Bylaws

Bylaws of the California Community College Colleague Users’ Group (4CUG)

Table of Contents

ARTICLE I – Name

The name of this organization shall be the California Community College Colleague Users’ Group, also known as 4CUG. 

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ARTICLE II – Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be: 

  • To provide a forum to discuss/share issues related to the implementation, use, documentation, training, and enhancement of the Colleague Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and related Ellucian products. 
  • To develop partnerships and resource sharing. 
  • To share knowledge and develop strategies to improve service delivery for all California Community Colleges who utilize Colleague by Ellucian. 
  • To explore and foster commonality among colleges who utilize Colleague by Ellucian.
  • To provide outreach and gather feedback from all California Community Colleges who utilize Colleague by Ellucian and advocate on their behalf with both the California Community College Chancellor’s office and Ellucian Inc. 

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ARTICLE III – Membership

Section 1. Institutional Member: The membership shall be open to any California Community College and their employees that utilize Colleague by Ellucian. 

Section 2. Individual Member:  Any employee of an Institutional Member.

Section 3. Auxiliary Member: For membership that does not meet the requirements of an individual member, a formal request to join is required. The request must come from an individual member and be forwarded to the Chair for approval. 

Section 4. The Institutional member’s obligation is to designate a single Point of Contact (PoC) per district, to facilitate communications with the 4CUG Board of Directors and to have a cooperative spirit in all deliberations. The PoC member shall evaluate continuously any activities which may impact their district.

Section 5. The PoC’s obligation is to act as a liaison for their district and propose appropriate action as well as communicate to the Board opinions on matters under consideration. The PoC will serve as a single proxy vote for their district.

Section 6. An individual member is considered resigned from the organization when they are no longer employed with the institutional member.

Section 7. An institutional member is considered resigned from the organization when that California Community College no longer utilize Colleague by Ellucian.

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ARTICLE IV – Officers and Duties

Section 1. The Board of Directors (Board) shall consist of six members, one of which will be the Chair and one will be the Vice-Chair. The remaining four members will be the Cohort Leads (Executive, Academic, Nonacademic, Supporting Services) within the Colleague by Ellucian suite of products. The Board shall focus primarily on fulfilling goals and objectives in line with the purpose of the 4CUG organization. 

The cohorts to be represented will be as follows: 

  • Executive Cohort Lead
  • Academic Cohort lead
    • Student System
    • Financial Aid 
  • Nonacademic Cohort Lead
    • Human Resources 
    • Financials
  • Supporting Services Cohort Lead
    • Core Colleague
    • Mandated Reporting
    • Development and System Administration

The members of the Board shall perform the duties prescribed in these bylaws.

Section 2. The Chair or appointed designee shall preside at all meetings of the organization and its Board meetings and shall be responsible for the administration of the affairs of the organization. The Chair shall appoint committees as necessary, sign all papers on behalf of the organization, carry out assignments and instructions given by vote of the organization and perform other such duties that customarily pertain to the office of Chair. 

Section 3. The Vice-Chair shall be responsible for preparing an agenda, taking minutes, and distributing minutes of all meetings to the membership. The Vice-Chair shall maintain a current PoC membership list; be responsible for correspondence of the organization; issue notices of meetings; organize the annual election; and perform other such duties as assigned by the Chair or Board. 

Section 4. The Cohort Lead shall be responsible for recruiting members of the cohort, fulfilling their cohort obligations as outlined in the Cohort Structure and Responsibilities document, reporting outcomes of cohort meetings to the Board. Each Cohort Lead is responsible for working with their cohort members to ensure an adequate number of sessions are scheduled at each conference; and perform other such duties as assigned by the Chair or Board. 

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ARTICLE V – Meetings

 Section 1. Board of Director Meetings

Section 1.1.   Meetings shall be held monthly and as recommended by the Board.

Section 1.2.   All voting of the Board requires a quorum. A quorum is defined by one half plus one of the Board members, excluding any vacancies.

