Faculty and Staff Electoral Procedures
1. Administration of Election
(a) The University Secretary shall be the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) responsible for the overall co-ordination, implementation and administration of the election of students to the Board of Governors, on behalf of the Governance Committee of the Board of Governors.
(b) At the discretion of the University Secretary, the responsibilities of CEO may be delegated to the Associate or Assistant University Secretary.
2. Term of Office
(a) The Term of Office for faculty and staff appointed to the Board of Governors shall begin September 1st and end August 31st. The term of office shall be three years in length.
(b) A faculty member or staff member shall be eligible to stand for re-election, in accordance with the eligibility requirements as outlined in section 4.
3. Representation
3.1 Faculty
(a) The composition of the Board of Governors shall include three faculty members elected by and from the Senate of the University of Guelph1,2.
3.2 Staff
(a) The composition of the Board of Governors shall include two staff members elected by and from the full-time staff1.
(b) At least one seat shall be held by an individual who is also an alumnus of the University of Guelph.
4. Eligibility
4.1 Faculty
(a) In order to be eligible to nominate, a faculty member must hold a probationary or tenured appointment as Professor, Associate Professor or Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph2.
(i) A faculty member on leave of absence, if otherwise eligible, shall be able to nominate.
(b) In order to be eligible to stand for election, a faculty member must have held a probationary or tenured appointment as Professor, Associate Professor or Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph for at least twelve months prior to the beginning of the semester in which the election is held2.
(c) A faculty member on leave of absence shall be considered ineligible to stand for election unless they shall be returning to the University for the first semester for which they are standing for election.
4.2 Staff
(a) In order to be eligible to nominate, a staff member must hold a regular full-time, non-academic appointment3 at the University of Guelph.
(i) A staff member on leave of absence, if otherwise eligible, shall be able to nominate.
(b) In order to be eligible to stand for election, a staff member must have held a regular full-time, non-academic appointment at the University of Guelph for at least twelve months prior to the beginning of the semester in which the election is held.
(i) In order to be eligible to stand for election for the Staff/Alumnus seat, a staff member must also be a graduate of the University of Guelph.
(c) A staff member on leave of absence shall be considered ineligible to stand for election unless they shall be returning to the University for the first semester for which they are standing for election.
(d) In order to be eligible to vote, a staff member must hold a regular full-time, non-academic appointment at the University of Guelph.
5. Retention of Seat
(a) A faculty member or staff member who for any reason leaves the regular full-time employ of the University shall forfeit their seat on the Board of Governors.
(b) Faculty and staff who are members of the Board of Governors must satisfy all other applicable rules for membership in accordance with the General By-Laws4 of the Board of Governors of the University of Guelph.
(c) If an elected or appointed faculty member or staff member becomes or will become ineligible to continue as a member of the Board of Governors, they shall notify the CEO within two weeks of learning of the change affecting eligibility.
6. Vacancies and Replacements
(a) If a vacancy occurs after the election, a replacement shall be made by automatic appointment of the candidate who holds the next highest number of votes5 from the results of the same election and satisfies all other applicable rules for membership on the Board of Governors.
(b) If there are no eligible replacements, the Governance Committee shall make a determination as to whether a by-election shall be held6.
(c) An individual appointed or elected to fill a vacancy shall hold office only for the remainder of the predecessor’s term.
7. Nomination and Election Periods
(a) Precise dates for the annual Nomination and Election Periods shall be established by the CEO no less than six months in advance.
(b) The annual Election Period shall be held in the Winter semester.
(c) The Nomination Period shall be no less than 7 calendar days in length.
(d) The Election Period shall be no less than 72 hours in length, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays.
8. Nominations
(a) Nominations must be submitted on the nomination form issued by the CEO, and:
(i) show the name, title, department or faculty and signature of ten nominators;
(ii) show the name, title, department or faculty and signature of concurrence of the nominee;
(iii) be submitted before the end of the Nomination Period.
(b) Should an insufficient number of nominations be received during the Nomination Period to fill the available seats on the Board of Governors, a by-election shall be held at the beginning of the following Fall semester. Failure to fill a seat in the by-election will result in the seat remaining vacant for the duration of the current year of the Term of Office.
