UWGEC Bylaws

UWGEC's Charge is defined in Article VI Section 5 of the Constitution of the General Faculty of the University of Arizona.  This section establishes the goals of the Committee, and the position of Committee actions in the process of shared governance at the University. Article VI Section 5 of the Constitution of the General Faculty of the University of Arizona is included herein by reference.

The composition of UWGEC is defined in Article VI Section 5 of the Bylaws of the General Faculty of the University of Arizona.  This section defines the distribution and roles of committee members, both voting and non-voting, governs the election or appointment of members, their term of service, and the method for designating the committee chair.  It designates staff support for the committee as well. Article VI Section 5 of the Bylaws of the General Faculty of the University of Arizona is included herein by reference.

1. UWGEC meets monthly, from September through May.  Course proposals routed during the Summer terms are reviewed at the September meeting.
2. UWGEC meetings are scheduled at the end of each academic year, and the meeting schedule is provided to Committee Members in advance of the start of classes each year.  Meeting schedules are also published via the University of Arizona's General Education web pages.

1. UWGEC members are expected to attend meetings regularly, or to designate a proxy in the event they are unable to attend.
2. UWGEC members are expected to review regular agenda items in advance of the meeting in which those items are scheduled to be discussed.
3. UWGEC members should familiarize themselves with published University of Arizona policies relating to General Education, currently available at http://www.gened.arizona.edu/.
4. UWGEC members are expected to communicate with and assist colleagues as needed to facilitate appropriate actions on UWGEC business. 
   1. For example, a UWGEC member might work with the proposer of a new General Education course to ensure that the proposer is familiar with General Education requirements and policies.
   2. A UWGEC member might communicate information about General Education policies and procedures to his or her College, and might serve as a liaison between members of that College and UWGEC.
5. UWGEC members are strongly encouraged to participate as members in one of the UWGEC subcommittees described in these bylaws.

1. Voting on motions before the UWGEC are by voice, by a show of hands, or by paper or email ballot, as decided by the chair, provided, however, that it shall always be in order to move for a vote by ballot.
2. A quorum is defined as more than 50% of voting members present.  Once a quorum is reached, a majority vote of those members voting will carry a motion.
3. Members who are unable to attend a meeting may vote by proxy.  A member who is voting by proxy is considered 'present' for calculation of a quorum.  Voting by proxy requires:
   1. That the voting member identify a designee to have the authority to cast a vote on his or her behalf; and
   2. That the designee agrees to serve as proxy for the requesting member; and
   3. That the member designated as proxy has the authority to change the absent members' intended vote in light of committee discussion.
4. Members may not send in their votes in advance of a meeting rather than designating a proxy.  Votes cast during meetings must be cast with the benefit of committee discussion.
5. Should the chair request an email vote, a minimum of three business days shall be allowed for members to vote.  Email votes shall have the options 'yes', 'no', 'abstain' or 'prefer to discuss at the next meeting'.
6. Generally, procedures related to motions and voting may be drawn from Roberts' Rules of Order, at the discretion of the chair.

1. Regular agenda: Regular agenda items are received by the chair and provided to members no later than five business days prior to a meeting.
2. Emergency agenda:  Emergency agenda items may be added to the regular agenda at the discretion of the chair, provided, however, that it shall always be in order to request that emergency agenda items be moved to the regular agenda of the subsequent meeting.
3. Consent agenda: The chair may decide to utilize a consent agenda. 
   1. The consent agenda and associated documents are distributed in the same timeframe as other documents.
   2. If a voting member requests that an item be moved from the consent agenda, it must be moved. A member can move an item to discuss the item, to query the item, or to vote against it.  Once an item is moved from the consent agenda it will be voted upon separately.
   3. After all requested items have been moved, the chair identifies the remaining consent items and then move to adopt the consent agenda.
   4. Hearing no objections, the items on the consent agenda are adopted. It is not necessary to take a vote on consent agenda items.

UWGEC members are strongly encouraged to participate in at least one subcommittee. The UWGEC chair will designate a chair for each.   Subcommittee chairs organize the work of their subcommittee, and arrange for reports of subcommittee work at UWGEC meetings.  Subcommittees need not schedule in-person meetings if their work can be successfully completed electronically. 

1. Standing Subcommittees review a subset of the course proposals on the regular agenda in advance of the UWGEC meeting at which those proposals will be considered.  The UWGEC chair, in consultation with support staff, allocate proposals to the appropriate subcommittee.  Proposals relating to Tier One and Tier Two courses are typically forwarded to the relevant standing subcommittee.  The UWGEC chair may, however, forward these proposals to either standing subcommittee as needed in order to balance workloads of the subcommittees.  Proposals relating to Foundations or Success courses may be forwarded to either of the standing subcommittees at the discretion of the UWGEC chair.   Subcommittees report their findings to the committee of the whole, and their reports serve as a starting point for committee discussion and action. 
   1. The Tier One Subcommittee is a standing committee that is typically tasked with review of proposals for Tier One courses in advance of the UWGEC meeting on which they will be considered by the committee of the whole. 
   2. The Tier Two Subcommittee is a standing committee that is typically tasked with review of proposals for Tier Two courses in advance of the UWGEC meeting on which they will be considered by the committee of the whole.
2. Ad-Hoc Subcommittees may be constituted as needed to address questions or action items that do not fall under the purview of the standing subcommittees.  UWGEC members who wish to serve on an ad-hoc subcommittee may substitute this service for participation in a standing subcommittee. 

Any voting committee member may propose amendments to the Bylaws at any time. Proposed changes are sent to the UWGEC for review at least 10 calendar days prior to the meeting in which action is to be taken.