Mediation Committee Bylaws

1. Responsibility

   1. To assist the President or his/her designee and the member in attempting to effect a resolution regarding a written statement of sanction that involves termination.

2. Membership

   1. There shall be one member of the committee from each of the four schools (Ancell School of Business, Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences, School of Professional Studies, School of Visual and Performing Arts) and one from the Librarians, Counselors, and Coaches group, and three alternates elected from the AAUP membership. In each of the group of five members and three alternates no more than one can be from any one of the four schools or from the Librarians, Counselors, and Coaches group. The terms will be overlapping two year terms. The election shall be in accordance with the Nominations and Elections Committee Bylaws established in the faculty handbook.
   2. Members of the Mediation Committee who are disqualified for bias or interest shall remove themselves from the case, either at the request of a party or on their own initiative and be replaced by an alternate. The alternate selected to replace the removed member shall be the alternate who garnered the most votes in the election.
   3. A member of this committee may not serve concurrently on the University Termination Hearing Committee.
   4. Should a vacancy occur on the Committee or among the alternatives which cannot be filled pursuant to the procedures in the Nominations and Elections Committee Bylaws, the President of the University or his/her designee and the Senate President shall meet to mutually select a representative to fill the vacancy in accordance with the membership rules established in II.A through II.C above. Each will submit a list of three names of possible replacements that comply with the membership rules. The President or his/her designee and the Senate President shall alternately strike one name from the combined lists, until only one name remains; a toss of a coin shall determine who strikes the first name.

3. Conduct of Business

   1. Meetings
      1. The first meeting of the committee following election of new members shall be convened by the previous chairperson if that individual shall continue to serve on the committee. In his/her absence, the President of the University Senate will designate a committee member to convene the committee.
      2. The chairperson shall be elected by a majority vote at the first meeting of each academic year.
      3. At the first meeting of the academic year, the committee chairperson will distribute the committee bylaws for review and discussion.
      4. These bylaws may be amended by two-thirds of members present at any regularly scheduled meeting at which there is a quorum and with the approval of the university Senate and the University President.
      5. A quorum shall consist of five members (both elected and elected alternates).
      6. Decisions of the committee shall be made by the majority vote of those members present.
      7. Attendance and participation for meeting may occur either when members are physically present or via audio/web conferencing or a combination of two.
         1. If all members are physically present for the meeting, voting will occur verbally.
         2. If meetings are held via audio/web conferencing, or if some members are on audio/web conferencing and others physically present, a roll call vote will be conducted.
         3. In the event a vote is required between meetings an email vote will be conducted and the motion and results of the voting will be recorded in the meeting minutes.
      8. Minutes of all meetings shall be recorded by the chair.

4. Procedures

   1. The Mediation Committee shall conduct itself in accordance with the procedures established in the CSU-AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement.
   2. In the event members are replaced mid-term resulting in more than five members up for re-election, the committee shall choose the appropriate number of members by lot and request the University Senate President to extend the terms of those members by one year to restore the system to five and three alternates.