These rules are made by Council under the University of New South Wales Act 1989 and in particular under section 28 (the general power to make rules) and clause 64 of the By-law (the general power of Council to make rules).
Meetings and Rules of Procedure
1. The Council shall ordinarily meet on at least 6 occasions in each year, to be determined by the Council and on such other days as may be necessary for the despatch of business.
2. The Chancellor or, in the absence of the Chancellor, the Deputy Chancellor or, in the absence of both, the Vice-Chancellor may call a special meeting of the Council to meet at any time in the interval between ordinary meetings.
3. Upon the written request of any 5 members of the Council, the Chancellor, Deputy Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor or, in their absence, the Registrar shall convene a special meeting of the Council to be held within 14 days after the receipt of the request. The written request shall specify the matters which the 5 members wish the Council to consider.
4. Any meeting of the Council may be adjourned to a later date.
5. The Secretary to the Council shall transmit by post or deliver to each member of the Council a written or printed notice of meeting specifying the date of the next ensuing meeting of the Council and whether such meeting is an ordinary or special meeting, and such notice of meeting shall, so far as practicable, be posted or delivered 7 clear days prior to the date of the meeting. All matters to be considered at any meeting shall be stated in the said notice of meeting or in a supplementary notice of meeting which shall be transmitted by post or delivered to each member of the Council, so far as practicable, 3 clear days before the meeting. Where practicable, the said notice of meeting or supplementary notice of meeting shall be accompanied by supporting statements in sufficient detail to allow members the opportunity to consider the matters prior to the meeting.
6. (a) At ordinary meetings, unless otherwise decided by the Council, no motion initiating any subject for discussion shall be made except in pursuance of a notice of motion given to the Secretary to the Council 10 clear days before the meeting of the Council at which the motion is to be moved.
(b) At special meetings, unless otherwise decided by the Council, no motion shall be made on any matters other than those listed in the notice of meeting or supplementary notice of meeting.
7. If a quorum of the Council is not present within half an hour after the time appointed for any meeting, the members then present may appoint a convenient future day as the day on which the meeting shall be held. The day appointed may be the day of the next ordinary meeting of the Council but in any case shall be such as to enable the Secretary to the Council to give all members 7 clear days’ notice of the meeting, in the usual way. Where the day appointed is the day of the next ordinary meeting of the Council, the business which was to have been dealt with at the meeting lacking a quorum shall take precedence over the business of the ordinary meeting of the Council.
8. The minutes of any meeting of the Council which have not been approved as being a true record shall be circulated to members prior to the next ordinary meeting of the Council. Upon being approved as correct, such minutes shall be signed by the Presiding Member as being the true record.
1. (a) The elections provided for in subclauses 55(h) and 55(i) of the By-law shall be held on such day in May in even numbered years as the Academic Board may from time to time appoint and shall be conducted in the manner set out in this Rule; and the term of office of a member elected at any such election shall commence on 1July next following the member’s election and shall expire 2 years thereafter.(b) The elections provided for in subclauses 55(j) and 55(k) of the By-law shall be held annually on such day in May as the Academic Board may from time to time appoint and shall be conducted in the manner set out in this Rule. The term of office of a member elected at any such election shall commence on 1July next following the member’s election and shall expire one year thereafter.
(c) (i) Where there is a single position to be filled the ballot shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in Division 4 of Part 3 of the By-law and the counting of votes shall be in the manner prescribed in Division 5 of Part 3 of the By-law.
(ii) Where there are 2 or more positions to be filled the ballot shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in Division 4 of Part 3 of the By-law and the counting of votes shall be in the manner prescribed in Division 6 of Part 3 of the By-law.
(d) The Registrar, or the person acting as such for the time being, shall be the Returning Officer for any election provided for in Rule 1 of this Section.
(e) The term of office of a member of the Academic Board appointed by the Council shall be as the Council determines on the recommendation of the Academic Board.
2. A member of the Academic Board shall be deemed to have vacated office if he or she:
(a) being an ex officio member, ceases to hold the office entitling that person to be a member of the Academic Board;
(b) being a member elected by and from the full-time academic staff:
(i) dies;
(ii) resigns office by letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor;
(iii) leaves the service of the University; or
(iv) is absent without leave of the Academic Board from 3 consecutive meetings of the Academic Board;
(c) being a student member:
(i) dies;
(ii) resigns office by letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor;
(iii) discontinues her or his enrolment or is excluded from the University; or
(iv) is absent without leave of the Academic Board from 3 consecutive meetings of the Academic Board; or
(d) being an appointed member:
(i) dies;
(ii) resigns office by letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor; or
(iii) is absent without leave of the Academic Board from 3 consecutive meetings of the Academic Board.