9. Elections
9.1 Faculty
(a) Faculty shall be elected by the Senate of the University of Guelph, in accordance with the Regulations Governing the Nomination of Senate-elected Representatives to the Board of Governors.
9.2 Staff
(a) When the number of nominations exceeds the number of seats available for staff members on the Board of Governors, an election shall be held.
(b) The means by which votes are cast shall be determined by the CEO. Normally, voting shall proceed through use of an internet-accessible electronic voting method and ballots shall be issued to all eligible staff members by way of the University’s official electronic mail system.
(c) A voting list of all eligible staff members shall be provided by the Associate Vice-President Human Resources to the CEO.
(d) A single-member plurality (“first past the post”) voting system shall be used.
(e) When the number of nominations is equal to or less than the number of seats available for staff members on the Board of Governors, the nominee(s) shall be acclaimed7.
(f) Each candidate shall enjoy the right to campaign and inform8 those employees eligible to vote of their candidacy in a manner consistent with relevant University policies9 and regulations.
10. Election Results
(a) In the case of an equality of votes where the election of the candidates receiving an equal number of votes would result in the election of a greater number of candidates than there are available seats for a particular constituency, the CEO shall determine the candidate or candidates to be declared elected, by lot, in the presence of all candidates receiving an equal number of votes.
(i) For the purposes of this section, “lot” means the method of determining the successful candidate(s) by writing the names of the candidates on pieces of paper equal in size, folded identically and placed in a receptacle. The CEO shall withdraw the appropriate number10 of names from the receptacle and those names shall be considered to have received one more vote and are thereby elected.
(b) Normally, preliminary election results shall be released and posted publicly on the next business day following the close of the Election Period.
(c) Election results shall remain preliminary for a period of seven calendar days following the close of the Election Period.
(d) Election results shall be presented to the Governance Committee, which has the responsibility to present the proposed student appointments to the Board of Governors for final approval.
11. Irregularities
(a) If during the course of the election, it appears to any candidate or member of the student body that an irregularity has occurred, it must be reported to the CEO in writing within seven calendar days following the close of the Election Period
(i) For the purposes of this section, “irregularity” means a contravention of these regulations that could reasonably hold the potential to affect the outcome of the election.
(b) The CEO will consider and attempt to resolve any complaints that arise regarding the electoral process. All complaints received will be dealt with in a timely manner.
(i) For the purposes of this section, “complaints” means assertions of irregularities.
(c) If the complaint cannot be resolved, the CEO shall determine whether they will:
(i) Make a final decision regarding outcome; or
(ii) Convene an ad-hoc committee (the “Committee”) to further investigate the complaint where the CEO finds that:
a. The irregularity has the potential to affect the outcome of the election; and,
b. The irregularity is sufficiently complex to require further investigation
(d) The Committee will investigate any complaint referred to it by the CEO, and make a recommendation regarding outcome to the Governance Committee. The decision of the Governance Committee regarding outcome shall be final.
(e) The CEO shall provide a report to the Governance Committee summarizing all complaints received and their disposition.
12. Related University Policies
Following is a non-exhaustive list of related University policies and procedures:
- Acceptable Use Policy
- Human Rights Policy
- Mass E-Mail Policy
13. Document Authority and Information
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Approved Date: |
October 23, 2014 |
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Last Revised Date: |
March 10, 2020 |
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Next Review Date: |
No later than 5 years from date of last approval |
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Authority/Ownership: |
Board of Governors, on recommendation of the Governance Committee |
n:\governing documents of bog and senate\regulations on elections and appointments\bog_procedures governing the election of faculty & staff to bog_oct 2014.docx
[1] In accordance with Board of Governors By-Law No.2
[2] Professional Librarians are also eligible, provided they hold a probationary or continuing appointment as Librarian, Associate Librarian or Assistant Librarian at the University of Guelph.
[3] Includes veterinarians and members of the Colleges Academic and Research Group (CARG)
[4] Board By-Law No.1, s.5
[5] Or next highest weighted sum of votes, in the case of faculty elected by the Senate and in accordance with Preferential Voting Method for Senate-related Elections (approved April 2012).
[6] In the case where a by-election is not held, the seat shall remain vacant for the remainder of the current year of the Term of Office.