DISTRICT ACADEMIC SENATE
CONSTITUTION
Article 1: Name
The name of this organization shall be the District Academic Senate (DAS) of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD).
Article 2: Purpose
The primary purpose of this organization is to promote the goals of higher education and to represent college faculty in the formation of District policy on academic and professional matters, as specified in California Education Code section 70901(b)(7) and the California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 53200. The DAS also encourages faculty professionalism and defends academic freedom for students and faculty.
Article 3: Membership
- Section 1. Membership of the DAS shall include all LACCD tenured, probationary, or part-time (adjunct) faculty. All faculty members designated as eligible voting members by their local senates are deemed eligible to serve as voting members of the DAS.
- Section 2. Each college faculty shall be represented by its academic senate president plus three additional campus-selected DAS representatives.
- Section 3. Nothing in this Constitution shall preclude the right of members of local academic senates or local academic senate officers from serving simultaneously on the DAS if they are selected for the latter.
- Section 4. Should a DAS member become ineligible or otherwise unavailable for duty, the academic senate president from the affected college shall appoint a replacement for the vacancy to serve until the next election.
Article 4: Officers of the DAS
Elected officers of the DAS will include: President, Immediate Past President, 1st Vice-President (Equivalency), 2nd Vice-President (Curriculum), Secretary, and Treasurer. The DAS president will appoint a Parliamentarian. Officers shall serve two year terms.
Article 5: Terms of Office
- Section 1: Officers
- Terms of office for all elected officers shall be for a period of two years, commencing on July 1st of the year elected.
- Section 2: DAS Representatives
- Terms of office for DAS representatives shall be determined by each college. Each term shall not be less than two years and not more than four years. Terms will begin on July 1st following their election.
Article 6: Functions
- Section 1. The DAS shall serve as the official voice of the combined faculty of the LACCD on academic and professional matters.
- Section 2. Shared governance policies in the District are defined in Chapter XVIII, Board Rules 18100 to 18110 and subsections, and in the fall, 1998, ASCCC-CCLC Implementation Guidelines, appended hereto and labeled Appendix A below.
- Section 3. Nothing in this document shall deprive any college academic senate of its right of direct access to the LACCD Chancellor or Board of Trustees.
Article 7: Referendum
Upon petition of fifteen percent of the tenured and tenure track faculty of the LACCD who protest any action taken by the DAS, such action shall be submitted to a referendum within thirty calendar days. The protested action of the DAS shall be nullified if disapproved by a majority of the tenured and tenure track faculty total votes cast. Any adjunct/part-time faculty senate representative from any campus may call for a protest and vote in a referendum.
Article 8: Amendment to the Constitution
Every six years, the DAS Constitution shall be reviewed so as to revise or amend said document. An amendment is defined as any substantive change in the language or intent of an existing article or a proposed new article.
Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by a majority vote of the DAS Exec as a body, or by the majority vote of any local college academic senate.If the proposed amendment is approved, the amendment goes to the full DAS for a vote. To adopt the amendment, at least two thirds of the full DAS present and eligible to vote must agree. Following this vote, the amendment is sent to local senates for ratification.Two thirds of local college senates (six of the nine colleges) must ratify the proposed amendment before it can take effect. If ratified, the new amendment shall be deemed effective immediately and formal notice shall be sent to all senates of the outcome.
Article 9: Ratification History
This document was first approved by the Association of Faculty Presidents for submission to Faculties on April 7, 1964.
APPENDIX A
[ LACCD Board Rules, Article XVIII and included ASCCC-CCCL Implementation Guidelines Fall, 1998]