Bylaws

President's Council for Women - Bylaws Meeting

I. Name 

The name of this organization is the President’s Council for Women (hereinafter referred to as PCW or Council).

II. Mission and Purpose  

  1. Mission: The PCW will provide recommendations to the President on matters pertaining to gender and/or disproportionately impacting women.   
  2. Purpose:  The PCW shall take on a leadership role, participate in, and have a voice in the development of institutional initiatives, policies and procedures to ensure such efforts are equitable and inclusive.  The PCW will partner with other entities with overlapping goals[1] implement tactics identified in the University’s strategic plan in order to achieve any gender equity goals.

[1] Including but not limited to the UMB Diversity Advisory Council (hereinafter referred to as DAC); UMBrella, ______________________.

III. Membership 

Section 1. Appointment.  Members are appointed by the President. 

Section 2. Representation. Membership of the PCW shall consist of designated representatives from constituent schools and governance organizations of UMB.  Each of the seven schools and central administration units may designate up to two (2) employees (at least (1) faculty member), one (1) representative of the DAC, and at least one (1) representative of UMMC to serve as members of the PCW. One faculty or staff member from each school will serve as their school’s liaison. Representation should reflect the broad spectrum those it serves, including women and those who identify as women, at all organizational levels, and those with child or elder care responsibilities. The overall makeup of the PCW should reflect those various segments of the population it serves.

Section 3. Terms of Service.  Each faculty/staff member will serve for an initial two (2) years and may be reappointed to serve an additional two (2) year term.  Fellows and students will serve one (1) year and may be re-appointed to serve an additional one (1) year term.

Section 4. Ex-officio members.  Vice President, External Affairs shall serve as a PCW member, not subject to the terms of service contained in Article III, section 3.

Section 5. Member duties.  Members shall:

  • Actively participate in activities and programs of the Council
  • Attend at least three (3) meetings per academic year (which includes no more than two (2) attendances via teleconference and no more than two (2) absences.)
  • Serve on at least one standing committee
  • Maintain visibility of the work of the PCW among employees of their respective school or organization

Additionally, members who serve as PCW liaisons are responsible for communicating PCW efforts in their respective schools.  In addition, liaisons act as the information conduit between the PCW and leadership and stakeholders in their respective schools. 

Section 6.  Member resignation and absences.  Resignation from the PCW must be in writing and received by the Chair.  Members who are unable to meet the attendance requirement in accordance with Article IV, section 5 may be asked to resign.

Section 7. Vacancies.  All member vacancies are to be filled by Presidential appointment.  Members who are leaving the PCW should provide names of any suggested replacement(s).

IV. Officers 

Section 1.  Officer Positions.  The officers of the PCW shall be: Chair and Vice Chair.  All officers must be existing members of the PCW in order to be elected into the position. 

Section 2. Terms of Service.  The term of office shall be for two (2) years.  Officers may be re-elected for one additional term, with a maximum of five (5) years of total service as an Officer on the committee.

Section 3. Nominations. It shall be the duty of the Chair to appoint a nominating committee of not less than three (3) members who place in nomination at least three names for each office. In order to permit full consideration of the candidates, a listing of the nominees will be transmitted to the members. All members of the PCW, as well as the UMB campus community, will be free to nominate individuals for any officer position. After formal presentation of the nominations at the meeting, the Chair will provide an opportunity for additional nominations from the floor. Once nominations are received and an election called, voting must occur within five (5) business days. The committee will allow for electronic voting.

Section 4. Appointments. After an open nominations process, the UMB President will select the final candidates and appoint them as officers.  Officers will assume their duties July 1.

Section 5. Vacancies. Chair vacancies will be filled by the Vice Chair, pending approval of the President. Nominees for other officer vacancies will be filled by nomination by the PCW through a Special Election at the next regularly scheduled PCW meeting.  The list of nominees will be presented to the President who will select and appoint a candidate to fill the vacancy.

V. Duties of Officers 

Section 1. Chair. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the PCW and assist in the efficient operation of the Council and call special meetings as may be required. The Chair shall provide liaison services, as assigned by the President, between the PCW and any other federal, state, nonprofit, and community-based agencies in the community. The Chair may appoint members to chair standing and ad hoc committees and will provide directional support for those committees. The Chair shall act on urgent PCW matters between meetings.

