The Associated Student Government needs 10 percent of full-time equivalency from the most recent census to vote for their new Constitution in order for it to pass.
They would need 699 votes according to census numbers provided by CMU.
Throughout the spring semester, their Internal Committee reviewed various articles of the constitution, polished them and presented them to the Senate body to discuss and vote upon. However, after senators approve the amendments, the constitution needs a vote of approval by the student body.
If the constitution fails to pass or garner 10 percent of the student body vote, ASG will have to return to the old constitution and let the next year’s administration decide whether or not to re-start the amendment process, according to Vice President Gabby Gile.
Before voting “yes” or “no” without much thought on the amended constitution, take a look at the biggest changes to each branch of the student government:
Executive Branch:
All job descriptions for executive members (which include the president, vice president, student trustee, director of external affairs, Fee Allocation Committee chair and chief of staff) were moved from the constitution to the bylaws.
The amended constitution is designed to be more of an outline of ASG’s processes, whereas the bylaws are designed to expand upon specifics in the constitution, according to Senator Colton Rupple in a Feb. 5 article from The Criterion.
Moving the job descriptions from the constitution to the bylaws will allow them to be modified internally by senators through a less formal process than constitutional amendments require.
Legislative Branch:
Several new titles for senators were created for the amended constitution. The Senate body will still consist of 26 senators, six of which are fixed positions and twenty of which depend upon the census.
The twenty positions were formerly allocated per department. However, new positions such as teacher education senator, kinesiology senator, theatre arts and music senator have been created. ASG hopes the new positions better group students with students in similar programs of study, which will, in turn, allow a senator to better represent them.
Judicial Branch:
An article defining the process to remove and censure an ASG senator was added. The change was a result of the confusion resulting from the grievance battle between Senator Richard Nguyen and The Criterion during the 2017 fall semester.
The added section defines the grievance process, in which any student may submit a formal complaint to the student government for investigation. It also defines the subsequent investigation, which may take place after a 2/3 majority of senators approve it. It finally describes the hearing process that will result if an investigation finds evidence to support the grievance.
Elections take place from April 11-13. Polling booths will be scattered around campus, and voting can also be found on OrgSync.
