Committees

Membership - Selection and Responsibility

The purpose of standing committees at Volunteer State Community College (VSCC) is to implement and ensure shared governance of the College by making recommendations concerning said governance.  A key consideration in determining committee membership should be equitable representation of the College. Membership on College Standing Committees is one of several opportunities and obligations available to faculty, staff, and students to serve the College and the greater community. 

• Faculty and staff may volunteer or be appointed to serve on committees based on their position or subject matter expertise. Positions by appointment will be identified in committee rosters.
• Full-time faculty and staff are eligible to serve on committees after their 1st year of employment at VSCC. Committee positions assigned to deans or assistant deans or designated as Ex Officio or Membership by Position may, when necessary, be filled by a faculty or staff member who has not completed one year of employment at VSCC.
• For purposes of committee assignments, faculty from the Nursing Division and the Health Sciences Division will be considered a single pool. If a committee requires a faculty member from each academic division, a faculty member from either the Health Sciences Division or the Nursing Division will be appointed to serve on the committee.
• Students may volunteer or be recommended by college faculty or staff to serve on committees which require student representation.
• Due to specified guidelines for federally funded grant programs, employees who are funded 100% by a grant may only serve on standing committees or councils that are related to the grant’s objectives.
• The College Steering Committee will make recommendations to the appropriate Vice President responsible for a committee regarding membership on committees.
• Faculty members in the promotion and tenure process will receive priority in committee appointments and should, therefore, self-identify in their second year of eligibility for promotion and/or tenure.
• After review and approval by the Vice President and notification to President’s Cabinet, the College Steering Committee chair will notify faculty, staff and students regarding committee assignments.
• The members of each committee are responsible for fulfilling each committee’s purpose and for maintaining effective two-way communication between the committee and their constituencies they represent.
• Members of each committee shall serve a maximum of three (3) years on the same committee unless they are voted as Chair during their 2nd or 3rd year on the committee, at which time their maximum service would be four (4) or five (5) years respectively.  Maximum years of service does not apply to Ex Officio or membership by appointment or position.
• Regular attendance at committee meetings is essential for effective decision-making and maintaining a collaborative environment. Therefore, any committee member who misses three (3) or more scheduled meetings within a semester without notification will be removed from the committee.  Upon a member’s third unexcused absence within a semester, the chair of the committee will notify the College Steering Committee.  The College Steering Committee will inform the member being removed in writing and offer an opportunity to provide an explanation or appeal.  Appeals will be voted on by the College Steering Committee.

Committees have the ability to delegate projects to sub-committees which report findings and results to the main committees. Sub-committee members may be existing members of the primary committee, or they may volunteer, or be appointed by the primary committee Chairs from outside the existing membership.

All committees and sub-committees will keep minutes which, after approval, are to be recorded, stored, and available electronically and accessible by all College employees. Sub-committees must record and store minutes as above but may do so by including them in the minutes of the larger committee under which they serve.  The College Steering Committee Chair will send reminders during the fall and spring semesters to the college community about the electronic availability of committee minutes. 

Timeline for Committee Selections

• August: Membership list and guidelines will be sent to faculty and staff. Chair and Recorder Training will be conducted by the end of the first week of classes.
• January Meeting: College Steering Committee identifies committee vacancies.
• February 1: Submit request for Survey for committee vacancies to Office of Research, Assessment, and Special Initiatives (RASI)
• February 15: Surveys emailed to faculty and staff by RASI.
• March 1: Responses due from faculty and staff. Promotion and Tenure List from faculty’s responses.
• March Meeting: Committee List completed by Steering Committee. Committees submit Chairs and Recorders for next year of service.
• April: Submit Committee List and Guidelines for Approval to President’s Cabinet.
• April 15: After approval, faculty/staff notified of assignments for the coming academic year.

Changes to VSCC Standing Committee Membership or VSCC Standing Committee Guidelines

All requests for changes to the VSCC Standing Committee List or the VSCC Standing Committee Guidelines shall be submitted via email to the Chair of the College Steering Committee by the 15th of each month (August-March).  The change request should include justification and supporting details (i.e. committee name, guidelines page number, faculty/staff name, title, department, and any other details outlining the changes). They will be voted upon by the College Steering Committee and then submitted to the appropriate Vice President(s) for approval.  The Vice President will notify President’s Cabinet of approved changes. The status of the requests will be communicated to requestor as soon as the Vice President makes a final decision and Cabinet has been notified.  Routine membership replacements throughout the year (change in position, retirement, resignation, etc.) will be handled/assigned by the College Steering Committee.

