Draft Bylaws to be Considered for Approval — original pdf

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 BYLAWS OF THE College Student Commission ARTICLE 1. NAME. The name of the commission is College Student Commission. ARTICLE 2. PURPOSE AND DUTIES. The College Student Commission is established to represent this constituency of the City by serving as an advisory board to the city council concerning issues affecting the quality of life for higher education students in the Austin area. The purpose of the commission is to work with local higher education institutions—Austin Community College, Concordia University, Huston-Tillotson University, St. Edward’s University and the University of Texas— and representative student bodies to develop a student quality of life initiative to analyze relevant data and feedback, and report back to Council with recommendations for new or enhanced City programs, policies or practices that would improve the quality of life of higher education students in Austin, Texas. ARTICLE 3. MEMBERSHIP. (A) The commission is composed of fifteen commissioners appointed by the city council with three representatives from each college/university within the city of Austin. (B) A commissioner serves at the pleasure of the city council. (C) Each commission member shall be appointed for a term of up to two years beginning March 1st. (D) A commissioner may not act in an official capacity except through the action of the commission. (E) A commissioner who is absent for two consecutive regular meetings or one-third of all regular meetings in a “rolling” twelve month timeframe automatically vacates the commissioner’s position subject to the holdover provisions in Section 2-1-27 of the City Code. This does not apply to an absence due to illness or injury of the commissioner, an illness or injury of a commissioner’s immediate family member, or the birth or adoption of the commissioner’s child for 90 days after the event. The commissioner must notify the staff liaison of the reason for the absence not later than the date of the next regular meeting of the commission. Failure to notify the liaison before the next regular meeting of the commission will result in an unexcused absence. (F) At each meeting, each commissioner shall sign an attendance sheet which indicates that the commissioner does not have a conflict of interest with any item on that agenda or identifies each agenda item on which the commissioner has a conflict of interest. Failure to sign the sheet results in the member being counted as absent and his/her votes are not counted. (G) A commissioner who seeks to resign from the commission shall submit a written resignation to the chair of the commission, the staff liaison, or the city clerk’s office. If possible, the resignation should allow for a thirty day notice so the city council can appoint a replacement.  ARTICLE 4. OFFICERS. (A) The officers of the commission shall consist of a chair and a vice-chair. (B) Officers shall be elected annually by a majority vote of the commission at the first regular meeting after April 1st. In the event a current officer becomes ineligible to serve as an officer, the commission may hold an emergency election as needed. (C) The term of office shall be one year, beginning May 1st and ending April 30th. An officer may continue to serve until a successor is elected. A person may not serve as an officer in a designated position of a commission for more than four consecutive one-year terms. A person who has served as an officer in a designated position of a commission for three consecutive terms is not eligible for re-election to that designated office until the expiration of two years after the last date of the person’s service in that office. The commission may override the term limit provision for an officer by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the authorized commission members. (D) A commissioner may not hold more than one office at a time. ARTICLE 5. DUTIES OF OFFICERS. (A) The chair shall preside at commission meetings, appoint all committees, represent the commission at ceremonial functions and approve each final meeting agenda. (B) In the absence of the chair, the vice-chair shall perform all duties of the chair. ARTICLE 6. AGENDAS. (A) Two or more commissioners may place an item on the agenda by oral or written request to the staff liaison at least five days before the meeting. After first consulting with and receiving input from the staff liaison, the chair shall approve each final meeting agenda. (B) The commission’s liaison shall submit the meeting agenda through the online agenda posting system for each meeting not less than 72 hours before the meeting. (C) Posting of the agenda must comply with Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (Texas Open Meetings Act). Meetings Act). (A) The commission meetings shall comply with Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (Texas Open ARTICLE 7. MEETINGS. (B) Commission meetings shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order. (C) The commission may not conduct a closed meeting without the approval of the city attorney. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47  (D) The commission shall meet monthly. In November of each year, the commission shall adopt a schedule of the meetings for the upcoming year, including makeup meeting dates for the holidays and cancelled meetings. (E) The chair may call a special meeting, and the chair shall call a special meeting if requested by three or more commissioners. The call shall state the purpose of the meeting. The commission may not call a meeting in addition to its regular scheduled meetings as identified in its adopted meeting schedule, more often than once a quarter, unless the meeting is required to comply with a statutory deadline or a deadline established by Council. (F) Eight commissioners constitute a quorum. (G) If a quorum for a meeting does not convene within one-half hour of the posted time for the meeting, then the meeting may not be held. (H) To be effective, a commission action must be adopted by an affirmative vote of the number of members necessary to provide a quorum. (H) If only a quorum is present at a meeting, a commission action is adopted by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the quorum (15 member commission = 6 votes). If more than a quorum is present at a meeting, a commission action must be adopted by an affirmative vote of the number of members necessary to provide a quorum (15 member commission = 8 votes). (I) The chair has the same voting privilege as any other member. (J) The commission shall allow members of the public to address the commission on agenda items and during a period of time set aside for citizen communications. The chair may limit a speaker to three minutes. (K) The staff liaison shall prepare the commission minutes. The minutes of each commission meeting must include the vote of each member on each item before the commission and indicate whether a member is absent or failed to vote on an item. (L) The city clerk shall retain agendas, approved minutes, internal review reports and bylaws. Austin Public Health shall retain all other commission documents. The documents are public records under Texas Local Government Code Chapter 552 (Texas Public Information Act). (M) The chair shall adjourn a meeting not later than 10 p.m., unless the commission votes to continue the meeting. (N) Each person and commission member attending a commission meeting should observe decorum pursuant to Section 2-1-48 of the City Code. (O) A member of the public may not address a commission at a meeting on an item posted as a briefing. ARTICLE 8. COMMITTEES/WORKING GROUPS. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48  COMMITTEES (A) College Student Commission shall have no committees. (B) Each committee must be established by an affirmative vote of the commission. A committee cannot meet until its creation is approved by the Council Audit and Finance Committee. Each committee shall consist of at least three commissioners appointed by the chair. A staff member shall be assigned to each committee by the director of the Austin Public Health. (C) The commission chair shall appoint a commissioner as the committee chair, with the member’s consent. (D) A majority of the total number of appointed committee members constitutes a quorum. (E) Each committee shall meet on a regularly scheduled basis at least quarterly. (F) Each committee shall make an annual report to the commission at the January commission meeting. (G) Committee meetings must be posted in accordance with Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (H) At each committee meeting, a committee member shall sign in on a sheet provided and shall (Texas Open Meetings Act). indicate that the member has no conflict of interest with any item on the committee meeting agenda, or identify each agenda item on which the member has a conflict of interest. WORKING GROUPS (A) The commission can determine the size of a working group but the number of commission members serving on the working group must be less than a quorum of the commission. (B) A working group may designate a chair, with the member’s consent, but is not required to do so. (C) Quorum requirements do not apply to working groups. (D) Staff support will not be provided for working groups. (E) Working groups are not required to post their meetings in accordance with the Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (Texas Open Meetings Act). ARTICLE 9. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the commission in all cases to which they are applicable, except when inconsistent with these bylaws or with special rules of procedure which the commission or city council may adopt. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ARTICLE 10. AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS. A bylaw amendment is not effective unless approved by the Council Audit and Finance Committee. The bylaws were approved by the College Student Commission at their meeting held on ___________________________. ____________________________________ (Signature of Executive or Staff Liaison) ________________________________ (Insert – Title -- Executive or Staff Liaison)