Bylaws - Luverne

Student Senate Bylaws PDF

Article 1: Name and Purpose
Section 1- Name

The name of this organization shall be Minnesota West Community & Technical College, Luverne Center Student Association.

Section 2- Purpose
  • To act an association of the Luverne Center students which work to ensure accessible, government to the legislative bodies and agencies responsible for administration of this
  • Develop forum and action forum and action pertaining to the Provide effective student participation in planning and administering of student affairs activities.
  • Establish communication between the students and staff, local community organizations, and other educational bodies.
  • Respond and promote leadership and advocacy
Article 2: Meetings
The Luverne Center Student Senate shall:

Meet a minimum of one (1) time per month

Meetings will be called by the Student Senate President, or at the request of the Student Senate Advisor.

Dates and times will be selected at the beginning of the fall term of the college year with agreement of the advisor and the Student Senate Members.

Shall be conducted by Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised Edition, at the discretion of the Chair or Executive, unless stated in these Bylaws.

The order of business for the Senate Meetings is as follows:

Call to order

Roll call

Submit Agenda

Submit Secretary’s Report

Submit Treasurer’s Report

Announcements

Committee Reports

Unfinished Business

New Business

Adjournment

Article 3: Structure

The Luverne Center Student Senate is an organization made up of a program representative and alternate for each program at Minnesota West Community & Technical College Luverne Center, herein after referred to as MWCTC, and four elected student officers appointed in accordance with the terms and stipulations discussed later in these Bylaws, herein after referred to as the Executive Board.

Article 4: Representatives
Program Representatives
  1. Shall be elected by his/her designated program, any student not serving as an Executive Board Member is eligible for this position.
  2. Each respected program or recognized organization shall be allowed one representative and one alternate with the representative holding one vote on the Senate floor. If the representative is absent than the alternate carries the vote on the Senate floor.
  3. If a program exceeds 25 students then there will be two voting representatives from that program.
Senate Representatives and Alternates Shall:

Be registered for and have paid for a minimum of six (6) academic credits and maintain a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale while holding office.

Make an effort to attend over half the Student Senate Meetings, or lose representative position. If not able to make he/she must notify an Executive Board Member within (48) hours of the Student Senate meeting if they cannot attend.

Report to his/her program the proceedings of the Senate.

Solicit the opinions of their constituents on matters to bring to the Student Senate.

Shall be entitled to one (1) vote on Student Senate matters according to the numbers in the program that they represent. Program enrollment shall be determined at the beginning of each term. The Representative will cast one vote for every four students. (Vote times the number of registered program students divided by 4).

Make every effort to attend all assigned committee meetings. In their absence, shall send a delegate or proxy their vote to another representative within their respective program.

Article 5: Officers
Officers/Executive Board

The Executive Board of the Luverne Student Senate shall consist of the President, Vice President, Secretary/or Treasurer.

Section 1:
Powers and Duties of the Executive Board President

The President shall:

Call and preside over all Luverne Student Senate meetings, by giving all members at least forty- eight (48) hours advanced notice whenever possible.

Preside impartially and enforce the right of the entire Luverne Campus student body to be heard.

Be responsible for enforcing and upholding these Bylaws to the Constitution.

Call for an executive session to make a ruling in the resolution decided by the Student Senate. The Executive Board retains the right to proscribe any resolution that is direct violation of these Bylaws and campus policies.

Preside over one committee per semester for activities sponsored by student senate. Preside over one Student Senate activity per year.

Be the official campus representative, or designate another representative to act on his/her behalf, to the Southwest Region of the Minnesota State College Student Association, Herein referred to as MSCSA.

Be an ex-officio (non-voting) member of the Student Senate except when imposing veto power.

Vice President

The Vice President shall:

Preside over the Student Senate meetings and assume all of the duties and responsibilities in the absence of the President.

Assume the office of the President in case of vacancy due to removal or resignation of the President. The Vice President will serve the remainder of the President term.

Serve as Parliamentarian for the Student Senate. Preside over one Student Senate activity per year.

Oversee and/or serve as chair of the Legislative Committee and is responsible to report any findings or recommendations to the Student Senate as well as to the MSCSA Southwest Regional Platform Representative.

Be ex-officio (non-voting) member of the Student Senate, except for special meeting of Executive Board.

Secretary/or Treasurer

The secretary/ or treasurer shall:

Prepare and maintain a permanent record of minutes and proceedings of all Student Senate meetings, including election results and Student Senate files with availability at all times to the Executive Board.

Handle correspondence of the Student Senate.

Prepare and distribute the minutes and agenda to all the Student Senate members and Advisor(s) a minimum of one (1) day prior to every Student Senate meeting with the agenda minutes posted 3 days following every Student Senate meeting.

