can pass a budgetary item, but subsequent approval by a majority vote of the Executive Committee is required for that measure to take effect.

C. Amending these Bylaws requires a quorum comprised of at least forty percent (40%) of the entire Council — both member and provisional institutions — and further comprised of at least one representative from each of the Council’s three sectors.

D. A quorum of the Executive Committee consists of five members with at least one representative present from each of the three sectors. No quorum of the Executive Committee is required for deliberation and discussion; an Executive Committee quorum is required when voting on budgetary measures and when voting to recommend approval of an honors program to the Board of Higher Education.

E. There is no quorum required for planning committees, ad hoc committees or task groups, even when voting to recommend changes in budget to the Council or Executive Committee.

Section 5: Officers

A. A nominating committee will submit a slate of nominees for Chairperson, Budget Officer, and Site Visit Coordinator to the Council. Nominees for chairperson must be drawn from members of the Executive Committee who will be serving during the chairperson’s term of office. Any qualified person from a member institution, even if they do not serve as the member institution’s Council representative, may be nominated for Budget Officer or Site Visit Coordinator.

B. Elections of officers will be conducted at the final Council meeting of each academic year or at an earlier meeting if approved by a majority of the Executive Committee.

C. Officers are elected by a simple majority of the Council member institutions present and voting.

D. Officers serve three year terms.

E. When an office is vacated, the Executive Committee may appoint an interim officer until the next meeting of the Council can fill the office through an election.

F. Officers may be removed from their position by majority vote of Council members present and voting; the Executive Committee may remove an officer under extraordinary circumstances.

G. The Chairperson will:

• call meetings of the Council and Executive Committee,
• establish a preliminary agenda for and preside at such meetings,
• appoint members and chairpersons of committees and remove committee members for cause,
• request reports from committee chairpersons on a regular basis and ensure that such information is readily available to Council membership,
• serve as conduit for the Council of all documents, minutes, and reports,
• maintain the roster of the Council and preserve files on the transactions of the Council in its minutes, agenda items, and project records,
• oversee the website,
• notify each institution’s president/provost of decisions by the Executive Committee regarding program approval for the Commonwealth Honors Program,
• ensure that steps in each program review are observed on time,
• assist the Site Visit Coordinator in managing program reviews,
• manage the assembly of an annual report and/or meeting minutes to the Commissioner of Higher Education on the actions and status of the Commonwealth Honors Program,
• work with the Nominating Committee to manage nominations for leadership positions.
• work with the Budget Officer on the management of Commonwealth Honors Program funds,
• other duties assigned by the Council.

H. The Budget Officer will:

• propose an annual budget framework to the Council,
• approve both the encumbrances and the expenditures of Commonwealth Honors Program funds ensuring that such expenditures conform to the guidelines adopted by the Council for that program or project,
• initiate the collection of revenue by notifying each institution of its annual contribution to the Commonwealth Honors Program and by sending follow-up notices,
• report regularly to the Council on the status and prospects of the program fund,
• preserve records on the annual budget and documentation on expenditures,
• advise program and planning committees on budgetary matters and, in consultation with the Executive Committee, on expenditures that are within project guidelines,
• other duties assigned by the Council.

I. The Site Visit Coordinator will:

• recruit a Visiting Committee to inspect each honors program applying for inclusion in the Commonwealth Honors Program,
• review the applying program’s self-study report for adequacy and completeness and notify the applicant institution’s honors director of deficiencies in the self-study documents,
• provide guidance to the Visiting Committee about how to conduct a site visit and ensure that the Visiting Committee’s chairperson and the applicant campus’s honors director have established an open line of communication
• collect and distribute (usually electronically) to the Visiting Committee the self-study report from the applicant campus,
• prepare budget requests concerning CHP expenditures for each site visit for submission to the Budget Officer,
• collect and distribute one-year reports from newly approved (and re-approved) CHP institutions that outline the progress an institution has made in accomplishing changes that were recommended in the Site Visit Report and/or forecasted in the Institutional Response letter.
• other duties assigned by the Council.

