Kean Federation of Teachers - Our Constitution

In order to secure effective, independent, aggressive and adversary representation in establishing their rights, duties and conditions of employment; in order to work together for the benefit of each and all; and in order to establish a firm, democratic foundation for fighting for sound principles of democratic education on campus, in the state, and throughout the nation, the faculty members of Kean University of New Jersey do establish this constitution.

Article 1: Name
This organization shall be known as the Kean Federation of Teachers: An Association of Professors, Professional Staff, and Librarians; Local 2187, American Federation of Teachers, Kean University, Union, NJ 07083-0411.

Article 2: Objectives
The purpose of this Federation shall be:

1. To advance the interests of those it represents by using its entire means in favor of any one of its members whenever that member's interests as a teacher are threatened.

2. To join with other federations for mutual assistance and cooperation.

3. To improve the quality of higher education.

4. To cooperate with organized labor for the purpose of advancing democratic concepts and institutions.

Article 3: Membership
Section 1: All members of the teaching staff, librarians and other professional personnel as specifically designated in the by-laws shall be eligible for membership in this Federation. All members of the above groups who are employed part time with a 100% dues deduction shall also be eligible for membership.

Section 2: Administrators with the rank of dean, director of a division, and others at or above that level, together with their immediate assistants, shall not be eligible for membership.

Section 3: Associate membership without the right to vote shall be open to retired members and others eligible for membership and to others who withdraw from the profession for research or other purposes but who wish to maintain affiliation.
Section 4: No discrimination shall ever be shown toward individual members or applicants
for membership because of race, creed, sex, sexual preference, or political or
social activities or beliefs.

Section 5: Eligible persons shall become active members upon application for membership
and payment of dues. To retain active membership, dues must be paid as specified in the by-laws.

Section 6: A member may be expelled for acts detrimental to the Federation upon presentation of written charges signed by at least 25% of the membership and approval by at least 75% of the Executive Council. The member shall have the
right to appeal the decision to the membership at the following regular meeting of
the Federation and shall be reinstated with full rights if a majority of the members
present vote to reinstate.

Article 4: Officers
Section 1: The following officers shall be elected biennially by Federation: President, Three Vice Presidents, Treasurer and Secretary.

Section 2: Membership in good standing for at least one year is required to hold office.

Section 3: Nominations for office shall be made at a regular meeting of the Federation as provided in the by-laws. Notice shall be provided to each member at least fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting that nominations will be in order. Petitions containing at least ten (10) signatures of active members shall accompany nominations. The notification, the nominations, as well as the balloting for office shall begin in the Spring semester and shall be completed by the end of the month of March biennially.

Section 4: Ballots without write-ins shall be prepared and mailed to each member including part-time members in good standing within ten (10) days following the nomination meeting, by an outside agency to the residencies of the Federation electorate. Ballots shall be returned to the agency no later than twenty (20) days from the date they were sent to the members. The Election Committee shall make a full-certified report of the votes cast and the results as ascertained by the outside agency known by mail to the general membership within seven (7) days of receiving the election results. Elections will be determined by a plurality.

Section 5: Officers shall be installed at the regular membership meeting or at a special meeting held for this purpose.

Section 6: Vacancies in any elected office shall be filled by vote of the Executive Council
for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Article 5: Committees
Section 1: Standing Committees: The following standing committees shall be active in the
Federation:
1. Membership
2. Contract Negotiations
3. Educational Policies
4. Grievance
5. Publicity
6. Legislation
7. Social

Section 2: Special Committees: The following special committees shall be appointed as provided in the by-laws:
1. Budget
2. Audit
3. Election
4. Such others as may be required

Section 3: Chairpersons of the various committees shall be drawn from the general membership by the chairpersons of each committee subject to approval of the President and the Executive Council.

