Associated
Student Government Bylaws
Last
Amended March 25, 2004
ARTICLE I: Qualifications of Associated Student Government Members
Active members in the Associated Student Senate shall:
1.
Be full-time Mesa
State College Student.
a. The graduate student senator and the
senator for disabled students are only required to enroll in 6 credits of class.
2.
Maintain an
institutional grade point average of 2.0.
3.
Not be on
academic suspension or probation.
ARTICLE II: Legislative Branch
Section A: Senators
Senators shall:
1.
Attend all
Student Senate meetings.
a.
All Senators
shall not have more than 2 (two) unexcused absences from Senate meetings.
2.
Serve on one Student
Senate committee.
a.
All Senators
shall not have more than 2 (two) unexcused absences from committee meetings.
3.
Serve on special
Student Senate committees when appointed by the Senate Leader.
4.
Perform all
duties necessary and appropriate to the office.
5.
Minority Senator
shall follow above duties in addition to attending Cultural Diversity Board
meetings that will serve as a committee requirement.
6.
The On Campus
Resident Senator shall follow above duties in addition to attending Campus
Residents’ Association meetings that will serve as a committee requirement.
Section B: Senate Leader
The Senate Leader shall:
1.
Represent the
Student Senate on all matters before the Student Supreme Court.
2.
Be of sophomore, junior
or senior status.
3.
Prepare a
typewritten monthly report of activities to be placed in the year end report.
4.
Be responsible
for enforcing all statutes in the ASG constitution and bylaws pertaining to the
roles and responsibilities of individual Senators.
Section C: Other Members
The Secretary shall:
1.
Be appointed by
the Senate Leader with approval by a two thirds affirmative vote of quorum of
the Student Senate.
2.
Publish the
minutes of the Student Senate and present them for approval at each subsequent
meeting.
3.
Maintain the
Student Senate’s official correspondence and the official roll call.
4.
Maintain a file
of all documents and reports and compile the official year end record of the
Student Senate.
5.
Post the minutes
and agenda in the Associated Student Government office, along with all
pertinent student notices.
6.
Maintain at least
three office hours per week in the Associated
Student Government office.
7.
Be a non-voting
member and a non-active member of the Student Senate.
8.
Perform all other
duties necessary and appropriate to the office.
ARTICLE III: Executive Branch
Section A: President
The President shall:
1.
Serve as an
ex-officio member on all Student Senate committees.
2.
Attend all
Faculty Senate meetings.
Section B: Vice President
The Vice President shall:
1. Perform all duties necessary of the ASG Vice President enumerated in the Club Advisory Board (CAB) Constitution.
2.
Maintain
communication with the Club Advisory Board regarding any possible policy changes
stemming from the ASG Senate.
Section C: Directors
The Student Trustee shall:
1.
Attend all
meetings of the Mesa State Board of Trustees.
2.
Make
recommendations to the Mesa State Board of Trustees giving precedence first to
the position of the student body.
3.
Vice-chair all
meetings of the External Affairs Committee.
4.
Report to the
Senate at the request of any Senator.
The Director of External Affairs shall:
1.
Report to the
Student Senate upon the request of any Senator.
The Director of Finance shall:
1.
Prepare an expenditure
projection in conjunction with the President at the beginning of each semester,
to be submitted to the Student Senate.
2.
Prepare the
Associated Student Government’s biennial budget to be presented to the Student
Senate during the biennial allocation process.
3.
Report to the
Student Senate upon the request of any Senator.
ARTICLE IV: Judicial Branch
Section A: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court Justices shall:
1.
Verify the
academic qualifications of all Associated Student Government members at the
beginning of each semester.
2.
Verify all
signatures for recall, referendum, or constitutional amendment.
3.
Prepare a
typewritten monthly report of activities to be placed in the year end report.
Section B: Grievances
Any and all grievances, with relation to all fee
funded boards, shall be referred to the Student Supreme Court. Grievances may
include, but are not limited to:
1.
Adherence to the
ASG Constitution and Bylaws.
2.
All Mesa State
College fee funded boards and organizations funding.
3.
Adherence to all
fee funded boards and organizations operating procedures.
Section C: Judicial
Policies
1.
Charges shall be
prepared in writing and directed to the Student Supreme Court (SSC) by either
the ASG Vice President or the Student Senate.