Section 2. Conferences

Section 2.1.  Conferences shall be held at least once per year. Conferences may be in combination with other agency conferences (i.e.: CISOA, CHUGACUG, Ellucian Live).

Section 2.2.  All voting held at a conference will be conducted during the business meeting session. Only one vote will be accepted for each California Community College District present at the business meeting.

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ARTICLE VI – Standing Committees

Section 1. Standing or ad hoc committees may be appointed or dissolved by the Board as deemed necessary for the work of the organization. 

Section 2. Each committee shall consist of at least three members. Committees shall keep a record of their activities and provide updates to the Board until the conclusion of their appointment.

Section 3. Election committees shall consist of at least two members from different member institutions and the Vice-Chair. These members shall be appointed by the Board. 

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ARTICLE VII – Elections

Section 1. The Election Committee will be appointed by the Board. The election process shall be organized and directed by the Vice-Chair. 

Section 2. Nominations: A call for nominations will be announced via the 4CUG list serve and other electronic formats. Nominations shall be open for at least three weeks prior to the election to be held no later than June 15. There shall be no nominations for the office of Chair. The Vice-Chair will become the Chair at the end of the current Chair’s term. Nominations for Vice-Chair are open to any individual member who has had one-year membership in 4CUG or a similar Colleague Users Group. Nominations for Cohort Leads are open to any individual member.

Section 3. The term of office shall be biennial, or two years, July of the elected year through June of the second subsequent year. No member shall hold more than one office at a time. A member may serve on the Board until that member resigns from the Board, is no longer a member of the organization, or is voted out of office.  To maintain continuity of the Board, the Executive and Academic Cohort Leads will be elected in even numbered years, and the Nonacademic and Supporting Services Cohort Leads will be elected in odd numbered years.

Section 4. Vacancies: A vacancy in any office for any reason may be filled by a quorum vote of the Board for the unexpired portion of the term. 

Section 5. Elections: Balloting shall be done online and tallied by the Election Committee. Results shall be presented to the Board for verification and announced to the membership by the Chair or their designee. Elections will be determined by a majority vote of the voting institutions. 

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ARTICLE VIII – Dissolution

Section 1. The organization known as the California Community College Colleague Users Group may be dissolved on the recommendation of the Board and with a two-thirds ratification of the member institutions of the organization. 

Section 2. The announcement of the recommendation to dissolve the organization must be made by the Board, in writing, to the membership no less than sixty days prior to the dissolution. 

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ARTICLE IX – Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, shall govern the organization in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order the organization may adopt. 

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ARTICLE X – Amendments to the Bylaws

Proposed changes to the bylaws may be presented to the Board by any member. The Board will present these changes to the membership for review for least thirty days prior to a vote. Voting may be held online as needed or at a conference in accordance with Article V Section 2.2.

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ARTICLE XI – Organizational Relationships

Section 1. The organization supports Ellucian’s practice of sharing information about current and future products and services. This information, by its nature and by each member organization’s licensing contract, is proprietary and confidential to Ellucian and embodies substantial and commercially valuable trade secrets of Ellucian. This information, when shared with the members, shall be considered available for use by and within member organizations. The proprietary and confidential information will not be disclosed to any third party without the prior written consent of Ellucian and upon such terms and conditions as Ellucian requires, unless required by law.

Section 2. The organization supports the California Community College Chancellor’s office practice of sharing information about current and future products and services. This information, when shared with the members, shall be considered available for use by and within member organizations.

Section 3. The organization supports third-party software vendors who have a working relationship with a member college. To share information regarding the functionality of a third-party vendor product and service, the organization requires that the information be presented to the membership from the perspective of its use by the member college. No third-party vendor shall be allowed to present current and future products and services at a conference without being sponsored by a member college. 

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Adopted on: 2/26/1998
Revised & Adopted: 10/10/2002
Revised & Adopted: 04/24/2003
Revised & Adopted: 07/19/2006
Revised & Adopted: 02/09/2021

Revised & Adopted: 01/12/2022