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General Procedures & Guidelines

  1. The Council meets every other month and may call additional meetings as needed.
  2. Council members are responsible for soliciting ideas and general concerns from those employees they represent and for reporting Council meeting information back to those employees on a timely basis.
  3. The Council has no administrative authority. Its responsibility is to act only in an advisory capacity to the Chief Facilities Officer.
  4. Administrative action the Council feels should be taken will be recommended to the Chief Facilities Officer. Such recommended actions may be, but are not limited to, implementation of new policies or programs, modification of existing policies or programs, solutions to problems perceived by the members, etc.
  5. The Council is not responsible for the resolution of specific personal concerns. This includes human resources-related topics such as compensation, leave, or benefits.
  6. Ex-officio (non-voting) contributors to the Council including representatives from Facilities upper management, Human Resources, and other advisory groups, are invited to join the Council for the first 30 minutes of each meeting (or whensoever this business is concluded), after which the Council and Council Administrator(s) will proceed with business exclusive to voting members of the Council.
  7. At least one administrator will support Employee Council as the Council Administrator by maintaining current membership data, calling for and receiving nominations each spring, tracking term limits, aiding in elections procedures, keeping meeting minutes at each session, and organizing the Council's annual meeting with the Chief Facilities Officer.
  8. The Chief Facilities Officer will appoint a senior management official to meet with the Council to present management perspectives during discussions, to provide insight regarding existing departmental and/or University policies and to provide immediate answers to employee questions and concerns whenever possible.
  9. The Council will meet annually with the CFO at an Employee Council meeting to engage in an open dialogue.

Election procedures

  1. Each May, the Council will convene for a special Elections Retreat. At the Retreat the Council and any council administrators will confirm:
    1. Current FM organizational structure.
      1. Assess FM areas of representation (i.e. “divisions”).
      2. Identify any need for change in representation based on significant changes in population or organizational structure, ensuring representation is approximately one representative for every 100 employees.
    2. Which representative seats are up for reelection.
    3. Which Directors or members of FM Leadership should be contacted to assist with filling upcoming vacancies.
    4. Clear timelines for calls for nominations (deadlines at end of May) as well as final election results (second Friday of June, providing two weeks for division elections).
    5. Communications materials for Council Administrators who will act as liaisons between the Council and division Directors carrying out elections within their own divisions.
  2. Following the Elections Retreat:
    1. Council Co-Chairs will send an email communication to all of FM, notifying staff of upcoming election processes and which seats are up for reelection.
    2. Council Administrators will work with FM leadership and Directors to carry out fair and equitable elections, providing all FM employees with equal opportunities to vote on seats in their division that are up for reelection.
    3. Directors, division leaders, and current or departing council members will begin soliciting nominations as soon as the Elections Retreat is complete (in May), providing time for division elections to occur before the newly elected Council meeting each June.
  3. An equitable election is defined as one that provides every FM employee the chance to vote on seats in their division that are up for reelection. This may be carried out via Qualtrics survey, email, paper ballot, or in-person voting. Divisions are responsible for determining which method is to be used. However, once the method is agreed upon, all staff members within that division should be made aware of the election and given the chance to vote.
  4. Once elected, members will serve on the Council for a period of three years, at the end of which members can run once more for a single consecutive term of an additional three years. Members cannot serve for more than two consecutive terms, or a total of six consecutive years. Members who have served two consecutive terms can rerun for a Council seat after a minimum of a one-year absence from Council. If a council member resigns their seat with more than three months remaining in their term, an election within the division will identify an eligible replacement.
  5. Following standard election procedures, the newly elected Council will convene each June and elect two Council Co-Chairs annually at this meeting. Co-Chairs can be reelected to lead the council for consecutive years but must abide by the term limits outlined in “Election Procedure 4.”