The 53rd Emory College Council

Emory College Council Constitution

As Amended by the 51st College Council, 4/4/07

Preamble

In order to provide for the effective representation of the interests of the student body of Emory College through student government, we, the students of Emory College, do hereby establish and ordain this constitution.

Article 1. Name

The government of the student body of Emory College shall be vested in the College Council of Emory University, herein referred to as the Council.

Article II. Powers

The Council shall have complete jurisdiction and power of regulation over all student affairs which pertain primarily to the College, except where jurisdiction is specifically denied by the Student Government Association Constitution of Emory University or by the Dean of Emory College.

Article III. Membership

All students enrolled in Emory College shall be ex-officio members of the Council by virtue of said enrollment.

(a) The General Council shall be composed of a representative legislature and an Executive Board.

(b) The legislature shall be composed of four representatives from the freshman and sophomore classes, five representatives from the junior and senior classes, one representative from the undergraduate business school, and one representative from the undergraduate nursing school.

(c) The Executive Board shall be composed of the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Vice President for Programming, the Vice President for Communication and the Student Concerns Committee Chair.

(d) Should a vacancy for any elected, appointed, or designated position arise during the legislative term, the Executive Board shall seek and nominate a suitable replacement, then present that individual to the legislature for approval by at least 50%+1 vote.

Article IV. Removal from Office

Any Executive Board member, representative, appointee or designee of the College Council may be removed from office.

(a) Reasons for removal from office shall include, but are not limited to, inattention to duties, violation of the attendance policy, violation of this constitution or its standing rules, or failure to act in the best interest of the College and/or the College Council.

(b) Any individual may be removed from office by a 2/3 vote of the legislature, a 2/3 vote of the Executive Board, or directly by the discretion of the President. The latter two methods may be overturned by a 50%+1 vote of the legislature.

Article V. Attendance Policy

All elected and appointed members of the College Council shall be allowed two legislative unexcused absences and two committee unexcused absences per committee per term.

(a)    Legislative unexcused absences shall be defined as:

i.         Missing the entirety of a meeting shall be counted as one full absence.

ii.       Missing the first call of the Council shall be counted as one half an absence.

iii.      Missing the second call of the Council shall be counted as one half an absence.

(b)   Mandatory Council events shall include, but are not limited to, General Council meetings, and committee meetings. Other ad hoc mandatory events may be included at the discretion of the President.

(c)    Other absences possibly deemed as excused will be decided at the discretion of the President, Secretary, Committee Chairperson or event coordinator. The President, Secretary, or event coordinator must be notified at least 24 hours in advance for any absence to be considered excused. The 24 hour advanced notice requirement may be waived in light of extenuating circumstances.

(d)   An unexcused absence may be made-up at the discretion of the President, Secretary, or Committee Chairperson.

Article VI. The Legislature

The legislature shall be composed of four representatives from each undergraduate class of the College, one representative from the undergraduate business school, and one representative from the undergraduate nursing school. From here forth the 18 representatives shall be known as legislators.

(a)    The Vice President shall serve as the Speaker of the legislature and act as its presiding officer.

i.         In the absence of the Vice President, or if the Vice President is engaged in debate, the President Pro Tempore shall serve as speaker.

ii.                   The President Pro Tempore shall be approved by the council by a 2/3 vote before the completion of the first General Council meeting of each legislative term

iii.                  In the absence of the President Pro Tempore, or if the President Pro Tempore is engaged in debate, the Secretary shall hold a special election of a temporary President Pro Tempore.

(b)   The powers and duties of the legislature include, but are not limited to, the following:

i.         To establish its own rules of procedure.

i.         To enact legislation necessary and proper to promote the welfare of the undergraduate student body of Emory University.

ii.       To serve on at least one standing committee or subsidiary body of the Council for the duration of the legislative term.

iii.      To override a presidential veto of legislation by a 2/3 vote.

iv.     To consider and vote on all requests for supplemental funding submitted to the Council in the form of legislation.

v.       To promote the Council and maintain contact with constituents.

vi.     To attend all required events.

vii.    To maintain a archive of all minutes, agendas, and other pertinent documents relating to the Council.

viii.  To act as contacts for organizations chartered by the Council at the discretion of the Vice President of Communication.

ix.     To approve and confirm all nominations made by the Executive Board unless otherwise stated in this constitution or its standing rules.

x.       To follow the rules and guidelines put forth in this constitution and its standing rules.

xi.     To act in the best interest of the College and the College Council.

