BYLAWS — EMPLOYEE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Texas A&M University

Article I - Name
The name of the organization shall be Employee Advisory Committee, hereafter referred to as the Committee.

Article II - Purpose
The purpose of the Committee is to act as an advisory body to the Vice President for Facilities; to provide a forum in which staff can raise, discuss and make recommendations on current non-academic policies and procedures; and to facilitate good communication on behalf of and among staff members.

The Committee will not act in an advocacy role in any specific employee/employer policy matter or dispute within the University, nor will it assume the role of arbitrator in any such manner.

Article III - Representation
The Committee shall consist of 14 elected members representing the Division of Facilities. There will be at least one representative for each department, with some departments having multiple representatives, i.e., Physical Plant (PP) — Landscape, Maintenance, Utilities, etc. The committee will consist of the following: Airport-1; FCOR-1; PP-Custodial-3; PP-Construction-2; PP-Maintenance-2; PP-Landscape-2; PP-Administrative Services-1; PP-Facilities-1; and PP-Utilities-1.

Standing Ex-officio members will consist of the Vice President for Facilities, the Assistant Vice President for Facilities and the Assistant Vice President for Physical Plant, and a support person in the Office of the Vice President for Facilities. Additional Ex-officio members may be appointed by the Chair to provide special service or lend expertise including a representative from Employee Services and/or the Assistant Director for Employee Services.

Article IV - Eligibility
Full time, budgeted employees within the Division of Facilities who have a minimum of two years service within the University are eligible for election to the Committee. Employees in positions higher than first-line supervisor are not eligible to serve on the Committee.

No person shall be excluded on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, age, education or physical limitations.

Article V - Elections
Election for a position on the Committee shall be held during the month of May each year and will be conducted through secret balloting.

Eligible employees seeking a position on the Committee and eligible employees who may be nominated by another employee shall provide a brief statement of experience, interest, etc. (maximum of 50 words) to the Employee Advisory Committee.

Candidate statements will be incorporated into the ballots, which will be color-coded by specific departmental groups. Ballots will be mailed to full time budgeted employees (name and title will be obtained by computer-generated mailing labels, by title codes). The candidate receiving the highest number of votes will be elected to serve in the position.

Any full time budgeted staff member, whose position meets First Line Supervisor eligibility requirements outlined in Article IV of these bylaws, whose department is assigned to the Division of Facilities, shall be eligible to cast a vote for their representative(s) during a regular election if an open position is available.

If vacancy should occur on the Committee, the position shall be filled by the person receiving the next highest number of votes from the same specified departmental group from which the vacancy occurred. If there was no other nominee from the first election, a special election will be held to nominate a new representative. A special election should occur for that department if the last election exceeds twelve months.

Notification letters from the Vice President for Facilities will be sent to new committee members' Directors with copies sent to the members’ supervisors.

Article VI - Term
The term for the member shall be a three-year period. A member of the Committee may serve two consecutive terms for a total of six years. A member of the committee may serve in an Ex-Officio capacity if actively involved with a project they may need to complete. This will be at the discretion of the Chair.

Article VII - Officers
Officers shall consist of a Chair and Vice Chair and shall be elected on an annual basis. Officers will be elected during the May Committee meeting each year.

Committee members wishing to hold an officer position shall either apply or be nominated for the position at the May meeting of the Committee each year. Officers will be elected by secret ballot.

The Chair is responsible for the smooth, effective operation of the Committee. The Vice-Chair shall oversee attendance records, communicate with speakers, assist and preside in the absence of the Chair. The Recorder, an ex-officio member and appointed by the Vice President for Facilities, shall see that minutes of all meetings are kept and distributed to members in a timely manner for approval at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Article VIII - Meetings
The Committee shall meet monthly. Special meetings may be called by the Chair as deemed necessary.

Article IX - Origination of Matters for Consideration
All employees are encouraged to communicate concerns and/or suggestions to any representative of the Committee. That member will then be responsible for presenting the item to the entire Committee as a possible agenda item. If the Committee feels that the item warrants further discussion, it may be designated as an agenda item. Agenda items will be assigned a specific date for further discussion. Committee members may request the presence of guest speakers who may be able to offer information on the topic of discussion. After discussion of agenda items, should the Committee feel an item merits action, a memo reporting the Committee's area(s) of concern should be sent to the Vice President for Facilities.

The Vice President for Facilities will communicate matters of interest and importance to the Committee.

Article X - Communications
The Committee will make an active effort to communicate with all division employees through email, hard copies and verbal communication. Each committee member will be responsible for distributing information to the employees within the departments whom they represent. Communication will also be made by using the EAC web page www.tamu.edu/vpa/eac/. The approved minutes from the Committee meeting should be posted and distributed in a timely manner to individual departments within the Division of Facilities and on the EAC web page.

Article XI - Sub-Committees
Sub-committee chairpersons shall be appointed and dissolved at the Chair's discretion.

Article XII - Amendments
Proposed amendments to these Bylaws may be introduced by any committee member at any meeting. Proposed amendments must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the members before final changes to the amendment can be made.

Two-thirds majority means two-thirds of the membership in attendance at any regular meeting of the Committee.

Article XIII - Attendance
Each member should have no more than three (3) unexcused absences during each year of the three-year term. A member who exceeds this limit will be excused from the Committee and the remainder of their term will be filled according to Article V - Elections. Members unable to attend a regularly scheduled Committee meeting must notify the representative from the office of the Vice President for Facilities that they will not be in attendance and the reason for inability to attend. If contact is made, and it is a reasonable request, the absence may be excused with a simple majority vote from the Committee.

If a member cannot attend, they should send an alternate from their department to represent them at the regular meeting. This alternate would act on behalf of the committee member and would be entitled to vote on issues brought forward during the meeting. A member may not send an alternate to more than one consecutive monthly meeting without approval from the EAC Chairperson.

Article XIII - Dismissal
If a member must be dismissed from the EAC, the EAC Chair will be responsible for appointing a sub-committee of three for recommendations on handling the matter. Once a member is dismissed from the Employee Advisory Committee, the decision is final and irrevocable.