Ohio State University Libraries
Staff Advisory Council Bylaws
Table of Contents
I. I.Staff Advisory
CouncilCouncil(SAC) (SAC)
Duties:
Officers,
Members
and and
Ex Officio
1 ... ...... 1
Staff Advisory
Duties:
Officers,
Members
Ex Officio
Meetings..................................................... ...... 3
II.II.Meetings
3
III.III.
MinutesMinutes
3............................................................ 3

IV.IV.Elections
4
Elections............................................................ 4
V. Constitutional Amendments 5

V.

Constitutional Amendments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

VI.VI.
Transition
Guidelines
6
Transition
Guidelines..................................................6
VII.
Staff Forums
6
VII.
Staff Forums.......................................... ............

6

VIII.
Proposals
to the Administration
6
VIII.
Proposals
to the Administration.........................................6

IX.IX.
Strategic
Plan 7 Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Strategic

X.X.Communication
with Staff
Communication
with7Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
XI.XI.
Annual Report
Annual7Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
XII.
Welcome
ProgramProgram
7
XII.
Welcome..................................................

7

XIII.
Professional
Development
Grant(SPDG)
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
XIII.Staff Staff
Professional
Development
Grant(SPDG)XIV.
Recognition
Activities
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
XIV.StaffStaff
Recognition
Activities

XV. Status
Status of. . . . .9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
XV.
ofBylaws
BylawsI.

Staff Advisory Council (SAC) Duties: Officers, Members and Ex Officio
A. Chairperson
1. Presides at all meetings of the SAC (per SAC Constitution).
a) Gathers, sets, and shares agenda items.
b) Sends meeting and action item reminders.
c) Leads meeting.
2. Sets priorities, provides momentum for forward movement, and keeps group on
task.
3. Coordinates with Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) Chair about joint meetings, cosponsors proposals, shares SAC viewpoints, and other tasks as appropriate.
4. Performs the role of administrative liaison by:a) Composing and relaying SAC proposals to University Libraries Dean andexecutive sponsor (Chief Administrative Officer).
b) Inviting Dean or other individuals to SAC meetings as appropriate.
c) Sitting on Management Committee (ex officio position).
d) Attending faculty meetings.
5. Reports back to SAC from other meetings and committees all pertinent informationin need of being shared to both SAC and the general staff population.
B. Vice Chairperson

2
1. Presides in temporary absence of the Chairperson (per SAC Constitution).
2. Succeeds in the permanent absence of the Chairperson (per SAC Constitution).
3. Performs the role of constituent liaison by organizing staff forums
C. Recorder
1. Records the proceedings of Council meetings (per SAC Constitution).
2. Conveys approved minutes to the Libraries Dean and the staff body (per SAC
Constitution).
3. Maintains the content on the SAC’s website (per SAC Constitution).
4. Schedules monthly SAC meetings.
5. Drafts Annual Report for Council to review; finalizes and sends to libstaff listserv in
June.
D. All Members (“Staff Advocates”)
1. Attend and participate in meetings.
2. Participate on selection committee for Dean’s Award.
3. Publicize SAC elections and solicit candidates for upcoming SAC elections.
4. Ensure SAC abides by its Constitution.
5. Distribute Kudos awards.
E. All Members, as Assigned
1. May serve as liaison to University Staff Advisory Committee (USAC) and attend
meetings as appropriate; summarizes meetings to SAC.
2. Observes and liaises with other committees inside the Libraries as appropriate.
3. Communicates with and provides feedback to individual staff members who bringissues to Council’s attention.
4. Coordinates the Kudos Program.
5. Coordinates the Mentorship Program for new staff.
a) Coordinates new employee welcome bags
6. Coordinates the Staff Professional Development Grant program.
7. Places Hub tickets to obtain or remove access to the SAC space on the network
server (J:\Working Groups\Committees\SAC server space), BuckeyeBox, and the
Libraries’ wiki when SAC membership changes.
8. Organizes and maintains J:\Working Groups\Committees\SAC network folder,
Buckeye Box folder, and the Libraries’ wiki entries as applicable to their
responsibilities in the council.
9. Maintains SAC FAQ
F. Human Resources Representative (ex officio)
1. Attends and participates in meetings.
2. Advises SAC and provides a human resources perspective on topics and staff
concerns.
3. Solicits opinions and viewpoints from SAC on human resources issues affecting staff.
4. Refers issues from staff members to SAC if appropriate.
5. Coordinates and runs the annual SAC election.
a) Checks libstaff listserv membership at election time to make sure all CCS
and A&P library staff are included in the voter roll for elections.

