Board Policies and Procedures

Procedure for Election of Faculty and Non-Teaching Personnel

1. Purpose

KRS 164.321(1)(b) mandates the election of six (6) Regents to the KCTCS Board of Regents. Those Regents shall be as follows:

1. Two (2) members from full-time teaching faculty representing the community and the technical faculty who meet and maintain the requirements of KRS 164.321(6)(b);
   
   
2. Two (2) members from nonteaching personnel (staff) who are full-time staff members outside an administrative role and who meet and maintain the requirements of KRS 164.321(7)(b); and
   
   
3. Two (2) members of the student body who meet and maintain the requirements of KRS 164.321(8)(b).

This procedure for the elections of faculty and staff Regents is established pursuant to the Board of Regents Bylaws, Article II, Section 1(D).

2. Scope

This procedure applies to all activities undertaken by the System in support of electing faculty and nonteaching members of the KCTCS Board of Regents.

3. Procedure

3.1 Election Officials

1. Each College and the System Office shall appoint an Election Official to assist with the systemwide election of faculty and staff Regents.
   
   
2. The systemwide election shall be overseen and coordinated by the Board Liaison. The Board Liaison shall be responsible for securing an online voting platform to be used systemwide (such as VoteNet or other similar platform) and an employee-accessible site to learn about candidates (such as SharePoint).
   
   
3. All Election Officials and the Board Liaison shall maintain neutrality throughout the election process and neither endorse nor promote a candidate(s).

3.2 Candidate Eligibility

1. Faculty: All full-time faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor or above shall be eligible to serve.
   1. Eligible faculty may file as a candidate for one ballot – General Education or Occupational/Technical Education.
      
      
2. Staff: College, full-time, regular staff, excluding the positions of president/chief executive offer, chancellor, vice president, dean, assistant dean, academic department chair, or other administrator shall be eligible to serve.
   1. Eligible staff may file as a candidate for one ballot – General Education or Occupational/Technical Education.
   2. Staff at the System Office are ineligible to serve.
   3. “Other administrator” is defined as an individual who supervises personnel, serves on the College President’s Leadership Team, and reports directly to the College President. All three criteria must be met to be considered an “other administrator.”
      
      
3. To be certified as a candidate, an individual must submit a registration packet in accordance with the election rules and be deemed eligible by their College Election Official. The College Election Official must include certification that the individual is in good standing (i.e., not subject to a Performance Improvement Plan).

3.3 Voter Eligibility

1. Faculty: All full-time faculty shall be eligible to vote.
   
   
2. Staff: All full-time, regular staff shall be eligible to vote, including those at the System Office.
   
   
3. To be certified to vote, faculty and staff shall be deemed eligible by each College’s election official in a master template that is suitable for transmission to VoteNet or the utilized online platform.

3.4 Campaign Process

1. Prior to a systemwide campaign period, the Board Liaison shall:
   1. Post the faculty and staff candidates’ information in an employee-accessible site such as SharePoint.
   2. Announce in a systemwide email the candidates, campaign period, election date, voter eligibility requirements, voting instructions, and College Election Official contact information.
      
      
2. During the System campaign period, the Board Liaison and College Election Officials are responsible for overseeing campaign activities. A candidate is expected to adhere to the following campaign procedures:
   1. A candidate will only campaign during the designated campaign period.
   2. Should a candidate wish to speak at any College meeting, forum, or function – whether at their own College or a different one – the candidate must contact the meeting organizer to make the request. If permitted to speak, the candidate shall inform their College Election Official of the approval. Nothing herein shall be construed to allow for speaking time at any College meeting and is subject to the permission of the meeting organizer.
   3. Coordinated systemwide communications from candidates will be limited to one (1) statement from each candidate; up to a half-page, single spaced submission, or 1500 characters.
   4. Candidates may contact individuals on a one-on-one basis through social media, Teams, email, etc. but may not contact groups using mass communications tools (such as email distribution lists or College newspapers).
   5. If using social media, , candidates shall comply with KCTCS Administrative Policy 4.20.
   6. The Board Liaison may disqualify a candidate for a violation of the stated election process and/or procedures.

3.5 Voting Process

Prior to the Election Day, the Board Liaison shall:

1. Ensure the accuracy of the candidates appearing in the voting platform.
2. Ensure all eligible voters have been loaded into the voting platform.
3. Send electronic voting instructions to College Election Officials for local distribution.

3.6 Results

1. Winners shall be determined by plurality vote – one winner from General Education and one winner from Occupational/Technical Education – for both the Faculty and Staff positions.
   
   
2. The results shall be verified by the Board Liaison and a representative from the KCTCS Internal Audit Firm.
   
   
3. In the event of a tie between General Education candidates or between Occupational/Technical Education candidates, a run-off election will occur within 30 calendar days of the original election date, to be determined by the Board Liaison.
   
   
4. Election results shall be retained for 90 days after Election Day.
   
   
5. A systemwide announcement shall be made as soon as possible but no longer than three (3) business days after the election.

3.7 Election to Fill a Vacancy

An election to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term shall be conducted in the same manner as provided for the original election.

3.8 Review of Procedure

The Board may annually review these procedures for the election of faculty and staff to the Board of Regents or may elect to review at a period of no longer than three years.