Special UFS Election

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Recently, it came to the DSC's attention that GC-appointed Graduate Assistants assigned to instructional hours do not have representation on University Faculty Senate. Since this affects over 600 graduate students who hold these Assistantships, the DSC is conducting a special election to send a representative for consideration by the UFS. This page outlines the background to this election, eligibility criteria, and election procedures. Please address any questions to dsc@cunydsc.org.

Background

The UFS represents full- and part-time instructional staff at all CUNY campuses. Each set of 60 full-time faculty receives one representative, and every campus having more than 60 members of the part-time instructional staff receives one and only one part-time seat.

Over 600 Graduate Assistants are appointed to instructional hours and therefore deserve representation on UFS. GC-appointed Graduate Assistants are in a unique position, since they are appointed by and paid through a campus where they do not perform their service. There are several hundred such Assistants, yet the GC has no part-time seat. Moreover, these Assistants are not counted at the campuses where they teach because they are not appointed by those campuses.

We believe that a senator for a part-time GC seat, elected by and from all GC part-time staff members having instructional hours, should be recognized under the existing UFS charter. To this end, we are conducting a special election to send a representative pro tempore for consideration by UFS.

The rationale for this election and its procedures are specified in the Resolution on UFS Representation, passed unanimously by the DSC Steering Committee on October 15, 2009.

Elections Process

This special election will occur in the following stages as outlined in the resolution:

1. Determination of Eligible Voters

The electorate will consist of all part-time staff members appointed by the Graduate Center to instructional hours.

Who is eligible Who is NOT eligible
  • Part-time members of the instructional staff of the Graduate Center
  • Graduate Assistants appointed by the Graduate Center AND assigned to instructional hours
  • Full-time faculty
  • Part-time faculty at non-GC campuses
  • Adjuncts appointed by non-GC campuses (these have representation at their campuses)
  • Graduate Assistant As
  • Graduate Assistants appointed by the Graduate Center without instructional hours
  • Graduate Assistants appointed by non-GC campuses (these may have representation at their campuses)
  • Any person holding the position of Chancellor, Deputy Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, University Administrator, University Associate Administrator, University Assistant Administrator, President, Provost, Vice President, Assistant Vice President, University Dean, University Associate Dean, University Assistant Dean, Dean, Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, Administrator, Associate Administrator, Assistant Administrator, Visiting Professor, Visiting Associate Professor, Visiting Assistant Professor, Research Associate, Research Assistant, Clinical Assistant, Registrar, Associate Registrar, Assistant Registrar, Registrar's Assistant, Higher Education Officer, Higher Education Associate, Higher Education Assistant, Assistant to Higher Education Officer, Higher Education Intern, Business Manager, Assistant Business Manager, Assistant to Business Manager, or whose duties are predominantly administrative in nature, not directly related to teaching and research, except in the case of department chairs.

2. Determination of the Elections Review Committee

The ad-hoc Elections Review Committee (ERC) will consist of all members of the Steering Committee who are not eligible voters.

3. Nominations

All eligible voters may nominate themselves or other eligible voters by sending the name, program, and phone/email of the nominee(s) to Shawn Rice, Co-Chair for Communications, at dsc@shawnrice.org or Room 5495 on or before November 5, 2009. Receipt of nominations will be confirmed via email within 7 days.

4. Ballot Preparation

The DSC will contact all nominees to determine their interest in serving. The names of those who accept their nominations will be added to the official ballot, which will be reviewed by the ERC.

5. Election

The election will be conducted using VoteNet's eBallot, which has been used to conduct DSC elections successfully for the past two years.

Within 2 weeks following the close of nominations, the DSC will notify voters that the ballot is available at https://eballot.votenet.com/dsc. Elections shall remain open for 10 days, and write-in votes will be accepted.

Only members of the ERC will have access to election returns.

6. Review of Returns

The ERC shall review all returns and certify the winner of the election. The winner shall be deemed the Graduate Center's Part-Time University Faculty Senator Pro Tempore and announced publicly at http://cunydsc.org.

7. Recommendation to UFS

The name of the senator pro tempore will be sent to the UFS with a copy of the resolution requesting their recognition, with voice and vote, at the first meeting of UFS following certification of the election results.

Disclaimer

The UFS is the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members. The winner of this election is not guaranteed a seat on UFS.