3b) Publicizes SAC elections and solicits candidates through libstaff listserv.
6. Coordinates SAC involvement in the Dean’s Award selection process.
7. Communicates new staff hires to the SAC Mentorship Program coordinator.
II. Meetings
A. Meetings should occur monthly.
B. Joint meetings with FAC should occur during Spring Semester and Fall Semester.
C. Special meetings may be scheduled with the entire SAC body as needed, likewise any
subcommittee meetings.
D. The executive sponsor may attend any SAC meeting at their discretion.
E. Meetings including the Dean should occur not less than once per year, on an as-neededbasis.
F. Meeting location should be held virtually by default. One in-person meeting should be
convened once per year after the seating of a new council. Meetings can be held in person
but should always have a way of attending virtually for those who cannot physically attend.
G. Meeting length should be 90 minutes, though this can change with workload of committee.
H. Meetings are to be open to all Libraries staff by default, and the meeting agenda, time, andlocation will be shared with all staff in advance.
I. Committee alternates are invited to attend SAC meetings and contribute to theconversation but may not vote.
III. Minutes
A. Use agenda as guide for composing minutes; agenda items become top-level bullets.
B. Minutes should reflect:
1. Attendance of committee members.
2. Meeting location.
3. Meeting time/date.
4. The content of the meeting.
5. When meeting is adjourned.
C. Decisions need to be recorded; however, the details of discussion do not need to be madeexplicit.
D. Drafts of minutes should be submitted to SAC for review before being distributed to the
Dean and the staff body at large.
E. Workflow for archiving and distributing minutes
1. Use template found in shared folder to create minutes document. (J:\working
groups\Committees\SAC\SAC Minutes)
2. Copy text of minutes into the Libraries’ wiki
(https://library.osu.edu/portal/confluence/display/libraries/Staff+Advisory+Council)
3. Create PDF out of minutes document and upload to Document Registry.
a) Categories: Committees, Minutesb) Tags: SAC_minutes
4. Update SAC website in the CMS with new bullet in Minutes page. Use link from
Document Registry to make minutes publicly available on website.
5. Email libstaff listserv and Dean minutes.
F. Within one week of meeting, minutes should be both reviewed and submitted to libstaff
and the Dean.

4
G. SAC Recorder and Chairperson should coordinate with FAC Secretary and Chairperson forjoint meeting minutes.
IV. Elections
A. Schedule of Election
1. Aprila) The HR ex officio shall update the libstaff listserv so it includes only A&P and
CCS staff of the University Libraries. No staff reporting completely toanother administrative unit on campus (e.g. University Development, Health
Sciences or Law Library, regional campus libraries, etc.) shall be subscribedto the libstaff listserv as they are ineligible to vote in the election. Contract
and term hires for University Libraries with A&P and CCS status are eligible
voters.
b) The HR ex officio shall send an email to the libstaff listserv asking fornominations for the upcoming SAC election. Self-nominations areencouraged.
c) The HR ex officio will confirm with the nominees and their supervisors thatthey are willing and able to run for election and will also confirm that any
nominees are eligible for office according to constitutional requirements.
d) In the same email to libstaff, the HR ex officio will also announce any
proposed constitutional amendments. See bylaws section V: Constitutional
Amendments.
e) The staff will be given at least two full weeks (i.e. 14 days) to consider
running and make nominations.
f) The HR ex officio will send at least one reminder email to the libstaff listserv
several days before the nomination deadline.
g) Nominees will be encouraged to submit a short professional summary andpicture though these are not required.
2. Maya) The election of SAC Advocates and voting for any constitutional
amendments shall occur.
b) The HR ex officio shall prepare a ballot in Qualtrics. A survey option must be
set to prevent people from taking the survey more than once.
c) The HR ex officio will announce the ballot availability via email to the libstaff
listserv and notify Library Communications that the announcement should
not be included in News Notes or the liball listserv so as to reduce thelikelihood of non-staff from voting.
d) The voting period should occur over two weeks (i.e. 14 days) and must
conclude before Memorial Day weekend.
e) The ex officio HR representative announces election results first to thesuccessful and unsuccessful candidates and their supervisors via email andthen a few days later to libosul and via News Notes.
B. Voting, Elections and Results
1. Write-in candidates are not allowed on ballots for SAC elections.