Any charge should be submitted within seven (7) working days after the
event takes place, although the time may be extended at the discretion of the
SSC.
2.
All charges shall
be presented to the accused student in written form. A time shall be set for a hearing, not less
than five (5) nor more than fifteen (15) business days after the student has
been notified. Maximum time limits for
scheduling hearings may be extended at the discretion of the SSC.
3.
The SSC shall
conduct an impeachment hearing and shall find the member charged as innocent or
guilty. If found guilty, the SSC shall
reserve the right to procure that punishment deemed appropriate to the
violation, according to Section E of this article.
4.
There shall be a
single verbatim record of all hearings before the SSC. The record shall be the property of Mesa
State College.
5.
No student may be
found to have violated the ASG Constitution and/or Bylaws solely because the
student failed to appear before the SSC.
In all cases, the evidence in support of the charges shall be presented
and considered.
6.
A hearing will be
rescheduled for the first missed appearance.
In the case of a second missed appearance, the hearing will continue, a
determination made, and sanction(s) imposed if the student in question is found
in violation of the ASG Constitution and/or Bylaws.
7.
If a student is
summoned and fails to appear, that student may be charged with failing to obey
the summons of the SSC and sanctioned accordingly.
Section D: Judicial Procedures
1.
Admission of any
person to a hearing shall be at the discretion of the SSC.
2.
In hearings involving more than one accused
student, the SSC may permit the hearings concerning each student to be
conducted separately.
3.
The complainant
and the accused have the right to be assisted by any advisor they choose, at
their own expense. The advisor may be an
attorney. The complainant and/or the
accused are responsible for presenting his or her own case and, therefore,
advisors are not permitted to speak or to participate directly in any hearing
before the SSC.
4.
The complainant,
the accused, and the SSC shall have the privilege of presenting witnesses,
subject to the right of cross-examination by both the SSC and the opposing
party.
5.
Pertinent
records, exhibits, and written statements may be accepted as evidence for
consideration at the discretion of the SSC.
6.
The complainant
shall present their case first, followed by the accused. Once the evidence has been presented, closing
remarks shall be allowed.
7.
All procedural
questions and disputes are subject to the final decision of the SSC.
8.
After the
hearing, the judicial body shall determine by majority vote whether the student
has violated each section of the ASG Constitution and/or Bylaws, which the
student is charged with violating.
9.
The SSC’s
determination shall be made on the basis of whether it is more likely than not
that the accused student violated the ASG Constitution and/or Bylaws.
Section E: Sanctions
The following sanctions may be imposed upon any
student found to have violated the ASG Constitution and/or Bylaws:
1.
Warning- A written
notice to the student after guilt has been determined that a violation has
occurred.
2.
Probation- A
written reprimand for violation of the ASG Constitution and/or Bylaws.
Probation shall be for a designated period of time and includes the probability
of more severe disciplinary sanction if the student is found to be violating
any institutional regulation(s) during the probationary period.
3.
Loss of
Privileges- Denial of specified privileges for a designated period of time.
4.
Restitution-
Compensation for loss, damage, or injury.
This may take the form of appropriate service and/or monetary or
material replacement.
5.
Suspension from
Office- Separation of the student from the office for a definite period of
time, after which the student is eligible to return contingent upon an
affirmative recommendation from the SSC.
6.
Expulsion from
Office- Permanent separation of the student from the office.
The following sanction(s) may be imposed upon groups
or organizations:
1.
Those sanctions
listed above.
2.
Deactivation-
Loss of privileges, including recognition, for a definite period of time.
ARTICLE V: Election Code
1. General Election: refers to the annual fall and spring elections.
2. Special Election: refers to those elections provided for in Article X of the Associated Student Government Constitution.
3. Candidate: means any student who has announced or intends to announce his or her candidacy for any elected position of the Associated Student Government.
4. Campaigning: means the solicitation of support for or against a candidate or other ballot item by candidates or campaign supporters on campus.
5. Inactive Campaign Week: means candidates are allowed to speak to individuals, clubs, organizations and classes, but are strictly prohibited from distributing any tangible campaign materials including electronic transmissions.
6. Active Campaign Week: means candidates may speak to all the same parties as in inactive campaign week but are now allowed to distribute tangible campaign articles and electronic transmissions.