Article 6: The Executive Council
Section 1: The Executive Council of this Federation shall consist of the following:
1. All elected officers
2. Eight members elected at-large biennially
3. All Standing Committee chairpersons
Delegates to the Council of New Jersey State College/University Locals

The Department Liaisons and Executive Coordinators may be appointed to the Executive Council as non-voting members at the discretion of the Executive Council.

Section 2: The Executive Council shall recommend policy to the membership and shall
administer the policy of this Federation as set by the membership at regular meetings. It shall have the power to act for the good of the Federation in emergency situations where the policy cannot be set by the membership at a
regular meeting.

Section 3: The President of the Federation shall be the chairperson of the Executive Council.

Section 4: The Executive Council shall meet regularly during the academic year as set forth in the by-laws.

Section 5: The Executive Council shall have the power to employ all personnel including an
Office Manager, clerical help, and other persons on a full or part-time basis as may be authorized by the policies of the Federation.

Section 6: In accordance with the policies of the Federation, the Executive Council shall have the power to make contracts, incur liabilities, borrow money, issue notes, bonds and other obligations and to secure its obligations through mortgages, pledges, or deeds of trust.

Section 7: The Executive Council shall report its activities at each regular membership meeting. It shall make full use of the Publicity Committee.

Article 7: Department Liaisons
Section 1: It is the function of the Department Liaisons to assure two- way, face-to-face communications between the membership and its leadership. This will be accomplished in part through cooperation with the Membership and Publicity Committee.

Section 2: The Department Liaisons may be appointed to the Executive Council as non voting members at the discretion of the Executive Council.

Article 8: Affiliations
Section 1: This Federation shall maintain affiliation with, and whenever possible send
delegates to the following organizations: The American Federation of Teachers, The New Jersey Federation of Teachers, The Local AFL-CIO Central Labor Assembly, and The New Jersey AFL-CIO Labor Body.

Section 2: Delegates shall be elected to represent the Federation at the National Convention of the American Federation of Teachers. The credentials of all elected delegates and alternates shall be forwarded to the national office as soon as possible, but not later than fifteen (15) days before the convening of the national convention.

Section 3: All delegates shall make written reports to the Executive Council on meetings
attended.

Section 4: Every reasonable effort shall be made by this Federation to pay the legitimate
expenses of delegates to meetings and conventions of affiliated organizations.

Section 5: The Federation, to the best of its ability, shall be active in the affairs of
affiliated organizations.

Section 6: Delegates to affiliated organizations shall meet the same requirements as officers
of the Federation.

Article 9: Duties of Officers
Section 1: The President shall preside at all meetings of the Federation and of the Executive
Council. The President shall be ex-officio member of all committees, except the Audit Committee and the Elections Committee, shall sign all necessary papers
and documents, and represent the Local when and where necessary. The President shall make a report to the membership at least once each year summarizing the accomplishments of the Federation and outlining plans for the next year.

Section 2: The three Vice-Presidents shall assist the President in carrying out the duties as
specified by the President and further articulated in the by-laws. In the absence
of the President, one of the Vice-Presidents shall become acting President.

In the event of a Presidential vacancy one of the Vice-Presidents shall be chosen by the Executive Council to fill such vacancy at its next meeting.

Section 3: The Secretary shall be the custodian of the seal and charter of the Federation,
record minutes of executive and general meetings, and perform other such duties as directed by the President and Executive Council.

Section 4: The duties of the Treasurer shall be:
a. To receive, record, and deposit in the name of the Federation all monies
from dues and all other sources.

b. To keep the membership roll, issue receipts, and delinquent notices.

c. To forward to the National Office, on or before the 15th of each month, the report of members in good standing, together with mailing addresses, on the first day of that month, together with all taxes and assessments due the American Federation of Teachers.

d. To be chairman of the Budget Committee. To present a written report to all members once a year.

e. To keep adequate records available at all times for the Executive Council and Audit Committee, and to make a report at each regular meeting of the membership.

f. To pay all bills authorized by the adopted budget, retaining voucher or invoice for same. Expenses not authorized in the budget must be presented to the Executive Council for authorization.

g. To submit a financial statement for the Local including a statement of
assets and liabilities and a statement of income and expenses to the AFT Secretary-Treasurer within sixty (60) days of the end of the fiscal year for the Local.

h. To submit a financial report certified by an outside Certified Public Accountant at the end of each fiscal year. Such report shall be mailed to the residencies of the Federation members within thirty (30) days of the end of the fiscal year.

i. To submit to the Elections Committee a list of eligible voters and officeholders as per Article 3:Section 5 and Article 4: Section 2, in the first week of January of the Spring semester.

