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constitution:ii

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Article II: Legislative Branch

Section 1. Representative Authority

The representative authority of the Association shall be vested in the legislative bodies of the Association.

The Undergraduate Senate of the Association shall be composed of 16 members, 15 of whom shall be elected by and shall represent the undergraduate members of the Association, with the 16th member being the Vice President of the Association.

The Graduate Student Council of the Association shall represent the graduate and professional members of the Association. The Graduate Student Council shall have 15 members who shall be elected by and shall represent the graduate and professional members of the Association, and shall include the Vice President of the Association as the 16th member.

Section 2. Membership of the Association Legislative Bodies

  1. The elected members of the Association legislative bodies shall be chosen each year in the Association Spring Quarter General Election.
  2. Each elected member of an Association legislative body shall, at the time of her/his election and during her/his continuance in office, be a member of the Association and be committed, at the time of certification of her/his election, to be a member of the constituency s/he represents during her/his term of office.
  3. An elected member of an Association legislative body shall cease to be a member of that body upon the event of her/his death, resignation, disqualification, recall, or expulsion.
  4. All vacant seats on an Association legislative body shall automatically be open should a general election be called, or a special election involving the relevant Association population.
  5. If a member of an Association legislative body loses her/his seat within 28 days of the general or special election in which s/he was elected, the vacancy created by that member shall be filled by the next-highest vote recipient in that election, who did not become a member of the relevant Association legislative body. If no such person exists, the seat shall remain vacant until filled.
  6. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as preventing the Association legislative bodies from enforcing appropriate sanctions against candidates whose actions in seeking office were in violation of the rules governing student elections.

Section 3. Undergraduate Senate: Organization and Procedures

A. Election of the Undergraduate Senate

  1. The fifteen members of the Undergraduate Senate shall be elected from and shall represent the undergraduate population.
  2. Each member of the undergraduate population voting may cast one vote for as many Undergraduate Senate seats as are assigned to the undergraduate population.
  3. The candidates equal in number to the number of available Undergraduate Senate seats who receive the largest number of votes shall become members of the Undergraduate Senate.
  4. If at any time more than one-third of the Undergraduate Senate seats are vacant, the Undergraduate Senate shall immediately call a special election to fill all vacant seats.

B. Apportionment of votes in the Undergraduate Senate

  1. The number of voting members at all meetings of the Undergraduate Senate shall depend solely on the number of elected members in attendance.
  2. No member of the Undergraduate Senate in attendance at a meeting of the Undergraduate Senate may for any reason be disenfranchised. No vote taken in violation of this rule shall be considered valid. Restricting the right of members of the Undergraduate Senate to vote based on attire, behavior, beliefs or any other grounds is prohibited.
  3. The Vice President of the Association shall have a vote only when the other voting members of the Undergraduate Senate are evenly divided.

C. Undergraduate Senate Quorum

A majority of the regular members of the Undergraduate Senate shall constitute quorum to conduct business.

D. Ex-Officio Members of the Undergraduate Senate

  1. The Undergraduate Senate may declare any member of the Association an ex-officio member of the Undergraduate Senate by a majority vote. No member of the Association shall be impeded from petitioning the Undergraduate Senate for the right to become an ex-officio member of the Undergraduate Senate.
  2. Ex-officio members of the Undergraduate Senate shall have all privileges afforded members of the Undergraduate Senate but shall never be permitted to vote.
  3. The President of the Association, elected members of the Graduate Student Council, and the Financial Manager shall be ex-officio members of the Undergraduate Senate.

E. Undergraduate Senate Term of Office

  1. Members of the Association elected and certified as members of the new Undergraduate Senate shall meet as the Undergraduate Senate Elect within one week after certification by the Undergraduate Senate, and at regular intervals thereafter.
  2. The Undergraduate Senate Elect shall organize itself in a manner similar to that of the Undergraduate Senate. Members of the Undergraduate Senate Elect shall be ex-officio members of the Undergraduate Senate and observers on any body containing a member of the Undergraduate Senate. Members of the Undergraduate Senate shall be ex-officio members of the Undergraduate Senate Elect.
  3. The Vice President Elect of the Association shall be the Presiding Officer of the Undergraduate Senate Elect.
  4. Transition from the Undergraduate Senate Elect to the Undergraduate Senate
    1. If the Undergraduate Senate Elect was elected by the Association Spring Quarter General Election, then at a date specified by the Undergraduate Senate or 14 days before the end of the spring quarter, whichever comes first, the Undergraduate Senate and the Undergraduate Senate Elect shall dissolve and the former members of the Undergraduate Senate Elect shall constitute the new Undergraduate Senate.
    2. If the Undergraduate Senate Elect was elected in any other election, then within 14 days of certification of the election, the Undergraduate Senate Elect shall dissolve and the former members of the Undergraduate Senate Elect shall constitute the new Undergraduate Senate.
  5. The new Undergraduate Senate shall meet at least once in the academic quarter during which it was constituted as the Undergraduate Senate. At this time, it shall formalize the membership of the Undergraduate Senate committees and the appointment of Undergraduate Senate officers.

