Executive Committee

The Committee is responsible for coordinating the work of Council and its committees, monitoring the organization and structure of Council and other bodies, ensuring that equity considerations are integrated into the work of Council and its committees, serving as Council’s liaison with external bodies, and overseeing nominations and election processes.

Taking a broad, principled approach, the Committee shall be responsible for:

2.1. Coordination and Communications:
The Committee will coordinate the work of the Council and its committees by:
2.1.1. Directing and coordinating the flow of Council business including, where appropriate, referring matters
to Council committees;
2.1.2. Maintaining oversight of the work of Council committees;
2.1.3. Nominations & Elections:
The Committee will co-ordinate the nominations and elections of Council members by:
2.1.3.1. Administering the process of nominating and electing faculty members to serve on the York
University Senate and Faculty-representatives on Senate committees
2.1.3.2. Be responsible for the nomination and elections of officers of the Council
2.1.3.3 Be responsible for the nomination and elections of members of Council committees
2.1.3.4. Regulate the election of alumni, contract faculty members, and staff members to the Council
2.1.3.5. Regulate the election of undergraduate and graduate students to the Council:
2.1.3.5.1. Ensure at least one undergraduate student is elected from each of the academic units, via an electoral process to be overseen by student government in the Lassonde School of Engineering
2.1.3.5.2. Ensure at least one graduate student is elected from each of the academic units, via an electoral process to be conducted by each department’s respective graduate student associations.
2.1.3.5.3. Ensure that other elected student positions, both for Faculty Council and for Faculty Council Committees (at the request of those committees) are filled via an electoral process. This process will include a call for input to the election slate (to be issued to Chairs and Secretaries of Faculty Council committees), a call for nominees from the relevant constituencies, and a secret ballot. The schedule for the phases of the election process shall be set with the objective to effectively engage with the students in the Lassonde School of Engineering.
2.1.3.5.4. Should an elected student position become vacant, the Executive Committee shall conduct a by-election to fill the position for the remainder of its term.
2.1.3.6. Ensure that membership lists of Faculty Council are prepared and submitted for approval by the Executive Committee of Senate on an annual basis (as per Section III.3(c) of the “York University Rules of Senate”)
2.1.4. Negotiate with the President the procedures for Decanal searches in the Faculty.
2.1.5. If Faculty Council makes changes to its rules and procedures, the Executive Committee is responsible for reviewing these changes to ensure their compliance with recognized principles and practices, and for providing advice and feedback, if warranted, prior to the submission of these changes to the Executive Committee of Senate

2.2. Organization and Structure of Council:
2.2.1. Advise and make recommendations to the Council on all matters pertaining to the organization of Faculty Council and its committees, and to the structure and functioning of academic governance within the School.
2.2.2. Advise and make recommendations to the Council on all matters pertaining to the organization and function of academic governance at the University
2.2.3. Undertake initiatives to enable Faculty Council to more effectively meet its mandate and engage the community
2.2.4. Schedule the agenda of the Council and approving all matters going before the Council.
2.2.5. Periodically review the Rules and Procedures and governance structure of the Council or its committee system, and recommend amendments for the approval of the Council;
2.2.6. In the case of the absence or illness of the Chair and the Vice-Chair, appoint one of the members of the Council to act as Chair pro tempore and for such period the member so appointed shall act as, and have all the powers of, the Chair;
2.2.7. Establish special committees to deal with matters of general concern that do not fall within the accepted area of jurisdiction of an existing committee, with the approval of the Council; perform oversight and report to the Council on the creation of ad-hoc sub-committees by Council committees. When such special or ad-hoc committees are formed regularly, consider recommending that they be approved as committees of the Council or sub-committees of a committee of Council;

2.3. Act for Council Under Summer Authority:
Serve as a summer authority following Senate practice, and act on behalf of the Council from the last meeting of the Council in the spring, to the first meeting of the Council in the fall.

