Date | Time | Location |
Monday, Nov. 2 | 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Coates |
Monday, Nov. 2 | 5 - 7 p.m. | Mabee |
Tuesday, Nov. 3 | 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Mabee |
Tuesday, Nov. 3 | 5 - 7 p.m. | Coates |
Wednesday, Nov. 4 | 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Coates |
Wednesday, Nov. 4 | 5 - 7 p.m. | Mabee |
Thursday, Nov. 5 | 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Mabee |
Check out the full text of the constitution either in our downloads section in its full .doc format, or in web form by clicking Read More below.
Article I: Mission
The Trinity University Association of Student Representatives (ASR) shall serve as the organization of elected students which advocates for the development and advancement of student interests both inside and outside of the University community. ASR shall strive for transparency in all of its actions and fiscal allocations while working to support the greatest diversity of ideas and activities pursued by the student body and its organizations. ASR shall endeavor to cultivate and maintain positive and informed relationships between the students and the administration, faculty, and staff, ensuring that student interests are represented any time a policy or proposal affecting the student body is introduced. Above all, the officeholders of ASR shall serve in the most responsible and representative manner possible for the duration of their terms of office, in accordance with the constitution and bylaws.
Article II: Membership and Participation
Section 1. All full-time members of the undergraduate student population shall both be endowed the right to participate in campus-wide elections and be subject to this constitution and its bylaws.
Section 2. The officeholder positions shall be President, Vice President, and Senator. Officer positions shall be the President and Vice President.
Section 3. All ASR officeholders and registered election candidates must have and retain a cumulative grade-point average greater than or equal to 2.5, as determined by the Office of the Registrar.
Section 4. All officeholder positions in ASR shall be obtained through a campus-wide election, except when a seat is vacated before its term has expired, which shall be the jurisdiction of a special assembly as described in Article VII, Section 2.
Section 5. In order to minimize conflicts of interest, no undergraduate student may occupy two or more of the following positions concurrently:
· Residential Life Staff member
· ASR-appointed Conduct Board member
· Academic Honor Council member
· Trinitonian editor in chief, managing editor, business manager, and advertising director
· Mirage editor in chief and managing editor
· Officers of major organizations, as explained in the bylaws of ASR
· Association of Student Representatives office holder
Section 6. The President and Vice President must, by the semester following their assumption of office, be full-time undergraduate students with at least Junior standing, based on academic credits as determined by the Office of the Registrar.
Article III: The President
The privileges and responsibilities of the President shall be to:
A. Represent ASR’s interests and opinions to the students, administration,
and faculty.
B. Schedule, prepare agendas for, preside over, and maintain the efficient and
orderly function of all meetings and Special Assemblies.
C. Call additional ASR meetings on personal initiative or after petition by
four ASR officerholders.
D. Meet regularly with the President of the University.
E. Nominate, for approval by the President of the University, undergraduate
students for appointment to committees and conduct-related boards.
F. Serve as a liaison between student members of the University committees
and ASR.
G. Appoint coordinators and committee chairs to assist in the everyday
activities of the organization.
H. Create and appoint members to ad hoc committees as deemed necessary.
I. Authorize the use of ASR funds to pay bills and transact any other official
business [up to an amount set by that year’s senate].
J. Uphold and enforce the constitution and bylaws at all times.
K. Ensure that “The Student Rights and Responsibilities” is upheld.
Article IV: The Vice President
The privileges and responsibilities of the Vice President shall be to:
A. Act as ASR’s liaison to the Faculty Senate and Graduate Student
Association.
B. Temporarily assume the responsibilities of the President in his or her
absence.
C. Assume the office of the President in the event of the permanent absence
or removal of the President.
D. Report directly to and meet regularly with the President and carry out any
additional duties delegated by the President.
E. Oversee the process of allocating the student activity fee.
F. Oversee the Senate attendance policy.
Article V: The Senators
The duties and responsibilities of the senators shall be to:
A. Assume an advocate role for the grievances of any individual student,
organization, or student group.
B. Articulate the undergraduate student body’s opinion to the
administration by issuing resolutions on matters affecting the student body and by engaging the University administration on behalf of the students.