Section 2. Vice Chair. The Vice Chair shall preside at PCW meetings in the absence of the Chair. The Vice Chair shall function as directed by the Chair to assist in the efficient operation of the PCW. The Vice Chair shall prepare an annual report of PCW activities at the end of the fiscal year.

VI. Meetings of Members 

Section 1. Regular meetings. Regular meetings of the members shall be held on a quarterly basis, at a time and place designated by the Chair. Up to one regular meeting may be cancelled during a calendar year.

Section 2. Special meetings. Special meetings may be called by the Chair or requested by a majority of the PCW, to be communicated to and approved by the Chair. 

Section 3. Notice of meeting. Electronic notice of each meeting shall be given to each member not less than two (2) weeks prior to the meeting. 

Section 4. Quorum. There must be at least 51% of the members present at any properly announced meeting to constitute a quorum.   

Section 5. Voting. All issues to be voted on shall be decided by a quorum of members present at the meeting in which the vote takes place.  An electronic process may also be used for specially called meetings that require a majority vote and for elections.

VII. Standing and Ad-Hoc Committees 

Section 1. Committee formation. The PCW may create or change committees as needed. 

Section 2. Standing committees. Deliverables for each standing committee of the PCW will be developed by the PCW members.   The PCW shall consist of the following standing committees.  Standing committees may incorporate subcommittees to accomplish goals, which may include campus representatives who are not PCW members: 

  1. Gender Equity and Access. The Gender Equity Committee is responsible for identifying areas of concern and making recommendations to the President on potential corrective action, including, but not limited to pay equity, promotional equity, performance management benchmarks, hiring and recruitment.
  2. Family. The Family Committee will be responsible for identifying the impact that care of family has on the workplace at all levels.  The Committee will identify specific areas of concern and make recommendations to the President on potential corrective action, including, but not limited to child care, elder care, and the impact of child/elder care on career opportunities and progression. 

Gender Bias and Discrimination.  The Gender Bias Committee will be responsible for identifying the impact that bias has on the workplace at all levels.  The Committee will identify specific areas of concern and make recommendations to the President on potential corrective action, including, but not limited to management of gender-based misconduct including sexual harassment/ violence and sex-based discrimination and discriminatory impact of new and established policies and procedures.

 

  • Education, Advocacy and Awareness. The Education, Advocacy and Awareness Committee will be responsible for identifying opportunities to develop educational, advocacy and awareness initiatives, including but not limited to communication of notable achievements on topics related to the Council’s purview within UMB or of PCW accomplishments, advocacy to focus on the issues all women or specific groups of women face within the University, and awareness of actionable behaviors that disproportionately impact women.  Initiatives may include communications and marketing to the campus or selected audiences. The Committee may identify specific areas of concern and make recommendations to the President in advance of any action.

Section 3. Ad-hoc Committees. Ad-hoc committees shall be assembled by the Chair as needed.  Examples of ad-hoc committees may address one-time initiatives such as a governance committee (bylaws and mission).  Other types of committees may do periodic work, such as an evaluation and assessment committee (for measurement of attainment of goals and impact of PCW initiatives).

Section 4. Committee Chairs. Each committee shall have at least one Chair to lead the committee’s activities. The Chair may appoint all committee chairs.

Section 6. Terms of Service for Committee Chairs. The term of office for the committee chairs/co-chairs of the PCW shall be one (1) year. These members may be re-elected for additional terms.

Section 7. Committee Membership. Membership on standing and ad-hoc committee’s does not need to be limited to PCW members and can be appointed at the discretion of the Chair of said committee.

VIII. Amendments to Bylaws 

Section 1. The Bylaws shall be reviewed on an annual basis by an ad-hoc committee appointed by the Chair.

Section 2. Amendment of Bylaws. Amendments to the Bylaws shall be submitted to the PCW members for their approval and adopted with the concurrence of the majority. The PCW Bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed by the members by a majority vote at any monthly with prior notice or at a special meeting called for that purpose.