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The
Student Council shall be the legislative body of the SGA.
A.
Composition
1.
Officers:
The officers of the SGA serve as the officers of the Student Council.
2.
Student Council Members: There shall be ten Student Council members. They are to
be elected by the student body of the SPSU.
3.
Faculty/Staff Advisor: The Faculty/Staff Advisor must be an SPSU staff member
that acts in a consulting capacity on matters not defined by this
Constitution. The advisor has no vote and should attend the council
meetings.
B.
Qualifications for Office: Any student enrolled in SPSU in good standing shall be
eligible to run for any position of the SGA. A student in good standing is
defined as any student who is not on probation and maintains a cumulative
grade point average of 2.5 minimum for Officers or 2.0 minimum for Student
Council Members. Students who desire to run for a position on the Student
Council must complete and submit, to the Election Committee, an application
for office.
C.
Term of Office: All Officers and Council Members shall take office on the first day
of the new administrative year following election and serve for a term of
one year or until their successors assume office.
D.
Elections:
Elections for the offices of President, Vice-President,
Secretary/Treasurer, and all Student Council Members shall be held the
tenth full week of Spring Semester annually. Each student is allowed one
vote for each position. All elections for positions in the SGA are decided
through a plurality vote. In the event of a tie, a run-off election shall
be held the week following the regular election.
E.
Re-election: Any Officer or Student Council member in good academic standing is
eligible for re-election to the same or different office.
F.
Vacancies
1.
Officers:
If the office of President is vacated for any reason, the Vice-President
for the balance of the term shall fill office upon approval of the Student
Council. If the office of Vice-President or Secretary/Treasurer is vacated
for any reason, a Student Council member through a three-fourths vote of
the Student Council shall fill said office.
2.
Student Council Members: If a Student Council chair is vacated for any reason,
the President shall nominate a student in good standing for appointment to
said chair pending a three-fourths vote of the Student Council.
G.
Stipends:
All officers, Student Council Members, and standing committee chairmen
shall, at the end of each semester, receive for services, a compensation,
which shall be prorated for the period for which elected or appointed and
shall not receive any other compensation from the SGA. Stipends shall be
denied to any Officer, Student Council Member, or standing committee
chairperson who leaves office for any reason before the end of the
semester. Stipends may be reduced for failure to perform outlined
duties of the various positions.
H.
Attendance
1.
Attendance:
All Officers and Student Council Members are required to attend all Student
Council meetings. The maximum number of unexcused absences per Fall and
Spring Semester is three (3) and for Summer Semester is two
(2). An absence shall also be defined as tardiness in excess of one-third
the duration of the meeting. A total of three (3) tardies, the missing of
roll call, will be the equivalent of one (1) absence. If a member has
more than two (2) unexcused absences in one semester then the member is
eligible for impeachment.
2.
Excused Absences: Any member that shall miss a regularly scheduled meeting due to
academic requirement, such as class trips, or in performing SGA business
shall have an excused absence. Other absences may be judged to be excused
at the discretion of the Internal Affairs Committee when provided with
written documentation of the absence within one week from the missed
meeting. An excused absence shall count as being present for the purposes
of impeachment.
I.
Impeachment: Impeachment is defined as a member of SGA being accused of
misconduct or wrong doing as a result of a violation of the Constitution or
the Student Conduct Code. Any Member of the SGA (including Officers,
Student Council Members, the Judiciary Committee Chairperson and Judiciary
Cabinet members) may be removed from office as a penalty of impeachment.
Removal from office shall be defined as the permanent loss of membership in
all branches of the SGA. The Internal Affairs Committee of the Student council
will conduct an investigation of charges against any member. The Student
Council shall afford "due process" to anyone affected by this
section before a removal vote is taken. "Due process" shall
include:
o
Written notice, including complete reasoning of proposed action.
o
opportunity to submit a rebuttal;
o
The right to a hearing, including cross-examination of accusers,
before the Student Council;
o
Once the motion has been made for impeachment, the accused person
does not have the right to resign.
*
This notification is to also provide the member with a FINAL opportunity to
resign.
J.
Resignation: Any member may resign by filing a written resignation with the
Student Council.
K.
Duties of Student Council Members
0.
Parliamentarian: The Parliamentarian is a consultant who advises the Chairperson of
the Student Council on matters of parliamentary procedure. During a meeting
the parliamentarian is restricted to giving advice to the Vice President
and to the members when requested. The Parliamentarian shall be assigned a
seat next to the Vice President so as to be convenient for consultation.
1.
Committee Chairs: Student Council Members shall chair all committees, except for the
Judiciary Cabinet.
2.
Committee Chairpersons shall be responsible for submitting a written
report to the SGA Student Council about each meeting of their committee.
The committee meeting report must contain a list of committee members in
attendance, time, duration, place of meeting, and a complete report of all
subjects dealt with at the meeting.
3.
Committees shall meet at least five times per semester.
4.
All members of the Student Council shall serve on a committee and/or
any committee directly affecting students.
5.
The Secretary/Treasurer shall notify the members of all meetings.
Written notice of the meetings of the Student Council shall be posted in
conspicuous locations on bulletin boards allowable on the SPSU campus and
published in the college newspaper.
L.