2.4. Approval of Committee Membership Lists and Regulations:
The Executive Committee is granted the power to approve annually:
• The membership lists of Faculty Council and it’s committees
• Regulations as developed by these committees

2.5. Senate/Council Communications
2.5.1. A summary of the Senate and the Board’s actions shall be made available to the Executive Committee regularly for distribution to Council.
2.5.2. Receive requests for Community Consultation: facilitate, collect/gather and report back

The Lassonde School of Engineering is committed to creating a community where students, faculty and staff feel welcome and valued, and a place and space for people to thrive in their various endeavours. This means creating policies, procedures, programs, events, and other interventions that work to eliminate barriers, and to establish and sustain the conditions that enable everyone to fully participate in our community. To reach this goal, the committee will support Lassonde’s learning journey to:
·   Create a diverse, inclusive integrated teaching, learning and research environment.
·   Empower diverse internal and external communities to organically grow by optimizing existing spaces and creating new ones with a culturally inclusive lens.
·   Prioritize equitable outcomes by adopting a values-driven integrated approach to research, teaching & learning and operations.
·   Cultivate an inclusive interdisciplinary community that brings the diverse perspectives required to envision and devise engineering and science solutions that address environmental, economic and social problems.

5.1 Meetings and Protocols
• Committee meetings may be held completely virtually via videoconference (Zoom) or in a hybrid/Hyflex (in-person + simultaneous videoconference) format.
• Meetings are open to members of the Lassonde community, subject to the availability of space
• When the committee considers matters relating to specific individuals or to other matters where confidentiality must be observed, the committee may, in the notice for a meeting, declare part of a meeting to be closed or in camera.
• When the committee meets in camera, only committee members may be present.
• The Executive Committee has adopted “York University Rules of Senate” to guide and inform its governance structure and operations.
• This committee shall make its decisions based on a simple majority of those members present and voting at a duly constituted meeting
• Committee members will notify the Chair/Secretary if they will be absent from a meeting.

5.2. Chair
• The Chair of the Executive Committee is responsible for providing leadership to the committee in pursuit of its mandate. The Chair presides at all committee meetings, acts as the official spokesperson for the committee, and ensures that the committee operates in conformity with the rules enacted by Faculty Council and Senate.
• In the case of the absence or illness of the Chair and the Vice-Chair, the committee may appoint one of the members of the Council to act as Chair pro tempore and for such period the member so appointed shall act as, and have all the powers of, the Chair.

5.3. Quorum
• Per Senate rules, the quorum shall consist of a majority of voting members.

5.4. Timing and Frequency of Meetings
• The Executive Committee meets monthly, typically one week before each Faculty Council, to attend to the Faculty Council agenda and other matters. The committee may conduct additional meetings as warranted by committee business.
• Executive meetings take place on Fridays 9:00-10:30am (typically the last Friday of the Month) in room 203 Bergeron.

5.5. Standing Orders
• The conduct of the business of the meeting shall be subject to the “York University Rules of Senate”

5.6. Agenda, Administration, and Minutes
Lassonde Faculty Council Executive Committee Rules, Policies & Procedures
• The administration of the committee shall be taken up by the Secretary to the Committee.
• All Committee meeting agendas shall be made available to the Lassonde community at least one week in advance of a committee meeting.
• Meeting minutes shall be shared to the extent possible without breaching confidentiality.
• All records of the meetings, including the minutes, shall be retained in accordance with the Common Records Schedule (CRS) for Faculty Councils (ADG15) and Faculty Council Committees (ADG17) under York University’s Information, Privacy and Copyright Office.
• The Secretary to the Committee shall be responsible for ensuring correspondence and decisions made by the Committee are available to relevant people or bodies, including the membership of sub-committees and Secretaries of relevant Faculty Councils.

5.7. Voting
• All members of the committee are voting members unless specifically indicated otherwise. Ex officio and elected/appointed members have the same voting rights.
• Votes may be cast in person or by e-vote
•Pursuant to the discretion of the Chair, members may be permitted to vote by means of an electronic communication (e-vote) which enables the votes to be gathered in a manner that permits their subsequent verification

The Executive Committee shall provide a report of its activities to Faculty Council on an annual basis. The Executive Committee shall ensure that all Faculty Council committee’s Terms of References contain a requirement to provide a report of their activities to Faculty Council on an annual basis. As well, each legislated sub-committee is required to report to Faculty Council through its parent Committee at least once each year. To the greatest extent possible, the format of a committee’s activity report will be aligned with the committee’s Mandate and Terms of Reference. The Executive Committee shall maintain a schedule for the presentation of the annual committee reports, with the goal that these reports be delivered to Faculty Council in an effective manner. The Executive Committee shall communicate this schedule, as well as any changes or modifications, to all reporting committees with ample advance notice.

Version Number: Executive Committee V.3

Approved By: Faculty Council

Date: June 2023