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BMG Bylaws BUSINESS MANAGERS GROUP (BMG) BYLAWS HISTORY Several representatives from campus business offices first assembled
for informal meetings in March 1969. From these meetings, the Business
Managers Group evolved. The initial meetings were held with the Director
of the Urbana Personnel Services Office to discuss nonacademic personnel
problems and procedures. In October 1969, the group nominated a member
to serve on the Nonacademic Employees Council and became a “special interest
group” as provided by Article V of the Council’s Bylaws. The initial
group was relatively small; it has gradually expanded to include members
representing offices across the campus who meet to discuss all topics
important to business offices. The Bylaws have been revised from time to
time throughout the years. PURPOSE The overall purpose of the Business Managers Group is to
support and facilitate efficient and effective business policy and procedures
at the Specifically, the Business Manager Group: ·
Provides a forum for BMG members, University, and
Campus administrators to discuss procedures, problems and ideas informally
and obtain opinions on their cause and effect. ·
Encourages the exchange of information through personal
contacts, mentoring relationships, informal meetings, written material, and
discussion both within the BMG and with University administrators and educators.
·
Serves as a communication link with Campus organizations
such as the Staff Advisory Council, the Office of Business and
Financial Services, the Office of Academic Human Resources, the Personnel
Services Office, the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, and
more. ·
Encourages the development and promotion of
professional management procedures on Campus. ·
Becomes involved in other University
administrative and management activities, as the membership of the group decides
or indicates. UNDERLYING TENETS The Business Managers Group: ·
Participates in shaping business and administrative
policies by participating in discussions when invited and initiating
discussions when needed. Participation can be by the whole group or by
appointed representatives. ·
Holds discussions and seeks consensus from members
before formally initiating proposals or responding to significant issues
presented to the group. ·
Does not agitate for special interest positions
or on behalf of an individual or specific unit. ·
Holds, when appropriate and necessary, informal
discussions in reasonable confidentiality in order to fully explore topics
that may be under development. ·
Respects and solicits the diversity of opinion among
members. ·
Strives at all times for professional interactions among
its members and with individuals in central administrative offices. ·
Is an action group that operates with a positive voice
to help shape administrative and business policies and procedures at the
University. MEMBERSHIP Prospective members are nominated by their Dean, Director or
Department Head. Deans, Directors, or Department Heads may be contacted
periodically by the Membership Committee to help ensure the membership list
is current and all units are represented. Units or individuals may obtain applications for membership
from the Chair of the BMG or the Chair of the Membership
Committee. Information on the application includes the potential
member’s name, unit, and a brief description of duties and
responsibilities. The BMG membership committee reviews the application;
ensures the membership request is supported by his or her Dean, Director, or
Department Head; and presents its findings to the Chair of the BMG. To qualify for membership, an individual typically: ·
Has responsibility for unit business management within a
college, institute, department, or other University unit. Academic
Professionals typically have managerial or supervisory responsibilities in
University accounts, personnel, purchasing, research coordination, budgets or
other business affairs. Civil Service staff typically have similar
positions with a salary grade of 22 or higher. ·
Has the support of or has been nominated by the Dean,
Director, or Department Head of the unit. Typically, there is one member
or representative per unit. (In certain extenuating circumstances, such
as a large unit where responsibility for budget and personnel are separated,
more than one individual may be nominated.) Members remain in good standing by participating and promoting
the purpose of the group. Members absent for illness, vacation or
business travel may send a substitute to attend meetings. Members may
also bring guests with them to the meetings when the topic is of interests to
others, space permits, and the meeting is not a “members only” discussion. LEADERSHIP The BMG’s leadership includes a Chair, Vice Chair, and
Committee Chairs. All terms are one year. To ensure continuity, the Vice
Chair moves to the position of Chair after serving one term as Vice
Chair. The Vice Chair is selected by the following procedure: ·
The outgoing and past two chairs of the Business
Managers Group establish a slate of candidates in the spring for the position
of Vice Chair for the coming year. ·
The outgoing and past two chairs of the BMG and the
outgoing chairs of the BMG committees select the new Vice Chair from the
slate. The Chair’s duties, which are carried out in consultation with
and assistance from the Vice Chair, include:
The Vice Chair’s duties include: ·
Assist Chair in appointing Chairs of subcommittees. ·
Assist Chair with planning meetings and
presentations. ·
Book meeting rooms. ·
Assist Chair with logistics and facilitation of meetings
(substitutes for Chair if Chair is not available). ·
Assist Chair in sending out e-mail messages to the
membership list. ·
Schedule and organize the May luncheon. ·
Move to position of Chair after serving one year as Vice
