ASSU Documentation

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====== Article I: General ======

===== Section 1. Definitions =====
  - For the remainder of these By-Laws, the Undergraduate Senate shall be abbreviated US. 
  - The //Association legislative bodies// shall be the US and GSC. 
  - References to the //Senate// by any internal or external document, without specifically referring to the Undergraduate Senate, shall be construed as the Association legislative bodies. 
  - The //undergraduate population// shall be those members of the Association who are registered as undergraduates, as well as those coterminal students who choose to be considered as undergraduates.
  - The //graduate population// shall be all members of the Association in graduate or professional degree programs, as well as those coterminal students who choose to be considered as graduate students.
  - An //Undergraduate Senate agency// shall refer to any administrative unit under the sole control of the Undergraduate Senate. 
  - An //Association agency// shall refer to any administrative unit under the joint control of the US and GSC.
  - A //joint Association entity// shall refer to any body of the Association that affects both the graduate and undergraduate populations. This shall not include the US and GSC, considered as separate legislative bodies.
  - The //elected members// of the US shall be the fifteen individuals elected by the undergraduate district.
  - The //voting membership// of the US shall consist of the elected members plus the Vice President of the Association.
  - The //membership of the US// shall be the voting members and all ex-officio members of the US.
  - An //undergraduate student organization// shall refer to any student organization whose membership and/or audience is drawn substantially from the undergraduate population.
  - A //graduate student organization// shall refer to any student organization whose membership and/or audience is drawn substantially from the graduate population.
  - //Elected members// of the GSC shall be those who were selected in either a special or general Association election.
  - A //member// of the GSC shall be any member of the graduate population present at a GSC meeting.
  - Unless otherwise specified, a //vote// of the GSC shall be a vote by voting members of the GSC only.
  - The term //ex-officio// as used by any internal document, including the Constitution and all By-Laws, shall be construed as meaning "non-voting."
  - The //executive officers// of the Association shall consist of the President, the Vice- President, the Chair of the US, the Deputy Chair of the US, the Chair of the GSC, the Financial Officer of the GSC, the Chair of the Constitutional Council, and the Financial Manager. The //officers// of the Association shall consist of the executive officers plus the members of the US, the voting members of the GSC, and the members of the Constitutional Council.

===== Section 2. General Approval Requirements =====
Unless otherwise specified in the Constitution or these By-Laws, for approval requirements the relevant Association legislative bodies shall be:
  - The US, for those matters involving or affecting only members of the undergraduate population.
  - The GSC, for those matters involving or affecting only members of the graduate population. 
  - Both the US and the GSC, for those matters involving or affecting members of both the graduate and undergraduate populations. 

===== Section 3. Registered Students =====

Registered students of Stanford University shall be defined to include all students of Stanford University who possess a valid Certificate of Registration for the current quarter, provided that a student who possesses such a registration for three consecutive quarters and who intends to register again after a lapse of one quarter shall be deemed a registered student for the intervening quarter. Only students with a valid Certificate of Registration or Terminal Graduate Registration for the current quarter shall be eligible to vote. Post-doctoral scholars shall not be considered members of the Association

===== Section 4. Calendar =====

==== A. Opening of the Quarter ====
The first day of the quarter shall be defined as the first day of registration. In counting days from the opening of the quarter, all days, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, shall be included.

==== B. End of the Quarter ====
The last day of the quarter shall be defined as the last day on which final examinations shall be scheduled. In counting days from the end of the quarter, all days, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, shall be included.

===== Section 5. Non-Discrimination Statement =====
In undertaking any authority granted to it by the Constitution of the Associated Students of Stanford University, these By-Laws, the US By-Laws, or the GSC By-Laws, the US, the GSC, the Presidency, the Constitutional Council, and all other Agencies, Service Organizations, and Committees of the Association, shall not discriminate against any individual or organization on account of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability.

===== Section 6. Precedence of the Association By-Laws =====
Unless otherwise stated in the Constitution of these By-Laws, these By-Laws shall take precedence over the US By-Laws and the GSC By-Laws.

===== Section 7. Association Policies =====
==== A. Definition ====
The Association Policies shall be the details of the organizational structure and specification of any joint Association entity. They shall contain information sufficiently important to require some form of joint US/GSC approval to change, but sufficiently malleable that the rigidity of the By-Laws modification procedure would be inappropriate. The Association Policies shall govern in all cases where they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the Constitution and these By- Laws. The Association Policies shall be set forth in a series of Appendices to these By- Laws, each containing the policies for a separate administrative subunit of the Association.

