Elections – Kingsborough English

Guidelines/Protocols for English Department Elections

SELECTION OF THE NOM COM

The Chair will appoint three Nom Com members who are full-time faculty of various ranks; at least one must be from the P&B. No member of the Nom Com can run for any of the open positions.

Rationale: According to Robert’s Rules, committees can be appointed or nominated, and to streamline the process, we propose that the Chair (executive officer of the department) appoint two members from the P&B (because these faculty members have been elected by majority vote of eligible voters) and one member from the full-time faculty (to ensure a committee composed of various ranks). Also according to Robert’s Rules, this sort of committee (an action committee) should be relatively small.

The Nom Com is privy to position statements before they are distributed and could conceivably alter their own position statements in “response” to those submitted by other candidates; therefore, it is not fair for anyone on the Nom Com to run for any open positions.

Duties of the Nom Com:

Communicate with the department regarding the election process
Adjust election timeline
Create and distribute nomination forms
Collect and publish names of nominees
Create and distribute forms for candidates’ position statements
Collect and publish candidates’ position statements
Coordinate with with the College Council Legislative Committee about the election
Contact the Dean of Faculty and the legal counsel for KCC for any questions about the process
Coordinate with faculty for the process (i.e., check for last-minute withdrawals, start meeting, and time 2-minute statements; if virtual, provide Zoom link, check that cameras are on, and monitor the chat)
Provide minutes for the election meeting in the event a secretary is not available for the election

ORDER OF ELECTED POSITIONS

Note: For any of the below elections, the candidates must be present to run and to present a 2-minute statement.

Chair

P&B

Secretary

College Council

Rationale: This is the order the department (and college) typically uses when voting for elections. If we elect a secretary, we will vote on all department positions and then college-wide.

WHO CAN RUN AND VOTE

Chair:

The Chair must be tenured. Lecturers without CCE and faculty who have filed for retirement or have gone on Travia cannot vote for Chair.

P&B Committee:

Four P&B members must be elected. At least three of the P&B members must be tenured, so they must also come from the list from people who can serve as chair. The last P&B member, however, can be either untenured or tenured. This means that any of the voting department members can run for and win this final position. For the sake of continuity (and as a source of information regarding previous committee actions), one member of the current P&B should be re-elected to the next P&B.

Secretary

All eligible voters.

College Council:

According to the KCC College Council Constitution, “Persons eligible to vote for department delegates shall be eligible to nominate candidates and be nominated for the position of department delegates.” This includes department Lecturers with CCE

TIMELINE OF ELECTION PROCESS

We based the below timeline on the timeline the current Nom Com used for the election of Interim Chair, using May 9th as the date for the next election. Future Nom Coms will adjust the timeline accordingly. Note: If any questions arise during the process of the election, the Nom Com should consult the Dean of Faculty and KCC’s legal counsel.

Sample dates for the election process (rationale to follow):

Apr. 3: Chair appoints Nom Com

Apr. 17: Nomination period opens (anyone nominated from the approved list can run), names only through Google forms (one Google form each for Chair, P & B, Dept. Secretary, and College Council).

Apr. 24: Nomination period closes at 12:00 p.m. (noon)

Nominating Committee emails list of nominees to the department by 5:00 p.m. without revealing the number of votes each candidate received.

Apr. 27: Nominees wishing to run for Chair submit by 11:59 p.m. a position statement of no longer than 3,200 characters (with spaces, ≈500 words) through Google forms

Nominees wishing to run for College Council or P&B or Secretary submit by 11:59 p.m. a position statement of no longer than 1,600 characters (with spaces, ≈250 words) through Google forms

Nominees wishing to withdraw will contact the Nominating Committee (Note: if candidates do not submit position statements by 11:59 p.m., the Nominating Committee will consider the candidacy as withdrawn.)

The Nom Com will send proof of receipt when they receive position statements.

Nominees wishing not to submit a position statement but still run for a position should email the Nom Com to let them know not to withdraw their candidacy.

Note: Faculty running for multiple positions must submit a position statement for each position they want.

Apr. 28: Nominating Committee emails the department the nominee position statements

May 9: Nominees last chance to withdraw from consideration

Nominees will present a 2-minute position statement

Vote for Chair, P&B, Dept. Secretary, and College Council through official Kingsborough voting procedures; per CUNY bylaws (IX.9.1.b.), to vote, you must be present. If the election is virtual, you must be on your own computer (not in a group room with one camera feed), with your camera on. If the meeting is virtual, your camera is not on during the vote, your vote will not count.

