About the Senate
The College Senate is a unicameral body of 102 members, representing the faculty, students, and administration of the College, and is presided over by the College president. Subject to the authority of the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York, the College Senate is responsible for the formulation of academic policy and for legislative and advisory functions related to the programs, standards, and goals of the College.
Students
The student membership of the Lehman College Senate is comprised of 34 students. Student representatives to the Senate are elected during the annual spring elections for student government.
In order to be certified as a candidate, students must be enrolled in a degree or credit-bearing certificate program. Undergraduate full-time students must earn at least twelve credits. Undergraduate part-time students must earn a minimum of six credits. Graduate students must carry a minimum of three credits. All candidates must have completed and earned a passing grade in 50 percent of the courses for which they registered the prior semester. All candidates must have a minimum 2.0 G.P.A., which they must maintain to remain in office.
Faculty Staff and Administration
There are 51 faculty representatives in the Senate. One representative with at least two years of full-time service is elected from each department at the same time that the department chair is elected. Department representatives serve three-year terms and may be re-elected. At-large senators are elected to bring the total number of faculty senators up to 51. Full-time faculty at-large representatives are elected by and from full-time members of the instructional staff, acting as a single electorate, but at least one-third of the full-time faculty at-large representatives must be assistant professors without tenure, instructors, or lecturers. The 51 faculty representatives include 3 part-time faculty senators elected from those part-time instructional staff who teach at least six semester hours per week. At-large senators serve two-year terms and are eligible for re-election.
Five non-teaching instructional staff representatives, elected from persons in the Higher Education office and College Laboratory Technician series, also serve two-year terms and are eligible for re-election.
Finally, the Senate also includes the President, Vice-Presidents, and full Deans. If there are more or less than 12 such administrators, the President designates which 12 of them will serve in the Senate each year.
