|
CONSTITUTION
Constitution of the Salve Regina University Student
Government Association
Preamble
In order to more fully participate in the education process of Salve Regina University (SRU), to encourage wider and more effective communication among the various segments of the campus community, and to help foster an environment of student concern and achievement, we, the undergraduate students of SRU do hereby adopt the following constitution;
Membership
All full or part time undergraduate students of SRU are eligible members of the Student Government Association (SGA) and are eligible to vote in general and special elections. All members who are not on probation at the time of election, as determined by the University's regulations, may hold an elected or appointed office.
Structure
All powers of the Student Government Association shall be vested in the SGA Senate. The Senate will be divided into two branches, the Executive and the Legislative. Neither Branch shall exercise the powers herein granted the other.
Article I - Executive Branch
Section 1: All executive powers shall be vested in the Executive Branch of the Student Government Association Senate.
Section 2: The members of the Executive Branch shall include:
A. President
B. Vice President
C. Secretary
D. Treasure
E. Public Relations Coordinator
Section 3: Executive Branch Elections
A. All members of the Executive Branch shall be elected during the last quarter of the Spring Semester in accordance with the SGA Election Code. In the event that any office, other than that of President, becomes vacant, the Executive Branch will nominate a candidate(s) and the Legislative Branch will ratify the replacement. All Executive Branch officers are eligible for re-elections.
B. Each Executive Branch member shall serve a term from the first Senate meeting following their election though the last Senate meeting prior to regular Executive Board elections.
Section 4: Duties of the Executive Branch
A. The SGA President shall:
1. Call and preside over all SGA meetings.
2. Vote in the Senate, only in the case of a tie.
3. Represent, or appoint a designee to represent, the SGA Senate at all public occasions as called upon to do so or as protocol dictates.
4. Appoint members to all University committees, as appropriate, with the advice and consent of the senate.
5. Serve as ex-officio member to all University committees, as appropriate.
6. Fill, with ratification of the Legislative Branch, any vacancies occurring within the Legislative Branch due to dismissal or removal.
7. Appoint the following individuals, who shall not have voting privileges:
i. A Parliamentarian
ii. An Assistant Treasurer, at the discretion of the Treasurer, who shall:
a. Report to the Treasurer of the Student Government Association.
b. Be responsible for preparing the budget allocations for clubs and organizations for the following fiscal year.
8. Assist with the indoctrination of the President-elect.
B. The SGA Senate Vice-President shall:
1. Assume the duties of the President in his/her absence.
2. Formulate ad-hoc committees and appoint the chairpersons for such committees as deemed necessary by the Legislative Branch.
3. Serve as ex-officio member to all Senate committees, as appropriate.
4. Coordinate orientation workshops for new senators in the Legislative Branch.
5. Maintain attendance records for all senate meetings and handle correspondence concerning absentee warnings.
6. Assist with the indoctrination of the Vice-President-elect.
C. The SGA senate Secretary shall:
1. Keep all minutes of the Senate meetings and Executive Branch meetings.
2. Make available to members of the Senate a copy of the next meeting's
agenda at least 24 hours prior to the Senate meeting.
3. Maintain an active file of all SGA Senate correspondence.
4. Be responsible for writing any correspondence whose author is not
individually specified by the Senate.
5. Keep a revised copy of this constitution, reflecting all amendments.
Said copy shall be brought to all Executive Branch and Senate meetings.
6. Assume the duties of President in the absence of both the President
and the Vice-president.
7. Assist with the indoctrination of the Secretary-elect.
D. The SGA Senate Treasurer shall:
1. Be responsible for all moneys collected in the SGA Treasury.
2. Be prepared to report on the financial condition of the SGA Treasury
as requested by Senate.
3. Serve as the student chairperson of the Activities Funding Board.
4. Review the financial conditions of all student organizations requesting
funds from the SGA Treasury.
5. Assist with the indoctrination of the Treasurer elect.
E. The SGA Senate Public Relations Coordinator.
1. Make available to the campus community copies of the Senate meeting
minutes within five (5) academic days of the meeting.
2. Be responsible for notifying the campus community of all SGA activities
though the use of campus media, flyers, posters, etc.
F. The Senate Majority Leader shall:
1. Be elected by a simple majority vote of the Legislative and Executive Branches.
2. Serve as a liaison between the Legislative and Executive Branches.
Section 5: Executive Branch procedures
A. The Executive Branch shall meet bi-weekly in such as way as to deliver
the agenda for the next Senate meeting in a timely and expedient fashion.
