Constitutional amendment revisions in the Faculty Senate require more than the approval of senate members.

Faculty are asked to vote on amendment changes, and they have the opportunity to vote on two separate amendments Thursday.

The polls are open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Voting is only open to tenure or tenure-track faculty and department chairs.

Both changes were approved by the senate Feb. 11.

The two parts of the first amendment changes the eligibility of department chairs to hold seats on senate or major faculty councils, while allowing them to still vote on membership.

If the second revision is accepted by the faculty, department chairs will not be able to serve on the councils. Chairs could be opposed to the amendment change, said physics professor Doug Brandt, chair of the senate elections committee

After hearing feedback from the Council of Chairs, Brandt said he heard the chairs were split on the issue.

“Faculty Senate has heard from both chairs and non-chairs that they thought it was important that the chairs do not serve,” he said.

Department chairs serving could cause a conflict of interest. The position holds “dual status” because chairs sometimes go back to serving as faculty members, senate chair Anne Zahlan said previously.

Sociology and anthropology chair Gary Foster served on Faculty Senate for 12 years.

Foster said he is not in favor of what the amendment would mean for chairs.

“While there is a potential for a conflict of interest to emerge, chairs have contributed over the years to Faculty Senate and other councils. I would not want to see chairs disenfranchised,” he said.

Foster said he was elected each time to the senate as a faculty member and stepped down when he became chair. Even without the amendment in place, others could handle any interest conflict that arose, he said.

The rationale for the second revision is to bring the senate’s constitution in unison with other committees’ bylaws and current practices regarding members selected by university colleges.

The senate supervises membership selection for university committees filed by elected members, and with the exception of the Council on Academic Affairs, the committees or councils are in the practice of specifying membership from specific colleges.

However, the CAA is in the process of revising membership bylaws to select two faculty voting members from each academic college.

The senate amendment removed the wording “at large” and added, “any elective council may limit particular seats and the electorate for those seats to faculty from particular academic units to ensure balanced representation.”

Technically, if the senate amendment change is approved, it will allow the CAA to revise its bylaws.

“I think (the amendment) is very important because the councils have been working under bylaws that are inconsistent,” Brandt said.

Thursday’s vote follows the required two weeks wait past the senate’s own approval of the amendments.

The changes will be finalized before nominations are due March 7 for faculty council and committee elections on March 25 and 26.

The nominations cover nine university committees as well as five positions selected at large for the Faculty Senate.

Brandt said he does not expect a large turnout Thursday.

“Often times the amendment votes are at the same time as the faculty elections,” which would has added to the voting numbers when past amendments have been changed, he said.