Council By-laws

Mission

The Support Staff Council (SSC) of Gettysburg College is committed to the needs and interests of support staff, improving the quality of working life, serving as an active voice on their behalf, and building a sense of community among support staff, faculty, administrators, and students.

Committees

The Council will work through a committee-type structure with oversight of four standing committees:

Employee Relations: Along with the Administrative Advisory Council, organizes the annual All Campus Picnic held in June. Responsible for planning the President’s Awards Dinner for Support Staff by suggesting menus, creating/sending an invitation, scheduling entertainment, coordinating honorees and retirees, purchasing service awards, etc., with support from HR and approval of the President's Office.

Training and Development: Organizes monthly brown bag lunches for the campus community. The Council may collaborate with Administrative Advisory Council for event planning and partnerships.

Nominations and Elections:Oversees the nominations selection of potential new council members, assists with recruitment of new members, coordinates yearly elections at the all-campus picnic in June by providing voting ballots (in-person or online), ensures that all staff employees are allowed to vote, and maintains the integrity of the elections process with confidentiality and professionalism.

Communications: Communicates council events to the campus community and maintains the SSC website (working with the College's Communications and Marketing office). Organizes committee members in the publishing of the Support Staff Newsletter, PILLARS.

In addition to the four standing committees, council members may be called upon to represent support staff on strategic campus committees, groups, and task forces; Benefits Advisory Committee (BAC) and its sub-committees, Bias Awareness Resources Committee (BARC), Campus Climate Study Implementation Group, College Council, and performance appraisal

Committees: Each committee's responsibility and time commitment will be one year with the option to renew their term.

Responsibilities

Each year following the election of new members of the council will organize an executive committee by electing a chair and chair elect from a member who has previously served, and any council member can fill the additional position(s) of secretary and treasurer. The remaining council members can volunteer to serve as committee members to any of the four standing committees. In addition, the Council will work with the Associate Director of Human Resources in an advisory capacity. All council members will honor confidentiality.

New, returning and retiring council members are asked to attend a retreat held prior to the start of the next academic year, generally held in mid-August. The retreat will be the transition between new and retiring members, and the council will agree upon regularly scheduled meeting times. Members will assume roles and consistently attend the monthly scheduled meetings. If a member is unable to attend a scheduled meeting, they must submit their report via email to the chair prior to the upcoming meeting. If a council member consistently misses meetings and cannot meet the required attendance. In that case, it is the chair's responsibility to contact that member to discuss their resignation. Complete dereliction of duties on behalf of the council member will require immediate termination from the Council. The replacement council member will be the nominee with the second-highest number of votes (from the same area/office/division).

The SSC chair will be responsible for preparing the agenda for meetings, facilitating council business, delegating tasks, and overseeing the activities of the Council. The Chair elect will assist the Chair with these responsibilities and represent the chair in his or her absence. The Secretary will keep accurate minutes of the meetings and keep attendance. The Treasurer will monitor the council budget, give a financial report at each meeting, Committee chairs will recruit and oversee the work of their respective committees and report any updates to Council.

Nominations and Election of Council Members

Council will seek nominations prior to the annual elections, which are held in the spring. The membership of the Council will be composed of nine members with three new vacancies each year.

Representatives will be elected to represent the following areas from campus: two from Dining Services, two from Facilities Services (and, if possible, one from housekeeping), one from the Department of Public Safety, and four from paraprofessional/clerical staff. In the event there is a failure to find elected representatives from each specific area, the Council may seek to have a current member work as a liaison from the underrepresented area (for instance, failure to find a Campus Safety member may result in a member maintaining contact with that department and providing updates). All full-time and permanent part-time support staff are eligible for nomination. All nominees will be contacted prior to the election to ensure they will accept the responsibilities of the office if elected.

Each representative will serve a two-year term. Council members can serve two consecutive terms, and then rotate off Council for one year before being eligible to run again. If no one from a particular area accepts a nomination, the current council member may run for an additional term. Council members may appoint people to fill vacancies for the rest of an unexpired term at their discretion. The Council also reserves the right to appoint a staff member that has run for election during the election but was not the popular vote. This person will have the second-highest number of votes (see also, Responsibilities and dereliction of duties).

The chair of elections will designate a committee to prepare ballots, and support staff employees will vote by secret ballot. Allowances/exceptions can be made for online voting with the full support of the Council. This will ensure that all, if not most of the College's support staff will be allowed to vote. It is incumbent for the nominations committee to maintain confidentiality and the integrity of all ballots cast, whether paper or online. Voting will be open for up to one week then it close, only ballots cast during that time will be valid. The committee will be responsible for counting the ballots and announcing the results as soon as possible after the election. Members of the election committee may not be running for a position during the election that they are counting votes. There must also be at least two committee members counting ballots during an election.

Council Expectations

The Council must meet the minimum requirements: meet once each month; meet annually with the College president; report at the all-campus meeting, and keep a record of support staff representation on campus-wide committees that affect or indirectly affect support staff.

Proposed By-Laws Amendment Due to COVID-19 Disruption/Special Emergency:

Due to unforeseen circumstances, if the College is closed for a semester or an indeterminate amount of time, council members will be allowed to serve for an additional semester to fulfill their commitment to Council. This extended service will allow members to complete their committee work and fulfill their elected duties. Council members who wish to rotate off must agree with the council members who choose to stay on, as only three at a time may leave the Council. All nine council members must agree on who remains on and off in the event of any extraordinary emergency.