7. Declaration of Intent Form: refers to the form that each candidate must complete and file with the Vice President to officially establish their candidacy.
8. Campaign Spending Report: refers to the form that each candidate must file with the Vice President in order to demonstrate that said candidate is in compliance with the spending restrictions provided for in this article of the Bylaws.
9.
Write-In Candidate: means any student who is a
candidate and who missed the intent form filing date as referred to in section
D of this article.
10.
Write-In Candidate: means any student who is a candidate and missed the
intent form filing date as referred to in section D of this article.
Section B: Election
Administration
1. General Elections and Special Elections
shall be administered by the Vice President in compliance with the election
code requirements of this Article of the Bylaws and the Associated Student
Government Constitution.
2. The Student Supreme Court shall regulate general elections and special elections in compliance with election code requirements of this article and in the Constitution.
3. The Student Supreme Court shall investigate all reports of election code violation. If the Student Supreme Court determines that the election code has been violated, it shall reserve the right to do that which is proper in punishing non-compliance.
4. In the event the Vice President is a candidate then the Senate shall nominate and approve an Election
Committee Chair by an affirmative
simple majority.
Section C: Candidate Qualifications and
Eligibility
1. Candidates seeking elected office shall be
an enrolled student of Mesa State College during the semester of the election.
2. Candidates shall have an institutional
cumulative Grade Point Average of at least 2.0 at the time of his/her candidacy
and shall not be on academic suspension or probation.
3. Candidates seeking the office of President
or Vice President shall have achieved junior or senior status by the end of the
semester in which they are running.
4. Candidates seeking the position of school
Senator shall declare a major within the respective school they seek to
represent prior to his/her filing of the Declaration of Intent form.
5. All appointments made by the Senate Leader shall comply with candidate qualifications and eligibility as dictated by the election code.
Section D: Campaign and Election Procedure
1. General Elections shall be held twice annually: in the spring, no less than two weeks nor more than four weeks prior to final examination week, and in the fall, no less than two weeks nor more than four weeks after classes commence. All executive officers and all Senators shall be elected by plurality of vote of the student body population in the spring of the preceding school year. All unfilled positions for executive officers and the Student Senate shall be elected in the fall of the academic school year. One freshman Senator shall be elected in the fall election.
2. Candidates shall declare their candidacy by filing with the Vice President a Declaration of Intent form no later than 5 days prior to the beginning of the inactive campaign week. Declaration of Intent forms shall be made available to the student body not less than 10 days prior to the filing deadline. Deadlines for filing shall be reported to all campus news outlets by the elections committee.
3.
Write-in candidates must file an intent form on the day
prior to the elections in which they are seeking candidacy.
4. Active campaigning shall begin one week prior to elections. Active campaigning by candidates or affiliated campaign volunteers before this time is expressly prohibited.
5. Candidates for elected student office shall be allowed to campaign at official meetings of officially recognized student clubs and/or organizations in the week prior to active campaign week.
6. Elections shall be held on the three class days following the active campaign week.
7. On the days of voting, campaigning is prohibited within 50 feet of the polling site.
8.
All candidates are responsible for full removal of
campaign materials within one week of the final election day.
Section E: Campaign Spending and Disclosure
Requirements
1. Joint campaigns for the offices of the President and Vice President shall not spend more than $700 in promoting their candidacy during any election.
2. Campaigns for the office of Student Trustee shall not spend more than $350 in promoting their candidacy during any election.
3. Campaigns for the office of Student Senator shall not spend more than $100 in promoting their candidacy during any election.
4. All non-monetary gifts shall count toward the campaign spending limitations.
5. All candidates shall file a Campaign Spending Report and all receipts of purchase for campaign materials with the Vice President on both the first and last day of the campaign week. The Elections Committee shall review the spending reports of all candidates no later than 24 hours following the reporting deadline. Failure to file the report in a timely manner may result in a candidate’s disqualification. Intentional falsification of spending reports shall, without exception, result in a candidate’s immediate disqualification.
ARTICLE VI: Compensation
Section A: Legislative Branch
1. The Senate Leader shall:
Receive One Hundred Percent (100%) of in-state tuition
and fees.
2. The Secretary shall:
Receive
Fifty Percent (50%) of in-state tuition and fees.