5
2. An election is held even if the number of candidates does not exceed the number ofavailable seats to be filled.
3. The vote totals of elections are available for review on demand, but are not publicly
disseminated. These shall be stored on the network drive (J:\wogroups\Committees\SAC).
C. Ties in Elections
1. The SAC Constitution specifies that the sitting SAC votes to break a tie during
elections.
2. The ex officio HR representative will notify sitting SAC members of a tie via email,and members will vote by secret ballot to the HR representative after meeting.
3. Meeting will be convened to discuss a tie-breaking vote. This is true both in the caseof elections for candidates and amendments to SAC Constitution.
4. Members will vote their conscience.
5. Tied candidates are not asked to address SAC and plead their case for election.
6. If a tie candidate is a sitting SAC member, he/she must recuse themselves from thetie-breaking vote.
7. Members shall not abstain from a tie-breaking vote for election of candidates
except in cases of recusal as above.
D. Treatment of Alternates
1. If a member-elect withdraws, the alternate with the next highest number of votes
takes their place.
2. If a sitting SAC member resigns or is removed from office, the alternate with thenext highest number of votes in the most recent election takes their place.
E. Appointments
1. Appointments are always for less than one year, are not treated as a full term, andconclude when the next elected Council is seated.
2. When recruiting potential appointees to serve as Advocates, it is strongly
recommended that SAC consider individuals from those divisions of the library
and/or staff classifications that are not represented or underrepresented in thecurrent Council’s composition.
3. If the vacancy being filled by an appointee is in the first year of a resigning/removed
Advocate’s two–year term, those staff running in the next election with the highest
vote totals shall receive the open two-year seats on the Council, and the staff
person with the next highest vote total will receive the one-year seat to fill out thesecond year of the departed Advocate’s two-year term in order to maintain the
staggered complement of seats. The HR ex officio will communicate thisarrangement while notifying staff of upcoming elections.
V. Constitutional Amendments
A. As per Article VI, the Constitution may be amended by a simple majority of the voting A&P
and CCS staff.
B. Any advocate or A&P/CCS constituent may propose a constitutional amendment for the fullCouncil’s consideration. Feedback will be provided to the proposing staff member as
appropriate.