(c)    The legislators must act as the College Council Liaisons and adhere to the following:

i.         Facilitate the relationship between the College Council and Clubs with enduring and perpetual charters.

ii.       Each College Council liaison should remain informed about the actions and goals of their respective clubs.

iii.      Each College Council liaison should make himself/herself available to assist the club with understanding College Council procedure, policies, requirements and expectations.Every liaison is required to attend at least one meeting of each of their respective clubs in both the fall and subsequent spring semesters of his/her term.

iv.     It is the duty of the liaison to attempt to contact their respective clubs at least once per month. Non-responsive clubs should be brought to the attention of the Vice President of Communications.

v.       If a club notifies the liaison of a change in officers, it it the duty of the liaison to make certain that the VP of Communications has been informed of the change.

vi.     Failure to uphold liaisons duties will result in consequences that will be left up to the discretion of the Executive Board.

Article VII: The Executive Board

The Executive Board shall be composed of the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Vice President for Programming, the Vice President for Communication, the Student Concerns Committee Chair, and the Chief of Staff.

(a)    The Executive Board shall meet regularly and at the discretion of the President.

(b)   The members of the Executive Board may appoint assistants at their discretion unless otherwise stated in this constitution or its standing rules.

(c)    The powers and duties of the President are as follows:

i.         To preside over all Executive Board meetings.

ii.       To nominate, with approval of the Executive Board, all appointments necessary and proper within the Council unless otherwise stated in this constitution or its standing rules.

iii.      To alter, dissolve or create any ad hoc committees. This action may be overruled by the legislature by at 2/3 vote.

iv.     To represent the College and the College Council in a proper manner as their primary spokesperson.

v.       To act in the best interests of the College and the College Council.

vi.     To enforce this constitution and its standing rules.

vii.    To meet on a regular basis with the Deans of the College and the President of the University.

viii.  To veto any legislation passed by the legislature within thirteen days of said legislation’s passage. This power includes a “line-item” veto which can eliminate select clauses of legislation while allowing the remainder to pass.

ix.     To prepare, with the Treasurer, the Council budget for submission to the SGA Treasurer.

x.       To represent the College on the Council of Divisional Presidents.

xi.     To administer the expenditure of the Executive budget.

xii.    To appoint temporary legislators to SGA legislative meetings.

xiii.  To attend all SGA legislative meetings.

xiv.  To appoint temporary legislators to College Council in case of the lack of quorum, if a majority (50% + 1) of the executive board deem it necessary.

(d)   The powers and duties of the Vice President are as follows:

i.         To serve as Speaker of the legislature.

ii.       To coordinate the selection process for the following College Office committees: Academic Standards, Educational Policy, Curriculum, University Senate and the Honor Council.

iii.      To serve as chair of the Administrative Committee and submit to the Council a report of committee activities at each legislative meeting.

iv.     To serve in the capacity of the President in the event that the President cannot do so for whatever reason.

v.       To assist the President in administering Council business.

vi.     To assign all representatives to the standing committees or subsidiary agencies.

vii.    To be familiar with the rules of governance outlined in this document and its standing rules.

viii.        To be familiar with proper parliamentary procedure.

ix.           To maintain the Council bulletin boards and replenish all chartering applications.

x.             To collect semester reports from all clubs and organizations chartered under the College Council.

(e)    The powers and duties of the Secretary are as follows:

i.         To maintain the Council offices, including but not limited to, replenishing supplies, supporting the computers, and forwarding all messages received through voicemail or other means.

ii.       To keep all Council records including, but not limited to, attendance, office hours, rosters, minutes, agendas and a list of all organizational presidents.

iii.      To prepare minutes and agendas for all General Council meetings.

iv.     To prepare and/or forward all official notices and letters from the Council.

v.       To maintain the Council mailboxes in the office.

vi.     To receive notification, along with the President and Chairperson, of absence and excuse said absence if appropriate.

vii.    To prepare a suitable archive for all members of the Council to hold pertinent documents.

viii.  To maintain this constitution and its standing rules.

(f)     The powers and duties of the Treasurer are as follows:

i.         To be nominated by the Executive Board at the first meeting of each legislative term.

ii.       To maintain and administer the disbursement of the Council budget.

iii.      To serve as chair of the Budget Committee and hold committee meeting as necessary.

iv.     To inform members of the Council of the state of the Council budget at each General Council meeting.

v.       To abide by all monetary policies of the SGA, this constitution, or its standing rules.

vi.     To serve as a liaison between the Council’s chartered organizations and the University accounting offices.

vii.    To attend SGA Budget Committee meetings.

(g)    The powers and duties of the Vice President for Programming are as follows:

i.         To be nominated by the Executive Board at the first meeting of each legislative term.

ii.       To act as chair of the College Programming Committee.

iii.      To coordinate and implement college-wide programming activities through the College Programming Committee.

iv.     To inform the Council of activities of the College Programming Committee at each General Council meeting.

