Meetings and Voting

What to expect at a P&A Senate meeting
P&A Senate meetings are held on five Fridays each academic year from 9:30-11:30 a.m. All Senate meetings will be held via Zoom conferencing until further notice. 

Senate meetings are led by the chair of the senate, who sets the agenda in consultation with other senate members. Guest speakers are often included in the full senate meetings. Each subcommittee is required to give a report of their activities.  

A typical P&A Senate meeting begins with reports (3-5 minutes each) from the chair and subcommittee chair/co-chairs regarding their activities since the last senate meeting. Brief reports from the other senates (Civil Service, Student, Faculty) may also be presented. Resolutions and proposals may be presented for discussion and/or action. Usually an item is presented first for discussion at one senate meeting, then revised and presented for action at the following senate meeting. The remainder of each meeting is spent considering reports from leadership or other committees, or may involve presentations on current system events.

The first meeting of the academic year - a retreat and orientation - is held in August, and all senators and alternates are expected to attend. This meeting lasts approximately four hours. The leadership of the senate is introduced, updates on pending matters provided, senators choose their subcommittee assignment, and items to address in the upcoming academic year are discussed.   

All P&A Senate and subcommittee meetings should be an inclusive and welcoming space for all. 

How does voting work?

Voting will occur at some P&A Senate meetings. Senators are eligible to vote, and alternates should vote only if one of the senators from their unit is absent. Senators are responsible for notifying their alternate if they will be absent from a meeting, and should copy their Senate Office staff on the correspondence.  

What if I need to miss a meeting?

Senators and alternates should notify their Senate Office staff if they cannot attend a senate meeting. Another P&A from their unit may attend in their place as an alternate if their unit alternate is not available or the unit does not have a seated alternate. Note that the bylaws stipulate that a P&A senator forfeits their membership in the senate if they neglect two meetings a year. 

Per Article VII, Section 4 of the Bylaws: "A member of the P&A Senate shall be said to have neglected a meeting of either the University Senate or the P&A Senate if the member does not attend and does not either provide an alternate or notify the Senate Office of the impending absence. A member of the P&A Senate shall forfeit membership by neglecting two meetings of the P&A Senate in an academic year. A P&A member of the University Senate shall forfeit membership by neglecting two meetings of the University Senate in an academic year. The Senate Office shall notify any member who will forfeit P&A Senate membership by neglecting the next meeting of the University or P&A Senate."