Staff Advisory Council Charter

A SAC member should notify the SAC chair or vice chair in advance of any absence from scheduled meetings. Missing more than 4 scheduled meetings in an academic year may result in removal from the council pending review by SAC leadership.

SAC members may be removed from SAC leadership at any time for just cause. Examples of just cause include but are not limited to the member's failure to meet established requirements of this charter.

Members will serve a 3-year term with new members joining continuing members each year. The term of office for all members will be from July 1 through June 30. Members may serve additional three-year terms, however, they may not serve them consecutively. Members will be eligible to serve additional terms after a one-year absence.

In the event that a SAC member is rotating off of the Council and no one from their functional area has applied to serve on the SAC, they or their administrator can recommend a staff member, who meets eligibility criteria, as a replacement to serve from their functional area.

If a SAC member transfers to a different functional area of the university, creating an imbalance in Council composition as noted above, the member shall have the choice to serve the remainder of his/her term or step down from the SAC.

If a vacancy occurs, the membership subcommittee will determine if the vacancy needs to be filled before June 30. If so, the chair of the membership subcommittee will reach out to the head of that functional unit to request a staff member be nominated to fill the vacancy. The appointment will require approval by the President.

Periodically, the chair will review the SAC composition based on reporting areas. Participation may be realigned based on the reporting areas within each division. Recommendations will be submitted to the President for review and approval. Changes resulting from realignment may be phased in, depending on the terms of existing members.

The duties of the Chair shall be to:

• Preside over meetings of the SAC
• Call special meetings of the SAC as needed
• Solicit agenda items for each meeting and then send notification of dates and times to all members including agenda and minutes from previous meeting
• Provide reports and communication
• Meet with the President on as-needed basis in response to suggestions from the staff
• Serve as an advisor on the membership subcommittee
• Serves as a back-up for other subcommittee chair members in the event of a short-term absence
• Makes final selection and coordinates with guest speakers that may attend meetings
• Responsible for distributing and approving SAC correspondence
• Assign SAC members into subcommittees
• Follow Charter revision procedures as necessary

The duties of the Vice Chair shall be to:

• Assume the role and duties of chair in the absence of the chair of if the chair resigns or is unable to serve
• Serve as the chair of the membership subcommittee
• Serve as a liaison on other subcommittees as required

The duties of the membership committee chair shall be:

• Schedule and lead Membership subcommittee meetings
• Lead the solicitation of membership applications
• Review membership applications and make recommendations for new members
• Review membership terms to ensure consistent representation
• Work with communications subcommittee chair to update membership application form
• Prepare, or delegate subcommittee meeting agendas
• Prepare, or delegate meeting minutes

The duties of the communications subcommittee chair shall be:

• Serve as the note-taking recorder or appoint another member of the subcommittee as recorder
• Schedule and lead Communications subcommittee meetings
• Ensure that the SAC website is updated
• Work with membership subcommittee chair to update membership application form
• Prepare, or delegate subcommittee meeting agendas
• Prepare, or delegate meeting minutes

The duties of the benefits subcommittee chair shall be:

• Schedule and lead Benefits subcommittee meetings
• Prepare, or delegate subcommittee meetings agendas
• Prepare, or delegate meeting minutes

The duties of the outreach subcommittee chair shall be:

• Schedule and lead Outreach subcommittee meetings
• Ensure that SAC events are executed effectively
• Prepare, or delegate subcommittee meeting agendas
• Prepare, or delegate meeting minutes

The duties of the safety & security subcommittee chair shall be:

• Schedule and lead Safety & Security subcommittee meetings
• Prepare, or delegate subcommitteeee meeting agendas
• Prepare, or delegate meeting minutes

• SAC meetings will be held monthly throughout the academic year.
• Special meetings may be called on an as-needed basis by the SAC Chair.
• New member lunch includes previous years' leaving members, and all new and current members scheduled in July each year.

Staff members are encouraged to submit their concerns to the SAC through email at sac@fit.edu.

Under no circumstances will the name of the staff member submitting the question or issue be used when the Council transmits the concern, unless the Staff member gives them written permission to do so.

The model for SAC activities and discussion will be based on consensus as a means of formulating collective ideas and recommendations. All discussions within each SAC session or meeting are strictly confidential and must stay within the Council structure.

The integrity of the SAC is paramount to its effectiveness. An understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the SAC within the context of Federal and State Laws, University Policies and Procedures, and the confidential nature of the information that may be presented to the SAC must be respected.

1. Charter revisions will be presented to the SAC Chair, and the Vice Chair for review
2. The SAC Chair will lead and create a Charter Subcommittee
   • This Charter subcommittee must be composed of a minimum of 5 volunteer members, but all SAC members in good standing are eligible to join
   • The Charter subcommittee must be composed of an odd number
     • If there is a failure to keep the subcommittee to an odd number of members, the SAC chair must remove 1 member
   • The Chair and Vice Chair of the SAC must be on the Charter subcommittee and the Chair will lead the subcommittee
3. All revisions to the charter will require approval by a majority vote by the charter subcommittee
4. The revised charter must be approved by the Florida Institute of Technology President for final approval and will become effective immediately upon their approval.