Article 10: Duties of Standing Committees
All Standing Committees shall report to the Executive Council and shall prepare year-end written reports of their activities.

Section 1: The Membership Committee shall plan and execute a dynamic program to insure the growth and vitality of the Federation. It shall work with and through the Department Liaisons.

Section 2: The Local Contract Negotiation Committee shall prepare contract proposals, shall present them to the general membership for approval, and then shall negotiate these proposals with the employer subject to approval by vote of the membership.

Section 3: The Educational Policies Committee shall study curriculum, instruction, conditions of work, salary, and other policies affecting the membership and shall make
recommendations to the Local Contract Negotiation Committee. It shall gather data to support policies that it recommends.

Section 4: The Grievance Committee shall act on all grievances submitted in writing to the
Executive Council. It shall present to the Executive Council a procedure for handling grievances. The procedure shall be publicized through the Publicity
Committee.

Section 5: The Publicity Committee shall prepare and distribute a monthly bulletin. The
Chairman of the committee shall be the editor. The committee shall handle special communications and their distribution. It shall make use of other sources
of public relations, i.e., newspapers, radio, television. It shall work with
and through the Department Liaisons.

Section 6: The Legislative Committee shall study proposed legislation which may affect the Federation and Higher Education and shall consider recommendations of the national and state organizations relative to legislation. It may initiate recommendations. It may present the records of elected officials.

Section 7: The Social Committee shall arrange programs and entertainment and perform such duties as the Federation may direct.

Article 11: Meetings
Section 1: The time and place of the regular meetings shall be set by the Executive Council at
the beginning of each year.

Section 2: There shall be at least one regular meeting of the membership each semester.

Section 3: A quorum shall consist of ten percent of the total membership.

Section 4: Special meetings may be called by the officers, the Executive Council, or the
members as provided in the by-laws.

Section 5: Minutes of each Executive Council and General Membership meeting be made available before the following meeting to the respective members.

Article 12: Dues and Finance
Section 1: Changes in the dues shall be made by a majority vote of the members present at a
regular meeting providing that notice of a contemplated dues change has been announced at a previous meeting, and has been duly distributed to all members at least one week prior to the regular meeting.

Section 2: A full accounting of the use of all funds shall be made to the membership each year.

Article 13: Roberts rules of order - Newly Revised
Roberts Rules of Order, Revised shall govern in all cases not covered by this Constitution or the by-laws.

Article 14: Adoption
Upon the adoption of this constitution by a two-thirds vote of the members of the
Federation present and voting at a meeting called for the purpose, this constitution shall be the basic policy of the Federation.

An election of officers shall be held at a meeting to be called not later than two weeks from the meeting at which this constitution is adopted, with nominations being made from the floor. The elected officers shall serve together with the
appointed committee chairmen until the first regular election can be arranged by
the election committee. This first regular election shall in no case be held any
later than twelve months from the date of the adoption of this constitution. The
officers and committee chairmen shall serve as the Executive Council until such
time as the first regular election is held, and they shall enjoy all the rights, duties, and responsibilities of that body.

Article 15: Amendment
The Constitution may be amended in either of two ways:

a. The Executive Council can initiate amendments. A proposed amendment
may be submitted by a member to the Executive Council in writing.

b. A petition signed by one-third of the members shall be publicized and brought
to vote.

