Classified Employees Advisory Council

By-Laws

Article I. Name

The name of this organization will be The Classified Employees Advisory Council hereafter referred to as CEAC or Council.

Article II. Purpose/Objective

• Section 1. To represent classified employees of the University of Maine.
• Section 2. To establish rapport and maintain communication among classified employees, the Administration, and the rest of the University community.
• Section 3. To facilitate and/or sponsor the professional and personal growth and development of classified employees by allocating funds to enhance the skills, talents, and career mobility potential of employees through training and educational opportunities.
• Section 4. To host at least one professional development day annually dedicated specifically to enhance the skills, talents, and career mobility potential of all classified employees and promote their professional growth and development.
• Section 5. To evaluate the institution’s policies not governed by collective bargaining that affect classified employees; make recommendations to the respective administrators for revisions, additions, or deletions of current policies; or propose new policies deemed appropriate by a majority of the Council members.
• Section 6. To nominate colleagues to serve on University committees (Committees of the Administration). Preference will be given first to Council members wishing to serve, then to other interested Classified employees.
• Section 7. To increase awareness of Campus-wide resources available to Classified employees.

Article III. Membership

• Section 1. Any classified person employed on a regular basis, either full or part time, by the University of Maine is eligible to be elected as a member of the Council. Members will not engage in discussions of matters related to collective bargaining during Council meetings.
• Section 2. CEAC membership shall consist of at least 1.5% but not more than 2.5% of the total number of Classified employees as of March 31 of that year. Membership will be in proportion to the number of Classified employees within each vice-presidential/presidential area, with each area being represented by at least one member. Should too few nominations for election (see Section 4) be received prior to April 30, the elections and executive committees will then recruit (or appoint) the number of members necessary to complete the proportion requirement. No current council members will be asked to leave the Council based on changes in the vice presidential / presidential areas.
• Section 3. Members will be elected for three-year terms. Terms of membership will run from September 1 through August 31 (unless appointment is made outside of the normal nomination time frame).
• Section 4. Nomination for election to the Council will be done through self-nomination or nomination by fellow employee(s) with prior consent of nominee. A nominating committee of five will be assembled from those Council members whose term has not expired. The committee will be responsible for facilitating the balloting process. Requests for nominations will be sent to all classified employees in March. Nominations will be accepted until April 30. The Vice-President will verify all nominations and as chair of the election committee will report the results to the full council at the May meeting. At that time no new nominations will be accepted until after the June meeting. All current members of the Council whose term expires in June who want to continue to serve must indicate their intention in writing to the Chair of the Election Committee by April 30. The CEAC President will notify newly elected Council members of their appointment and will apprise the University President of the names of both newly elected and continuing members.
• Section 5. Resignation: A council member wishing to resign will submit a letter of resignation to the CEAC President. Replacement for a resignation will be an employee recruited from that persons’ vice-presidential/presidential area (or the next lowest represented area) by the elections and executive committees. Should the vacated term remaining be six (6) months or less, the Council may choose, by a majority vote, to refrain from filling the vacancy until such time that an election is held. If the resigning member is also the Council President, the Vice President will serve out the remainder of the term. If the resigning member is also the Vice President, Treasurer or Secretary, an election will be held at the next council meeting.
• Section 6. The Professional Employees Advisory Council, the Faculty Senate, and the Presidents Office will each be invited to send one non-voting representative to attend Council meetings and participate in discussions.

Article IV. Officers

• Section 1. Officers of the Council will be a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Officers will be elected at the June meeting by the Council for terms of one (1) year. Term of office will run from September 1 through August 31. Nominations for Council Officers will be done at the May meeting. Any current Council member having served on the Council for at least six months may be nominated for office. Voting through secret ballot will be done by the members at the beginning of the June meeting. Two members of the election committee will tally the votes and report the election results to the Council by the end of the June meeting. If new council members and returning council members are not able to attend the June meeting, absentee ballots may be requested from the Chair of the Election Committee. Absentee ballots will need to be returned to an impartial election committee member (to be named at the May meeting) in a sealed envelope with his/her signature across the seal before the start of the June Council meeting. Once the meeting has started, absentee ballots will no longer be accepted. The ballots will then be opened by the impartial election committee member, keeping the identity of the voter secret.
• Section 2. Duties of the officers will be as follows: President develops agenda prior to meetings, presides at all meetings, may sit as member of all sub-committees, presents (or appoints a member of the Outstanding Employee Recognition Committee to present) the Outstanding Classified Employee award, either acts as controller of the FirstClass Classified Employee folder or appoint another Council member to handle those duties, and assumes responsibility for Council affairs between meetings. Vice-President assists the CEAC President in aforementioned duties and acts for the President when necessary; chairs the election committee for new Council members and officers, verifies willingness of nominated persons to serve on the Council and Committees of the Administration; and fulfills the duties of Secretary and Treasurer in their absence at any regularly scheduled meeting. Secretary keeps records of all council meetings, attends to all correspondence of the Council; and serves on the communications committee. Treasurer maintains records of all Council expenditures, manages and disperses the CEAC funds as Council directs, reports to Council at monthly meetings; and serves on the Development Funds Committee and the Development Day/Workshop Planning Committee (for budget keeping purposes).
• Section 3. The Executive Committee will consist of all Council officers. This executive committee will meet with the University President (and/or his/her designee) for communication and development of policies, not involving collective bargaining issues, as needed.
• Section 4. In the event that a Council member feels that a Council officer either consistently neglects his/her duties or acts in a manner that is deemed to be not in the best interest of the Council or the Classified employees as a whole, the matter shall be brought to the attention of the remaining executive committee members. If they unanimously agree with the member, the matter shall then be brought before the full Council. If at least 80% of the full Council membership agrees with the executive committee members, a vote will then be taken to remove the officer from his/her position. The vote must be taken by secret ballot or absentee ballot, and must be at least 80% in favor of the removal of the officer from office. Removal from office will be considered as a resignation and follow those procedures as outlined in Article III Section 5.

