SUNY COA

Adopted November 2002 - Amended Bylaws

  1. NAME
    1. The name of the organization is the State University of New York (hereafter referred to as SUNY) Computing Officers Association (hereafter referred to as COA).
  2. PREAMBLE
    1. A. The principle of COA is to collaborate with our SUNY campuses to proactively promote and improve technology across SUNY. To fulfill this principle representation will be drawn from individuals whose primary responsibility is technology at each of SUNY’s 64 campuses.
      1. Academic Computing
      2. Administrative Computing
      3. Telecommunications/Networking
    2. Pronominal and other references to gender in these by-laws are intended to include both male and female members of the COA.
  3. OBJECTIVES and PURPOSE
    1. Disseminate information of common interest to its membership.
    2. Coordinate SUNY computing and technological activities with those taking place on a regional, national, or international basis.
    3. Coordinate computing and technological activities within the SUNY system.
    4. Communicate and participate in, or administer (as requested), cooperative programs with campuses and offices within SUNY.
    5. Promote and participate in cooperative programs with institutions of higher education and other agencies external to the SUNY system.
    6. Assist, advise, and support the various organizations within the SUNY system, in particular the offices within SUNY Systems Administration responsible for Educational Technology and Administrative Systems.
    7. Achieve the above objectives by actively participating and collaborating in the planning, evaluation, and review of SUNY's computing and technological resources and services.
  4. COA MEMBERSHIP/COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION
    1. Membership

      The SUNY COA membership includes all individuals within the SUNY system responsible for computing/technology in their job performance.

      The association will look to the membership to provide expertise and assistance in SUNY initiatives as they are being developed, defined, evaluated, planned, implemented, etc. Each member and all members collectively will be instrumental in achieving the objectives of the SUNY COA.

    2. Committee Representation

      Annually each campus President will be requested by the COA Chairperson to designate representation to each of the standing COA committees.

      Each designated campus representative will serve as the contact person (spokesperson) for his/her respective campus and will participate in the election process of the COA Executive Council.

  5. GOVERNANCE
    1. Oversight

      The governing body of COA that will provide the oversight for its committees and all COA participating activities is its Executive Council. Additional standing or ad hoc committees may be created by the Executive Council as needed. The Executive Council will assume all responsibility for designating COA liaison representation in the various SUNY organizations.

    2. Executive Council

      The Executive Council shall be structured according to the following formula:

      • University Colleges - four members
      • Community Colleges - two members
      • Technology Colleges - three members
      • Doctoral Degree Granting Institutions - three members

    Where the categories are determined as follows:

    The University College and Community College lists are comprised of those institutions that have been historically considered in those categories.  

    The Technology Colleges will include Alfred State, Canton, Cobleskill, Delhi, Morrisville, Farmingdale, Maritime, and Utica/Rome.  

    The Doctoral Degree Granting institutions include Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Brooklyn, Syracuse, ESF, Optometry, the Statutory Colleges at Alfred University and Cornell University, and SUNY System Administration. 

    There shall not be more than one Executive Council member from any one institution. An institution is defined to be a SUNY university or college governed by a single President.

    Each COA committee chairperson will serve on the Executive Council. Additionally, Ex-Officio representation from offices within the SUNY Systems Administration will be requested to serve on this Council. At the very least this should include one individual from Educational Technology and one individual from Administrative Systems.

    1. Election Procedures
      1. Vacancies for the upcoming term in the COA Executive Council will be identified and communicated to the COA membership at the annual Fall meeting. Nominations to fill these vacancies for the upcoming term will be solicited from the COA campus membership. The incumbent Executive Council will request these nominations two months prior to the Spring COA Meeting.
      2. A slate of candidates will be developed from the nominations received.
      3. The Secretary of the Executive Council will issue voting ballots to the representatives of each COA committee respective to the structure stated above. For example only those committee representatives from the University Centers would receive nominee ballots for the University Centers' Executive Council vacancies. Those committee representatives from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences would receive nominee ballots for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences vacancies, etc. These ballots will be issued one month prior to the Spring COA Meeting.
      4. Completed ballots should be returned to the Secretary of the Executive Council no later than one week prior to the Spring COA Meeting. The returned ballots will be counted at the Spring meeting and the election results will be disseminated to the full COA membership by the incumbent Executive Council.