3. The Fee
Allocation Chair shall:
Receive
One Hundred and Forty Percent (140%) of in-state tuition and fees during fee
allocation years.
Receive One Hundred Percent (100%) of in-state tuition
and fees during non-fee allocation years.
Section B: Executive Branch
1. The President shall:
Receive
One Hundred and Seventy-five Percent (175%) of in-state tuition and fees.
2. The Vice President shall:
Receive
One Hundred and Fifty Percent (150%) of in-state tuition and fees.
3. The Student Trustee shall:
Receive
One Hundred Percent (100%) of in-state tuition and fees.
4. The Director of Finance shall:
Receive One
Hundred and Forty Percent (140%) of in-state tuition and fees during fee
allocation years.
Receive
One Hundred Percent (100%) of in-state tuition and fees during non-fee
allocation years.
5. The Director of External Affairs shall:
Receive
One Hundred and Twenty-five Percent (125%) of in-state tuition and fees.
ARTICLE VII: Associated Student Government Operating Budget
Section A: Expenditures
1.
The Student
Senate shall approve all appropriations of all funds exceeding one hundred
dollars.
2.
In case of
emergency or unforeseen event, any expenditure by executive officers shall be
justified to the Student Senate at the next regular meeting.
3.
The Student
Senate shall approve all contractual agreements prior to the President’s
signing.
4.
The President
shall sign all contractual agreements approved by the Student Senate.
5.
The President and
Vice President shall hold co-signature authority, with the Director of Finance,
of all funds.
6.
Contract and or
expenditure approval by the Student Senate affecting any subsequent year’s
operating budget shall require a two thirds majority vote of quorum.
ARTICLE VIII: Presidential Discretionary Fund
A discretionary fund of five
hundred dollars ($500) shall be at the disposal of the President to be used to
the benefit of the Mesa State College student body. The President shall notify the Student Senate
of any expenditure from the discretionary fund.
ARTICLE IX: Fee Allocation and Assessment
Section A: Definitions
Section B: Student Fee Authority
The Associated Student
Government (ASG) is charged with the handling of all matters related to student
fee assessment, allocation, and oversight.
The ASG is the final student authority on all matters related to the management
of student fees.
Section C: The Fee Allocation Committee
The Fee Allocation Committee
(FAC) shall act as the administrative sub-committee of referral within the ASG
originally responsible for all matters related to student fee assessment,
allocation and oversight including the following:
1.
The formulation
of student fee funded budgets.
2.
The consideration
of all potential fee assessments requiring student approval (including course
specific fees).
3.
The consideration
of all funding requests from the Student Controlled Reserve Fund.
4.
The consideration
of all funding requests from the Regional and National Competition Fund.
5.
The handling of
all matters related to the procedural management and oversight of student fees
including, but not limited to, the execution of budgets by student fee funded
boards.
6.
All fee funded
boards shall meet in the spring semester prior to the Fee Allocation year to
select their representative for the Fee Allocation Committee.
7. All fee funded boards and entities shall have a constitution stating purpose, membership, and operating procedures.
8.
No board or
organization without said constitution shall be eligible to solicit regular
student activity fees from the FAC or the ASG.
9.
No general
student fee funded entity shall have a designated seat on the FAC, except for
those seats specifically represented by the ASG.
10.
All actions or
in-actions of the FAC are subject to the approval, disapproval and/or
reconsideration by the ASG. The ASG may
not amend the actions of the FAC but rather must approve or disapprove FAC
proposals in their entirety. All actions
of the FAC shall become binding pending the popular approval by the Student
Senate and the signature of the ASG President.
Section D: FAC Membership
1.
The FAC shall
consist of the following representatives:
a.
One Auxiliary
Board Representative
b.
One Athletics
Board Representative
c.
One Campus
Residents’ Association Representative
d.
One
e.
One Fine Arts
Board Representative
f.
One Media Board
Representative
g.
One UTEC
Representative
h.
One ASG Presidential
Appointment
i.
One Montrose
Campus Representative
j.
One At-large
Representative appointed by the FAC Chair
2.
Members of the
Fee Allocation Committee shall:
a.
be a full-time
student at Mesa State College
b.
maintain a
cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher
c.
not be on academic
suspension or probation
3.
