Associated
Student Government Bylaws
ARTICLE I: Qualifications of Associated Student Government Members
Active members in the Associated Student Senate shall:
1.
Be full-time Mesa State
College Students.
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 at least two Student
Senate committees.
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.
1.
Minority Senator shall
follow above duties in addition to attending Cultural Diversity Board meetings
that will serve as a committee requirement
5.
On-Campus Resident
Senator shall follow above duties in addition to attending Campus Residents’
6.
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 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.
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. Active campaigning shall begin one week prior to elections. Active campaigning by candidates or affiliated campaign volunteers before this time is expressly prohibited.
4. 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.
5. Elections shall be held on the three class days following the active campaign week.
6. On the days of voting, campaigning is prohibited within 50 feet of the polling site.
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 $350.00 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 and Twenty-five Percent (125%) 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
Seventy Five Percent (75%) 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 shall have a constitution stating purpose, membership, and operating procedures.
8. All fee funded entities shall have a constitution stating purpose, membership, and operating procedures.
9.
No board or organization
without said constitution shall be eligible to solicit regular student activity
fees from the FAC or the ASG.
10. No general student fee funded entity shall have a
designated seat on the FAC, except for those seats specifically represented by
the ASG.
11. 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 Campbell Board
Representative
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. 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 College Center operating and debt service budget, and shall serve
as a liaison between the ASG and the FAC.
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 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 Senators, and fee funded entities shall present their budget to the FAC and to the ASG on 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.