Meeting of the Shimer College Assembly
Sunday, March 17, 2013: 3:30
Cinderella Lounge
AGENDA
Approval of the Minutes of November 14, 2012
Committee Reports*
Administrative Committee
Agenda Committee
APC
Budget Committee
Financial Aid Committee
QLC
Motion (from the Agenda Committee):
Motion: (motivated by David Shiner):
Motions from the Governance Committee
Motion I. Institutional Goals and Assessment Committee
Membership: One member each from the Faculty and the administrative staff, two students, one internal member of the Board of Trustees, one external member of the Board of Trustees, and one member from the Assembly-at-large. In the event that no candidates are available for reserved Trustee or constituency seats at the time of election, their seats may be filled by members from the Assembly-at-large. Students must have attended Shimer College for at least one year and be in good academic and social standing to serve. After the first election, members are elected for overlapping two-year terms at the first Assembly meeting of the spring semester. Trustees whose terms on the Board end during their term on the Committee cease to be members and are replaced by election. The Chairperson is elected by the Committee membership at its first meeting. When the Committee is without a Chairperson, the Committee is convened by the most senior member from the internal community.
Motion II. Committee for Institutional Transparency
To be inserted into Section V of the Constitution:
The Committee for Institutional Transparency ensures that the Shimer Community is well informed about the direction and administration of the College, and serves as a resource for members of the community who have questions concerning the direction and administration of the College.
To carry out its mission, the Committee:
At its discretion, the Committee may elect to inform only a supervisor and/or the Speaker of the Assembly and/or the President about a particular matter or issue.
The Committee may not inquire into or disseminate information about matters that do not affect the direction and administration of the College, and complies with the Policy For Shimer College Publications adopted in August of 2003 and revised in March of 2005 insofar as the policy applies to the Committee’s activities.
The Committee respects the legitimate need for privacy and confidentiality, as in matters relating to the retention of personnel and other matters, in accordance with principle seven of the Declaration of Principles of Shared Governance at Shimer College, adopted by the Assembly on November 15, 2009, which reads in part: “When […] peril [to the College] or [liability] exposure actually exists, measures can and should be taken to protect the College while respecting its shared governance. The nature of the invoked threat should be explained as specifically as the welfare of the College permits.”
Membership: One member each from the Faculty and the administrative staff, three students, and two members from the Assembly-at-large. Students must have attended Shimer College for at least one year and be in good academic and social standing to serve. After the first election, members are elected for overlapping two-year terms at the first Assembly meeting of the spring semester. The Chairperson is elected by the Committee membership at its first meeting. When the Committee is without a Chairperson, the member with the most seniority at Shimer convenes the Committee, and a Chair is elected by the membership at the first meeting.
At the first election of a committee whose members serve two-year overlapping terms, or in the event that all seats in such a committee are vacant, up to 60% of the members elected (four in the case of seven-member committees) may opt for one-year terms. If fewer than 40% (three in the case of seven-member committees) do so, additional members, selected in last-name alphabetical order, will have one-year terms until the proportion of single-year members reaches 40% of the total elected.
At the discretion of the Agenda Committee, the first election of a newly constituted Assembly committee may take place at a time of the academic year different from the time prescribed in that committee’s constitutional description.
Announcements
Adjournment
Note: after the Assembly has voted upon David Shiner’s amendment, the remaining time until 6:00 will be spent in discussing the motions brought to us from the Governance Committee. Note that these motions are only a part of that committee’s general charge, but they are motions which will affect our election processes and the running of the college and the assembly. At 6:00, as speaker, I will stop the discussion to assess whether or not we are ready to vote upon any of these motions. If so, we will proceed. If not, we will identify for the Governance Committee those things which we would like to see in a different form and which would then be further discussed at a fireside.
Note: all of the motions on this agenda are amendments to the Constitution. As such, they need a 2/3 vote of those present.
Sunday, March 17, 2013: 3:30
Cinderella Lounge
AGENDA
Approval of the Minutes of November 14, 2012
Committee Reports*
Administrative Committee
Agenda Committee
APC
Budget Committee
Financial Aid Committee
QLC
Motion (from the Agenda Committee):
That
all Assembly Officers except the Secretary and all committees which are
not open to new students be elected in the Spring semester, effective
after graduation of the year in which they are elected.
Motion: (motivated by David Shiner):
The
Administrative and Budget Committees are hereby suspended until such
time as the Assembly votes to reinstate them. If this suspension is not
lifted within one year from today, those committees will be defunct.
Motions from the Governance Committee
Motion I. Institutional Goals and Assessment Committee
To be inserted into Section V of the Constitution:
The
Institutional Goals and Assessment Committee represents the Shimer
community as a whole in the setting of long-term goals for the College
and contributes to the composition and implementation of the College’s
Strategic Plan. To this end, the Committee:- Promotes ongoing, community-wide discussion of the identity, mission, and long-term objectives of the College.
- On the basis of such discussion, formulates strategic goals of the College.3. Presents a written proposal to the general committee that is periodically formed, at the initiative of the Board of Trustees, to write or revise the Strategic Plan.4. Makes general budgetary recommendations, to be included in the proposal, to financially sustain and give due priority to the strategic goals it proposes or supports. Specific amounts for budget line items are not within the purview of the Committee.
