On Wednesday, April 19th, the Student Government Association held its regularly scheduled meeting and discussed new proposals for the SGA constitution. These changes largely covered the recognition and operations of student-run clubs, and are being sent to the student body for ratification.
The new policies will require a club to have at least four executive board members and five additional general board members before being affiliated with SGA. A constitution must also be ratified by the voting members of the club. Executive board members, excluding the SGA Representative, will be required to have a cumulative GPA of at least 1.8 for first-year students, and 2.8 for sophomores and higher.
Students also may not be a member of multiple executive boards without the approval of the Assistant Director of Student Activities, which is currently Mirena Medina. This would require students to have a meeting with her to decide if they are able to properly be on multiple executive boards. The factors that will affect eligibility include academic standing and qualifications to fulfill the positions.
Finally, all clubs will be required to create a contract with their club advisor prior to the second SGA general board meeting of the year. A template would be sent to the clubs for what this contract would need to look like prior to the requirement being in place.
If the constitution is ratified, clubs will also have many new restrictions on how they may spend and receive money. All budget proposals for the upcoming year will be due the last Friday of the prior school year. Fundraisers will have new rules, as well, as proposals will require estimated profits, including the profit per item. Any money acquired during the fundraisers will need to be sent back to the Assistant Director of Student Activities at the end of the day. If a fundraiser spans multiple days, this means that students must seek out Mirena at the end of every day. Fundraisers, as well as travel trip requests, must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the proposed date. Travel trips will also be required to stay in hotels, as private dwelling rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo are prohibited.
The SGA general board voted to pass the amendments on to the student body with a 92% “Yes” vote, with the executive cabinet voting unanimously. The constitution will now be passed on to the student body for final ratification before it is implemented next semester.