==== B. Modification ====
  - Association Policies affecting the US and the GSC
    - The portion of the Association Policies that affect the US and the GSC may be adopted, amended, or repealed by a 2/3 vote of the US and the GSC.
  - Association Policies not affecting the US and the GSC
    - May be adopted, amended, or repealed by a 2/3 vote of the governing body of the affected Association entity and a majority vote of both the US and the GSC.
    - May be adopted, amended, or repealed by a 2/3 vote of both the US and the GSC, provided that consultation with the governing body of the affected Association entity has occurred.

==== C. Minimum Content ====
The minimum content of the Association Policies shall be contained in the section of these By-Laws pertaining to the relevant Association entities.

===== Section 8. Association Rules of Order =====

==== A. Definition ====
Association Rules of Order shall be the written rules of parliamentary procedure adopted by any joint Association entity. Examples of such entities include, but are not limited to the Executive branch, the Constitutional Council, the joint meetings of the Association legislative bodies, and joint Service Organizations. These Rules of Order shall govern their respective bodies in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the Constitution, these By-Laws, the US By-Laws, or the GSC By-Laws.

==== B. Modification ====
  - The US and GSC shall jointly have the power to adopt, amend, or repeal Rules of Order for their joint meetings. These modifications shall be done by a 2/3 vote of each Association legislative body, provided that previous notice has been given.
  - A joint Association entity shall have the power to adopt, amend, or repeal Rules of Order for its respective operation. These modifications shall be done by a 2/3 vote, provided that previous notice has been given.

==== C. Voting ====
  - No item of business shall be transacted by a joint Association entity unless pursuant to a vote of that body during a properly called meeting at which a quorum is present.
  - Unless otherwise indicated, all votes by a joint Association entity shall be by a majority of those members present and voting.
  - Unless otherwise indicated, in those cases where a 2/3 vote is indicated for a joint Association entity, this shall be 2/3 of those members present and voting.
  - Unless otherwise stated in the Constitution or these By-Laws, all ex-officio members of a joint Association entity established under the Constitution or these By-Laws shall be without vote in that entity.
  - Previous Notice
    - Unless otherwise specified in the Constitution or these By-Laws, previous or prior notice shall consist of written notice distributed during the immediately previous meeting of the appropriate joint Association entity. Such notice must include enough information so as to clearly define the scope and degree of the proposed motion. Any modifications of the motion outside of this scope or degree shall invalidate the previous notice.
    - However, for proposed legislation arising spontaneously out of the business transacted at a meeting of a joint Association entity, which proposed legislation could not reasonably have been foreseen prior to that meeting, previous notice may consist of the announcement at that meeting of the proposed topic of legislation, provided that written notice meeting the above requirements is made available to all members of that body within 24 hours.

===== Section 9: The Usual Guidelines =====
==== A.====
Except as explicitly noted elsewhere, all of the usual guidelines shall be assumed to apply in the situations that they describe, even if not explicitly invoked in the governing documents in which those situations arise.
==== B. For Notification and Appeal ====
  - Any individual or organization subject to possible disciplinary action by any Association entity must be given written notice of the intended action at least 72 hours before the meeting at which the disciplinary action would be approved. The relevant Association legislative bodies must also be informed of the proposed disciplinary action by the same deadline.
  - Any individual or organization subject to possible disciplinary action must be allowed to speak in her/his defense at the meeting at which the disciplinary action would be approved, except as otherwise stated in the Constitution, these By-Laws, the US By- Laws, or the GSC By-Laws.
  - If the disciplinary action is being imposed by an Association entity, other than the US or the GSC, that is subject to oversight by one or both of those legislative bodies, the individual or organization subject to that disciplinary action may appeal it to the relevant Association legislative bodies.
  - Unless otherwise specified, if an imposition of disciplinary action is appealed to the relevant Association legislative bodies, those bodies may overturn the action by a 2/3 vote.


==== C. For The Untimely Removal of an Appointed Officer ====
  - For the purposed of the Guideline, "appointed officer" shall be taken to mean any position whose occupant must be approved by one or both Association legislative bodies. Only those officers falling under this category shall have the rights guaranteed in this Guideline.
  - The subject of such a removal must be given all rights listed in the Usual Guidelines for Notification and Appeal.
  - No appointed officer may be removed for political reasons.
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