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CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
STUDENT UNION
ARTICLE I: UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION
SECTION A. Name
1. The name of the association shall be The Undergraduate Student Association, University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC); hereinafter referred to as "the Student Body."
SECTION B. Slogan:
1. The official slogan of the Student Body shall be "Student Voice. Student Power. Student Action." The Student Union Assembly (Article II) reserves all rights of the slogan of the Student Body.
SECTION C. Membership:
1. Every registered undergraduate student of the University of California, Santa Cruz shall be a member of the Student Body regardless of race, color, national origin, creed, gender, religion, sex, disability, gender identity, age, medical condition, ancestry, ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, military status, or socioeconomic status.
2. All registered undergraduate students of the University of California Santa Cruz shall be eligible to hold office within the Student Union Assembly or participate in any of its committees, subcommittees, and task forces regardless of race, color, national origin, creed, gender, religion, sex, disability, gender identity, academic standing, age, medical condition, ancestry, ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, military status, or socioeconomic status.
SECTION D. Nondiscrimination:
1. The Student Union Assembly shall not participate in or affiliate with any organization which discriminates (as discrimination is legally defined) on the basis of: race, color, national origin, creed, gender, religion, sex, disability, age, medical condition, gender identity, ancestry, ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, military status, or socioeconomic status.
ARTICLE II: THE STUDENT UNION ASSEMBLY
SECTION A. Purpose:
1. The Student Union Assembly, hereinafter referred to as the "SUA" or "the Assembly," shall be the governing unit of the undergraduate Student Body, which is composed of voting members as stated in Article II Section C. Due to its broad based constituency and its expertise on issues, the Student Union Assembly is the most qualified body to formulate and communicate the undergraduate student position at UCSC on campus-wide, system-wide and nation-wide levels. Thus, the Student Union Assembly shall be the official legitimate voice of undergraduate students on campus-wide and system-wide committees. The SUA shall use that voice to serve the individual and collective needs of the undergraduate student body at UCSC. The SUA shall promote activism, civic participation, discussion, debate, and awareness of public issues from a variety of perspectives and viewpoints. The SUA can host campus-wide events, rallies, conferences, and educational forums that, for example, may train students in direct action organizing, empowerment, and representation.
SECTION B. Powers and Responsibilities:
1. Decisions made by the SUA will be on behalf of UCSC undergraduate students.
2. The specific powers and responsibilities within the jurisdiction of the SUA include, but are not limited to the following:
1. Serve the undergraduate student body at UCSC.
2. The sponsorship of student programming as it deems appropriate.
3. Ensure continuous and constructive relationships with UCSC student organizations and the UCSC college student governments.
4. The maintenance of constructive relations with student governments and associations at other universities and colleges.
5. The approval of the annual budget of the Student Union Assembly, its committees, subcommittees and taskforces.
6. Advocacy network of the Student Body and therefore campaigns for concrete improvements in the lives of the student body.
SECTION C. Composition of the Student Union Assembly
1. Elected Officers of the Student Union (Article III Section B7)
1. Chair
2. Vice Chair of Internal Affairs
3. Vice Chair of External Affairs
4. Commissioner of Diversity
5. Commissioner of Academic Affairs
6. Organizing Director
2. Appointed Advisory to the Officers
1. Historian/Media Coordinator (Non-Voting)
2. Recording Clerk (Non-Voting)
3. Treasurer (Non-Voting)
4. Legislative Liaison (Non-Voting)
3. College Representatives
1. Each college shall have three Representatives to the SUA:
2. Two representatives shall be elected by a popular vote of the students of their respective college during Spring Quarter elections; by the each college or with the SUA, if they do not conduct elections during the Spring Quarter; they have until the last SUA meeting of the Fall Quarter to complete the election. An alternate may take the place until then. If the college cannot complete the process it is the Election Commissioner's discretion to give an exemption, in which the college senate will appoint their representative. Colleges that choose to use a different election process will pay for their own election costs.
3. This election shall be administered by the Student Union Assembly and fall under the purview of the SUA election bylaws.
4. These elections shall function to further ensure equal opportunity for all undergraduate students to serve as a student representative to the SUA.
5. One representatives shall be chosen in a manner determined by their respective college government.
6. College governments, in accordance with applicable federal and state law and university policy, must be open to any student regardless of race, color, national origin, creed, gender, religion, sex, disability, age, gender identity, medical condition, ancestry, ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, military status, or socioeconomic status.
4. One representative at large from each of the following registered organizations at UCSC: African/Black Student Alliance (A/BSA); Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APISA); Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Network (GLBTN); Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MEChA); Student Alliance of North American Indians (SANAI); Ethnic Student Organization Council (ESOC).
1. Registered student organizations, in accordance with applicable federal and state law and university policy, must be open to any student regardless of race, color, national origin, creed, gender, religion, sex, disability, gender identity, age, medical condition, ancestry, ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, military status, or socioeconomic status.
SECTION D. Voting:
1. Each member of the Assembly, as specified in Article II, Section C shall each be given one vote and have the power to vote on all questions.
2. Vote by proxy shall not be permitted.
1. Each college and organization with voting representatives to the SUA shall be allowed no more than 2 alternates to vote in the absence of their voting representatives. Alternate representatives are not considered proxy votes.
2. Alternates require documentation signed by the head of their respective college government or organization. This shall be presented to the Chair of the SUA body before attendance is taken of the SUA body.
3. Abstentions by members of the Assembly shall not be counted toward any constitutionally required two-thirds (2/3) vote.
