Duties and Responsibilities

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Duties and Responsibilities of UB Faculty Senators

  A. Alternates

i. Selection. Annually, each elected Senator shall forward to the secretary of the Senate by April 30 the name of the Alternate designated to fulfill all the duties and responsibilities of Senate membership at meetings of the Senate in the absence of the Senator. If the electoral unit represented by the Senator has not established procedures for the designation of the Alternate, the Senator shall name his/her Alternate.

ii. Restrictions on selection.

a. Alternates must be chosen from the same electoral unit as the Senator.

b. No person shall serve as alternate concurrently to more than one Senator, nor shall any Senator serve as Alternate.

c. Officer(s) of the University at Buffalo Faculty Senate do not have alternates.

d. Alternates for Senators in the University Faculty Senate of the State University of New York are chosen according to the procedure described in 1.E.v above.

B. Attendance.

Election to the UB Faculty Senate entails the obligation to attend its meetings. If an elected Senator and his/her Alternate are absent from two consecutive meetings of the Senate, or from three meetings during the academic year, without explanation of such absence satisfactory to the Chair of the Senate (from whose decision appeal may be taken to the Executive Committee), or if an elected Senator and his/her Alternate are absent from four meetings during the academic year even with explanation, the Senator's membership in the Senate shall cease (terminating thereby the service of the Alternate). Upon notification to the electoral unit by the Secretary of the Senate, the electoral unit shall elect a replacement to fill the unexpired term. The vacant seat will not be counted in the determination of a quorum; nor will any unfilled seat.

C. Notification.

Senators who are unable to attend a Senate meeting are responsible for informing their alternates of that fact and for providing the alternate with the appropriate meeting documentation.

Duties and Responsibilities of FSEC Representatives

A. Alternates.

Senators chosen as FSEC representatives do not have alternates in their role as FSEC representatives.

B. Attendance.

Election to the FSEC entails the obligation to attend its meetings. If an FSEC representative is absent from two consecutive meetings of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, or from three meetings during the academic year, without explanation of such absence satisfactory to the Chair of the Senate (from whose decision appeal may be taken to the Executive Committee), the Senator's membership in the Faculty Senate Executive Committee shall cease and, upon notification to the electoral unit by the Secretary of the Senate, the electoral unit shall, following its own procedures, choose a successor from among the unit's faculty senators to fill the unexpired term.

C. Liaison Role.

The FSEC representatives from the individual units, with the advice of the Secretary of the Senate, shall function in a liaison capacity between the Secretary and their respective units.

i. They shall be responsible for verifying and reporting to the Secretary the number of Voting Faculty in their respective units.

ii. They shall assist those responsible for their unit's elections, and in turn report to the Secretary any changes or special circumstances affecting the representation of the unit in the Senate.

iii. They shall have responsibility for caucusing with the other Senators from their electoral unit and for liaising with their electoral unit.