Guiding Principles and Operating Agreements

The Guiding Principles and Operating Agreements of the CEDRS Steering Committee were adopted on June 6, 2003.

Article I - Name, purpose, term

Section 1: The name of the organization shall be the CEDRS Steering Committee.

Section 2: The CEDRS Steering Committee was formed to incorporate interested parties from the University community in designing and overseeing the activities of the CEDRS program. This Steering Committee advises and assists with design, development, implementation, promotion, evaluation, monitoring, and oversight of the CEDRS program. The Steering Committee also advises the President and the University community, as needed, concerning the CEDRS Program and employee dispute resolution matters.

Section 3: The CEDRS Steering Committee shall exist in perpetuity unless and until it is dissolved or abolished by the President or Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University.

Article II - Membership

Section 1: The CEDRS Steering Committee shall consist of one representative from each of the employee groups and collective bargaining units on campus (i.e.: AAUP, AFSCME, APA, MSEA, POA, and PSSO), one representative from the Department of Human Resources, and one representative from the Office of the Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel. The CEDRS Coordinator shall serve as the Chair of the CEDRS Steering Committee.

Section 2: The composition of the committee may change at the discretion of the Steering Committee through consensus as defined in Article IV.

Section 3: Each employee group and administrative department represented on the CEDRS Steering Committee shall elect or appoint one representative to attend Steering Committee meetings, who will be empowered to make decisions on behalf of the group or department they represent. Employee group representatives shall be appointed by the Executive Boards or elected by the voting members of the group they represent. The method of selection of administrative department representatives will be at the discretion of the head of the administrative department.

Section 4: Each employee group and administrative department represented on the CEDRS Steering Committee may elect/appoint an alternate representative, who is authorized to make decisions on behalf of their constituency in the absence of the primary representative. Both primary and alternate representatives may attend CEDRS Steering Committee meetings, but each represented employee group or administrative department will have only one designated representative at a time, who participates in the decision-making process.

Section 5: Each employee group and administrative department represented on the CEDRS Steering Committee shall notify the CEDRS Coordinator in writing, either hard copy or by email, of their designated representative(s) to the CEDRS Steering Committee.

Section 6: CEDRS Steering Committee Members will be elected/appointed to serve staggered two-year terms. Should a member be unable to fulfill his/her term, the employee group or administrative department that they represent will have authority to immediately fill the vacancy with another duly chosen member. There shall be no limit to the number of terms a member may serve. The standard term will follow the WMU fiscal year of July – June.

Section 7: Any qualified employee group or administrative department, which fails to elect/appoint a designated representative and to notify the CEDRS Coordinator of such election/appointment, loses the right to participate in the CEDRS Steering Committee or to have a vote in the decisions this body makes, until such time as they have made proper notification of their authorized representative.

Section 8: The CEDRS Steering Committee may request that an employee group or administrative department elect or appoint another representative in the event of excess absences from CEDRS Steering Committee meetings, or for any other reason, if such request is approved by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the CEDRS Steering Committee members.

Article III - Meetings

Section 1: The CEDRS Steering Committee shall meet at least quarterly, at an agreed upon time and place.

Section 2: The CEDRS Steering Committee shall establish a calendar at the beginning of the Fall Semester for their regularly scheduled meetings for the academic year.

Section 3: Special meetings may be called by the CEDRS Coordinator, or by a simple majority of the CEDRS Steering Committee.

Section 4: A CEDRS Steering Committee meeting must be attended by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the authorized members before business can be transacted or motions made or passed.

Section 5: Regularly scheduled meetings that are listed on the established calendar that is developed and adopted at the beginning of the academic year do not require additional advance notice.

Section 6: Special meetings require that each CEDRS Steering Committee member have written, hard copy or email, notice at least one week in advance.

Section 7: The CEDRS Steering Committee shall establish a method for recording, distributing, and maintaining records of the minutes of their meetings.

Article IV - Decision making procedures

Section 1: The CEDRS Steering Committee will operate using the rules of the formal consensus process as outlined in the book On Conflict and Consensus: a Handbook on Formal Consensus Decision Making. Except as otherwise provided herein, formal policy or procedure decisions may not be made unless all CEDRS Steering Committee members who are present at the meeting are in consensus, or choose to stand aside and let the decision be made without their support.

Section 2: CEDRS Steering Committee members may request postponement of decisions when they view the subject matter to have broad impact on program activities, or to be potentially controversial to the constituencies they represent. In such circumstances, input may be sought from the groups/departments represented on the CEDRS Steering Committee, either by the authorized representative from that group, or the CEDRS Coordinator.

Article V - Committees

Section 1: The CEDRS Steering Committee shall have the authority to establish and define work groups or committees as it sees fit. These work groups and committees may include other individuals who are not on the CEDRS Steering Committee. Such work groups and committees will serve in an advisory capacity only, and
will not have authority to make decisions or to establish policy on behalf of the CEDRS Steering Committee.

Article VI - Coordinator and staff

Section 1: The CEDRS Coordinator is selected by the Steering Committee. The Human Resources Department shall act as the hiring agent for administrative purposes.
Section 2: The CEDRS Coordinator is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the CEDRS Program, and for implementing the CEDRS Steering Committees’ goals and policies.
Section 3: The CEDRS Coordinator will attend all CEDRS Steering Committee meetings, report to the CEDRS Steering Committee on the progress of the CEDRS Program, answer questions of CEDRS Steering Committee members and carry out other duties on behalf of the CEDRS Steering Committee as necessary.
Section 4: The CEDRS Coordinator is responsible for hiring any additional program staff, with the advice and consultation of the CEDRS Steering Committee.
Section 5: The CEDRS Coordinator will provide direct supervision and oversight to all volunteer and paid staff that may provide services to the program.

Article VII - Reporting and program oversight

Section 1: The CEDRS Steering Committee as a whole is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness and quality of the program and the CEDRS Coordinator. The CEDRS Steering Committee shall collaborate with the designate from Human Resources who has supervisory responsibility for the CEDRS Coordinator, to produce objectives and review performance when/if such performance review process is initiated or required.

Section 2: The CEDRS Coordinator shall provide program progress and activity reports, at least once each quarter, to the CEDRS Steering Committee for their review. These reports will not contain detailed material, which might identify individuals or departments who have utilized the services, but will contain aggregate data on CEDRS activities, such as case numbers and percentages of cases meeting certain criteria, or producing certain outcomes, to assist the Steering Committee in evaluating program effectiveness.

Article VIII - Amendments

Section 1: These Guiding Principles & Operating Agreements may be amended when necessary by the consensus of the CEDRS Steering Committee. Proposed amendments must be submitted to the CEDRS Coordinator to be sent out with regular CEDRS Steering Committee announcements.