Rationale:

Apr. 3: Chair appoints Nom Com

Two weeks gives the Nom Com time to prepare for the election process.

Apr. 17: Nomination period opens (anyone nominated from the approved list can run), names only through Google forms

Since any person who is nominated from the approved list can run, no one needs to solicit nominations or advocate for anyone to nominate. All campaigning should be done between the time when position statements are released and the meeting for the vote.

Apr. 24: Nomination period closes at 12:00 p.m. (noon)

Nominating Committee emails list of nominees to the department by 5:00 p.m. without revealing the number of votes each candidate received.

We wanted to give faculty ample time to consider nominating themselves or one of their colleagues. We decided not to use the official Kingsborough voting system for nominations so we could keep the election process within the English department until the actual vote occurs.

Because any eligible person who is nominated can run, releasing the number of votes each candidate receives can be seen as manipulative and reduce the election to a popularity contest before the election even begins.

Apr. 27: Nominees wishing to run for Chair submit by 11:59 p.m. a position statement of no longer than 3,200 characters (with spaces, ≈500 words) through Google forms

Nominees wishing to run for College Council or P&B or Secretary submit by 11:59 p.m. a position statement of no longer than 1,600 characters (with spaces, ≈250 words) through Google forms

Nominees wishing to withdraw will contact the Nominating Committee (Note: if candidates do not submit position statements by Feb 11th at 11:59 p.m., the Nominating Committee will consider the candidacy as withdrawn.)

Nominees wishing not to submit a position statement but still run for a position should email the Nom Com to let them know not to withdraw their candidacy.

Note: Faculty running for multiple positions must submit a position statement for each position for which they are running.

We followed national guidelines for key English-related professional organizations and limited the position statement word counts (although Google forms only allows for character limits). We felt this added an element of fairness to all candidates.

The Nominating Committee will not chase down candidates who do not submit position statements; therefore, if a nominee does not submit a position statement, the Nominating Committee will consider that candidate as withdrawn.

To avoid any confusion between the intent of any candidate and the Nom Com, candidates must provide a position statement for each of the positions they want. If candidates do not provide a position statement for any of the positions, the Nom Com will consider the candidacy as withdrawn.

Apr. 28: Nominating Committee emails the department the nominee position statements

We followed national guidelines for key English-related professional organizations and provided time (in our case, ≈10 days) for faculty to read official statements. If faculty wish to have discussions among themselves during this time period, they are welcome to do so, but those discussions will take place outside the official election process (a process which does not follow national guidelines but which allows for fair and open discussions prior to the vote).

May 9: Nominees last chance to withdraw from consideration

Nominees will present a 2-minute position statement

Election Day:

The Nom Com Chair will begin the meeting with the question of whether or not any candidates wish to withdraw their candidacy at the last minute.

Candidates will have 2 minutes to make a final statement before the vote, with no discussion afterwards. Candidates will focus their time on their own position and will not respond to other nominees’ position statements.

The Nom Com Chair will then move to an immediate vote, using Kingsborough’s voting procedures to ensure anonymity and eliminate the possibility of double voting. This meeting will take place on Zoom; per CUNY guidelines, to vote, you must be “present” on your own computer (not in a group room with one camera feed), with your camera on. Note: The eVote system Kingsborough uses for elections will be set to show only that a person voted, not how that person voted. Two members of the Legislative Committee will oversee the actual vote

The Magic Number and Run-Off Elections

The winning candidates must receive at least 28 votes (current number*,) no matter how many department members are present at the election. If any election ends with no candidate reaching the “magic number” of 28 votes, then another ballot will be held for that position. This ballot is between the same nominees – no new names are added – and they are each again given the chance to withdraw if they choose. Up to five ballots will be held for the same position until there is a winner. If no one reaches the 28-vote threshold after the fifth ballot, then the election is declared a deadlock. At this point the Bylaws give the decision-making authority to the College President, who will decide how to proceed.

*This number is dependent upon the number of eligible voting faculty in the department. Barbara Fairweather provides this number to the College Council Legislative Committee, who, in turn, provides it to the Nom Com.

Proxy or Mail Voting is prohibited per CUNY bylaws (IX.9.1.b.).

Respectfully submitted,

The Nom Com

Tony Iantosca

Christine Rudisel (Committee Chair)

Cheryl Smith