UPPS 01.01.05 - Councils, Committees, and Teams

POLICY STATEMENTS

1. Texas State University employs a system of councils, committees, and teams to provide advice and counsel regarding policies, procedures, and activities of the university.

2. This policy establishes procedures for university-level councils, committees, and teams.

DEFINITIONS

1. Committees – Committees are generally annually-appointed groups that provide advice and counsel regarding specific areas of responsibility. For the most part, they comprise representatives of particular constituencies, as well as others whose membership results from their areas of responsibility within the university (frequently serving in an ex officio capacity).

2. Councils – Councils are generally continuing groups that provide advice and counsel regarding specific areas of responsibility. For the most part, they comprise individuals with expertise in a given area or with special responsibilities for institutional governance.

3. Roster of Councils, Committees, and Teams – The Roster of Councils, Committees, and Teams is a document that is updated each summer to identify the councils, committees, and teams that will operate in the coming year. The Roster is posted on the Texas State Roster of Councils, Committees, and Teams website to provide a convenient source of information about these groups.

4. Teams – Teams are generally annually-appointed groups that provide advice and counsel regarding specific areas of responsibility or that execute specific programs. Although teams share many common features with councils and committees, some groups are designated as teams to emphasize the interdependent nature of the team’s work and the members’ mutual accountability for the outcome of the team’s work.

GOVERNING AUTHORITY

1. Each council, committee, and team at Texas State is constituted under general authority granted by The Texas State University System (TSUS) Board of Regents in a resolution adopted by the Board on August 13, 1976.

2. The TSUS Rules and Regulations list as one of the duties and responsibilities delegated to the president, responsibility for: “Appointing campus committees, councils, and teams, and appointing or establishing procedures for the appointment of faculty, and staff. The authority of these bodies is limited to reviewing, offering suggestions, and making recommendations on matters related to their purpose. They will submit their reviews, recommendations, and suggestions through channels to the president, who has responsibility and authority for making decisions, subject to the final authority of the Chancellor and the Board of Regents.”

ROSTER OF COUNCILS, COMITTEES, AND TEAMS

1. The Roster provides a summary of the standing councils, committees, and teams established by the Office of the President, the members of the President’s Cabinet and the Faculty Senate. For councils, committees, and teams established by the president, the Roster identifies the member of the President’s Cabinet with primary responsibility for serving as liaison to the group. In cases where individuals are appointed to councils, committees, or teams for a term of more than one year, the Roster should also indicate the year in which the term of the appointment expires.

2. The executive assistant in the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Support Services coordinates an annual review of the online Roster. This review is scheduled so that faculty and staff updates to the Roster can be completed after President’s Cabinet approval prior to the beginning of the fall semester, with student member names added as soon as possible after the fall semester begins. The executive assistant also posts additional interim updates as information is received.

3. The individuals and groups responsible for establishing these standing councils, committees, and teams have an opportunity to review and update the charges of the council, committee, or team, to revise membership lists, and to add new standing councils, committees, and teams during the annual review of the Roster.

GENERAL OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR COUNCILS, COMMITTEES, AND TEAMS

1. The councils, committees, and teams identified in the Roster are part of the formal governance structure at Texas State. For this reason, meetings of these groups are usually held during normal business hours and participation in meetings of these groups by university employee members is considered part of their normal job responsibilities.

2. In some cases, operating procedures for a council, committee, or team may be described in a specific university policy or through other guidance provided by the establishing authority. Where no such guidance exists, operating procedures may be established by the chair or the entire committee.

3. Although councils, committees, and teams are established to promote the exchange of a wide variety of viewpoints, the meetings of these groups do not constitute a public forum. Specific policies describing the circumstances under which the public may attend meetings of university committees are contained in UPPS No. 01.04.04, Opening Meetings of University Committees to Members of the Press and Public.

4. Unless otherwise established via the procedures described within this policy, meeting schedules for councils, committees, and teams are subject to the discretion of the chair.

REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS

1. Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:

   Position	Date
   Chief of Staff and Vice President	Aug 1 E10Y
   Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs	Aug 1 E10Y
   Chair, Faculty Senate	Aug 1 E10Y
   Chair, Staff Council	Aug 1 E10Y

CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

This UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State policy and procedures from the date of this document until superseded.

Chief of Staff and Vice President; senior reviewer of this UPPS

President