Oversee and/or serve as the Chair of the Collegiate Committee and is responsible to report any findings or recommendations to the Student Senate and Executive Board.

Preside over one Student Senate activity per year.

Be ex-officio (non-voting) member of the Student Senate, except for a special meeting of the Executive Board.

Maintain a permanent record of all finances of the Student Senate. Report all Student Senate financial activity to the Student Senate.

Once a month give a detailed report with all the PO numbers, date of PO, to whom it was written, and what it was for.

Be an ex-officio (non-voting) member of the Student Senate, except for special meeting of the Executive Board.

Pay all bills incurred and approved by Student Senate.

Advisors

The Advisor(s) shall:

Have applied for the position and be appointed by campus administration with consideration given to those applicants with student recommendation(s).

Serve as a resource for the Student Senate and act as a liaison between Student Senate and the campus administration.

Act on behalf of the College/Campus Administration in relation to matters brought forth to the Student Senate and/or Executive Board and enforce any/all College/Campus policies, procedures, and practices and shall have the power to restrict adverse actions of the Student Senate.

Advise and train the Student Senate on all matters concerning their duties, obligations, participation, authority, and leadership capabilities.

Be informed of all Student Senate and Executive Board meetings and shall attend whenever possible. In the event that a Student Senate or Executive Board meeting is held when and Advisor is not able to be in attendance, it shall be the responsibility of the Executive Board to inform the Advisor of the discussion and the actions taken within twenty-four (24) hours of the meeting.

Assume any other duties as charged by the Student Senate or Executive Board.

Article 6: Election Procedures
  1. Any student running for office must complete an application; this application is to be signed by the student’s respected advisor and ten students from the Luverne Center student body and shall be made available to the Student Senate.
  2. Any student running for office must be registered for and have paid for a minimum of six (6) academic credits and maintain a 0 GPA on a 4.0 scale while holding office. Any student running for office or maintaining a position on the Executive Board shall agree to and be aware of periodic grade checks by the Student Senate Advisor, campus CEO, or other designated faculty or staff member or MWCTC.
  3. The offices of President and Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected in the spring The Vice President and the Treasurer shall be elected in the fall semester. The President and Vice President must receive two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the participating student body in order to be elected to office. The student with the most votes at the end of the election shall be elected.
  4. The Executive Board members shall receive compensation in the amount stated below for serving the Student Senate.
    1. President shall receive two credit stipends
    2. Vice President, Secretary/ Treasurer shall receive one credit stipend each

Credit Stipends shall be awarded to those officers meeting the requirements stated above at the end of each semester they hold office. Stipends will be voted on through a closed vote by the voting members of the Student Senate, and signed off by the Student Senate Advisor and Campus CEO of manager.

Article 7: Removal or Resignation of Officers

Any Student Senate elected officer may be removed on the grounds stated below;

  1. Dereliction of duties listed under Article 5 officers/ Executive Board
  2. Misrepresentation of office in any form on or off campus

A motion must be called and seconded for the removal of any Executive Officer (individually).

A person or persons facing impeachment must receive a 2/3 majority of the voting through a blind/ silent vote, taken from all student senate members present and eligible for the impeachment vote, in order for them to be removed from their position as an officer of the student senate.

Student senate officers shall in all situations be excluded (non-voting) from the impeachment voting process.

In advance of any impeachment vote, all members of the student senate that are present and eligible to vote, shall sign their names and state the program that they are representing for the student senate. This shall be done in advance of the impeachment vote, and verified by the senate as well as the senate advisor or advisors present, prior to any impeachment voting process.

Only one vote per program shall be allowed or accepted. If a program has more than one person present and eligible, only one of the members may vote.

Any person facing an impeachment vote shall have the opportunity, prior to the vote, to speak to the senate as a whole if they choose to do so under Roberts Rules.

Any student senate member present may speak to the student senate as a whole, prior to the impeachment voting if they choose to do so.

Any deviation from this protocol shall void the impeachment vote.

An impeachment vote, when voted upon as per this protocol, shall be final and permanent.

Removal/ Resignation of Executive officers.

  1. In the case of the President resigning/removal. The Vice President will automatically assume the presidential position.
  2. In the case of Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer a new election will be held to fill the positions.
Article 8: Budget and Reserves

Each year we will approve and amend our working budget.

The working budget is for the Luverne Center expenses listed out in the budget. Our budget is to only be used exclusively for the Luverne Center.

Luverne Center reserves are allocated for the use by the Luverne Center Student Senate and can only be released by the Executive Board along with the majority vote from the Luverne Center Student Senate Representatives.

Revised 10/08/2014