Special and Standing Committees: The Student Council will have four standing
committees that shall not be dissolved unless by Legislative order, subject
to a three-fourths majority vote of the Student Council. These shall be the
Internal Affairs Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, the Election
Committee, and the Public Relations Committee. Any student in good standing
may serve on a committee.
0.
Internal Affairs Committee: The Internal Affairs Committee shall conduct annual
reviews of all:
§
officially recognized organizations,
§
the SGA,
§
the SGA Constitution, and
§
perform other tasks as directed by the Student Council.
1.
All student organizations must be officially recognized in
accordance with procedures set forth in the Southern Polytechnic State
University Student Life Regulations.
2.
Internal Affairs Committee should have all existing organizations'
contact list (including phone number, e-mail address, meeting time, etc.)
by the seventh week of the Fall Semester.
3.
Budget and Finance Committee: The Budget and Finance committee shall be headed up by
a Budget and Finance chairperson whose purpose is to:
§
receive all requests for funds from the Student Development fund,
§
review the requests, and
§
recommend an acceptance, denial or partial acceptance of the request
to the SGA.
*It
will be the decision of the SGA to appropriate funds.
4.
Budget & Finance Chair shall coordinate the expenditure of
Student Development Funds.
5.
All student organizations will submit to the Budget and Finance
Committee their budget request form for the next academic year no later
than the third (3rd) week of Spring Semester. Any budgets submitted after
this time will not be considered.
6.
During the spring semester, the Budget and Finance Committee will
present a completed budget for all existing organizations (including the
SGA) to the SGA for approval no later than the eighth (8th) week of said
semester.
7.
The Budget and Finance Committee must discuss every student
development request in a Budget and Finance Committee meeting.
8.
The Budget and Finance Committee will not review any budget requests
(including both yearly and student development fund requests) for an
organization not having an approved constitution on file with the Internal
Affairs Committee of the SGA.
9.
The Budget and Finance Committee may remove funds appropriated for
an organization that has been determined inactive, or has been placed on
probation, prior to, during, or any time after any fund request following a
formal meeting with the faculty advisor of said organization.
10. An organization shall be
determined inactive by three-fourths vote of the SGA.
11. Election Committee: The Election Committee shall
consist of not less than five members.
12. The Election Committee shall
determine the exact time, place, and date of all elections. On the sixth
week of the Spring Semester, the Election Committee shall publicize:
§
information concerning all positions open,
§
qualifications of all positions,
§
the locations of applications,
§
the date, time, and location of the balloting,
§
the campaign period, and if applicable,
§
the date, time, and location of any debates.
The
Election Committee shall maintain publicity throughout the campaign and
election periods. The Election Committee shall inform all applicants of the
period of office.
13. The Election Committee verifies
all candidates’ qualifications and insures that no member of the Election
Committee is a candidate. The Election Committee shall insure and verify
that no member shall attempt to hold more than one position in the Student Council.
14. The Election Committee shall
require that all candidates be enrolled in the Southern Polytechnic State
University.
15. The Election Committee shall
conduct the elections, count the ballots, and only after the voting is
complete, prepare Teller’s reports, for submission to the Dean of Students,
listing, by position, the number of votes each candidate received. The
Election Committee shall officially publish the election results in the
next available issue of the school newspaper.
16. The Election Committee shall
review and investigate any written protest of the election results
forwarded to the Election Committee Chairperson within three school days of
the official publication of the election results and submit their findings
to the Judiciary Committee.
17. Public Relations Committee: The Public Relations Committee
will be headed by a Public Relations Chairperson whose purpose shall be to
handle any publicity of SGA meetings and SGA-sponsored events that the SGA
Council shall deem necessary.
18. The Public Relations Committee
shall attend Techfest and Career Day organizational meetings.
M.
Special Committees: The Student Council upholds the right to appoint other
committees as necessary that are not in conflict with this Constitution.
N.
Honors and Awards: The Student council may establish, declare officially,
and bestow certain honors, awards, and other forms of non-monetary
recognition to individuals or groups as they may so designate.
O.
Meetings
0.
Notice of Meetings: Written notice of the meetings of the Student Council
are to be posted in conspicuous locations on bulletin boards allowable on
the SPSU campus and be published in the University newspaper. Meetings will
be held on Tuesday at 12 noon, bi-weekly, and as necessary, beginning the
second week of each semester.
1.
Special Meetings: Special meetings of the Student Council shall be called by the
President at any time or upon receipt of a written request by 50% of
Student Council Members.
2.
Stipends will be prorated through any additional meetings of the Student
Council other than regularly scheduled meetings.
P.
Voting
0.
Voting at Meetings: At any Student Council meeting, the Vice President,
Secretary/Treasurer, and each Student Council Member shall have only one
vote. The President shall only have a vote in the case of deadlock. Proxy
and absentee voting shall not be allowed. Unless otherwise specifically
provided by this Constitution, a quorum vote of the Student Council Members
shall govern.
1.
Quorum of Members: A quorum shall consist of a majority (51%) of the
Student Council Members
Q.
General Operations Fund
All requests for funds from the General Operations Fund of the Student
Council require:
0.
A request for funds form to be filled out and submitted prior to any
regularly scheduled meeting.
1.
A presentation of the proposed expenditure before a quorum of the
Student Council.
2.
A quorum vote of the Student Council in favor of the expenditure.
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