The Council also has authority to ``make rules regarding the conduct of resident members of the University community,'' to oversee rule-making by other bodies within the University community, and to oversee all applications of rules.
The Council normally would not consider matters primarily academic in nature.
A Special Committee on the Structure of the University chaired by Professor Stanley Kelley, Jr., proposed the creation of the Council in May 1969. Sometimes referred to as ``Kelley's Republic,'' the Council was designed as ``a permanent conference of the representatives of all major groups of the University'' where ``they could each raise problems that concern them and . . . be exposed to each other's views.''
The Council first met on October 27, 1969. Typically it meets once a month, October through May, with special meetings as needed.
Following a series of Charter amendments in the fall of 1975, membership of the Council was set at 50, including 6 senior officers of the administration, 15 faculty members, 12 undergraduates, 7 graduate students, 6 staff members, and 4 alumni. The president of the University is the presiding officer of the Council and chairman of its Executive Committee.
Much of the work of the Council is conducted through its standing committees, including the Executive Committee, Committees on Rights and Rules, Governance, Priorities, and Resources, and the Judicial Committee. Special committees also have been established from time to time.
Robert K. Durkee