The University Senate is a unicameral legislative body composed of voting and non-voting representatives from all sectors of the campus community. Faculty senators are elected through their academic units for a three-year term. Each college may send one representative for every 20 faculty or majority fraction thereof. Undergraduate students are elected by their colleges, one representative for every 1200 full-time undergraduate majors. Graduate students elect nine representatives at large.
All deans are ex officio voting members.
The President and four Vice Presidents are non-voting ex officio members. The Senate operates through a structured committee system. It elects from its membership the thirteen members of the Executive Committee, including the Chair and the Chair-Elect of the Senate. The chairs of committees must be senators, but non-senators may serve as members of committees. An issue or proposal is first discussed in the Senate Executive Committee, then it is usually sent to a Standing Committee for discussion, review and report.