By-laws

Article 1: Name

The name of the organization shall be the Oakland University Professional Advisers Council, referred to as “PAC”.

Article 2: Mission

Mission of Academic Advising at Oakland University

(As stated in the 2019 undergraduate catalog): “The mission of academic advising at Oakland University is to empower students as they identify, pursue, and achieve goals that prepare them to lead and serve in local and world communities. This is a continuous process of discovery, clarification, and evaluation, whereby Professional Academic Advisers partner with students to identify possibilities, assess alternatives, and weigh the consequences of decisions.”

Mission of PAC

To increase advising effectiveness at Oakland University by facilitating communication among professional academic advisers.

To work in partnership with other members of the campus community by fostering a collaborative diverse environment that allows professional academic advisers to share information, discuss issues and initiate policy change to enhance campus advising and improve service to students.

To aid in the development of a greater understanding of the role of professional advising in the recruitment, retention, and academic success of Oakland University students.

To support the goals and programs of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).

Article 3: Membership

All Oakland University permanent, “full”, or “part-time” Administrative Professional employees with official job duties that involve academic advising are considering voting members of PAC.  This includes, but is not limited to, academic advisers, senior academic advisers, assistant advising directors, and advising directors.

Temporary academic advisers, advising graduate assistants, and advising interns are not considered voting members of PAC.  Non-voting members of PAC are still welcome to attend general PAC meetings.

Article 4: Officers and PAC Year

The officers of PAC shall consist of the Chair, Chair-Elect, Treasurer, and Secretary.  The terms of the Chair and Secretary are one year.  The term of Chair-Elect is one year with the consecutive year as Chair. The term of the Treasurer is two years.   No lifetime limitation of terms exists; an officer may have multiple tenures.  Officers are to be elected via general election.  Only voting members of PAC are eligible to become an officer.

The PAC year is defined as July 1st through June 30th.

Article 5: Officers Duties and Responsibilities

PAC Chair

PAC Chair serves as the institutional designee representing professional advising at Oakland University. The chair runs all PAC monthly meetings. Additionally, PAC chair provides general direction to all PAC subcommittees.  PAC chair works collectively with PAC treasurer in obtaining financial resources for PAC programming and the end-of-PAC year retreat.

Chair- Elect

The Chair-Elect shall assist the Chair as needed and will assume the duties in the Chair's place in case of resignation or removal of the current Chair. They shall ensure all PAC meetings run according to decorum. The Chair-Elect assists the Secretary in soliciting nominations and running the election process to ensure all voting procedures are upheld.

PAC Secretary

PAC secretary serves as direct support to the PAC chair. The secretary will take all minutes from PAC meetings and will tabulate all voting for PAC. The PAC secretary will also facilitate the annual voting process.

PAC Treasurer

PAC treasurer is responsible for supporting the PAC chair and assisting with maintaining and approving all fiscal transactions coming to and from the PAC budget line. The treasurer also works closely with accounts payable on budgetary and purchasing procedures. Additionally, PAC treasurer will work in unison with the PAC Chair in obtaining monetary resources for PAC.

Article 6: Other Elected Positions

PAC Faculty Senate subcommittee representatives will be elected by PAC.  PAC Faculty Senate representatives serve on Academic Standing and Honors (3 year), General Education (3 year), Retention, Student Intercollegiate Athletics (3 year), University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction (3 year), and Student Academic Success senate committees (3 year).

Article 7: Election

Elections shall be held every May.  The sitting Secretary is responsible for facilitating the election process.  If the Secretary is running for a consecutive year in office, then the Chair-Elect shall facilitate the election process.

Elections will be conducted electronically, with a ballot sent to all current voting PAC members.

Article 8: Special Elections

If an officer or PAC Faculty Senate subcommittee representative leaves the university, becomes an ineligible voting member of PAC, or resigns his or her position, the Secretary shall facilitate a special election within 30 days to elect a new office.  Regardless of date elected, this will be considered the new officer’s first year in office.  If the Secretary is the officer that has left PAC or resigned, the Chair-Elect shall facilitate the special election.

The special election will be completed no more than 30 days after the officer position becomes vacant.

Article 9: Removal of Officers

Any voting member of PAC may propose a vote of no confidence of any officer or PAC Faculty Senate subcommittee representative.  Within two weeks, a special election will be facilitated according to the guidelines established in Article 7.

A minimum 75 percent of PAC voting members voting no confidence is required to remove an officer.  If removed, a special election will be facilitated according to the guidelines established in Article 8.

Article 10: Subcommittees

There is no minimum or maximum number of subcommittees required in PAC.  The creation or dissolution of a subcommittee requires the nomination by a voting member of PAC, and a majority vote of all attending voting PAC members at an official PAC meeting. A subcommittee must consist of at least three PAC members in order to remain active.

Subcommittees are required to develop a list of goals for each year and at the end of the year report on their accomplishments.

Article 11: Amendments to the By-laws

Amendments to this document requires the nomination by a voting member of PAC and a minimum affirmative vote of 66 percent of PAC members, based on the PAC election procedures.