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

Bylaws

By-laws of the College of Engineering Committee on Academic (and University) Staff Issues

Mission Statement

The College of Engineering (COE) Committee on Academic (and University) Staff Issues (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.

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 the Chair prematurely leaves CASI, an election for a new Chair will be held during the next CASI meeting by all voting members.

In the event that an elected member leaves CASI prior to the end of their term, their alternate will be officially appointed as their replacement to serve out the remainder of the term with all rights of an elected CASI member. They then would also be required to find an alternate.

In the event that there are no alternates, a vacancy may temporarily be filled by an appointment from the current CASI members, but that vacancy must go up for election during the following cycle and the person elected to fill this vacancy is only allowed to complete the remainder of the term assigned to that seat.

Meetings and Operating Procedures

  1. The Dean or designee shall sponsor the committee.
  2. The CASI shall meet monthly, or at a minimum twice per semester and once over the summer as appropriate.
  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.

As revised by members of the COE CASI on May 13, 2022, and filed with the Secretary of the Academic Staff.