History of the Council | Administrative Steering Committee Charter

Vision

Employees will regard Lafayette College as a great place to work.

Mission

The Administrative Steering Committee is dedicated to improving the experience of Administrative Staff at Lafayette College. On an ongoing basis, the committee identifies specific conditions for enhancement, sets measurable goals, and works collaboratively with involved parties to achieve them. This process is driven by feedback from Administrative Staff and any relevant data available.

Role

The Administrative Steering Committee is a representative body, composed of, and elected by Administrative Staff. It serves in an advisory capacity to the President regarding issues which are important to the Administrative Staff as a whole. In addition to this, with the approval of the President, the committee directly undertakes specific projects in furtherance of the goals of the Administrative Staff.

History

Former President, Daniel H. Weiss, formed the Administrative Steering Committee in late 2010 to continue the positive momentum from a Staff Summit held in June, 2010. This Charter was created and adopted by the committee in December of 2013 under President Alison Byerly, to provide a framework for the continued operation of the committee.

Composition*

The committee will consist of nine representatives from the divisions (based on full time administrators). The representation breakdown would be:

(2) Campus Life, including: Recreational Services, Student Development, Alcohol and Other Drug Services, Residence Life, Counseling Center, Intercultural Development, Health Services, Public Safety and Athletics

(1) Communications, including: Digital Communications, Development Communications, Design Services, Athletic Communications and Promotions, Content Strategy and Media Relations

(1) Development, including: Development, Career Services and Alumni Relations

(1) Enrollment Services, including: Enrollment Management, Admissions and Financial Aid

(1) Finance & Administration, including: Facilities, Facilities Planning, Finance Planning, Business Affairs (Controller, Accounts Payable, College Store, Copy Services, Post Office, Payroll, Scheduling Department)

(1) Provost (non-faculty positions), including: Institutional Research, Registrar, Arts, Advising & Co-Curricular Programs, Sponsored Programs, Meyner Center, CITLS

(1) ITS, including: IT Planning, User Services, Instructional Technology, Digital Infrastructure, Web Applications, and Enterprise Data Management Systems

(1) Chair

* This is not a comprehensive list of all departments, offices and centers. The composition should be reviewed following any reporting structure changes to insure fair representation.

Term

The President, a representative from Human Resources and a representative from the President’s Office serve as permanent ex officio members of the committee. Terms will last three years with one third of the committee rotating off annually. The election process will be managed by a combination of a rotating Elections Committee made up of the representatives from each division/area entering an election year. Any seats vacated since the previous term and the special election to fill the seat vacated by the chair will be filled at this time.

Committee Meetings and Quorum

The steering committee will have a standing monthly meeting and on substantive matters which require a vote, the committee must have a quorum of more than 50% of elected members present. Ex officio members do not count toward quorum. Representatives should attend at least 75% of meetings. Attendance will be taken and representatives who are unable to fulfill this obligation will be asked to step down from their position before the June election cycle.

Election Process

As committee members enter their third year of committee membership they will automatically form, together with the current Chair and/or Chair-Elect, the Election Committee. These members will be responsible for facilitating the election process during their last month of service (June). The divisions/areas represented by members in their third year will use separate polls to collect nominations for the open positions. Self-nominations are encouraged. Nominees will be contacted to allow them to accept the nomination and become a candidate, or decline the nomination. Outgoing committee members are eligible to run for re-election. Each division/area will put forth candidate(s) to be voted on by all administrators. Each administrator will have one vote per division/area with an open seat. The candidate with the highest vote totals will fill the vacant seat for each division/area. A tie for any of the open seats will be decided in favor of the candidate with the longest continuous employment at Lafayette College. Each division/area will only have one representative (excluding the chair).

At the first regular committee meeting after the election, all current, outgoing, and incoming members are welcome to attend. This meeting will be opened by the current chair, and conducted and concluded by the new chair.

Chair Selection

The Chair serves a one-year term. The current Chair will conduct the Chair election, monitored by the representative from the President’s Office. The current Chair is eligible to run for re-election if he or she will still be a member of the committee in the coming year.

Prior to the general election, the Chair election will be conducted among committee members. The current Chair will request self-nomination for the next Chairperson from among those committee members who have completed at least one year of service and who are not rotating off the committee. The current Chair will then send a survey to those same members to allow them each one vote for the next Chair. The candidate with the most votes becomes the Chair-Elect. The Chair-Elect then becomes the Chair at the same time the new members are seated.

The division/area of the Chair-Elect will hold a special one-year term election to determine a representative while their previously-elected representative fulfills the roles of the Chair. The Chair-Elect will join the Election Committee to facilitate this process for his/her division/area.

The Chair serves a one-year term.  Immediately after the completion of the general election, and before the next regular committee meeting, the Chair election will be conducted.  The current Chair will request self-nomination for the next Chairperson from among those committee members who have completed at least one year of service.  The current Chair will then send a survey to those same members to allow them each one vote for the next Chair.  The current chair is eligible to run for re-election if he or she will still be a member of the committee in the coming year.  The candidate with the most votes becomes the Chair-Elect.  The Chair-Elect then becomes the Chair at the same time the new members are seated.  The current Chair will conduct this election, monitored by the Executive Assistant to the President.