Chairperson - Selection and Responsibility 

Unless established by position in the committee roster, each current standing committee will elect a Chair for the upcoming academic year no later than the last meeting in February.  Faculty or staff may not serve as chair if their job responsibilities would be impacted by the decisions of the committee. If a Chair is not elected by the committee, then the College Steering Committee will recommend the Chair.  Chairs should not chair more than one Standing Committee or Council concurrently. Only faculty and staff may serve as Chair.  An elected Chair’s term is two years and concludes at the end of the spring semester of their 2nd year; the new Chair’s term shall begin at this point. First-time committee Chairs will attend a Committee Chair and Recorder Training provided by the College Steering Committee.  Maximum years of service does not apply to Chairs named by position. Chairs will:

• Solicit agenda items.
• Conduct all meetings.
• Act as liaison to the Vice President to whom the committee reports.
• Approve and ensure accurate reporting and posting of committee minutes.
• Be a nonvoting member but serve as a tie breaker in the event of tie.
• Identify and invite persons with expertise as the need arises.
• Submit recommendations to the Vice-President to whom the committee reports and maintain communication until feedback is received.  If there is no communication from Vice-President, then the recommendations should be submitted to the College Steering Committee for feedback.
• Follow Robert’s Rules of Order as appropriate.
• Advise the College Steering Committee of members who are no longer in service (resignation, retirement, change in position, etc.).
• Monitor attendance, along with the Recorder, to ensure that alternates, substitutes, or proxies are not sitting in for members who are unable to attend a meeting.  Alternates, substitutes, and proxies are not allowable.

Recorder - Selection and Responsibility

The Recorder is elected by volunteer or through nomination, voted on by the committee membership, and approved by the Chair for a term of at least one year unless appointed by the Office of the Vice President to whom the committee reports. The Recorder should be a voting member of the committee and should be appointed without regard to the person’s position within the college. If the committee cannot select a recorder, then the College Steering Committee will make the appointment. First-time committee Recorders will attend a Committee Chair and Recorder Training provided by the College Steering Committee.

The Recorder will:

• Record attendance and advise the chair of any variance (substitute, alternate, proxy).
• Report the proceedings of each meeting accurately.
• Post public minutes of meetings in the official online repository. Confidential details and records will be housed in an area designated by the Vice President to whom the committee reports.
• Follow Robert’s Rules of Order as appropriate.

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio members will:

• Serve as non-voting members.
• Be selected due to their expertise.
• Not be included in the total membership ranges nor be counted for quorum.
• Attend meetings or send a designee at their discretion.
• Not be eligible to serve as Chair.

Attendance Addendum:
An Ex-Officio with the title of Vice President may send an appointed person from within their reporting line to sit in their stead. For clarity, reference slide 2 of the Organization Chart. An Ex-Officio without the title of Vice President may send a supervisor, with approval from said supervisor, from above their reporting line as an appointed person to sit in their stead. A committee member may send a supervisor, with approval from said supervisor, from above their reporting line as an appointed person to sit in their stead. 

Membership by position

Committee members who hold their position based on their job position (indicated by “membership by position” on the committee roster) are voting members that count toward quorum.

For position title changes, send an email with the change to the Chair of the College Steering Committee.  These changes will be made in the Standing Committee Membership List and do not need to be approved.

Members-at-large

Members-at-Large will be selected from any area of the College to fill the slots specified in the committee guidelines.

Meetings - Number

Standing Committees should meet once a month or as needed and should try to conclude all business by the end of spring term. Standing Committees typically do not meet during the summer; however, some Standing Committees may need to do so at the discretion of the Vice President to whom those committees report.  Refer to the schedule for the calendar of committee meetings.

Reporting Relationships

Reporting relationships are described in the guidelines for each committee.

Annual Report

An annual report of committee actions and/or recommendations must be completed and submitted to the President’s office by April 1st of each year.  Brief descriptions of the work of sub-committees should be included. 

Guidelines for Ad Hoc Committees

Only the President or a Vice-President may form an Ad Hoc committee, and he or she must notify the College Steering Committee of the proposed committee formation with guidelines, membership, and a Chair and Recorder before the committee is established.

The function of the college’s Ad Hoc committees (formerly known as task forces) is to take action on a specific task as the need arises.  An Ad Hoc committee should only be appointed to fulfill a task that falls outside the assigned function of an existing standing committee.  The administrators overseeing the work of the committee will appoint members.  When an Ad Hoc committee’s task is accomplished and its report delivered to the appointing authority, the committee automatically ceases to exist. Ad Hoc committees must conform to the same reporting rules of standing committees in regard to recording, storing, and publishing minutes.

Suggested Committee Calendar

• Meeting times may vary depending on availability for members.
• Committee chairs will determine the locations for committee meetings.
• Initial meetings will begin the first Friday in September with the first week committees.

The following Standing Committees do not have a regularly scheduled time since meetings are set as needed.

• Auxiliary Services Committee
• Data Governance Committee