The chair of the
FAC is nominated and elected from current FAC membership, not less than thirty
days prior to the last meeting of the spring semester, to serve the following
academic year. If the FAC fails to
select a FAC Chair within 30 days prior to the last day of spring semester, the
ASG President shall appoint a FAC Chair.
The Chair shall continue to be a voting member of the FAC, shall
continue to represent the board he/she represents, and shall serve as an ex
officio member to the ASG. The Chair
shall be responsible for running FAC meetings and shall further be responsible
for the general maintenance of the FAC.
The Chair shall be of junior or senior status and must serve 8 office
hours in non-allocation years and 10 office hours in allocation years. The FAC has the right to remove the FAC Chair
from his or her position but not from the committee by a two thirds (2/3) vote
of no confidence by the FAC and within ten (10) business days the FAC must
elect a new FAC Chair.
4.
The ASG Director
of Finance shall serve as Vice-Chair and take on the duties of the FAC chair in
times of absence or vacancy.
Furthermore, the ASG Director of Finance shall present to the FAC the
ASG and FAC operating budgets, the
5.
Members of the
FAC may not serve as members of the ASG except for the ASG Presidential
Appointment.
Section E: The Fee Allocation and
Assessment Process
1.
If the Student Senate
fails to ratify any proposal duly ratified by the FAC, or the ASG adopts upon
reconsideration of a proposal which the FAC failed to ratify, there
shall be formed a conference committee charged with mitigating and resolving
the differences in position between the ASG and FAC. The conferences resolution shall come in the
form of a conference committee report, which shall reflect the resolution of
said differences. The conference
committee report shall be ratified by the conference through the popular consent
of the conference members.
2.
If the conference
committee fails to ratify a conference report, or the members of the committee
are split 2 to 2, the proposal before the conference will be considered lost.
3.
If the conference
committee ratifies a conference report, the report shall be considered by the
Student Senate and the FAC. If either
the Student Senate or the FAC fail to approve the report, the proposal in
question will be considered lost. If
both the Student Senate and the FAC approve the report, the report shall go to
the ASG President for consideration.
4.
If the President
signs the report, the report shall become binding as the express position of
the students.
5.
If the President
vetoes the report, the report shall return to the Student Senate for final
consideration. Upon final consideration, the Student Senate may override the
President’s veto with a 2/3-majority vote in favor of the report. If a 2/3 majority of quorum is established,
the report will become binding without the President’s signature. If the Student Senate is unable to establish
a 2/3 majority, the proposal in question will be considered lost.
Section F: The Biennial Budget Process
1.
The allocation of student fees to the fee funded boards
and other fee funded entities shall take place every two years. Distribution years are designated by odd numbered
school years, such as 06-07 or 08-09. Student
fee funded boards, via their student representatives, shall present their
budgets to the FAC. Fee funded boards, via the ASG rep to FAC, shall present
the budget to ASG in allocation years.
2.
No less than thirty days prior to the end of a
non-allocation year, written notices of the pending fee allocation process
shall be passed on to all fee funded boards and organizations. In Allocation Years a written notice of the
upcoming process shall be passed on to all fee-funded boards and organizations
no later than three business days after the start of the fall semester.
3.
The FAC shall begin to meet in early September in order
to orient its members to the fee allocation process.
4.
All fee funded boards and other fee-funded entities
shall submit a type written two year budget proposal to the ASG President by
the second Wednesday in September.
5.
The ASG President shall assign the budget proposals to
the FAC not later than the third Wednesday in September.
6.
The FAC shall begin its deliberation over the biennial
budgets not later than the last Friday in September and shall have approved the
budgets via a budget resolution not later than the last Thursday in
October.
7.
The ASG shall vote on the budget resolution approved by
the FAC not later than the third Thursday in November.
8.
If the ASG fails to ratify the budget resolution as
adopted by the FAC; a conference committee shall resolve the differences, as
per Section C of this Article. The conference committee shall approve a report
and the Student Senate and the FAC shall approve that report not later than the
last regularly scheduled ASG meeting in November.
9.
The ASG President shall have the budget resolution, as
adopted by the ASG and FAC, not later than the last business day in
November. The President shall sign or
veto the budget resolution by the first business day in December. If vetoed,
the Student Senate shall begin to attempt to override the veto not later than
the last Friday before finals week. The
budgets shall be signed by the President, or in the case of a Presidential
veto, the Student Senate shall override the President’s veto, not later than
the last business day in January.
