College Council Bylaws

In This Section

Rev. 10/27/2025

1. Statement of Purpose

a. The purpose of the UNM-Los Alamos (UNM-LA) College Council is to ensure that all members of the college community have access to information regarding ongoing developments and issues. This Council will also provide an opportunity for input on issues that have an effect on faculty, staff, and/or students. This Council shall have the ability to establish committees for addressing specific needs or tasks as identified by the Council. Finally, this Council will act administratively upon mutually agreed upon UNM-LA governance matters.

2. Members

a. Voting members of the Council shall include 1 exempt staff, 1 non-exempt staff, 2 faculty members, and 1 student representative.

b. The UNM-LA Chancellor shall serve as a non-voting member.

c. The Executive Assistant to the Chancellor shall serve as a non-voting member and clerk for the Council.

d. New members shall be elected by the following process:

i. The clerk shall email a call for nominations to Exempt and Non-Exempt Staff on the first Monday of August. Nominations shall close at 5 pm on the second Friday of August. The clerk shall provide information to all staff nominees regarding Council bylaws and duties. Any nominee may choose to stand or withdraw their name.

ii. Exempt and Non-Exempt Staff ballots shall be finalized and distributed by the clerk to their respective constituencies by the Friday of the third week of August. Ballots shall be submitted to the clerk for tallying and certification by the last Friday of August.

iii. Faculty shall follow their normal processes for nominations and elections via the Faculty Operations Committee within the first two weeks of the start of the fall term.

iv. Students shall follow their normal processes for nominations and elections via the Student Government within the first three weeks of the start of the fall term.

v. The clerk shall notify the UNM-LA community of ballot results by the following Monday of each respective election.

e. Newly elected members will take office at the first meeting after their election. Full terms will begin at the September College Council meeting.

f. Council members will serve two-year, staggered terms. A regular term runs for two years, from September through May.

g. If a vacancy occurs outside of the regular election timeframe, including through the removal of a Council member, a vote by the position’s constituency must be held within one month’s time to fill the vacancy promptly. New members elected due to a vacancy mid-year will take office at the next College Council meeting after their election and complete the term of the vacated seat. Representation for Faculty and Students may carry over from the previous term until the vacancy has been filled, if necessary.

h. The Council chair-elect will be elected at the first meeting of the academic year (September) by the Council members to serve a one-year term, and then succeed as Council chair for the following year. The chair-elect will assist in facilitating meetings (e.g., monitoring Zoom meetings) and serve as chair in the event of the chair’s absence.

i. The Council chair and chair-elect shall be nominated or self-nominate and be elected by a simple majority vote of the Council.

j. Council members are expected to participate in all Council meetings. If a member misses 50% of a year’s meetings, the Council may vote to remove the member from office.

k. Newly elected Council members are expected to familiarize themselves with these Bylaws prior to the first meeting of the academic year (September).

3. Council Governance

a. The Council will meet monthly. Meetings will be held in a hybrid format. No meetings will be held June-August or in January.

b. The meeting time will be mutually agreed upon by the members of the Council at the beginning of each academic semester. Meeting times for each semester will be communicated to the UNM-LA community before the first meeting of each semester.

c. A minimum of 4 Council members, including at least 1 staff and 1 faculty
member, must be present to have a decision-making quorum.

4. Meeting Agendas

a. After each meeting, the chair will approve the minutes.

b. After each meeting, within 3 days the clerk will send the agenda and minutes of the meeting to, and request agenda items for the upcoming meeting from, the UNM- LA community, indicating which member constituents should contact.

c. Council members will collect agenda items and information from their constituents and submit them in a shared document at least two weeks prior to the next meeting. The chair, in consultation with Council members, will determine a draft agenda.

d. Items from meeting agendas that are not addressed or that require resolution will be included in the next meeting’s agenda.

e. Reminders of Council meeting times and agendas will be announced to the UNM- LA community by the clerk at least 1 week prior to the meetings.

5. Meeting Procedure

a. The Council will use consensus building as its principal method for decision making. In cases where consensus cannot be reached, the chair may call for a vote determined by a simple majority of members present.

b. Members of the UNM-LA community may attend any of the meetings and are encouraged to do so.

c. The clerk will notify the UNM-LA community via email of upcoming meetings, including the agenda and a videoconference link for those who may not be able to attend in person.

d. When necessary, the chair may notify the Council and the UNM-LA community of a need for a special meeting, with at least a week’s notice. In emergency situations the chair may call an emergency meeting and notify the Council and the UNM-LA community with as much notice as possible.

6. Communications and Records

a. After each meeting, the chair will approve the minutes.

c. Agendas, minutes and video recordings will be archived on the UNM-LA
database and website to remain accessible to all constituents.

7. Committees

a. If an agenda item needs more time than can be addressed in a Council meeting, the Council may establish one or more committees, which may consist of one or more Council members and any number of UNM-LA community members, with such duties and responsibilities as the Council shall deem appropriate. The number of individuals on a given committee shall be determined by the Council.

b. The purpose of a committee is to address an issue in depth and bring recommendations to the Council for consideration and decision making.

c. Committees may make recommendations to the Council.

d. The committee members shall determine their own meeting times and frequency and shall keep minutes to be submitted to the clerk for dissemination to the community and for archival purposes.

e. The committee members shall determine their own leadership and individual
roles.

8. Amendments

a. These Bylaws shall be reviewed annually for potential amendment as the first agenda item in the first meeting of the fall semester (September).

b. If a review of the bylaws is needed outside of the yearly timeframe, a subcommittee of College Council members will be formed to review the section(s) in question and to determine any changes. The subcommittee will present updated language at the next College Council meeting for community feedback.

c. After review and community feedback, College Council members will vote to adopt the amended language by consensus, or a majority vote in the absence of consensus.

d. New Bylaws may be adopted by the unanimous consent of all the members of the Council in consultation with their respective constituents.

The above Bylaws have been adopted by the standing members of the UNM-LA College Council on this day, October 27, 2025 as verified by the undersigned Council chair, Anne Jarrett.