B. When matters arise that warrant immediate attention, and the full
senate cannot be assembled, the Executive Branch shall be empowered
to act on behalf of the full Senate. The Executive Branch shall not
act on any matters related to constitutional amendments.
C. A majority of the Executive Branch members present shall constitute
a quorum to do business.
D. The Executive Branch shall set the agenda for all regular and special
Senate meetings.
Article II - Legislative Branch
Section 1: All Legislative powers shall be vested in the legislative branch of the SGA Senate.
Section 2: The memberships of the Legislative Branch shall be:
A. One (1) Representative for every one hundred (100) undergraduate students living on-campus as determined by the Office or Residence Life in September.
B. One (1) Representative for every one hundred (100) undergraduate students living off-campus as determined by the Office of the Registrar in September.
Section 3: Election of the Legislative Branch Representatives
A. All Representatives for the current academic year will be elected during September of the year. All Representatives shall be eligible for re-election. Legislative Branch elections shall be run in accordance with the SGA Election Code.
B. All Representatives shall serve a term from the first academic day of October to the last academic day of the following September.
Section 4: Legislative Branch Representatives shall have the power:
A. To propose and review requested increases and decreases in the student fees.
B. To Investigate and act upon all policies and procedures which affect the student body.
C. To introduce and act upon New Business deemed to be within the power of the Senate.
D. To ratify all appointments made by the President.
E. To call for the creation ad-hoc committees to investigate issues pertinent to the student body.
Section 5: Duties of Legislative Branch Representatives shall be:
A. To have a working knowledge of this constitution and the proper procedures of the Senate.
B. To attend all regular and special meetings of the Senate.
C. To serve at least one regularly scheduled office hours weekly in the SGA office.
D. To serve on University and ad-hoc committees as necessary.
Section 6: Absentee Policy
A. Representatives may not miss more than four (4) Legislative duties per semester. This includes any combination of Senate meetings, committee meetings and office hours.
B. The Vice President is Responsible for confirming absences and validating excuses for Senate meetings and office hours.
C. The committee chairperson is responsible for confirming absences and validating excuses for committee meetings.
D. All notification of absences and excuses is to be done in writing to appropriate person at least 12-hours in advance of the absence.
E. All absences must be reported to the Vice President by the committee chairperson for recording purposes.
Section 7: Senate procedures
A. The Senate shall meet at least biweekly during the academic year.
B. Special meetings may only be called at the direction of the President. The time, place and business to be taken up at the special meeting shall be made public at least 4 hours prior to the meeting.
C. A majority of the voting members of the Senate shall constitute a quorum to do business.
D. All Senate meetings shall be open to the University community.
E. All SGA Senate meetings shall be conducted according to the Parliamentary Procedure at a Glance, new edition, unless otherwise voted in the majority by the Senate.
F. New Business may be proposed from the floor at any duly called SGA Senate meeting. New Business submitted to the Executive Board for inclusion in the agenda shall be heard before New Business introduced from the floor.
G. Discussion of each item of New Business shall be limited to 10 minutes.
H. For all senate votes, a majority vote shall be binding unless otherwise provided for.
I. All proposed business shall require two (2) Senate hearings at two separate meetings before adoption.
Article III - Recall of Elected Officials
Section 1: In order to remove, for just cause, an elected official from office, a petition, signed by fifteen percent (15%) of the Student Body, must be presented to the Senate. The elected official shall only be removed if three-fourths (3/4) of the entire membership of the Senate votes in favor of removal. The official shall be notified of the action being taken prior to its being placed on an agenda.
Section 2: Any Representative found not in compliance with Article II, Section 6, shall be considered removed from office.
Article IV - Referendum
Any act or resolve passed by the Senate is subject to review by the Student body within a thirty (30) day period from passage of said act or resolve. Fifteen percent (15%) of the student body must petition the senate for a written ballot in order to vote on said act or resolve. Said act or resolve will be suspended pending the outcome of the written ballot. The ballot shall take place within ten (10) academic days of the receipt of the petition by the Senate Executive Branch. The senate may place any referendum on a SGA Senate ballot by a two-thirds (2/3) vote.
Article V - Amendments
The SGA Senate Constitution Committee shall review all amendments to the SGA Constitution within two (2) weeks of receipt of the proposed amendment by the committee. All proposed amendments shall require two (2) Senate hearings before adoption. The proposed amendment shall require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Senate in order to be brought before the Senate a second time. A majority vote of the Senate during the second hearing shall be necessary for the amendment's adoption.
Salve Regina University Student Government Association Bylaws
Article One: Standing Committees
The following committees are considered an integral part of the Student Government Association. The committees will be used to investigate issues of concern to the students and to render recommendations to the appropriate university departments and offices. All committee work must be brought before the full Senate for ratification prior to action.