6
C. The sitting SAC will decide by majority vote whether or not to proceed with an amendment
and pose it to the electorate.
1. The Council will determine amendment wording and compose brief pro and con
statements for each amendment to share with voters in order to provide context forthe proposed change(s).
2. Amendments can include an addition, deletion, or edit to the Constitution and canbe either:a) A simple Yes or No vote for the amendment, orb) A choice between two or more possible options for an amendment.
VI. Transition Guidelines
A. Membership begins on July 1 and concludes on June 30 for the elected or appointed term.
B. The Chair invites members-elect to the June SAC meeting as an orientation before the newCouncil is seated in July.
C. SAC should appoint a continuing member to place Hub tickets regarding access to the SAC
space on the network server (J:\Working Groups\Committees\SAC server space),
BuckeyeBox, and the Libraries’ wiki when SAC membership changes.
D. Election of officers is held at the July meeting.
E. Outstanding or unfinished proposals made by the outgoing SAC do not automatically die or
discontinue when a new SAC is seated. Outstanding or unfinished proposals made by aprevious SAC do not need to be reviewed, reintroduced, and reaffirmed by the new SAC
unless modifications are desired.
F. An outgoing SAC may review its successes and areas for improvement in order to lend
advice to the incoming SAC. This is less formal than the Annual review shared with thelibstaff listserv in June.
VII. Staff Forums
A. Staff forums will be held twice per year.
1. Forums are scheduled for 90 minutes; SAC sets the agenda (including formal
discussion and informal staff socialization) based on need and content.
B. Potential items for discussion will be gathered from staff constituents utilizing ananonymous Qualtrics survey. Topics should be solicited via the libstaff listserv four weeks
and two weeks before meeting date.
C. Potential discussion items can be relayed by those wishing to bring up their questions
directly to leadership, or can be relayed through SAC members.
D. Begin planning forums one month in advance of anticipated date to ensure no schedulingbarriers exist for an event that takes a great deal of the workforce away from their desks.
E. Vice-Chair will contact the Executive Sponsor to ensure that proposed dates provide noconflicts with other major Libraries events.
F. Vice-Chair will contact the Executive Sponsor to secure approval for refreshments.
VIII. Proposals to the Administration
A. The SAC Chair or a willing Advocate designee will relay any Council proposals to the
Executive Sponsor for administration consideration and will communicate any responseback to the full council.
B. All proposals must be archived in an appropriate subfolder of J:\working
groups\Committees\SAC.

7
IX. Strategic Plan
A. As per its Constitution, the Staff Advisory Council will participate in strategic planning
initiatives.
B. The SAC Chair should work with the Executive Sponsor to obtain a seat for an SAC member
on any strategic planning committee to ensure staff interests are represented.
1. The SAC Chair or a willing Advocate designee may serve on this committee.
2. This representative will communicate information, issues, questions, etc., between
SAC and the strategic planning committee regularly, in a timely manner, and withthe staff at large as appropriate.
X. Communication with Staff
A. As per the Constitution, the Staff Advisory Council will:
1. Identify staff concerns through regular open forums and share them with the
Libraries administration.
2. Consult with staff on matters of planning, policy, and other items of generalinterest.
3. Proffer advice and make recommendations to administration on behalf of the staff.
B. In order to do the above, SAC must maintain active and regular communication with staff
by:
1. Sharing SAC meeting minutes via the libstaff listserv.
2. Writing and sharing an Annual Report.
3. Using the libstaff listserv to request topics for discussion.
4. Conducting staff forums to engage with constituents as a group.
5. Ensuring that all monthly SAC meetings are open to all staff constituents.
6. Continually engaging with staff colleagues on behalf of SAC as a part of normal workduties.
7. Sharing information via News Notes as needed.
XI. Annual Report
A. The SAC Recorder will compose an annual report in May/June for the full Council’s review
and approval.
1. The annual report will list the membership, accomplishments, and activities of the
SAC since the prior year’s report.
2. The annual report will be saved to the Document Registry.
B. The approved annual report will be shared with University Libraries staff at large throughthe libstaff email listserv.
XII. Welcome Program
A. All SAC members are responsible for helping to create a pool of potential Welcome Partners.
B. Details about the program and its members will be maintained in the libraries’ wiki:
https://library.osu.edu/portal/confluence/display/libraries/Mentorship+Resource
C. Communication about new hires will come from the HR ex officio who will include thecoordinator of the welcome program on New Hire Checklist emails.
D. The welcome program is completely voluntary, and new hires are under no obligation toparticipate.
E. The welcome program coordinator secures a potential welcome partner after the new hireconfirms their interest in participating in the program.