- Advises the President or other senior staff when they seek the sense and opinions of the community as a whole on strategic issues
- At least one member of the Committee is to participate in the interviewing of candidates for senior administrative positions.
- Assesses the progress of the College toward strategic goals:
- Checks that self-assessment by departments and offices of their progress toward strategic objectives is taking place.
- Checks that such self-assessment is adequately informed by data.
- Makes recommendations to departments and offices regarding their strategic self-assessment.
- In the event that the Committee finds that strategic goals are not being adequately pursued, or progress toward them not adequately assessed, by one or more departments or offices, it will bring the problem to the Assembly.
- On the basis of departmental and office strategic self-assessments, produces and disseminates to the community a summary assessment of institutional progress toward long-term goals every other year.
Membership: One member each from the Faculty and the administrative staff, two students, one internal member of the Board of Trustees, one external member of the Board of Trustees, and one member from the Assembly-at-large. In the event that no candidates are available for reserved Trustee or constituency seats at the time of election, their seats may be filled by members from the Assembly-at-large. Students must have attended Shimer College for at least one year and be in good academic and social standing to serve. After the first election, members are elected for overlapping two-year terms at the first Assembly meeting of the spring semester. Trustees whose terms on the Board end during their term on the Committee cease to be members and are replaced by election. The Chairperson is elected by the Committee membership at its first meeting. When the Committee is without a Chairperson, the Committee is convened by the most senior member from the internal community.
Motion II. Committee for Institutional Transparency
To be inserted into Section V of the Constitution:
The Committee for Institutional Transparency ensures that the Shimer Community is well informed about the direction and administration of the College, and serves as a resource for members of the community who have questions concerning the direction and administration of the College.
To carry out its mission, the Committee:
- Proactively inquires into the direction and administration of the College, as by reviewing documents, interviewing and corresponding with staff, or other means.
- Disseminates information about itself and its mission, at least once per semester.
- Disseminates information about the direction and administration of the College, at least once per semester, through written reports, newsletters, or other means.
- Creates opportunities, at least once per semester, for members of the community to become well-informed about the state of the College, through Fireside discussions, question and answer sessions with members of the staff, or other means.
- Solicits and considers requests from any member or members of the Shimer community that the Committee inquire into and report on a matter or issue identified by the community member or members.
At its discretion, the Committee may elect to inform only a supervisor and/or the Speaker of the Assembly and/or the President about a particular matter or issue.
The Committee may not inquire into or disseminate information about matters that do not affect the direction and administration of the College, and complies with the Policy For Shimer College Publications adopted in August of 2003 and revised in March of 2005 insofar as the policy applies to the Committee’s activities.
The Committee respects the legitimate need for privacy and confidentiality, as in matters relating to the retention of personnel and other matters, in accordance with principle seven of the Declaration of Principles of Shared Governance at Shimer College, adopted by the Assembly on November 15, 2009, which reads in part: “When […] peril [to the College] or [liability] exposure actually exists, measures can and should be taken to protect the College while respecting its shared governance. The nature of the invoked threat should be explained as specifically as the welfare of the College permits.”
Membership: One member each from the Faculty and the administrative staff, three students, and two members from the Assembly-at-large. Students must have attended Shimer College for at least one year and be in good academic and social standing to serve. After the first election, members are elected for overlapping two-year terms at the first Assembly meeting of the spring semester. The Chairperson is elected by the Committee membership at its first meeting. When the Committee is without a Chairperson, the member with the most seniority at Shimer convenes the Committee, and a Chair is elected by the membership at the first meeting.
Motion 3: Procedure for Plenary Elections of Committees Whose Members Serve Two-Year Overlapping Terms
To be inserted after the first paragraph of section V of the Constitution:
At the first election of a committee whose members serve two-year overlapping terms, or in the event that all seats in such a committee are vacant, up to 60% of the members elected (four in the case of seven-member committees) may opt for one-year terms. If fewer than 40% (three in the case of seven-member committees) do so, additional members, selected in last-name alphabetical order, will have one-year terms until the proportion of single-year members reaches 40% of the total elected.
Motion 4: First election of New Committees
To be inserted after the first paragraph of section V of the Constitution:
At the discretion of the Agenda Committee, the first election of a newly constituted Assembly committee may take place at a time of the academic year different from the time prescribed in that committee’s constitutional description.
Announcements
Adjournment
Note: after the Assembly has voted upon David Shiner’s amendment, the remaining time until 6:00 will be spent in discussing the motions brought to us from the Governance Committee. Note that these motions are only a part of that committee’s general charge, but they are motions which will affect our election processes and the running of the college and the assembly. At 6:00, as speaker, I will stop the discussion to assess whether or not we are ready to vote upon any of these motions. If so, we will proceed. If not, we will identify for the Governance Committee those things which we would like to see in a different form and which would then be further discussed at a fireside.
Note: all of the motions on this agenda are amendments to the Constitution. As such, they need a 2/3 vote of those present.