All proposed amendments shall be publicized through the monthly bulletin. Amendments which have the approval of a majority of the Executive Council
or which have the signatures of one-third of the members shall be voted by
secret ballot at a regular meeting of the members. An amendment approved
by two-thirds of the members present and voting at a regular meeting shall become part of this constitution.

Article 16: Availability of the Constitution
Section 1: Three copies of this Constitution and by-laws and all future amendments shall be
submitted to the National.

Section 2: The Secretary of this Federation shall have copies of this Constitution available
at all meetings of the Executive Council and of the members.

Approved by Executive Council, April 22, 1998

Approved by the General Membership, November 24, 1998

BY-LAWS

Article 1: Membership
Eligible persons for membership of Kean Federation of Teachers shall be all members of the bargaining unit.

Article 2: Dues
Section 1: Dues shall be one per cent of gross salary per year.

Section 2: Dues may be paid annually in advance within the month of September or they may be paid in two installations of which one-half shall be paid in September and one-half shall be paid in January, or they may be paid by dues check-off.

Section 3: Members in arrears may not make motions, may not make nominations and may not vote but they may speak to motions made by members in good standing. Members in arrears may not hold office.

Section 4: Members shall be adjudged in arrears by the treasurer if Section 2 above has not been complied with by October 1 of any given year and again by March 1 for those paying in two installments, and they have been billed fifteen (15) days in advance.

Section 5: Any person making dues payments or service fee payments to the Union in lieu of dues under agency shop provisions in the Union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement shall have the right to object to the expenditure of his/her portion of such payments for activities or causes of a political nature or involving controversial issues of public importance only incidentally related to wages, hours and conditions of employment. Such objections if at all, shall be made by the objector individually notifying the Union President and Treasurer of his/her objection by registered or certified mail, during the period between September 1-15 of each year. Such objection, if any, shall be renewed each year in the same period in the same manner.

The approximate proportion of dues and service fees spent by the Union for such purposes shall be determined annually, after each fiscal year of the Union, by the Union’s officers. Rebate of a pro-rated portion of his/her dues or service fees corresponding to such proportion shall hereafter be made to each individual who has filed a timely notice of objection, as provided above.

Section 6: If an objector is dissatisfied with the proportional allocation that has been determined on the ground that it assertedly does not accurately reflect the expenditures of the Union in the defined area, an appeal may be taken by such person to the Union Executive Council within thirty (30) days following receipt of such rebate or receipt of notice of such allocation. The Executive Council shall render a decision on such appeal within thirty (30) days following its receipt. If the objector remains dissatisfied, he/she may file an appeal therefrom to the membership by lodging the appeal with the President of the Union within thirty (30) days following receipt of the Executive Council decision, which appeal shall be heard at the next regular membership meeting of the Union or at a regular membership meeting which occurs within ninety (90) days thereafter. If he/she is dissatisfied with the membership action, he/she may further appeal, within thirty (30) days following the decision of the membership, to the Review Panel as provided in Section 7.

Section 7: (a) In order to assure objective disposition of complaints about rebates of sums paid to the Union under dues of agency shop contract provisions, there shall be established a Review Panel composed of prominent disinterested citizens who are not a part of or employed by the American Federation of Teachers or its affiliates.

(b) The Review Panel shall consist of not more than five (5) members including the chairman. The Union President shall, with the approval of the Union Executive Council, designate the members including the chairman of the initial Review Panel. Thereafter, whenever a vacancy shall occur on the Review Panel, the vacancy shall be filled by the Union President from a list of names submitted by the remaining members of the Review Panel.

(d) The Review Panel shall formulate such rules of procedure and establish such practices as it finds necessary to its proper functioning.

(e) The Review Panel shall submit to the Union Executive Council an annual report of its activities, which report shall contain a summary of all cases brought before the Review Panel during that year. Copies of the annual report shall be available upon request to all members and to all non-members subject to agency shop
contract provisions.

(f) The Union shall pay the reasonable and necessary expenses of the Review Panel.