8
F. The following guidelines should attempt to be followed when matching up welcome
partners and new staff. These guidelines are listed in order of importance, with the mostimportant at the top:
1. Welcome partners and new staff should not work in the same department.
2. The location of Welcome partners and new staff should not create undue hardships
with transportation.
3. Welcome partners and new staff, if able, should be matched up in the same
employee group (CCS with CCS, A&P with A&P).
G. After communicating with a new hire interested in participating in the welcome program,the coordinator sends an introductory email to both the welcome partner and the new staff
member providing office locations, phone numbers, and email addresses of both welcome
partner and the new staff member, and a brief introduction of the welcome partner and the
new staff member
H. Welcome partners are expected to take on the responsibility for at least six months (up to ayear is encouraged), with a minimum of monthly face-to-face meetings with their mentee.
I. Guidelines for the responsibilities of welcome partners can be found on the network drive:
J:\working groups\Committees\SAC\Staff Mentor Program
J. SAC will organize periodic recognition events for the welcome program
K. As they conclude their welcome program term, the staff welcome program coordinator will
provide an official document to welcome partners thanking them and detailing their
participation in the program for potential inclusion in performance management
documentation, award applications, etc.
L. A survey will be distributed to all welcome program participants at the conclusion of theirinvolvement in the program for the purposes of assessment.
XIII. Staff Professional Development Grant (SPDG)
A. SAC runs two grant cycles per year, one in the spring and one in the fall.
a. Dates of the cycles are set by the SPDG program administrator in concert with the
Administrative Associate II.
B. SAC appoints a SPDG program administrator.
a. Administrator is responsible for communications concerning the program.
b. Administrator acts as contact person for questions from staff about the program.
c. Administrator presents about the program at SAC meetings as well as the Staff Forums
and any other meetings (with the Dean, FAC, etc.) as needed.
d. Administrator announces the dates of the grant cycles via the libstaff listserv.
e. Administrator sends a notice of grant recipients via the libstaff listserv after individual
recipients have been notified of their awards by the Administrative Associate II.
C. Administrator reviews the applications as they come in and alerts the executive sponsor to any
anomalies.
D. The administrator coordinates with the Administrative Associate II to make necessary changes
to the grant application or the rubric via Qualtrics.
a. Administrator edits the SPDG wiki page(https://library.osu.edu/portal/confluence/display/libraries/Staff+Professional+Develop
ment+Grant+Program) each cycle to reflect correct dates and grant-cycle fund balance.

9E. Administrator recruits staff and faculty to review applications and forwards the list of reviewers
to the Administrative Associate II, who distributes the rubrics.

XIV. Staff Recognition Activities
A. Kudos
1. The Staff Advisory Council will administer the Kudos program on behalf of the
Libraries.
a) Anyone may recognize or express appreciation to a current or former
Libraries staff member, faculty member, or student employee for an act ofkindness or assistance on the job.
b) While the nominator can be anyone in the world, the recipient must be acurrent or former employee of University Libraries.
2. A designated SAC Advocate will oversee delivery and announcement of Kudos
Awards.
a) Small tokens of appreciation (e.g. candy bars, chocolate pops, etc.) of
nominal value will be purchased at the Libraries’ expense and be distributedby SAC members to current employees working on the Columbus campus,
with congratulations on behalf of the Staff Advisory Council. Regional
campus employees and former employees will generally not receive thesetoken items, due to distribution obstacles. A paper copy of the nomination
will accompany distribution of the token items; all recipients will receive an
email copy of their nomination.
b) After notification to the employee, all Kudos nominations will be publicly
shared via News Notes.
c) Delivery of Kudos usually occur within one month of nomination.
B. Dean’s Award
1. The Dean’s Award is overseen by Libraries administration, but SAC traditionally has
a role in rating the candidate nominations.
2. Each SAC Advocate rates each nomination and provides feedback to theadministration coordinator according to his or her conscience. There is no group
discussion among SAC members to prevent collusion.
XV. Status of Bylaws
A. These bylaws can be modified by any current or future SAC by a majority vote of its
Advocate members.
B. Any changes must be documented and available in the official bylaws document.
C. Bylaws must be stored in the network drive and the document registry.

Ratified March 31, 2017
Edited August 17, 2017
Edited October 17, 2017

10
Edited June 22, 2020
Edited September 27, 2022