Committee Advocating for Staff Interests (CASI)
UW-Madison College of Engineering

Bylaws

By-laws of the College of Engineering
Committee Advocating for Staff Interests

Mission Statement

The College of Engineering (COE) Committee Advocating for Staff Interests (CASI) shall advise the Dean on the formulation and review, and shall be represented in the development of, all policies and procedures concerning the College’s academic and university staff members, including personnel policies and procedures. Policies and procedures shall comply with UW-Madison Academic Staff Policies and Procedures (ASPP) and other campus policies and procedures governing academic and university staff. Any further reference to staff within these bylaws includes academic staff as well as university staff of the COE.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the COE CASI include, but are not limited to:

  1. Formulating and reviewing COE policies and procedures concerning staff members;
  2. Representing COE staff members in the development of all COE policies and procedures concerning staff, including personnel matters;
  3. Advising the Dean on program decisions likely to affect promotional opportunities or lead to nonrenewal or layoff of staff members;
  4. Developing opportunities for participation of staff members in college, department and unit governance and committee work;
  5. Developing opportunities for recognition of contributions by staff members to the mission of COE and to the excellence of its programs;
  6. Serving as the official body the Dean would consult on matters related to, or affecting, staff; and
  7. Building connections among COE staff members and making important information available to them.

Membership

The COE CASI will consist of twelve voting members elected by COE staff. The terms will run from July 1 to June 30.  COE CASI members will serve three-year terms with one-third of the committee elected annually.

In addition, the dean/designee will serve as ex-officio member and sponsor.

All members shall be COE staff holding a 50% or greater appointment within the College.

The twelve committee members should ideally be a balanced representation of Research, Teaching and Administrative job functions and no job function category shall ever make up more than one half of CASI’s membership.

Membership will ideally consist of:

  • At least 1 member from Research
  • At least 1 member from Teaching
  • At least 1 member from Administration/Other
  • At least 1 member of University Staff

The remainder of CASI will ideally be a balanced representation of COE staff.

Each member will represent the entire COE staff rather than a particular constituency or functional area.

CASI will be led by a Chair.

CASI members are encouraged to recruit an alternate (which could be recruited from any nominees who weren’t successfully elected). Alternates are encouraged to attend all CASI meetings, and in cases of the elected member’s absence, alternates may participate in the discussion, and are able to vote in place of the elected member. Alternates are formally designated by notifying the Chair via email.

Nominations/Elections

Members

Elections will be held annually for the four seats of the new cohort in late Spring.

Eligible staff are allowed to self-nominate, and all staff are allowed to nominate eligible COE staff.

All elections will be at-large, and all staff members will be eligible to vote for all seats in each election regardless of the functional area the candidates represent, or whether or not they are Academic or University Staff.

Procedures for nomination of staff members or changes thereto shall be transmitted to the Office of the Secretary of Academic Staff and the Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC).

Chair and Co-Chair

The CASI Chair must have served on CASI for at least 1-year prior to their elected tenure as Chair. The Chair will be elected on the last CASI meeting of the Fiscal Year (normally June), and assume the Chair the first month of the new term (July).

The Co-Chair is not required, but one may be either nominated by the Chair or CASI.

Term Limits

Members

Membership on the COE CASI is limited to two consecutive full terms. CASI members must go up for re-election if pursuing a second term. If there are no staff willing to run for election to CASI, a current member may continue to serve an additional term, but can serve no more than three consecutive terms. Eligibility for election is reinstated one year after a member vacates their seat on the Committee.

Chair

A Chair may serve as chair for up-to two years. If there is consensus within CASI that the Chair should remain for a second year, no formal Chair election is required after their first years’ term. If there is not consensus or the Chair’s two-years are up, then an internal Chair nomination and election is required.

Vacancies

In the event that an elected member leaves CASI prior to the end of their term, the vacant seat will be offered to the runners-up from the previous CASI general election, who will be given right of refusal to fill the vacant seat based on the number of votes received (those with more votes will be given first right of refusal). If none of the runners-up accept the vacant seat, it will be offered to the designated alternate of the departing member. If the designated alternate does not accept the vacant seat, CASI members can nominate and vote to confirm a candidate for the seat during regular meetings. All replacement candidates must be voted on by the full CASI membership.

Replacement members hold all the rights of elected CASI members. Replacement members will fill the vacant seat on an interim basis until the next general election, at which time the seat will be considered open for all nominees in the election cycle. The interim replacement can, however, choose to run to retain the seat. The term for the open seat will share the end-date for the original candidate’s term. The CASI member assigned to this shortened term will be the candidate with the least number of votes of the winning candidates in the general election.

Subcommitees and Working Groups

CASI may create and disband subcommittees (standing or ad hoc) as fit for organizational purposes. All creation and elimination of subcommittees must be completed through a CASI membership vote and requires a 2/3 majority approval. For a new subcommittee to be created, an explanation of the responsibilities (including decision making authority) and membership of the proposed new subcommittee must be put in writing and submitted to CASI membership at least one month prior to the vote to institute the new subcommittee. Disbanding a subcommittee requires a written explanation of why the subcommittee is no longer relevant and must be submitted to CASI membership at least one month prior to the vote to disband.

Working groups (limited, short-term groups) may be created and disbanded, as necessary, with a 2/3 CASI membership vote, with no advanced notice, but do not have decision making authority.

Meetings and Operating Procedures

  1. The Dean or designee shall sponsor the committee.
  2. The CASI shall meet monthly during the semester and over the summer as needed.
  3. Meetings of the CASI will be held in accordance with Wisconsin Open Meetings Law.
  4. The Chair shall schedule additional meetings of the CASI within a reasonable time if requested by at least one-third of the CASI members.
  5. The Chair may solicit suggestions for agenda items from COE staff electronically prior to each CASI meeting.
  6. The Chair will ensure that the meeting agendas are posted to the CASI and Office of the Secretary of the Faculty websites at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.
  7. Approved meeting summaries shall be available upon request.
  8. The CASI membership may meet informally on a regular basis between formal committee meetings in order to address staff issues on an ongoing basis.
  9. The CASI may appoint ad-hoc subcommittees to address specific issues. Both CASI and non-CASI members may serve on the subcommittees.
  10. Votes on matters before the committee shall be taken on the motion of one member and a second of the motion by another member. For the purposes of voting, a quorum shall require two-thirds of all voting members to be present. Once a quorum is present, approval requires an affirmative vote of the majority of those voting members present or via electronic voting.
  11. At intervals not to exceed five years, the elected staff members of the CASI shall review its structure and functions to assess the CASI’s effectiveness as a voice for COE staff and its compliance with Academic Staff Policies and Procedures. The CASI shall submit the self-study report to the Dean, to the COE staff, and to the Office of the Secretary of the Academic Staff.
  12. Proposed bylaw changes must be approved by two-thirds of all voting members. The bylaws and any subsequent changes to them will be filed with the Secretary of the Academic Staff and posted on the CASI website.
  13. The CASI Chair will facilitate CASI activities and serve as the CASI liaison to the Dean and CASI staff.
  14. The Chair is responsible for tracking the CASI budget, disbursing funds from the budget in response to CASI expenditures approved by vote and assessing requests to reallocate funds between budget items. The Chair will report on expenditures and other budget items during general CASI meetings as needed and serve as the primary contact with leadership on budget matters. The Chair is able to delegate budget management duties to a co-chair at their discretion.

As revised by members of the COE CASI on March 19, 2025, and filed with the Secretary of the Academic Staff