J. Vice-Chair Election: During the second year of a Chair’s final term, the Nominating Committee may name a member of the Council to serve as Vice-Chair. Upon election by a simple majority vote of the Council membership, the Vice-Chair shall shadow the Chair in his or her final year and assume the Chairmanship the following year. The Vice-Chair may serve concurrently as an Officer or Sector Representative of the Executive Committee.

Section 6: Committees

A. Pursuant to Guidelines Section IV.A.2 and IV.B, there are four standing committees of the Council: the Executive Committee and three sector committees — one for community college representatives, one for state university representatives, and one for UMASS representatives. The Nominating Committee is recognized in these bylaws as a fifth standing committee.

B. Pursuant to Guidelines Section IV.B.1, the Executive Committee is composed of three representatives from each of the three sectors of the Commonwealth Honors Program, the dean of Commonwealth College ex officio, the Budget Officer ex officio and the Site Visit Coordinator ex officio, and a staff member of the Department of Higher Education ex officio.

C. Membership and voting on all program committees are performed by the individual representative (or his/her designee) serving on the committee, not by the institution that person represents.

D. The nine sector representatives on the Executive Committee are elected by their respective sector committees for a three-year term. To ensure overlapping terms, one representative will be elected each academic year. The Nominating Committee shall assist the process by soliciting potential candidates annually from the three sector memberships and by putting forward the names prior to sector elections. Sector elections may be conducted separate from, or in conjunction with, a meeting of the Commonwealth Honors Council.

E. Vacancies among the sector representatives to the Executive Committee are filled by an election by the appropriate sector committee for the balance of the term. Vacancies among ex officio members on the Executive Committee are filled by the authority who appoints or elects them.

F. The Executive Committee may take any action the Council is authorized to take when the Council cannot meet, and the Executive Committee will report in a timely manner to the Council on such actions. Pursuant to the procedures outlined in the Guidelines Section IV.B.1 the Executive Committee will conduct program reviews of honors programs seeking affiliation or renewal of affiliation.

G. The Council will appoint temporary project committees from time to time to carry out specific projects for the CHP. The membership and chairperson of temporary committees are established by the Council’s chairperson who will ensure that the committee’s membership draws on the interests and talents of the entire Council and, where possible, includes representatives from all three sectors.

H. Temporary project committees are appointed for the duration of the project they are charged to plan and supervise, and their authority to encumber funds lapses with the conclusion of their project. By majority vote, the Executive Committee may extend the committee’s authority for a specific duration when circumstances warrant.

I. Temporary project committees exercise the authority stipulated for them when they are formed. The Council chairperson will include the committee’s formal charge in the Council minutes, and the committee’s charge will name the project, identify all members appointed to the committee, set conditions on the committee’s range of actions, and include the project’s budget adopted by the Council.

Section 7: Amending these Bylaws

A. Proposed amendments to these Bylaws will be given two readings and discussion at two separate meetings of the Council, and the proposed amendment will appear on an agenda distributed to the Council membership in advance of the second meeting.

B. Passage of an amendment to these Bylaws in the second meeting requires both the quorum set forth in Section 4.C and a majority of at least sixty-percent (60%) of the votes cast.

C. The Executive Committee may amend these Bylaws, but the Council must ratify that amendment at its next regular meeting which will serve as the second reading of the amendment. Council ratification is subject to the super-majority rule set forth in Section 7B. When the Council does not ratify an amendment adopted by the Executive Committee, then all projects, budgets, officers, and terms established in the original amendment are null and void.

Section 8: Ratifying these Bylaws

A. Ratifying these Bylaws requires a majority of 60% of the votes cast by the entire Council with both member and provisional campuses casting one vote each.

B. These Bylaws will take effect on the date the Council establishes in the enabling action that adopts the Bylaws.