Bylaws

BY-LAWS

Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics

Adopted on 08 December 08 by vote of the Coalition membership

Article I. Membership, Representation, Voting Process, and Meetings

1. The membership of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (referred to as the “Coalition” or “COIA” in these by-laws) shall be composed of faculty senates (or the equivalent campus faculty governance body) at NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division IA) institutions that have elected to join the Coalition by vote of their senate membership.

[N.B., The phrase “faculty senate” is generic and refers to the primary campus faculty governance body.]

2. Member senates shall be represented by their elected president/chair (or equivalent faculty leader/officer) and by a faculty liaison (called the COIA representative), designated by the member senate or its executive committee. The term of the faculty liaison to COIA shall be at the discretion of the member senate or its executive committee.

[N.B., Some faculty senates are chaired by the institution's president/chancellor; in those cases, it is the faculty "chief executive" who is to serve as one of the COIA representatives.]

[N.B., The reasons COIA instituted the liaison position (which was always recommended, rather than required) were that it wanted someone at each school who could be a reliable contact over time, as senate chairs turned over every 1-2 years, and it wanted a way to ensure that if a senate chair found COIA uninteresting or uncongenial, there would be someone likely to have interest in and/or knowledge of COIA who was co-appointed to be in touch with COIA. However, COIA is a coalition of senates, and it can only be sure that a senate is at least technically informed about COIA activities if membership correspondence goes directly to the chair. Sometimes chairs have asked to be taken off the membership mailing list, but that would leave COIA vulnerable, since it would not be able to confirm and assert that issues were conveyed to senate authority accurately. For these reasons, chairs should remain on the list ex officio and receive messages directly, regardless of interest or engagement.]

3. Each member senate shall have one vote in the Coalition. The member senate may decide who (i.e., the senate president or COIA representative) shall cast the vote for the senate. In the absence of a senate decision, the senate president and COIA representative shall determine who casts the vote. In case of disagreement, the vote shall be cast according to the preference of the Senate President.

4. The Coalition takes collective action by majority vote of its members. How each member senate votes shall be decided by its COIA representatives or by the member senate if it chooses to direct a vote. The Coalition may stipulate, by a majority of senate representatives, that votes of full senates are required to endorse a specific collective action.

5. Votes may take place through and as a result of email communication, or may take place at a national meeting of the Coalition. Votes on major matters must be ratified by a majority of the full membership. A vote taken at a national meeting may be extended in order to request votes from non-attending Coalition members in order to achieve ratification.

6. The Coalition shall hold national meetings on an annual basis if possible. All representatives from member schools shall be invited.

Article II. Steering Committee

1. The Steering Committee shall be composed of one or two representatives from each FBS conference. Conferences with two or fewer COIA members, conferences that do not nominate Steering Committee representatives, and institutions that do not belong to conferences shall have no voting representatives but may be represented by a non-voting member under Article II.6.h

[N.B., Broad conference representation is important so that COIA can legitimately claim to speak for all of Division IA. As a deliberative body, moreover, the Steering Committee includes a number of active, non-voting consulting members, outside the structure of conference allotments, whose voices are important. The mechanism of ex-officio non-voting members can be used to address any difficulties that may arise as a result of distributing voting representation by conference.]

2. Steering Committee members are selected by agreement of the senate representatives from the member schools within each conference. A Steering Committee member may also serve as the COIA representative from his or her senate and/or as the University’s Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR). The appointment process is coordinated by the Coalition Co-Chairs.

3.  Steering Committee members serve three-year, renewable terms.  Reappointment shall follow the same process as for the original appointment as described in Article II.2.

4. The Steering Committee is coordinated by the Coalition Co-Chairs, and may convene by email or in person.

5. The Steering Committee shall act by majority vote of participating members who cast a vote on any particular proposal.

6. The Steering Committee shall have the authority to:

a. Carry on the business of the Coalition between national meetings and act on behalf of the Coalition between meetings. Such actions are subject to review and modification or reversal by the Coalition membership at the next meeting, or by a vote of the membership during intervals between meetings.

b. Interact with the NCAA and other groups.

c. Organize and/or participate in events that advance the goals of the Coalition as outlined in papers and documents it has adopted.

c. Promote the Coalition and its activities.

d. Draft documents that articulate faculty viewpoints, subject to the ratification of member representatives.

e. Convene national meetings.

f. Seek funding to support the activities of the Coalition as it deems appropriate or as directed by the members,.

g. Direct the activities of the Co-Chairs.

h. Appoint non-voting consulting members to the Steering Committee as appropriate.

i. Appoint standing or ad hoc committees as appropriate.

Article III. Officers

1. There shall be two Co-Chairs of the Coalition, elected by the members of the Steering Committee. The officers are responsible for initiating and coordinating ongoing email discussion of Coalition issues among Steering Committee members, for convening meetings of the Steering Committee from time to time, as they or a majority of the Steering Committee may deem appropriate, and for facilitating and advancing the objectives of the Coalition.

2. Co-Chairs shall serve two-year terms, beginning in alternate years. Co-chair terms may be renewed by majority vote of the Steering Committee.

Article IV. Dues and Finances

1. There are no dues to belong to the Coalition.

2. The Coalition shall collect funds only to meet costs of routine activities, such as the coordination of annual meetings, and shall maintain no treasury.

a. Officers and Steering Committee members shall receive no compensation for their activities from the Coalition.

b. Member senates are encouraged to provide or seek local campus financial support to support the activities of Coalition representatives, or Steering Committee members.

c. Any change in the financial basis of the Coalition entailing compensation of officers or others, or the maintenance of a permanent treasury, shall require amendment of these bylaws to establish appropriate fiduciary structures.

Article V. Adoption and amendment of bylaws

1. These bylaws come into force when approved by a majority of COIA member senates. The representatives of each member senate will decide on the manner in which their member senate will determine its vote: whether by vote of the full senate, the senate executive committee, or the senate representatives to the Coalition. The decision shall be reported to the member senate.

2. These bylaws may be amended by two-thirds of the voting members participating in a vote to amend. The manner of voting shall be as in Article V.1.