Senate hosts open forums for constitutional changes

An open forum concerning constitutional changes in the first 10 pages of the CSC Student Association Constitution was Thursday. Student Senate President Katrina Hurley, Senator At Large Stephanie Alfred, Senator of Brooks Hall Curtis Stevens, and one student were there.

Hurley said that the majority of the changes made to the constitution include format, spelling, and linguistics in order to clarify the rules.

Proposed changes include changing “Student Association” to “Student Senate” throughout the first 10 pages. Hurley said this change was proposed because “student association” refers to the entire student body whereas “Student Senate” only includes the senators and executive board members. Another proposed change is to change the spelling of “bylaws” and to change “Treasurer” to “Vice President of Finance for the Student Association” throughout the constitution to be consistent.

Under Article I, Section 1, the committee added “sex” and “gender identity” to the following sentence: “All students of this college shall be members of the Association by virtue of their enrollment at Chadron State College and shall not be discriminated against on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.”

Under Article II, Section 1, the committee proposed a change that allows senators to vote if they are enrolled in 12 undergraduate credit hours or 9 graduate credit hours instead of requiring the hours to be completed. They amended a sentence to read, “Upon being sworn in to Student Senate, Senators shall retain full discussion and voting privileges.” They also amended a sentence to read, “No Senator shall be on academic or disciplinary probation.”

Under Article II, Section 2, the committee amended a sentence to read, “Senators must be residents in the hall of which they shall represent throughout the duration for their term.”

Under Article II, Section 3, “not” was struck in the following sentence: “Those majoring in Education shall not be allowed to seek election from their endorsement department.”

Under Article II, Section 5, the committee amended the sentence to read, “Student senators may introduce, for consideration by the Senate, constitutional amendments or Bylaw changes bearing the signatures of (3) senators.”

Under Article II, Section 7, the committee amended the sentence to read, “In the event of an electoral tie, the senatorial candidates shall present their qualifications orally at the next full meeting of the Senate.”

Under Article III, Section 3, the committee amended the sentence to read, “The president shall appoint students to committees requiring student representation, in the event that positions remain vacant. The appointed representative may appeal their appointment to the Constitutional Court should the need arise.” The committee added, “24 hour notice must be given for any special meetings called by the president.” The committee added “on Student Senate” to the following sentence: “Members of the Court shall serve ex officio on Student Senate.”

A second forum concerning constitutional changes was Monday but no students attended. Student Senate President Karson Langley said the constitutional changes are on the Senate’s Facebook page.