History of the Council | Administrative Council Charter

Vision

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

Mission

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

Role

The Administrative Council is a representative body, composed of, and elected by staff and administrators.  It serves in an advisory capacity to the President regarding issues which are important to the staff and administrator body as a whole.  In addition to this, with the approval of the President, the Council 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. The name was changed to Administrative Council. 

Composition*

The Administrative Council will consist of twenty-one (21) elected representatives from all divisions (based on full time employees). In addition, A representative from the President’s Office will serve as a permanent ex officio member of the Administrative Council. The breakdown of elected representation on the Council is as follows: 

  • (2) Academic (non-faculty positions)
  • (2) Advancement
  • (1) Athletics
  • (1) Communications
  • (2) Enrollment Services
  • (5) Finance & Administration
    • at least (1) from Finance 
    • at least (1) from Facilities
    • at least (1) from Public Safety
    • at least (1) from Human Resources
    • (1) from any area of Finance & Administration (includes support staff within the President’s Office)
  • (1) Inclusion
  • (2) Information Technology Services
  • (2) Student Life
  • (1) Union Representative (any division)
  • (1) Chair (any division, elected from within Administrative Council)
  • (1) Vice Chair (any division, elected from within Administrative Council)
  • (1) President’s Office liaison (ex officio)

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

Term

Regular member terms will last three years with each term beginning on July 1 after elections and concluding June 30 of the following year. Approximately one third of the Council terms will be up for reelection annually. Vacant seats and seats up for reelection may be temporarily assigned shorter terms in order to more evenly distribute members across the term class years. The election process will be managed by a rotating Elections Committee made up of the representatives whose terms are ending during that given year. Any seats vacated since the previous term and the special election to fill the seats vacated by the chair-elect and vice chair-elect will be filled at this time.

Council Meetings and Quorum

The Administrative Council will have a standing monthly member meeting and on substantive matters which require a vote, the Council 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 Administrative Council members enter the third year of their term, 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 months of service (May-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 Council members are eligible to run for re-election for two full and consecutive terms. If no other staff or administrators from the outgoing member’s division or area are nominated for the following term, the member may run again for an additional term. Each division/area will put forth candidate(s) to be voted on by all staff and administrators. Each staff member and administrator may submit one ballot to vote on divisions/areas with open seats. 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. 

At the first regular Administrative Council member 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 & Vice Chair Selection

The Chair and Vice Chair each serve a one-year term.  The current Chair will conduct the Chair and Vice Chair election, monitored by the representative from the President’s Office.  The current Chair and Vice Chair are eligible to run for re-election if they will still be a member of the Administrative Council in the coming year.  

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

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

LAST REVISIONS APPROVED: April 25, 2024 by Administrative Council vote