3. In instances where an elected member is no longer eligible for membership of the electorate which elected him/her to the Academic Board, a casual vacancy will be deemed to have occurred in that electorate and the Board may, at its discretion, recommend to Council that the person originally elected by the electorate be appointed to the Board under the 'Such Other Persons' provision of the By-law for the remainder of the period for which he/she was originally elected.
4. When a casual vacancy occurs in the office of an elected member of the Academic Board, the remaining members of the Academic Board shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy by co-opting to membership from the appropriate electorate, a member of the full-time professorial or full-time non-professorial academic staff or a student, as the case may be.
5. The Registrar, or the person acting as such for the time being, shall act as Secretary to the Academic Board.
6. (a) The Academic Board shall meet at the discretion of the President or upon the written request of the Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor or of any 5 members of the Academic Board.
(b) Except where otherwise provided by these Rules, all questions which shall come before the Academic Board at which a quorum is present shall be decided by the majority of members present, and the President shall have a vote and, in the case of an equality of votes, a casting vote.
(c) The number of members who shall constitute a quorum shall be 20.
(d) All meetings of the Academic Board shall be convened by written notice from the Registrar specifying the time, place and agenda of the meeting.
(e) A report of the proceedings of the Academic Board shall be circulated to members of the Council with the notice or supplementary notice of matters to be considered at the meeting of the Council next following that of the Academic Board and shall be laid on the table of the Council at that meeting.7. (a) The Academic Board may approve procedures consistent with these Rules to govern the conduct of its meetings and may appoint and cancel the appointment of such committees as it considers necessary to carry out its business.
(b) The Academic Board or a committee appointed by it may act notwithstanding that there may be a vacancy or vacancies in the office of any member or members of the Academic Board or a committee.
1. (a) Each Faculty shall meet as a Faculty Board at such times as provided in this Section;
(b) Each Faculty shall elect a Presiding Member in the manner provided in this Section, who shall preside at meetings of the Faculty Board and the Faculty Standing Committee, and shall discharge any other duties as may be assigned by Council.
(c) A person shall not be eligible to be elected as Presiding Member of any Faculty unless he or she is a member of that Faculty, under the terms of clause 60 of the By-law, and holds a full-time appointment in the Faculty. The Presiding Member of a Faculty shall be elected by a postal ballot conducted by the Registrar during the month of October in odd numbered years. Nominations for election as Presiding Member of any Faculty shall be signed by 2 members of the Faculty and shall be lodged with the Registrar before 5pm on the 3rd Monday in the month of September in the years in which elections will be held. Such nominations shall also contain the written consent of the nominee. Where there is only 1 nominee, the Registrar shall declare that person to be elected as Presiding Member of the Faculty. Where there is more than 1 nominee the Registrar shall, within 7 days after the close of nominations, post to the last known address of each member of the Faculty:(i) A ballot paper containing the names of the candidates in the order determined by the Registrar in accordance with this Rule;
(ii) A notice setting out how the ballot paper is to be completed and specifying the date and time of the close of voting.Each ballot paper shall be accompanied by an envelope marked "Ballot Paper" and addressed to the Registrar. There must be printed on the envelope addressed to the Registrar a form of declaration of identity and entitlement to vote to be signed by the voter.
The Registrar is to determine the order of candidates on the ballot paper in the following way:
(i) The names of the candidates are to be written on separate and similar slips of paper and folded so as to prevent identification;
(ii) The slips are to be mixed, drawn at random and listed in the order in which they are drawn.The method of voting shall be as follows:
(i) Each voter is to make a vote on the ballot paper by placing the figure "1"in the square opposite the name of the candidate to whom the voter desires to give first preference;
(ii) The voter may, but need not, place consecutive figures (commencing with the figure "2") in the squares opposite the names of any of the remaining candidates so as to indicate, by numerical sequence, the order of the voter's preference for them.The voter is to return the ballot paper to the Registrar in the envelope marked "Ballot Paper" by not later than 5pm on the 3rd Monday in the month of October in the year in which the election is held.
All ballot papers received by the Registrar not later than 5pm on the day appointed shall be counted in the ballot. The Registrar shall count the ballots and ascertain the result of the ballot in the manner set out in Division 5 of Part 3 of the By-law.
(d) The term of office of the Presiding Member will be two years commencing on the first day of January of the year following the election. A person shall not be eligible to be elected Presiding Member of a Faculty for more than two consecutive terms.
