Board Policies and Procedures

Procedure for Election of Faculty and Non-Teaching Personnel

1. Purpose

KRS 164.321(2) mandates the election of three (3) Regents to the KCTCS Board of Regents. Those Regents shall be as follows:

1. One (1) teach faculty member;
    
2. One nonteaching personnel member; and
    
3. One (1) student body member.

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 and an employee-accessible site to learn about candidates.
    
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. Administrators who hold eligible faculty rank and spend 51% or more of their time in a teaching capacity are eligible to serve, except for those administrators who supervise two (2) or more employees and report directly to the College Chancellor.
       
2. Staff: College, full-time, regular staff, excluding the positions of chancellor, provost, vice chancellors, academic deans, academic department chairpersons, and any other administrator who supervises two (2) or more employees and reports directly to the College Chancellor shall be ineligible to serve.
   1. Staff at the System Office are ineligible to serve.
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 and administrators eligible to serve as faculty shall be eligible to vote.
    
2. Staff: All full-time, regular staff shall be eligible to vote, including those at the System Office and Fire Commission, except for the KCTCS President and his/her direct reports.
3. Administrators who hold faculty rank but spend less than 51% of their time teaching shall be eligible to vote as staff, except those who supervise two (2) or more employees and report directly to the College Chancellor.  
    
4. 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 the 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 College 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 require that a candidate be allowed speaking time at any College meeting, forum, or function. However, if one candidate is permitted to speak at a College meeting, forum, or function, then any candidate who asks must be permitted an equal opportunity to speak.
   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 KCTCS email distribution lists or newsletters).
   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.
    
2. The Board Liaison shall verify the results. 
    
3. In the event of a tie between 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 Change in Status and Resulting Vacancy

A. Any change in the eligibility or employment status of an elected member of the Board of Regents that would render the individual ineligible to serve will cause the member’s term to cease and require an election to be held for a new representative to complete the remainder of the term.

B. 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 Transition Election

3.9 Review of Procedure