C. Each Senate member should serve in one of the divisions outlined in the bylaws.
D. Hold public meetings at least twice a month during the academic year.
E. Fill a Senate vacancy that will not be filled during annual election in the
Spring semester.
F. Oversee all campus-wide ASR elections and referendums.
G. Establish and enforce the procedural guidelines for organizations
seeking to apply directly for funds and to approve or reject these requests.
H. Represent the undergraduate student body in any alteration of “The Student Rights and Responsibilities.”
Article VI: Advisors
ASR shall be co-advised by the Dean of Students and the Director of Campus and Community Involvement (CCI).
Article VII: Procedures
Throughout this section, a quorum shall be defined as a simple majority of the Senate. There must be a quorum for a vote to move forward.
Section 1. Voting
A. Senators shall be afforded the opportunity to vote on all issues. For a motion to pass, it must be approved by a simple majority of the Senate quorum.
B. A motion passed by the Senate may be vetoed by the President, but a veto may be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote of the Senate quorum.
C. The President shall vote on motions only in the case of a tie in the Senate. The Vice President shall not have voting power.
D. All officeholders may vote on matters that are not official business but are related to miscellaneous internal procedures. The President shall determine the nature of the vote at the time it is to be taken.
Section 2. Special Assemblies
A. A special assembly shall be a meeting called by the President to conduct removal hearings or to fill any vacancy in an elected office.
B. The special assembly shall be composed of all officeholders and be presided over by the President.
C. Any appointment of any officeholder shall require approval by a simple majority of the Senate quorum.
Section 3. Removal from Office
A. Any officeholder may be removed from office.
B. The removal process may be initiated by a written petition from 250 members of undergraduate students to the President or by a simple majority vote of a Senate quorum.
C. The President must convene a special assembly to consider a removal no later than ten days after the process has been initiated. The officeholder considered for removal may not vote in the special assembly.
D. The Vice President shall assume the duties of President for the duration of the special assembly if the President is the officer being considered for removal, or if a simple majority of the special assembly quorum votes that the President may have a conflict of interest.
E. In the event that both the President and Vice President are both unable to preside over the special assembly due to conflicts of interest (or another reason), a Senator may be elected to preside by a simple majority of the quorum.
F. Approval by a two-thirds majority of the quorum is required to remove any officeholder from their position.
Section 4. Amendments and Ratification
A. Proposals to amend or replace the constitution must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate quorum. Once approved, it shall be submitted to the undergraduate student body for a campus-wide vote, in which a simple majority of the votes cast by the student body shall be necessary to ratify the amendment.
B. Amendments to the constitution not approved by a simple majority of the Senate quorum may be brought to a direct vote by the undergraduate student body. A petition signed by 250 undergraduate students is necessary to call such a vote. Two-thirds of the votes cast by the student body shall be necessary to pass the amendment.
C. For minor stylistic updates to the constitution that do not change the actual content of the document (for instance, replacing the name of an organization mentioned in the constitution with a new name that the organization has formally adopted), the change may be made to the constitution if it is supported by a unanimous vote of the entire Senate.
D. In the case of the ratification of an entirely new constitution, the election provisions shall go into effect immediately upon ratification. Unless specified otherwise, the subsequently elected body will function under the rules and procedures of the newly approved constitution.
E. To establish, modify, or rescind the bylaws, the Senate must receive a one-week notice to consider the changes prior to voting, and it must be approved by a simple majority vote of the Senate quorum.
Article VIII: Elections
A campus-wide election or referendum shall be one in which all undergraduate students are eligible to vote.
Section 1. Election Committee
A. The President shall appoint a neutral election committee, with the approval of the Senate, to conduct and tabulate votes in campus-wide elections. No member of the election committee may be a candidate in the election.
B. Members of the election committee may not campaign for or against a candidate or referendum from their appointment until the end of the elections, as described in the bylaws.
C. Elections shall be further regulated as specified in the bylaws.
Section 2. Campus-Wide Elections
A. The filing deadlines and voting dates for the general election shall be set annually by ASR by the end of the fall semester and shall be completed by no later than the last day in February. The newly elected ASR shall assume office on the first day of April.
