Mission
The Staff Advisory Committee is the Smeal College of Business’s bridge for communication between the staff and the dean on issues dealing with staff policy, professional development, welfare, and goals. This committee aims to enhance and solidify the Smeal community by strengthening the partnerships between the staff, the administration of the college, and within the staff community itself. All new initiatives developed by SAC are at the request of the dean, the staff, or are in support of established strategic goals of the college. In all deliberation, SAC will consider proper methods of communication and implementation strategies that will benefit both the staff and administration.

SAC is charged to deal with issues of general interest to the Smeal staff as a whole and will not address issues in connection with individual staff members.

Bylaws
The following bylaws define the composition of the committee, the service terms of committee members, and the responsibilities of the committee. These bylaws provide a mechanism for balancing the committee composition to assure the representation of all Smeal staff.

1. Membership
SAC will be composed of seven members. One member to represent each the functional area provided eligible candidates are available.
Those elected will be required to confirm they are willing to serve on the committee. Staff will vote for one nominee from each functional area via a digital ballot based on how many open SAC positions there are.
The member from each area who receives the most votes from staff and is willing to serve will be appointed to the committee. All committee appointments are subject to their supervisor’s approval.
a. The functional areas are:
     • Academic Units
     • RIIT Group
     • Undergraduate Education
     • PGP
     • Centers, Institutes, Intl Programs, Executive Education, Diversity, Financial Office & PhD
     • Alumni & Development and eLDlG
     • Business Career Center, Marketing & Public Relations, Honor & Integrity, and The Deans Office
b. Time served for committee work should be considered as part of a committee member’s job responsibilities and not as personal time.
c. Participation in the committee is a privilege and should be treated as such. Persons unable to attend meetings should give notice to the chair. If such notice is not given or if three consecutive meetings are missed, a lack of participation will be assumed. This will result in that committee member being under review by the committee and HR for possible replacement.
d. To assist with transitions of leadership and historical understanding of events a current SAC chair or Vice-Chair can invite prior members to assist as an Ex officio member. Ex Officio members appointment are subject to their supervisor’s approval.  Ex Officio members will not have voting rights, meeting attendance is not mandatory, and they can be excused from the committee by the chair at any time.
e. The current list of SAC members can be found on the Smeal SAC Website. (https://sites.psu.edu/smealsac/committee/)

2. Meetings
The committee will meet once a month on the first Wednesday of every month unless scheduled otherwise. Attendance will be taken at each meeting.
a. The absence of any member at three consecutive meetings will be considered excessive absenteeism and will be addressed by the committee, possibly resulting in replacement.
b. If less than half of the members (<4) can attend a monthly meeting, the meeting shall be rescheduled within a week.
c. Special meetings, for any purpose, may be called at any time by the Chair.
d. SAC will meet with the dean and HR every Fall and Spring semester or as needed.
e. A representative from SAC will be invited to attend the Honor & Integrity, Management, and Diversity Committee meetings.
f. Meeting minutes are to be taken, recorded, and approved. The minutes will be posted on the Smeal SAC website. (https://sites.psu.edu/smealsac/meeting-minutes/). Any sensitive information is redacted.

3. Voting
a. Voting will occur for all major issues or decisions.
b. All motions will be passed by a simple majority.
c. A quorum of 4 voting members present out of 7 (a majority of the committee) is necessary to make or pass a motion.
d. Absentee votes are not permitted, with exception to bylaw amendments and officer elections.

4. New Members
Nominations for new committee members will be solicited by the end of May.
Voting for new committee members will take place by the end of June and all staff members can vote on whom they wish to elect onto the committee. New SAC members begin their term on July 1 of each year. All full-time staff who have been with the college for a minimum of one year from the start date of their term (July 1) are eligible to run for election. Staff may remove themselves from the ballot each year before the digital ballot is sent out as well as during the voting process. Once the votes are in if an electee does not wish to serve they can turn down the position. In the event of a tie, nominees will be notified before going into a
run-off election.

5. Terms of Office
Committee members shall serve on the committee for two consecutive years, not to exceed two consecutive two-year terms beginning July 1.
Any member wishing to serve a consecutive term must be nominated formally. Approximately half of the membership should rotate off the committee each year if possible. Former members who serve two consecutive terms must sit out for one year before being elected again.
a. Leave of Absence. Requests for a temporary leave of absence from the Committee will be submitted to the Chair. Such requests shall be granted whenever possible. Since such leaves are temporary, the resulting vacancy shall not be filled by a new member.
b. Resignations/Vacancies. Resignations from the committee will be submitted to the chair, who will inform HR to invite the staff member who received the next highest number of votes (from the appropriate election held for vacating committee members) to join the committee for the remainder of the designated term. Should the candidate from that functional area not be available, HR will run an off-cycle election to find a replacement. Upon acceptance, that person will serve the remaining term. If the vacancy occurs within three months of voting for the next committee members (end of February), the position shall remain unfilled and will be included in the upcoming election process.

6. Officers
a. In July of each year, a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Web Manager will be elected by vote of the committee.
b. Priority will be given to a member in 2ⁿᵈ⁻year of their term for the Chair and 1ˢᵗ⁻year term for the Vice-Chair when possible.
c. Officer Responsibilities
     • Chair: Runs meetings, creates the agenda, and communicates with the dean on an as-needed basis.
     • Vice-Chair: Serves in the absence of the chair during the first term. This role is intended to progress into the Chair position for their second-year term.
     • Secretary: Records meeting minutes.
     • Web Manager: Takes photos at events and posts photos, upcoming events, and meeting minutes on the Smeal Website. (https://sites.psu.edu/smealsac/events/)
d. Member Roles
Members acting in the role of staff representative on the following committees attend committee meetings, report to the committee relevant staff views or issues as appropriate, and similarly, report relevant committee activity to SAC membership.
     • Diversity Committee
     • Honor & Integrity Committee
     • Management Committee
     • United Way
     • You Rock Award – role responsible to collect candidates and bring to the committee to vote for the winner of the award. Then notify SAC members of award time, date, location, and lead the presentation of the award to the recipient as well as photograph and email award announcement/photo for college.
e. By July 1 of each year, SAC will nominate a member to serve on the Smeal Staff Awards Committee, which will exclude that member from an award nomination in that year.

7. Budget
On an annual basis (generally in June) the SAC committee will work with the ex officio member to propose an estimated budget of costs for the next year’s SAC-sponsored events. Beginning in the 2018 -2019 school year, an Excel document will be maintained to record and manage these expenses along with event attendance year to date. The proposed budget will be submitted to the dean for funding approval.

8. Reviews and Amendments
a. Review of the Bylaws. The committee shall review these Bylaws on an annual basis in May.
b. Amendments to the Bylaws. These Bylaws may be altered or amended at any time under the
following procedure:
     • Amendments must be presented to all members in writing at least fifteen days before a
scheduled meeting.
     • All proposed amendments must be discussed by the committee. Individuals who will not be present for the meeting may send in their discussion and vote to the Chair before the meeting.
     • If approved by majority vote, provided a quorum exists, amendments shall be submitted to the Dean and HR for approval. Amendments approved by the Dean and HR shall be adopted by the
committee

9. Confidentiality
All members of the committee are to respect staff concerns and suggestions.  Depending on concerns and matters brought forth to SAC, the information may be deemed as confidential to the general Smeal/PSU communities and the information should not be shared among others outside of the SAC committee.