      5. Alternating year elections - each year an alternating half of the Executive Council shall be elected

        During even numbered years the following council positions shall be filled:

        • Doctoral Degree Granting Institutions - one member
        • University Colleges - two members
        • Technology Colleges - two members
        • Community Colleges - one member.

      During odd numbered years the following council positions shall be filled: 

      • Doctoral Degree Granting Institutions - two members
      • University Colleges - two members
      • Technology Colleges - one member
      • Community Colleges - one member
    2. Executive Council Operational Procedures
      1. Duties and responsibilities

        Members elected to the Executive Council shall serve according to the following criteria:

        1. Term of Office - two years beginning July 1st of the year in which elected.
        2. Tenure - no individual may be elected to more than two (2) full consecutive terms on the Executive Council.
        3. Attendance - if a member of the Executive Council does not attend two consecutive meetings of that Council, or is absent from a total of five meetings of the Executive Council during his/her term of office, the Executive Council may request this person resign their position.
        4. Appointments by the Executive Council (when necessary) will be continued only to the next Spring COA Meeting when elections are held.
      2. Election of Council Officers

        At the conclusion of the annual election, the Executive Council will elect a slate of officers. The officers of the Executive Council and specific duties follow:

        Executive Council Chairperson

        1. shall be the Executive Officer
        2. calls and presides over all regular and special meetings of COA
        3. calls and presides over all meetings of the Executive Council
        4. will place appointments to fill vacancies on the Executive Council in consultation with the Executive Council
        5. will appoint COA members to ad hoc committees as deemed necessary by the Executive Council
        6. will present an Annual Report to COA at its annual Fall Meeting.

        Assistant Chairperson

        1. presides in the absence of the Chairperson
        2. assists the Chairperson
        3. assumes such special assignments as may be ordered by the Chairperson or the Executive Council.

        Secretary

        1. keeps the minutes of the regular and special meetings of COA and the Executive Council
        2. carries out required correspondence.
      3. COA Treasurer The Executive Council shall annually designate a Treasurer for COA. The Treasurer is responsible to record and account for all income and expenses. The Treasurer will serve as an ex- officio, non voting member of the Executive Council.
      4. Standing Committees

        The three standing committees for Academic Computing, Administrative Computing, and Telecommunications/Networking will formulate and maintain by- laws to govern their activities. These by-laws should be consistent with the by-laws presented here.

        Each standing committee will have a Chairperson, an Assistant Chairperson, and a Secretary.

        Each standing committee will conduct their own elections.

      5. Meetings

        Parliamentary procedure shall govern the conduct of all meetings.

        Meetings shall be called by the Chairperson as necessary or at the recommendation of the Executive Council. A minimum of 30 days advanced notice to the membership of the Executive Council is required.

      6. Calendar
        • The annual meeting of COA shall be held in the Spring
        • The general meeting of the COA membership shall be held annually at the SUNY Technology Conference where the Executive Council Chairperson will provide an update of COA activities. It is at this Spring meeting that the election results of the Executive Council are completed and the new Officers of the incoming Executive Council are elected
        • The Executive Council at their first meeting each year will request volunteers to work on the following ad hoc committees
          SUNY Technology Conference Planning Committee
          Election Committee
          Regional Forum Committee
         
  6. COA FUNDS
    1. COA reserves the right to levy nominal annual dues and/or fees of a one-time nature upon the membership.
    2. Determination to levy dues and/or fees upon the membership requires a two-thirds majority vote of approval by the voting campus membership.
  7. AMENDMENT OF THE BY-LAWS
    1. These by-laws may be altered or amended by a two- thirds vote of the COA Executive Council at any regular or special meeting of the Executive Council, provided that there shall have been a distribution (or reading) of the proposed amendment(s) to the COA membership not less than ten days prior to the meeting at which the amendment(s) shall be voted on. Amendments may be proposed by any member of the COA Executive Council.

     

COA About Us | Join Us | Contact Us