(as amended October 7, 2024)

  1. No item of new business offered from the floor may receive final action at the meeting at which offered.
  2. Every motion affecting policy, organization, or operations shall include an explicit provision for an effective date, such provision being subject to amendment.
    1.  Electronic keypads may be used to conduct voting to fill committee and office vacancies. The use of electronic keypads fulfills the requirement that such votes be taken by ballot. Electronic keypads may also be used to conduct voting by ballot on any pending question when a ballot vote is ordered. If and only if electronic keypads are available, a single voting faculty member may order the vote on any pending question to be taken by ballot using electronic keypads.
    2. The method of voting to fill committee and office vacancies is by ballot, with voting by acclamation permitted when the number of nominees equals the number of vacancies. Write-in votes are prohibited. In a ballot where no nominee receives a majority of the votes cast, the name of the lowest vote getter will be removed from the ballot and a second ballot will commence. Balloting will continue this way until one nominee receives a majority of votes cast.
    3. In elections for committee and office vacancies, in addition to nominations from the Faculty Affairs Committee, nominations may be made from the floor. All candidates for office must consent to standing for election before their names are formally placed in nomination.
    4. The Faculty will employ “the second election procedure” for ballot elections as described in Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, 46.
    5. Elections will take place to fill vacancies in the following order:

Representative to the Board of Trustees
Representative to the President’s Council
Clerk of the Faculty
Faculty Affairs Committee
Promotion and Tenure Committee
Academic Affairs Committee
Budget-Audit Committee
Committee on Professional Development
Admission and Scholarships Committee
International Studies Committee
Gender Issues Committee
Student Affairs Committee
Athletic Committee
Lectures and Programs Committee
Grievance Committee
Faculty Representative to the NCAA
Intercultural Affairs Committee
Benefits Committee

  1. On motions requiring a two-thirds vote, one fourth of the members present may order a counted rising vote.
  2. Special Rules of Order for Electronic Meetings at Hampden-Sydney College
    1. Internet meeting platform. For electronic meetings, the Internet meeting platform used (e.g., Zoom) must support the following: visible displays identifying those participating, identification of those seeking recognition to speak, visible displays of the text of pending motions, anonymous voting, and visible displays of the results of votes.
    2. Login information. The Office of the Dean of the Faculty shall send by e-mail to every member of the faculty, at least three days before each meeting, the time of the meeting, as well as the URL and codes necessary to connect to the Internet meeting platform. The email shall also include a copy of, or a link to, these rules.
    3. Login time. The Office of the Dean of the Faculty shall schedule Internet meeting platform availability to begin at least 15 minutes before the start of each meeting.
    4. Co-hosts. The chair may designate appropriate co-hosts for the meeting to determine the continued presence of a quorum, to monitor the chat box, to display appropriate documents under discussion, and/or to facilitate voting. The Clerk of the Faculty shall always be a co-host.
    5. Signing in and out. Members shall maintain Internet and audio access throughout the meeting whenever present. Members who leave before adjournment must log out of the meeting. All attending members must keep their cameras on and display their full names on the screen. Each faculty member attending must be connected using a separate device.
    6. Quorum calls. The Clerk of the Faculty will monitor the online list of participants in order to establish that a quorum is always present. However, any member may demand a quorum count by audible roll call. Such a demand may be made following any vote for which the announced totals add to less than a quorum.
    7. Technical requirements and malfunctions. All members are responsible for their own audio and Internet connections; no action shall be invalidated on the grounds that the loss of, or poor quality of, a member’s individual connection prevented participation in the meeting.
    8. Forced disconnections. The chair may cause or direct the disconnection or muting of a member’s connection if it is causing undue interference with the meeting. The chair’s decision to do so, which is subject to an undebatable appeal that can be made by any member, shall be announced during the meeting and recorded in the minutes.
    9. Appropriate use of the chat box. The chat box shall be used only to seek recognition; to enter the title of an interrupting motion (e.g., a point of order); to enter the text of a main motion, an amendment, or instructions for a committee; or, when requested by the chair or a co-host, to record the written form of something spoken (e.g., the spelling of a name). The contents of the chat box shall not be saved.
    10. Assignment of the floor. With the exception of the co-hosts and any member interrupting under rule k, all members shall remain muted unless recognized by the chair. To seek recognition by the chair, a member shall enter the word “recognize” into the chat box. If a member proposes a new main motion or an amendment to a prior motion, the chair or co-host will clear any queue of members who had been seeking recognition.
    11. Interrupting a member. A member who intends to make a motion or a request that under the rules may interrupt a speaker shall use the chat box to enter the title of the motion (e.g., point of order). The member shall then be recognized to state the purpose of the motion. If the chair does not recognize the member after a reasonable amount of time, the member may seek recognition verbally.
    12. Motions submitted in writing. A member intending to make a main motion, to offer an amendment, or to propose instructions to a committee, shall, after being recognized, post the appropriate text in the chat box.
    13. Display of motions. The Clerk of the Faculty shall designate an online area for the display of the immediately pending question and other relevant pending questions (such as the main motion or the pertinent part of the main motion, when an amendment to it is immediately pending); and, to the extent feasible, the Clerk of the Faculty, or any assistant appointed by the chair for this purpose, shall cause such questions, or any other documents that are currently before the meeting for action or information, to be displayed therein until disposed of.
    14. Voting. Votes shall be taken by the anonymous voting feature of the Internet meeting platform (e.g., Polls in Zoom), unless a different method is ordered by the faculty or required by the rules. When required or ordered, voting may be completed by audible roll call. The chair’s announcement of the voting result shall include the number of members voting on each side of the question and the number, if any, who respond to acknowledge their presence but do not cast a vote. Business may also be conducted by unanimous consent.