B. The President and Vice President must be elected by a majority of the votes cast. If there is no majority, a run-off election between the two candidates with the most votes shall take place within one week of the regular election. If a candidate for President or Vice President is unopposed, the election shall proceed with the option to vote “no confidence.” If the “no confidence” vote receives more than 50%, then another election for that position shall be held.
C. Senate candidates shall be divided into separate class categories based on their academic standing. Transfer students should confirm their class status with the election committee. Appeals on final determination of class status from any candidate shall be decided by the election committee. If 15 candidates, including four in each class category, have not filed for Senate positions, the election committee may extend filing deadlines.
D. Students may cast no more than 15 votes in the general election: Four votes in each class category, and the remaining three votes for any candidate, regardless of class category.
E. In the initial vote count, candidates who receive the four largest amounts of votes in their class category shall be declared winners. Of the remaining candidates, the three candidates with the highest vote tallies shall also be declared winners.
F. An election shall be held each year in the first week in October to fill four first-year student Senate seats for the remainder of the partial term. This election will be scheduled by an ASR sub-committee and shall be consistent with election procedures as defined by the constitution and bylaws. Accordingly, from early October through the end of March, the Senate shall consist of 19 members.
Section 3. Vacancies
A. In the event of a vacancy in an elected office of ASR, except President, ASR shall call a special assembly, as described in Article VI, Section 2, to fill the vacant position(s) for the remainder of the unexpired term.
B. The special assembly shall fill vacancies on the basis of a published open application process for qualified individuals.
C. Following receipt of all applications, applicants shall be invited to present their candidacy with the Senate. The special assembly shall vote on the final appointment(s) as specified in Article VI, Section 2.
D. A vacancy in the President’s position shall be filled through a campus-wide election conducted by ASR under election guidelines in the ASR constitution and bylaws.
Section 4. Miscellaneous
A. The election rules governing campus-wide elections may not be altered during the two weeks prior to any election.
B. The general election and referendums shall be run by an election committee. Any other campus-wide election shall be run by ASR, as needed.
C. If a student petition by at least three-fourths of the number of students who had voted in the previous election requests a new campus-wide election of the entire ASR, an election committee shall be convened and conduct a campus-wide vote within two weeks after ASR’s receipt of the petition. Any petition must be submitted at least two weeks prior to reading days.
D. Candidates may not promise any student a committee, conduct board, or other appointment prior to being elected.
Article IX: Student Activity Fee Distribution
Throughout this article, a request shall refer to an organization’s initial approach to ASR to express an interest in funding. A proposal shall refer to a completed, formalized appeal following ASR funding application guidelines that the organization shall submit to ASR after counseling by their senator liaison.
Section 1. Structure
- ASR shall have the authority to recommend to the Associate Vice President for Fiscal Affairs the amount of the student activity fee for approval by the board of trustees.
- Each year, ASR shall receive 70% of the student activity fee for allocation to student groups. ASR shall receive a separate 3% of that student activity fee each year for its own operations.
- Upon receipt of a funding request (generally for student programs), the Vice President may assign to it a senator, who shall serve as a liaison.
- Specific liaison duties shall include:
- Initiating contact with the person submitting the funding proposal.
- Arranging for the person submitting the funding proposal to sign a funding contract and complete further documentation.
- Advising the person submitting the funding proposal on the funding process.
- Completing a summary of expenditures for the End of the Year Report.
- Ensuring that the allocated funds are spent according to the procedures and policies outlined by ASR.
- Arranging for the person submitting the funding proposal to complete the evaluation form after an event is hosted.
- ASR shall have the authority to pay for a part-time accountant, who shall report to the Director of CCI, using student activity fee dollars. The part-time accountant shall oversee the budget, serve as a resource to the Senate, and assist the Vice President in preparing the End of the Year Report. The accountant’s fiscal duties shall not overlap with the ASR treasurer, who shall oversee the funding allotted to ASR for its own internal operations.
- The Vice President shall:
- Design and implement the administrative record keeping procedures as approved by the Senate.
- Organize the completion of the end of the year report, which shall be submitted to the CCI.
- Collect and archive all proposals, evaluations, and other applicable forms submitted by petitioning parties for future reference.