Section 1: Committee Descriptions
Activities Funding Board (AFB):
Description: The AFB has as its primary responsibility the allocation of funds collected through the Student Activity Fee. The AFB reviews funding requests submitted by officially recognized student organizations at Salve Regina University.
Constitution and Elections Board (C/EB):
Description: The C/EB is primarily concerned with constitutional issues and amendments that may arise throughout the course of the academic school year. Also, any questions or concerns that may appear pertaining to the Election Code or election procedure, will be referred to this committee.
Publicity Issues Committee (PIB)
Description: PIB is responsible for publicizing the Student Government Association and its mission. The PIB publicizes all activities and meetings of the SGA through various means of communication.
Section 2: Eligibility, Appointment and Duties of Committee Chairperson
A. An ad-hoc or standing committee chairperson must be an elected or appointed member of the Senate for the current academic year.
B. At the start of each academic year, each Committee Chairperson shall be responsible for setting goals of the committee for that year. These goals must be submitted to the full Senate at the first meeting in October.
C. Each Committee Chairperson shall be responsible for setting an agenda for committee meetings. Copies of the agenda should accompany the minutes submitted at each full Senate meeting.
D. All minutes for committee meetings must be provided in writing and submitted to the SGA Vice President before the next full Senate meeting. These minutes shall serve as the official report at the Senate meeting.
E. A copy of attendance for all committee meetings must be submitted to the SGA Vice President before the next full Senate meeting.
F. Any Chairperson found not in compliance with the said duties shall be subject to removal from the Chairperson position.
SRU Student Government Association Election Code
Article I. Order of Elections
Section 1. Fall Elections
On and off campus Representative elections shall take place during the first quarter of the Fall Semester.
Section 2. Spring Elections
Executive Branch elections shall take place during the last quarter of the Spring Semester.
Article II. Election Procedures
Section 1. Eligibility
A. Any undergraduate student seeking an Executive or Legislative office must be enrolled at SRU at the time of elections as a full time student.
B. Undergraduate students seeking On Campus Representative positions must reside in University Housing administered by the Office of Residential Life. Undergraduate students seeking Off Campus Representative positions must not reside in housing administered by the Office of Residential Life. If necessary the President may appoint whomever they seem appropriate to fill any position.
C. Undergraduate students seeking Executive Branch positions may not be final semester seniors.
D. No member of the SGA shall hold more than one Executive and/or Legislative office at a time, with the exception of those offices designated in the Constitution as "-elect."
E. Undergraduate students seeking an SGA office must not be on probation, either academic or behavioral, as determined by University regulations.
F. Questions concerning the eligibility of students remaining in or running for SGA offices along academic or behavioral guidelines will be answered by the Elections Chairperson according to the SRU Standards for Student Behavior.
Section 2. Nominations
A. Nominations shall be made by the candidate him/herself. This nomination must be made in writing and submitted to the Elections Chairperson. Nomination forms for all elections must include signatures and campus box number or home address of at least twenty (20) undergraduate students of SRU. All signatures shall be numbered and legible. Nomination forms shall read as follows: "We, the undersigned, hereby nominate (name) for the office of (office)."
B. The Election Chairperson shall have the power to prevent the name of any candidate from appearing on the ballot for failure to meet the above requirements.
C. Nominations shall be open for not less than four (4) days, nor more than two (2) weeks.
D. All Candidates must attend a mandatory "campaigning" meeting.
Section 3. Nomination and Election Announcements
A. All advance publicity for the SGA nominations and SGA elections shall be handled by the Elections Committee. The Public Relations Coordinator shall see that posters announcing nominations and elections are placed in all appropriate campus buildings, and see to it that the campus media are notified.
B. All advance publicity will state the positions available, date of the election, qualifications of all the candidates, description of responsibilities, deadlines for nomination forms, and the eligibility requirements for all voters.
C. Elections shall be announced at least ten (10) days prior to the deadline for submitting petitions.
Section 4. Campaign Regulations
A. Campaigning on the Day of Elections
1. Any person actively campaigning (e.g.; handing out leaflets, talking to voters, etc.) may not be inside buildings except on other personal business. This includes any person wearing visible campaign material on their body.
B. Posters/Fliers/E-mails
1. Posters must be placed on bulletin boards in all academic buildings.
2. In Resident Halls the Residential Assistant must be consulted prior to any posters being put up.
3. Fliers are permitted in Resident Halls but not in any academic building.
4. Fliers may be put in mailboxes if individually addressed with specific name and box number.
5. Campus wide e-mails are not permitted.
6. Individual campaign websites (i.e. Facebook/myspace, etc) cannot be used for individual campaigning, but only to advertise the election itself.