Article V. Meetings

• Section 1. Meetings of the Council will be at least once a month. The President may call additional meetings as needed. Regularly scheduled meetings will be planned for one and one half hours. Meetings will begin and end on time.
• Section 2. A quorum for voting purposes will consist of membership in attendance at any Council meeting. For the purpose of electing officers and changing the by-laws, 80% of the full membership needs to vote for it to be valid. The CEAC President will vote in cases of a tie.
• Section 3. The meeting held in June will be for the purpose of electing Council officers. Outgoing officers should work with new officers and provide them with sufficient historical paperwork to allow for a successful transition.
• Section 4. Any member who misses three consecutive meetings without notifying an officer may be replaced by an employee from that person’s vice presidential/presidential area (or the next lowest represented area) by the elections or the executive committee. Once a member misses the second consecutive meeting, a notice from the CEAC President will be sent to the member notifying them of their potential removal from the committee. Should the vacated position’s remaining term be six (6) months or less, the Council may choose, by a majority vote, to refrain from filling the vacancy until such time that an election is held.
• Section 5. All CEAC meetings are open to all classified employees, who are welcome to participate in discussions, but have no voting rights.

Article VI. Committees

• Section 1. Appointment to vacant seats on Committees of the Administration will be done at the May meeting. The chair of the elections/nomination sub-committee will forward the name(s) of appointees to the appropriate administrator. Current Council members will have first refusal for all vacant Committee seats.
• Section 2. The Council’s sub-committees include, but are not limited to, the following: Blood Drive Committee, By-Law Committee, Communication Committee, Development Day/Workshop Committee, Development Funds Committee, Elections/Nomination Committee, Fundraising Committee, and Outstanding Employee Committee. New sub-committees can be formed and current sub-committees be eliminated with a majority vote of current Council members. All sub-committees will meet and elect a chair and co-chair before the October meeting. If no Chair is elected, the Council President will appoint a chair for each sub-committee. Council members must sit on at least one sub-committee.
  • Blood Drive Committee – coordinates with the American Red Cross to establish a date for CEAC’s annual blood drive. Also reserves a room on campus for the blood drive, creates a schedule for donors to donate and volunteers to help the Red Cross, and helps the Red Cross with setting up and dismantling.
  • By-Law Committee – reviews CEAC’s by-laws annually and makes necessary changes upon approval of the Council. Sends revised by-laws to the University of Maine President for approval. Members know the by-laws, bring copies of them to meetings, and answer questions about them during CEAC meetings. If Council members have suggested changes to the by-laws, they will need to be submitted to the chair of the by-laws committee by April 30. The by-laws committee will review the suggested changes and submit them to the full Council by May 15 for voting at the June meeting.
  • Communication Committee – creates and sends out notices, mailings, etc. to Classified Employees via FirstClass and campus mail, thereby keeping them informed about what’s happening. Also updates CEAC’s website and FirstClass information folder.
  • Development Day/Workshop Committee – plans and executes CEAC’s annual Development Day and other various workshops offered to Classified Employees.
  • Development Fund Committee – reviews and approves Professional Development Fund applications and submits them for payment to CEAC’s Treasurer. Makes a report in June about how the funds were spent and submits it to the Council and the University of Maine President’s Office. The purpose of this fund is to provide assistance to classified employees to attend professional development on and off campus.
  • Elections/Nomination Committee – responsible for reviewing Nomination for Council Membership forms, oversees the election of new officers, and reviews nominations for the filling of seats for the Committees of the Administration. Notifies CEAC President of the names of those new and continuing Council members approved by the Committee. Also submits names of members wishing to serve on a Committee of the Administration to the appropriate contact person on that Committee. A minimum of five council members must sit on this committee.
  • Fundraising Committee – responsible for CEAC’s fundraising. Initiates various fundraising activities, and seeks to become involved in campus fundraising events, also soliciting volunteers to serve at those events. This committee will also work in conjunction with the Development Day/Workshop committee to help secure door prizes.
  • Outstanding Employee Recognition Committee – sends out the Outstanding Classified Employee Recognition form campus-wide in the Spring. Reviews the nominations and selects Classified employees to receive awards at the campus-wide outstanding employee recognition award ceremony held in May. Maintains a data base list of past recipients. One member also serves on the campus-wide employee recognition committee. Also responsible for posting names of award recipients on FirstClass and notifying the Department of Public Affairs.

Article VII. By-Laws

• Section 1. These By-Laws may be amended at any regular meeting of the Council by a vote of at least 80% of current Council membership. Any proposed changes to the by-laws shall be posted to the CEAC Discussion folder at least one week before the next regularly scheduled meeting.
• Section 2. When these by-laws have been approved by the President of the University of Maine, this document will be officially recognized as the By-Laws of the Classified Employees Advisory Council of the University of Maine.

Revision Dates

• Rev. 1. June 6, 1996
• Rev. 2. June 26, 1996
• Rev. 3. July 23, 1997
• Rev. 4. April 15, 1999
• Rev. 5. November 6, 2001
• Rev. 6. October 2004