(h)    The powers and duties of the Vice President for Communication are as follows:

i.         To be nominated by the Executive Board at the first meeting of each legislative term.

ii.       To coordinate the assignment of liaison for all organizations chartered under the Council.

iii.      To preside over the Council Of Presidents.

iv.     To inform all organizations of any legislation which directly or indirectly affects them.

v.       To oversee and to coordinate all Council publicity.

vi.     To maintain a current list of all the clubs and organizations chartered under College Council.

(i)      The powers and duties of the Student Concerns Committee Chair are as follows:

i.         To be nominated by the Executive Board at the first meeting of each legislative term.

ii.       To serve as chair of the Student Concerns Committee.

iii.      To inform the Council of activities of the Student Concerns Committee at each legislative meeting.

iv.     To hold weekly committee meetings.

v.       To maintain a record of all activities regarding student concerns initiatives

                                                               i.      A working form of said record shall be made available to the legislature and executive board monthly.

                                                             ii.      A final copy of the record, to be made available to all college students and administrators, shall be published no later than one month prior to elections.

vi.     To solicit membership for the Student Concerns Committee within two weeks of appointment.

vii.    To serve as a member of the SGA Student Concerns Committee and insure that all undergraduate concerns are properly represented.

(j)     The powers and duties of the Chief of Staff are as follows:

i.         To be nominated by the Executive Board at the first meeting of each legislative term.

ii.       To work closely with the President and the executive board with additional help on initiatives.

iii.      To serve as a spokesperson when deemed necessary by the President.

iv.     To head publicity efforts of the College Council with regards to its non-programming affairs when deemed necessary by the President.

Article VIII. Committees

The committee system shall be the way in which the Council conducts its non-legislative business.

a)      The standing committees of the Council shall be the Budget, the Student Concerns, College Programming Committee, and the Administrative Committees.

b)      Ad hoc and temporary committees may be created at the discretion of the President or through legislation and shall be delineated in the standing rules.

c)      Attendance and voting policies for each committee shall be determined by the committee chairs.

d)      The powers and duties of the Budget Committee are as follows:

i.         To exercise the sole power to prepare and allocate budgets to all organizations chartered under the Council.

ii.       To hold budget hearings and appeals in the Spring of each year to determine organizational budgets. Any organization which did not receive a budget in the spring may come before this committee in order to be allocated an initial budget. The same process of hearing and appeal shall also apply in these cases.

iii.      To hold weekly meetings to review, with the requesting organizations, all requests for supplemental funding.

iv.     To submit to the Council a report and recommendation for each request for supplemental funding.

v.       To seek funds other than the student activity fee.

e)      The powers and duties of the Student Concerns Committee are as follows:

i.         To identify and address all undergraduate student concerns and other pressing issues.

ii.       To act as an open forum for all undergraduate students to express concern about any aspect of Emory University.

iii.      To coordinate and administer all student services provided by the Council.

iv.     To work with other campus agencies when appropriate and when there exists an overlap of jurisdiction.

f)        The powers and duties of the Administrative Committee are as follows:

i.         To hold meetings to review, with the requesting organization, all applications for a divisional charter.

ii.       To approve or deny charters for any requesting organization. The method of application and requirements for approval shall be delineated in the standing rules.

iii.      To insure that all organizations chartered under the Council have an updated administrative file.

iv.     To re-evaluate, at the discretion of the Vice President, the value to the campus of any organization chartered under the Council.

v.       To periodically review and make recommendations to the legislature regarding the effectiveness and appropriateness of this constitution and its standing rules.

g)      The powers and duties of the College Programming Committee are as follows:

i.         To promote and create programming for the undergraduate student body of Emory University.

ii.       To promote co-sponsorship of events between student groups and organizations.

iii.      To work with other campus organizations, such as the Student Programming Council, when appropriate and when there exists an overlap of jurisdiction.

Article IX. Council of Presidents

The Council of Presidents shall be a forum in which the leadership of all organizations chartered under the Council can collectively address issues facing their organizations, the College, or the whole campus.

a)      The powers and duties of the Council of Presidents are as follows:

a.       To be presided over by the Vice President of Communication.

b.      To establish its own rules of procedure.

c.       To make resolutions regarding organizational or campus concerns for submission to the Council or other body.

d.      Attendance at all meetings of the Council of Presidents is mandatory for every organization chartered under the Council.

Article X. Elections

All elections shall be held in accordance with the Elections Code outlined in the standing rules.

Article XI. Amendments

This constitution and its standing rules may be amended by the legislature. Any such amendments must pass the legislature by at least 2/3 at two consecutive legislative meetings.