(e) If the Presiding Member is absent from a meeting of the Faculty Board or Faculty Standing Committee, the meeting may elect a Presiding Member for that meeting from the members of the Faculty present.
(f) If the office of Presiding Member becomes vacant by death, resignation from office or the service of the University, or if the Presiding Member proceeds on leave of absence for a period of more than three months or otherwise before the expiration of the full term, and where the remainder of the term is six months or more, a successor shall be elected generally in the manner prescribed in Rule 1(c) above, as soon as practicable, and in the interval the Dean shall act as Presiding Member of the Faculty. Where the remainder of the term of office is less than six months, the office may be filled by appointment by the Dean, following consultation with members of the Faculty Standing Committee, that term of office not to be counted as a term of office for the purpose of Rule 1(d).
2. (a) The Faculty Board shall be called at least twice each year, and at such additional times as may be required. The Faculty Board will consider the business on the agenda. Other business will be considered only if the Presiding Member and a majority of other members present and voting agree. The Agenda for the meeting of the Faculty Board will be established by the Presiding Member, Dean and Registrar (or Nominee).
(b) A special meeting of the Faculty Board will be called upon receipt by the Registrar of a request in writing from sufficient members to constitute a quorum.
(c) Where a meeting of the Faculty Board has been called but a quorum is not present within 15 minutes after the notified time of commencement, the members then present shall be a quorum (for the purpose of this clause 2(c), a "reduced quorum"). A resolution passed at a meeting of the Faculty Board which was convened with a reduced quorum shall be of no effect unless and until it is ratified by resolution of the Academic Board.
(d) The quorum of the Faculty Board will be the greater of 20 or the product obtained by multiplying the number of full time academic staff of the Faculty by one quarter, any fraction in the product being disregarded.
(e) At the first meeting in even numbered years, the Faculty Board shall consider the duties and powers of the Faculty Standing Committee and may make such recommendations to Council through the Academic Board concerning those duties and powers as it considers appropriate.
3. (a) Each Faculty shall establish a Faculty Standing Committee. The Faculty Standing Committee shall perform such duties as may be assigned to it by Council on the recommendation of the relevant Faculty Board through the Academic Board.
(b) The members of the Faculty Standing Committee shall be the Presiding Member of the Faculty, the Dean of the Faculty, the Registrar, the Heads of the schools of the Faculty and such other persons, including a number of elected members, as the Faculty Board may determine and then appoint.
4. Each Faculty shall establish Faculty Committees comprising:
(a) an Education Committee
or
an Undergraduate Education Committee and a Postgraduate Coursework Education Committee(i) The members of a committee established under this sub-rule shall be the Presiding Member of the Faculty, the Dean of the Faculty, the Registrar, and such other persons as the Faculty Board may appoint which shall include at least one undergraduate and at least one postgraduate coursework student enrolled in programs of the Faculty, as appropriate.
(ii) The presiding member of a committee established under this sub-rule shall be elected by and from the members of that committee.(b) a Research Committee
or
a Higher Degree Committee and a Research Management Committee(i) The members of a committee established under this sub-rule shall be the Presiding Member of the Faculty, the Dean of the Faculty, the Registrar, and such other persons as the Faculty Board may appoint which shall include at least one higher degree research student enrolled in a program of the Faculty.
(ii) The presiding member of a committee established under this sub-rule shall be elected by and from the members of that committee.
5. (a) Two or more Faculties may establish a Cross-Faculty Standing Committee or Committees to exercise such duties and powers in relation to cross-faculty interdisciplinary programs as may be assigned to them by Council on the recommendation of the participating Faculty Boards through the Academic Board.
(b)The members of a Cross-Faculty Standing Committee shall be determined by the Academic Board on the recommendation of those Faculties establishing the committee.
(c) Except as specifically provided for in this Rule, a Cross-Faculty Standing Committee shall be dealt with and treated as if it were a Faculty Committee.
6. The quorum for the Faculty Standing Committee and each Faculty Committee will be 50% of the approved membership, any fraction in the product being rounded up.
7. The number of members who shall constitute the quorum of the Faculty Board, the Faculty Standing Committee and a Faculty Committee for a period of 12 months will be recalculated on 1st March each year in accordance with the above rules.
8. Except where otherwise provided by these Rules all questions which come before a meeting of a Faculty Board, Faculty Standing Committee or Faculty Committee at which a quorum is present shall be decided by the majority of the members present and voting and the Presiding Member shall have a vote, and in the case of an equality of votes, a casting vote.
9. Nothing in these rules affects the precedence or authority of the Council, the Chancellor, the Deputy Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor or the Dean.