Section 2. Funding
- ASR shall accept petitions for funding from chartered organizations, sponsored organizations, Campus Publications, recreational sports, Student Affairs, registered student organizations, individual students, and groups of students.
- There are four categories of funding:
- Programming funds support events that directly benefit the student population at large (unless ASR approves an exception). Programs supported by such funds should be well-advertised with reasonable notice and must comply with all University policies and procedures as described in the Student Handbook.
- Operations funds are allocated to chartered and sponsored organizations, Student Affairs, Campus Publications, and recreational sports to support their operational costs. These costs may include travel expenses incurred by the group.
- Travel funds are allocated to individual students who seek to attend off-campus events. Such individuals must be able to justify that their experience at such an event would improve their own educational and professional development and positively impact campus.
- Physical resource funds are allocated to chartered and sponsored organizations, as well as Student Affairs, to purchase equipment relating to the organization itself or the student population at large.
- Student Affairs shall have access to the fee in order to sponsor and manage certain programs. They may receive: programming funding for events such as late night and weekend non-alcoholic programming or early semester social programming aimed at retention; operations funding for poster and banner making supplies which would be made available to all students; and physical resources funding for items such as music equipment, laminators, and die cutters. Student Affairs may not receive travel funding.
- In its first year distributing student activity fee dollars, ASR should aim to allocate 50- 67% of its budget for programming, 33-50% for operations, and less than 10% for both travel and physical resources. Every five years, ASR must revise this and set a more up to date, tailored range in its constitution.
- In order to protect the autonomy and freedom of the campus press, Campus Publications may be allocated no less than the average of its allocations over the previous 5 years.
Section 3. Allocation Procedure
- All petitioning parties must submit their proposals (including an itemized budget) for review by the Senate.
- Chartered student organizations, recreational sports, and Campus Publications may submit their proposals beginning in the third week of March.
- All other students or organization may request funds for the following year beginning in April. Requests for events and activities taking place at the end of the academic year should be made prior to the following year’s ASR taking office in April. For these proposals, the Senate shall pursue a two-step process. First, the Senate shall vote to approve the concept of the proposal. The decisions possible in this step are either approval, request for revision or additional information, or denial. If the Senate decides collectively that the proposal needs additional information or a revision before the Senate makes its decision, it may table the proposal and request that the person submitting the funding request attend the next scheduled meeting. If the proposal is approved, ASR shall, as the second step of the process, deliberate to estimate how much funding to allocate. ASR reserves the right to change the original estimated amount based on updated information that changes the nature of the event.
- After the general ASR election in February, end-of-the-semester fund requests shall be the jurisdiction of the former ASR Senate; however, funding requests for the following year shall be the jurisdiction of the recently-elected ASR Senate.
- Those receiving funding shall be required to sign a funding contract that, if violated, may result in a withdrawal of funding, a rescinding of the approval, a fine, and/or a revocation of privileges to request funds for a specified time in the future.
- Invoices, receipts, and reimbursement requests must be submitted no later than two weeks after the event. If receipts are not submitted to ASR by this time, then ASR may withhold all funding.
- Proper receipts are required for all reimbursements in cases when funding must be distributed after the event for which it is allotted. Proper receipts are defined as follows:
- They must have an itemized list of the items purchased.
- Items listed on the receipt should be limited to those being requested for reimbursement (no personal items on the same receipt).
- ASR shall not reimburse expenses incurred through taxes. Tax exemption forms may be used by the group to avoid accruing tax costs.
- Requests for exception to any of these policies may be made to the ASR Senate.
Section 4. Accountability
- Chartered organizations shall provide ASR with monthly budget reports so that spending can be monitored.
- At the end of each fall semester, chartered organizations must submit mid-year reports detailing how their budgets have been spent so far and how the budget is expected to be spent in the next semester. If a chartered organization has spent an inordinately low amount of its budget without having pending allocations, ASR may, upon discussion with the organization and approval by the Senate, reallocate the remaining portion of the organization’s budget.
- If a party breaches the aforementioned receipt policy and ASR repeals funding, the planners of the event shall be responsible for reimbursing ASR.
- Parties that do not comply with ASR and University policies may incur reduced allocations or loss of opportunity for future funding.