The bylaws would restructure MSU’s governing bodies, including name changes to some of the bodies as well as some structural changes. The proposed changes stem from an attempt to increase faculty presence in university decisions, said Edmund Rosser, a former UCAG chairman and a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine. He attended Tuesday’s meeting to present minor changes to the document.

UCAG is responsible for preparing and supervising bylaws, said Harold Hughes, chairman of the Executive Committee of Academic Council, or ECAC.

The most significant change stemming from the proposed bylaws is how Faculty Council will function within Academic Governance, Rosser said. Under the current bylaws, the council’s role and supervision are not clearly defined, he said.

“What changed was a philosophy of the importance of this body and a philosophy that (President Lou Anna K. Simon) and (Provost Kim Wilcox) interact with this body,” Rosser said. “Having Faculty Council functional and vibrant allows for what, I believe, is a larger consensus of the faculty as a whole.”

Council members approved 11 cosmetic revisions — including typographical errors — to the document with little discussion. But concerns raised by Robert Banks, a senior consultant to the provost, divided the group on how to proceed.

Banks, a former associate provost and associate vice president for academic human resources, edited a version of the bylaws this summer and questioned two key items in the draft.

One of Banks’ concerns about Academic Senate’s role within the governance system led council members to refer the topic to UCAG for further discussion. Banks said current changes proposed by Faculty Council would strengthen Academic Senate’s role, but he believes the senate has too little participation to play an increased role in the governance system.

“Only a handful of occasions do you get quorum and the quorum tends to be very small,” Banks said. “Essentially, you would be able to have an item that goes through for discussion in the (Academic Senate) that is not reviewed at all in the rest of the governance system.”

Other motions passed Tuesday and referred to UCAG include greater communication between standing committees and Faculty and Academic councils, as well as a review of other topics addressed in Banks’ Oct. 8 memorandum.

Faculty Council approved most of the recommended bylaw changes in April, Rosser said.

Once the committee reviews and edits the bylaws, it will refer them to ECAC, Hughes said.

He said he didn’t expect the bylaws to move on to Academic Council without further discussions in Faculty Council.

“The question is, do we ignore these and go on about our business … or we can think about it now,” Hughes said.