Chair. COMMITTEES The BMG has four standing committees, with a Chair for
each. The Chair of the BMG appoints the Committee Chairs for the coming
year by early May of the current year. Committee Chairs are responsible for all logistics related to
their committee, including determining meeting times and
locations. Committees typically meet at least once a month. Chairs
are encouraged to seek topics for discussion from the membership and report
back to the membership on items of interest or concern. Committee membership is open to any BMG member interested in
serving. Incoming Committee Chairs solicit new members and finalize
membership for their committees no later than the end of May of the current
year. (If there are more volunteers than space for members on a subcommittee,
consideration is given to selecting representatives from a variety of
units—large academic, small academic, administrative, self-supporting, and so
forth.) Committees typically include no more than ten members. To help ensure continuity between years, the incoming Chairs
and incoming members of the committees attend the last meeting of the year of
the current committees whenever possible. Following is a list of the BMG committees and the related
responsibilities of each: Membership— Maintains contact with Deans, Directors and Departments Heads
to communicate the importance of membership in the BMG and assure
nominations. Provides prospective members with applications, as
requested. Reviews completed applications for compliance with eligibility
requirements and presents findings to the BMG chair. Introduces new
members to the group and helps orient them to BMG activities and
procedures. Automated Business Systems/Technology-- Acts as liaison between Campus and University information
technology and systems planners, developers and implementers and the
BMG. Represents a cross-section of views and ideas of BMG members; aids
in determining optimal solutions to problems or best design and
implementation of changes to automated systems. Provides information
about needs for new systems and/or refinements; reports to BMG about plans
for new projects and status of those in development. Oversees
maintenance to the Business Managers Group Web site. Business Affairs— Provides a communication link between the BMG and the Office
of Business and Financial Services (OBFS). Meets regularly with
representatives from OBFS to discuss mutual concerns. Provides input for
solving problems and represents the needs of the BMG in policy
formation. Brings information about business policy and procedure
developments to the BMG. As needed, appoints sub-committees to focus on
specific issues such as Grants and Contracts, Property Accounting, Purchasing
and/or Accounting. Human Resources— Provides a communication link between the BMG and Human
Resources offices. Meets regularly with representatives from Academic
Human Resources and Personnel Services to discuss mutual
concerns. Provides input for solving problems and represents the needs
of the BMG in policy formation. Brings information about human resources
developments to the BMG. MEETINGS The Business Managers Group meets on the first non-payroll Tuesday
of each month at 10:00 a.m. Meetings are held at the Illini Union
whenever possible. These meetings are the “regularly scheduled meetings.” No later than the day of each regularly scheduled meeting, the
Chair announces if there will be a second meeting that month. Second
meetings, or “optional meetings, are held two weeks after the first (or on
the second non-payroll Tuesday of the month). An optional meeting is
held only if one is necessary to address in a timely way issues raised by BMG
subcommittees, BMG members, or central offices (OBFS, HR, or
others). The Chair may designate any meeting as “members only” when
there is a need to discuss topics or reach decisions among the
membership. At the beginning of the academic year, the Chair sends members
a schedule of the planned regular and optional meeting days for the
year. Members are asked to note both regular and optional meetings on
their calendars, with the understanding that they will be given two weeks
notice if the optional meeting for any given month will not be held. Regularly scheduled meetings typically follow this format:
PROCESS FOR DECISION MAKING The Chair may appoint special task forces to study
topics of significant importance to the BMG. Task forces report their
findings back to the BMG. A task force is given a written charge, time
frame, and report mechanism by the Chair. The BMG’s opinion and/or positions
on topics are determined after appropriate discussion, following task force
or committee participation. Every attempt is made to reach a position of consensus among
BMG members when decisions must be reached. The consensus process
includes open exploration of everyone’s ideas with a final solution based on
sound information. The process should be conducted to ensure that by the
end members are satisfied they had the opportunity to be a part of the
decision. Even though the final solution may not always be one that any
individual member may have chosen, it should be one all members can “live
with.” When a final decision or position on a topic must be reached,
a vote will be taken at a meeting for which prior notice has been sent
out. When a central unit asks for a consensus opinion from the BMG on a
particular topic, the BMG will, whenever possible, send forth both the
majority opinion and any pertinent minority or opposing opinions from the
group for consideration by the central unit. This may be necessary and
appropriate because of the wide spectrum of units being represented by
members of the BMG. Rev: January 2006 (from decisions made at meetings held
2004-2005) BMG Home | Schedule | Presentations | Officers | Committees | Bylaws | Membership Form | UI Links All content copyright University of |
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