BALLOT ISSUES GUIDE
Student Government of Seattle University
SPRING 2015
The Student Government of Seattle University has proposed and approved a number of changes to the organization’s bylaws. In order for these to take effect, they must by approved by the student body. These changes are defined below. Article I, Section 2: The Bylaws currently state the Transfer Representative & International Representative positions will be elected in the spring. The proposed change is to have the Transfer Rep & International Rep positions elected in the fall elections. The section will appear as follows: Section 2:
The Representative Officers shall be elected by a plurality (i.e. the highest number of votes for any one candidate designates the winner) at the duly held election conducted in accordance with the SGSU Constitution, SGSU Bylaws, and the SGSU Elections Code. The following Representative Officers will be elected during the Annual Fall Election: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
At-Large Representative (1) Commuter Representative Freshman Representative (2) Transfer Representative International Representative
The following Representative Officers will be elected during the Annual Spring Election: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
At-Large Representative (1) Athletic Representative Junior Representative Multicultural Representative Non-Traditional Representative Senior Representative Sophomore Representative Students with Disabilities Representative
Article I, Section 3: The text colored in red is the proposed change to Article I, Section 3, which is simply an addition to what is stated currently. Section 3:
Course Load: Students must be full-time, registering for twelve (12) credits or more per quarter throughout their term of office, the exception being seniors in their final year during spring quarter at Seattle University, who must be registered for five (5) or more credits, to be in accordance with university policy.
Article II, Section 3: Previously this section only required Steering Committee to recommend an individual to a position not filled in either election. The proposed change requires the Mid-Term Office Appointment process to be followed. See text colored in red for changes. Section 3:
A vacancy of a Representative Officer position from the Spring Elections will be filled in the Fall Elections. If a Representative Officer position is still vacant after the Fall Elections, the Mid-Term Officer Appointment process (Article III) shall be followed. The
nominee shall be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the SGSU Representative Assembly then in office. Article III, Section 1: The proposed change has the Midterm-Appointment Committee require only a resume and a cover letter from applicants. Previously a resume and three references were required. The proposed change appears as follows: 3.
The Mid-Term Appointment Committee shall require a resume and a cover letter.
Article VI, Section 1 & Section 2: This section on appropriations is proposed to include not only clubs & student organizations, but also individual project appropriation requests. The proposed changes are in red: Section 1:
Appropriations Process: 1.
The Finance Committee shall be in charge of handling all club, student organization, and individual project appropriation requests up to and including $2,000. Any appropriation request over $2,000 for any event or club shall be debated and voted on in the Representative Assembly. The Finance Committee may provide recommendations to the Representative Assembly during debate.
2.
The Vice President of Finance will notify the club, project, or event of the approved amount and stipulations that may apply. After an appropriation is made, the requestor must sign a binding post appropriation agreement choosing one of the following three options: a.Accept and agree with the appropriated amount. b.Disagree with the appropriated amount and submit a new proposal to the Appropriations Committee. c.Disagree with the appropriated amount and appeal the same proposal to the Representative Assembly.
3.
Section 2:
Only Club Connections recognized Clubs or Seattle University Organizations are eligible for SGSU Appropriations funding. No department, class, off campus organization or student department group will be eligible to receive funds through SGSU Appropriations.
Post appropriation procedures: 1.
All requestors must submit an evaluation within thirty days of an event to receive funding.
2.
All requestors must choose one of the binding options.
3.
All requestor decisions are final.
Article VII, Section 3: The proposed change below includes the addition of the Civic Engagement Director (CED) to the President’s Advisory Board. The text in red is the proposed addition. Section 3:
The Internal and External Chiefs of Staff and the Civic Engagement Director (CED) will serve as members of the President’s Advisory Board for the duration of the year.
Article VIII, Section 4:
Currently the Bylaws do not include separate descriptions for Internal & External Chiefs of Staff. The job description for the Internal Chief of Staff is proposed as follows: Section 4:
Internal Chief of Staff shall: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Be under the supervision of the SGSU President and Assistant Director of Student Activities. Record minutes from every Representative Assembly (weekly) and Appropriations (bi- quarterly) meeting and publish the meeting minutes on the website regularly. Collaborate with the External Chief of Staff on website content and SGSU branding efforts. Serve on the Presidential Advisory Board and assist the SGSU President with projects. Create and manage the SGSU office hours schedule and assist in various administrative tasks in the SGSU office when needed or requested by the SGSU President or Vice Presidents. Follow the duties as specified in their job description.
Article VIII, Section 5: Section 5 is an addition to the current Bylaws and it is a description of the External Chief of Staff’s position. The proposed External Chief of Staff job description is below: Section 5:
External Chief of Staff shall: 1.
Be under the supervision of the Assistant Director of Student Activities, the University Affairs Vice President of SGSU, and the President of SGSU,
2.
Help develop, coordinate, and implement the promotional and marketing plans for all components of SGSU (posters, website, social media, etc.).
3.
Work with the Internal Chief of Staff to reach out to clubs and schedule SGSU Executive and Representative visits
4.
Assist SGSU in coordinating cooperative efforts with internal and external organizations,
5.
Place orders for requested SGSU materials
6.
Assist SGSU in establishing relationships with peer institutions and researching similar policies that they have enacted that SGSU is interested in pursuing.
7.
Follow the duties as specified in their job description.
Article VIII, Section 6 Section 6 is an addition to the current Bylaws and it is a description of the Civic Engagement Director’s position. The proposed Civic Engagement Director job description is below: Section 6:
Civic Engagement Director (CED) shall: 1. 2.
Be a member of the Presidential Advisory Board. Coordinate voter registration and a “Get Out the Vote” campaign.
3.
Inform and connect the student body to changes within the greater Seattle community, whether that is policy changes, community movements, etc.
4.
Receive funding from the Presidential Advisory Board fund for administrative costs associated with voter registration and the “Get Out the Vote” campaign. The exception shall be when the CED chooses to coordinate special events and/or projects that require larger funding, then they may request funding from the Representatives (Projects) fund, following the procedure in Article X.
5.
Follow the duties as specified in their job description.
Article X: Funding Approval Process This article is an entire addition to the current Bylaws. The proposed addition is below: Article X:
Funding Approval Process
Section 1:
Any funds being requested out of the standing committee budgets (PAB, Steering, Finance, UA) must be approved by the committee chair. Representative projects shall be funded by the Representatives (Projects) fund, per the following process:
Section 2:
1.
2.
Representatives and CED seeking funding for projects, events, or initiatives costing less than $500 shall seek approval through the Executive Board. Funds shall be approved with a simple majority. Requests of $500 or greater shall be brought to the Representative Assembly for approval. If the requestor disagrees with the decision of the Executive Board, the requestor may appeal the decision by bringing the funding request forward to the Representative Assembly. The appeal must be approved by a 2/3 majority of the Representative Assembly.
VOTE April 29 - May 1
The content of this voting guide was created entirely by members of SGSU, specifically those not seeking office in this election. No candidate had access to this guide (or any of its written or visual content) prior to its release to the entire student body. Please send all inquiries toTyler Saito, Secretary of Elections at SGSUElections@seattleu.edu.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT OF SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 901 12th Ave / PO Box 222000, Seattle, WA 98122