# LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters Minutes_St. Louis Missouri_April 6 7 2018_S7
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

With these corrections, the commission approves the bylaw proposal for presentation to the convention.
The district may also wish to add, with the commission’s approval, as D5.01 (d): “If adopted in a further
amended, not pre-approved form, adopted subject to the procedure of LCMS Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 (b).”
The district is thanked for its cooperation with the review process and reminded to submit to the commission
a clean copy of the articles and bylaws as adopted by the convention.
148. Concordia University Wisconsin / Ann Arbor Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Policies
(16-2802)
By e-mails of November 16, 2016, and April 2, 2018, Concordia University Wisconsin / Ann Arbor
(CUWAA) forwarded for review its articles of incorporation (last modified with article of merger filed
April 17, 2014), bylaws (dated April 15, 2014), and various faculty, student, and employee policies.
With regard to the articles of incorporation, the commission finds:
•
•

•

Asset disposition language satisfying LCMS Bylaw 1.5.3.6 (b) is present in Article VIII.
Relationship language satisfying LCMS Bylaw 1.5.3.6 (a), to wit, “That all provisions of [the
university’s] Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws are subject to the provisions of the Constitution,
the Bylaws, and the resolutions of the Synod in convention,” is not explicitly present in the language
of Article IV. Article IV, specifying that “the University shall at all times be operated as a
component of the Concordia University System of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (the
“Synod”) and in a manner consistent with the rules, policies, and procedures of the Concordia
University System (“CUS”) and the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod as now or
hereafter enacted or amended,” taken together with language present elsewhere in the articles, may,
however, be a basis upon which to seek an exemption from the precise requirement of Bylaw 1.5.3.6
(a) from the Board of Directors of the Synod.
The university is reminded that, under 2016 Res. 9-02A, the articles need to be revised into
compliance with LCMS Bylaw 1.5.3.6, or an exemption obtained from the Board of Directors of
the Synod, in time for compliance to be reported to the 2019 convention of the Synod.

With regard to the bylaws, the commission notes agenda item 17-2815, under which a revision proposal is
reviewed separately below.
With regard to the submitted polices required under LCMS Bylaws 3.6.6.7 and 3.10.6.7.5.2, in the Faculty
Handbook Termination and Dispute Resolution material, the commission questions the connection of the
appeal process mentioned in Policy 4.2 C, which applies apparently to all senior-level faculty, and the
apparently corresponding process in Policy 4.4 C, which is under the heading (Section 4.4) of “rostered
faculty,” apparently applying only to faculty who are individual members of the Synod.
Noting that the process of Bylaw 4.4 C notes a now-defunct Standard Operating Procedures Manual and
that it derives from the faculty complaint process formerly embodied in the Bylaws of the Synod, and noting
that the same are also the basis of the new Model Operating Procedure Manual (MOPM) offered by the
Concordia University System, the commission suggests that the university might consider comparison of
its policies with, and perhaps adoption of, the more detailed and updated MOPM.
The commission did not review the Employee Handbook or student conduct material, as it did not appear
to be within its purview.
149. Concordia University Wisconsin / Ann Arbor Revised Bylaws (17-2815)
By a February 21, 2017, e-mail, the Office of the President of Concordia University Wisconsin / Ann Arbor
(CUWAA) submitted bylaws as adopted by the Board of Regents at its February 3, 2017, meeting, chiefly
to include the new regent appointed under 2016 LCMS Bylaw 3.10.6.2. The commission notes that agencies
intending to amend their bylaws are to obtain the review and approval of the commission in advance.
Attention is required at two points:
CCM Minutes – April 6–7, 2018 – Page 114