Article 3: Nominations
Petitioners must obtain acceptance of the nomination before presenting a petition to the election committee. Petitions may be presented to the election committee prior to the meeting at which nominations are to be made or they may be presented at the meeting itself.

Article 4: Appointment of Special Committees

Section 1: A budget committee shall be appointed by the President following the annual election. The committee shall present a budget for approval of the membership at the first meeting in the fall. The budget shall run from September 1 through August 31.

Section 2: An audit committee shall be appointed by the President. It must include at least one member who is not a member of the Executive Council. It shall audit the financial records of the year closing on August 31 and report at the first meeting in the fall.

Section 3: An election committee shall be appointed in December to carry out the election of officers according to the Constitution of this Federation. The President shall not serve on this committee.

Article 5: Meeting of the Executive Council

The Executive Council shall meet at least once a month when the University is in session.
The days and times of the meeting shall be set and publicized by the Executive Council following
the annual election. One-third of the Executive Council shall constitute a quorum.

Article 6: Duties of the Vice Presidents

As requested by the President, the Vice-Presidents shall assist the President in internal affairs (official
meeting, e.g. Board of Trustees); external affairs (e.g., Council of New Jersey State College and
University Locals, Commission of Higher Education) and personnel matters (e.g., maintaining
committee assignments).

Article 7: Special Meetings

The President may call a special meeting at any time. The Executive Council may by a majority vote direct the President to call a special meeting. A petition signed by ten percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a requirement that the President call a special meeting.

Article 8: Membership of Record

In order to participate in balloting active membership of record for at least one month prior to the notice of the ballot is required.

Article 9: Eligibility of Executive Council
In order to be eligible for any elected position on the Executive Committee, a member must be in good standing for at least one year.

Article 10
No member may be a candidate for more than one elected position on the Executive Council or hold more than one elected position in the Union at the same time. In the event of resignation or vacation from office, a member may hold another position temporarily with the approval of the Executive Council in order that the office may be filled. Article 4, Section 6 of Constitution shall then apply.

Article 11: Attendance
Any elected member or ex-officio member of the Executive Council who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or a total of four meetings during the year, shall e automatically dropped from the Executive Council and replaced by the President with the approval of the Executive Council. Executive Council may suspend this rule in special circumstances in petition of the individual involved.

Article 12: Recall of Officers
All elected officers, delegates, members of the Executive Council, Departmental representatives shall be subject to recall. A signed petition of 45% of the active membership stating just cause may initiate the procedure. The membership will then be polled by mail ballot. The approval of 75% of the membership is necessary for recall motion to pass.

Article 13: Terms of Office
All elected officers, delegates, members of the Executive Council shall serve for a period of two years. Terms of office coincide with the academic year, July 1 – June 30.

Article 14: Emeritus
The former Presidents of the Federation become non-voting members emeriti of the Executive Council.

Article 15: Agenda for Membership Meeting
An agenda for regularly scheduled meetings shall be published and distributed to members at least one week in advance. Special meetings shall have agenda published with the notice of the meeting.

Article 16: Agenda for Executive Council Meetings
An agenda for regularly scheduled and special meetings of the Executive Council shall be published and distributed to members at least one week in advance. Special meetings shall have the agenda published with the notice of the meeting.

Article 17: Salary for KFT Officers
The KFT Executive Council shall have the right to create an annual salary scale for officers and pay dues for specific members charged with responsibilities for the Union in accordance with Article VI Section 6 of the Constitution.

Article 18: Delegates to State Council
President shall appoint delegates to State council other than the KCFT President and Vice President with the approval of the Executive Council.

Article 19: Executive Coordinators
The KFT President shall appoint executive coordinators to sit on the Executive Council subject to the Council’s approval.

Article 20: Amendments
These by-laws may be amended by the same procedures as set forth for amendments to the Constitution except that a simple majority of the members voting at a regular meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose shall be sufficient to amend the by-laws.

Approved by Executive Council