C. Campaign funding
1. Funding from an outside source is prohibited.
2. An outside source consists of company sponsoring, political parties, foundations, etc.
Section 5. Voting Procedure
A. Students whose name will appear on the ballot will be posted at least one week prior to the election.
B. Voting
1. Elections will take place over one consecutive academic day.
2. On any polling day the polls shall be open from 7am until 10pm.
3. Voting will take place via E-Ballot, a secured, registered website moderated by the SGA Advisor.
C. Tabulations
1. Ballots shall be tabulated by E-Ballot.
2. Tabulation shall begin immediately after the closing of the polls.
3. The SGA Advisor will be in charge of retrieving the tabulations from E-Ballot.
4. In the absence of an election petition, 10 write-in votes cast shall be required to be considered as a candidate.
5. Each candidate shall be notified of the results within twenty-four (24) hours.
6. The results shall be posted in the O’Hare Academic Center and submitted to the various campus media only after best efforts have been made to notify all candidates.
7. Results shall be kept for at least ten (10) academic days after the election.
8. In Executive Board elections with 3 or more candidates running for a given position, a candidate must receive 50% plus 1 of the votes cast to be declared the winner. Otherwise, the two highest vote-getters will participate in a run-off election via E-Ballot.
9. Those candidates within a five percent (5%) margin of the winning candidates who desire a recount must request one in writing to the election committee chairperson within two (2) academic days of the election. This recount must take place within five (5) academic days of the request.
Article III. Vacancies
Section1. Appointment of a Representative
If any SGA Legislature seat is vacated after the fall election, the SGA President shall nominate a replacement that must then be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Legislature.
Section2. Appointment of an Executive
If an Executive office is vacated, other than that of the SGA President, the SGA President shall nominate a replacement who must then be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Legislature.
Article IV. Warrant of a New Election
Section 1. Invalidation of Election due to Inconsistency
The SGA Election Committee shall have the power to invalidate an election if there is a five percent (5%) or greater inconsistency between the number of ballots cast and the number of people voting.
Section 2. Request for a New Election
Only a losing candidate may request a new election. He/she may only do so for the election in which he/she was a candidate. This request for a new election must be made in writing within five (5) academic days of the election, and will be handled by the SGA Election Committee.
Section 3. Invalidation of Election due to Fraud
Given reasonable suspicion of fraud the elections committee may invalidate an election by a 4/5 vote if and only if the committee consists of five of more members. In the event that there are less than five members, the election may be invalidated by a 4/5 vote of the Legislature.
Article V. Impeachment
Section 1. Impeachment process of an officer
Excessive absences (2 unexcused) would be grounds for impeachment. A warning letter should be issued to this officer at this point by the Vice President. In the case of the Vice President being the possible person being impeached the President would provide the letter of warning. If warning has not been acknowledged then an impeachment trial will begin.
Section 2. Hearing Procedure
A Hearing shall be administered within a seven (7) day period of the last incident after the warning letter has been given.
A. The actual Hearing
1. The Hearing shall consist of the accused officer choosing a representative for their defense. The President may choose the prosecutor; however, in the case of the president being impeached the Vice President would chose the prosecutor.
2. The jury will consist of the remaining senators and officers.
3. A 2/3 vote to impeach must occur after the Hearing has finished with a quorum at the proceedings.
4. The judge will be the parliamentarian or whom ever is chosen as most qualified as knowing the constitution the best by a majority vote of the senate.
B. Appeals Process
1. Appeals may be directed to the University Committee on Student Life.
2. The University Committee on Student Life will determine whether to hear the appeal and the procedures to be followed.
3. The decision of the Committee is final.
Article VI. Before Election Week
Section 1. Campaigning
Campaigning may begin during the designated time set by the SGA and stated in publications.
A. Things that are considered campaigning:
1. Passing out printed material.
2. Public speeches or displays for or against any candidate or issue.
3. Posters.
4. Editorials about a candidate before campaigning week.
Article VII. The Day of Election
Section 1. Guidelines
A. On Election Day, no campaigning is allowed within university buildings i.e. 1. Soliciting a vote or speaking to a voter about voting or candidate qualifications in any way. 2. Placing, posting or carrying any material relating to any candidate.
B. All candidates are responsible for removing their campaign materials by five (5) P.M. two (2) days after the polls have closed unless involved in a contested or otherwise unresolved election.
C. An old and new officer meeting will occur to pass on all information in regards to their office within one (1) week of elections.
|
