Student body President Erin Devaney announced on Wednesday that a student special election will be held Nov. 28-30.
Students will be able to vote on as many as six amendments to the ASPSU constitution in the election online using the Banweb system. Several of the amendments are designed to provide oversight of the Student Fee Committee, which allocates over $8 million in student incidental fees to student groups, including athletics and the Vanguard.
There has been strong momentum for an election building for several weeks since student senators passed the six ASPSU constitutional amendments for Judicial Board review. Now that the election has been called, student senators have only 18 days to educate students and prepare them for the election.
“It’s completely up to the senators to do the campaigning,” Devaney said.
Passing the amendments and holding a special election before the end of fall term has been the main focus of the student senate and at times has been a highly contentious process. The senate has pushed for the special election so that the changes to the Student Fee Committee could occur before the committee begins deliberating on student group budgets during winter term. Student groups are currently in the process of creating their initial budgets for next year, which are due on Nov. 30.
Of the four amendments that passed with a two-thirds majority in the senate, three were approved by the Judicial Board and are guaranteed to be on the special elections ballot.
Initiative 02-SC restores the simple majority vote to the committee, allowing it to adjust the budget of existing programs by any amount with a simple majority vote during the fee allocation process. The initiative reverses a recent amendment to committee guidelines that mandated a three-quarters vote to adjust a group’s budget by more than 25 percent of the previous year’s budget.
Another amendment set to appear on the ballot, 03-SC, requires the committee to act on the recommendations of the senate within 10 business days and bring a new proposal before the senate. The amendment allows the senate to “deny any single item” of the recommended committee budget with a three-quarters majority. The amendment also requires the senate to publish its policies each year regarding the allocation of incidental fees.
The last amendment guaranteed to make the ballot at this point is 07A-SC, which would eliminate the appointment of the committee chair via general election. Instead, all eight committee members would be elected in the general election, with the committee selecting a chair from within their ranks.
Of the six amendments passed on to the Judicial Board for consideration, two failed to pass with the required two-thirds majority in the senate and are ineligible for placement on the special election ballot unless the signatures of 15 percent of the student body are collected.
The Judicial Board rejected the wording of 04A-SC, an amendment requiring signatures for placement on the ballot, effectively striking it down. The amendment would have required the committee to use “viewpoint neutrality” when deciding budgets. The Judicial Board disapproved of the use of “viewpoint neutrality,” recommending that the words be replaced with “objective.”
The other amendment that fell short of the two-thirds majority requirement, proposal 06-SC, was approved by the Board and could be placed on the ballot if 15 percent, or roughly 3,500 students, sign a petition. The proposed amendment would have added wording in the constitution’s preamble defining the promotion of student involvement and organization as a goal of the ASPSU.
“There are a couple different routes we can take [concerning the ineligible amendments]. They may be re-presented,” senate Pro Tempore Sarah Hendrickson said, adding that signature gathering is an unlikely solution.
The Judicial Board rejected proposed amendment 01A-SC due to inconsistencies it would create with the current language of the constitution. The amendment would limit the student body president, vice president and committee chair to one term, while restricting committee members and Judicial Board members to no more than two consecutive terms. The amendment puts no term limits on senators.
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The amendments
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2005-01A-SC Sets one-year term limits for the ASPSU president, vice president, Student Fee Committee chair, and two-year limits for SFC members and Judicial Board members.
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Currently these positions have no term limits, so in theory, someone could hold an office for a very long time. For example, former SFC Chair Tracy Earll held her position for three years.
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STRUCK DOWN BY JUDICIAL BOARD. The Judicial Board disapproved of the wording in this amendment because it may conflict with other language already contained in the constitution.
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2005-02-SC Allows SFC to allocate funds to new programs and adjust the budget of existing groups with a simple majority vote.
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Currently the SFC must have a 3/4 majority vote to increase a student group’s budget by more than 25 percent. This amendment would make it much easier for groups to get large increases by reducing the vote to a simple majority.
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HEADED FOR SPECIAL ELECTION. Students will have a chance to vote on this amendment during the Nov. 28-30 special election.
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2005-03-SC Allows the student senate to reject any single item in the SFC budget with a 3/4 majority vote.
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Currently the student senate must either approve or reject the entire SFC budget after it has been submitted. This amendment would give the senate much more power over the budget by allowing it to reject specific groups’ budgets.
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HEADED FOR SPECIAL ELECTION. Students will have a chance to vote on this amendment during the Nov. 28-30 special election.
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2005-04A-SC Allows student groups to appeal to the student Judicial Board if they believe their budget was not evaluated in a “viewpoint neutral” manner by the SFC.
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The student senate is concerned that the SFC has not evaluted all student group budgets in a “viewpoint neutral” manner in the past. This amendment sets up a process handling viewpoint neutrality complaints.
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STRUCK DOWN BY JUDICIAL BOARD. The Judicial Board was concerned that the “viewpoint neutral” clause may conflict with a U.S. Supreme Court decision that defined viewpoint neutrality.
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2005-06-SC Adds the clause, “To promote student involvement in campus life and in the community, and to support the success of student organizations” to the preamble of the ASPSU constitution.
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A “pro-student group” stance was a major pillar of the Devaney/Woon slate’s campaign last year. The slate now dominates the student senate.
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NEEDS STUDENT SIGNATURES. Because it passed the student senate with less than a 3/4 majority, this amendment now needs signatures from 15 percent of the student body to make the special election ballot.
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2005-07A-SC Changes the process for selecting the SFC chair so that the chair is appointed by the members of the committee rather than elected by the student body.
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Currently the SFC chair is elected during the March general election. This amendment would allow students to vote on eight committee member spots instead. Those eight members would then elect the chair from within their ranks. |
HEADED FOR SPECIAL ELECTION. Students will have a chance to vote on this amendment during the Nov. 28-30 special election.
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2005-08-SC Creates a process for the student Judicial Board for handling any student complaints that a SFC member did not maintain a “viewpoint neutral” manner. |
This amendment works in tandem with 2005- 04A-SC to create a process for students to have recourse if they think their budget was mishandled by the SFC |
TABLED BY STUDENT SENATE. Because of concerns over “viewpoint neutral” language in this amendment the senate sent it back to a committee for further review.
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