Absentee ballots can be submitted by following the official department or committee procedure — usually through a secure form or email before the voting deadline. This allows members who cannot attend in person to still participate in the decision-making process.

If a department has fewer than four tenured faculty members, additional PTC members are selected from outside the department. This ensures that the committee has enough experienced members to make balanced and fair decisions.

The standard definition of a quorum in Robert's Rules of Order is that the majority of an assembly must be present to conduct business. That is, if there are twenty members of a group, eleven must be present to constitute a quorum. The same requirement for a quorum applies to PTCs, with one additional provision. The Handbook (4.1.8.3) provides that absentee votes will be counted in PTCs, whereas Robert's Rules really do not provide for a mixture of absentee and in-person votes in an assembly

Yes, a member may choose to abstain from voting if they feel they have a conflict of interest or lack enough information to make a fair decision. The abstention is recorded but not counted as a “yes” or “no” vote.

A positive vote means approval of the motion or candidate being considered. A negative vote means disapproval. Only these votes are counted when determining the outcome — abstentions do not affect the result.

A quorum is the minimum number of members required to hold an official meeting or make valid decisions. Usually, more than half of the committee members must be present for a quorum to exist.