F. Presiding Officer of the Undergraduate Senate

  1. The Vice President of the Association shall preside over the Undergraduate Senate.
  2. The Undergraduate Senate shall choose its Chair, Deputy Chair, and other officers. The Chair shall serve at the Vice President’s convenience during regular meetings of the Undergraduate Senate.

G. Removal from the Undergraduate Senate

A member of the Undergraduate Senate may be dismissed from office in the following ways:

  1. The undergraduate population may vote to recall the member of the Undergraduate Senate.
  2. The Undergraduate Senate may by a two-thirds vote expel a member of the Undergraduate Senate. Previous notice of the vote to expel a member of the Undergraduate Senate must be given at the regular meeting of the Undergraduate Senate immediately prior to the meeting at which the expulsion vote takes place. An expulsion vote shall only take place at a regular meeting of the Undergraduate Senate, and the member to be expelled shall have the right to speak in her/his defense before the vote takes place.

Grounds for dismissal from the Undergraduate Senate shall include, but not be limited to, actions which clearly violate the intent of this Constitution, consistent failure to attend regular meetings of the Undergraduate Senate, actions deemed unbecoming a member of the Undergraduate Senate.

Section 4. Graduate Student Council: Organization and Procedures

A. Election of the Graduate Student Council

  1. The fifteen elected members of the Graduate Student Council shall be elected from one or more districts of the graduate population and shall represent the members of that district.
  2. The Graduate Student Council may redistrict seats for its elected members, so long as they are based on an equitable apportionment amongst the graduate population.
  3. Each member of the graduate population voting may cast one vote in each district to which s/he belongs for each of as many Graduate Student Council seats are assigned to that district.
  4. In each district, the candidates equal in number to the number of Graduate Student Council seats assigned to that district who receive the largest number of votes shall become elected members of the Graduate Student Council.
  5. No member of the Association shall vote in a district of which s/he is not a member.
  6. If at any time a district has a vacant seat, the Graduate Student Council shall immediately act to fill it, by a procedure specified in the Graduate Student Council's By-Laws. New members of the Graduate Student Council resulting from this procedure shall be considered elected members for all intents and purposes.

B. Apportionment of votes in the Graduate Student Council

  1. The number of voting members at all meetings of the Graduate Student Council shall depend solely on the number of members in attendance.
  2. The Vice President of the Association shall have a vote only when the other voting members of the Graduate Student Council are evenly divided.
  3. No member of the Graduate Student Council in attendance at a meeting of the Graduate Student Council may for any reason be disenfranchised. No vote taken in violation of this rule shall be considered valid.

C. Graduate Student Council Quorum

Quorum for conducting votes mandated in this Constitution shall consist of a majority of the non-vacant Graduate Student Council seats.

D. Ex-Officio Members of the Graduate Student Council

  1. The President of the Association, members of the Undergraduate Senate, and Financial Manager shall be ex-officio members of the Graduate Student Council.
  2. The Graduate Student Council may appoint other members of the Association as ex-officio members of the Graduate Student Council.

E. Graduate Student Council Term of Office and Transition

The term of office and transition procedures for the Graduate Student Council shall be specified in the Graduate Student Council's By-Laws, with the condition that whatever the procedures are, they must be completed by the end of the academic quarter in which the election for the Graduate Student Council took place.

F. Graduate Student Council Officers

The Graduate Student Council shall choose its Chair, Deputy Chair, and Financial Officer. The Chair shall preside over the Graduate Student Council.

G. Removal from the Graduate Student Council

The procedure for removing members of the Graduate Student Council shall be specified in the Graduate Student Council's By-Laws.

constitution/ii.1347860197.txt.gz · Last modified: 2012/09/16 22:36 by trusheim