10.
The final version of the budgets, as adopted by the ASG
and the FAC shall be sent to the Dean of Students not later than the first
business day in February.
Section G: Oversight
1.
The ASG reserves
the right to do that which is necessary and proper in overseeing the activities
and procedures of the fee funded boards.
The executive leadership of the ASG shall act as the primary overseers
of the fee funded boards. If a board
disagrees with an oversight ruling by the ASG, that board shall have the right
to appeal to the Student Supreme
Court.
2.
Any changes to
the respective constitutions of the student fee funded boards shall be reported
to the ASG Senate. The Senate shall exercise any discretion necessary, subject
to review by the Student Supreme
Court, to ensure that the student interests of Mesa State College are served.
3.
Reserve
Requirements
a.
A reserve equal
to the value of 10% of the current year’s total allocated student fee budget
shall be kept in the ending fund balance of each organization. These reserves
shall be known collectively as the Student Controlled Automatic Reserves (SCAR).
b.
In order for an
organization to transfer funds from their SCAR the organizations must receive
approval of the organization’s board.
c.
A vote of two
thirds (2/3) from all eligible organizations represented on said board is
required for any decision concerning the withdrawal of any funds from the SCAR
d.
The board shall
then notify the Director of Finance of the board’s approval or rejection of the
request.
e.
The ASG Director
of Finance shall notify the budget office of all requests for transfers from
SCAR to another line item.
f.
Only
organizations at or above the 10% reserve requirement will have a vote for any
matter pertaining to reserve transfers.
g.
If an
organization is in deficit, that organization cannot be the representative to
the FAC.
Section H: The Student Controlled
Reserve Fund
1. The ASG shall be responsible for the
handling of student fee dollars in the Student Controlled Reserve Fund (SCRF).
2. The FAC shall have original jurisdiction
within the ASG in allocating funds from the SCRF.
3. All actions by the FAC related to the SCRF
are subject to approval by the Student Senate and the ASG President and shall
further adhere to the requirements of Section C of this Article.
4. All requests for funds from the SCRF shall
be for projects, activities, or equipment that will benefit the student body of
Mesa State College and shall meet the following criteria:
5. Projects, services, and activities
purchased with SCRF funds must be made readily available to the students who
are to benefit, as specified in the original funding proposal.
6. Research project funding, travel costs,
conference costs, or capital equipment purchases for faculty or administrative
personnel are ineligible to receive SCRF funds.
7. Proposals for funding must be submitted by
a voting member of the ASG or the FAC.
8. Proposals that seek funding for annual
projects or events, already funded for during the biennial budget process,
shall be ineligible for funding.
9. When evaluating SCRF funding proposals, the
following standardized criteria shall be considered:
a. Number of students benefited.
b. Promoting a positive image of Mesa State
College.
c. Promoting the academic achievement of Mesa State
College Students.
d. Improving the quality of life for students.
e. Providing services for students not available elsewhere in the community.
Section I: Regional and National Competition Fund
The Regional and National
Competition fund shall serve to further regional and national competition. This fund shall be maintained by the
FAC. Requests to this fund must be
submitted in writing to the FAC chair prior to the competition. Monies from this fund are accessible to any
student or student organization who meet the following criteria:
1.
All persons to
be funded must be full-time registered students.
2.
Faculty or
non-student sponsors will not have access to this fund.
3.
Recipient is to
acknowledge the intent of this fund to promote Mesa State College both
regionally and nationally.
SPORTS
1.
Recipient must
be a collegiately recognized athletic team, club, or individual.
2.
Individual/Team
must win and/or be invited based on previous competition.
3.
Recipients are
required to have a faculty/staff advisor or faculty/staff advocate.
ACADEMICS
1.
Individuals or
clubs must win and/or be invited based on academic prowess.
2.
Recipient must
be evaluated by an expert in the field of presentation and/or ranked against
other participants.
3.
Funding will
only be provided for collegiately sanctioned conferences and competitions.
4.
Recipients are
required to have a faculty/staff advisor or faculty/staff advocate.
Section J: The Institutional Plan for Student Fees
1.
The fee
allocation and assessment process shall also be in compliance with the
Institutional Plan for Student Fees.