4. The SUA shall operate by consensus. If consensus cannot be achieved, then the SUA shall operate by simple majority rule (50% + 1), unless otherwise cited in this constitution or bylaws.
SECTION E. Quorum:
1. Quorum is defined as half plus one of the current SUA voting membership (Article II, section C).
2. The SUA shall not vote on any matter if quorum is not present when called.
3. The SUA shall, at the last meeting of the spring quarter, determine the requirements for quorum of the Student Union Assembly during the Summer Session.
SECTION F. Procedures:
1. The SUA shall meet at least twice per month throughout the regular academic year.
2. The agenda of each meeting of the SUA shall be distributed at least 24 hours in advance to the SUA members in a manner they determine. Also, the agenda shall be posted outside of the SUA office at least 24 hours in advance of each meeting.
3. The minutes of each meeting of the SUA and its committees, subcommittees, and task forces shall be public, except matters in closed session, as defined in the bylaws; and disseminated campus-wide via e-mail and posted outside the SUA office.
4. All SUA and its committee meetings shall be open to the public except during times of closed session.
1. During closed session, these meetings shall be open only to voting members of the assembly as specified in Article II, Section C.
1. Closed session shall be called when the SUA is discussing or voting on issues dealing directly with the hiring, firing, appointing, or removal of positions and staff within the SUA.
2. A call for closed session can be overruled by a 2/3 vote of the voting membership in attendance of the meeting.
5. The Chair may convene the SUA for an "emergency" meeting at anytime. Other members of the Assembly may convene the SUA for emergency meeting at any time by petition of at least half of the voting membership (Article II, Section C).
6. The Chair shall require approval documentation needed by the first meeting of the quarter for the representative signed by both leaders of the college government or organization assuring their commitment and responsibilities of the SUA for the quarter.
ARTICLE III. OFFICERS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STUDENT UNION ASSEMBLY
SECTION A. Powers, Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Chair
1. Leader and principal spokesperson of the Student Body.
2. Chair the meeting of the Assembly.
3. Ensure cohesive and effective interaction within the Assembly and the campus.
4. Act as an ex-officio, non-voting member of all SUA committees, subcommittees, and task forces.
5. Required to hold weekly office hours at the SUA office.
6. Attend weekly officer meeting(s) to ensure communication and collaboration.
7. Work in collaboration with the other officers, business manager, committees, subcommittees and taskforces to create a budget for the following academic year, which must be approved by the SUA in spring (Article VII, Section A).
8. Prepares a monthly report evaluating the SUA, which provides constructive criticism, for the purposes of improvement.
9. Carryout any other duties set forth in this constitution, the bylaws and/or as assigned by the Assembly.
10. Appoints the Treasurer and the Recording Clerk by the last meeting of the Fall Quarter. The selection needs to be ratified for the Treasurer by the body by a simple majority vote.
11. Shall meet once a quarter with the College Senate Advisor and the Organization Advisor in conjunction with the Council of Chairs and Leaders of the Organizations to ensure cohesiveness and explain happenings of the Student Union Assembly in order to establish transparency. The Chair does not adhere to any administration, unless stated in systemwide or university policy.
2. Internal Vice-Chair
1. Primarily responsible for the internal operations of the Student Union Assembly.
2. Helps to coordinate the campus-wide internal campaigns in coordination with the Organizing Director and any other applicable SUA officer, intern, committee, subcommittee, task force, campus organization or campus unit.
3. Acts as substitute for the Chair in his/her absence
4. Serves as chair of the Student Committee on Committees.
5. Assists the Chair in carrying out SUA directives.
6. Coordinates student participation on all campus-wide committees, boards, and task forces including all academic senate and administrative committees.
7. Required to hold weekly office hours at the SUA office.
8. Attends weekly officer meeting(s) to ensure communication and collaboration.
9. Prepares a monthly report evaluating the SUA, which provides constructive criticism, for the purposes of improvement.
10. Carryout any other duties as set forth in this constitution, the bylaws, and/or as assigned by the Assembly and/or Chair.
11. Shall use the Executive Vice Chair of the Student Committees on Committees to help run the appointment process of SCOC and run the partnership. The Internal Vice Chair shall work or be a resource on all internal campus wide issues that come forth from the SCOC, e^2: Engaging Education, Campus Sustainability Council or the Student Union Assembly.
3. External Vice-Chair
1. Represents the SUA to the University of California Student Association (UCSA).
2. Represents the SUA to the United States Student Association (USSA).
3. Helps to coordinate the UCSA and USSA external grassroots organizing campaigns in coordination with the Organizing Director and any other applicable SUA officer, intern, committee, subcommittee, task force, campus organization or campus unit.
4. Assists the Chair in coordinating advocacy efforts on behalf of student interests, by doing research analysis on university policy systemwide and nationally, and coordinating legislative campaigns in the local, state and national level.
5. Represents the Student Union Assembly to off-campus entities as delegated by the Chair or the Assembly.
6. Required to hold weekly office hours at the SUA office.
7. Attend weekly officer meeting(s) to ensure communication and collaboration.
8. Prepare a monthly report evaluating the SUA, which provides constructive criticism, for the purposes of improvement.
9. Carryout any other duties as forth in this constitution, the bylaws, and/or assigned by the Assembly and/or Chair.
10. Appoints the Legislative Liaison for the External Office by the last meeting of the Fall Quarter.
4. Commissioner of Diversity
1. Maintains communication with resource centers, resource center directors, student organizations, Ethnic Student Organization Council (ESOC), Disability Resource Center (DRC), STARS, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), and the retention and outreach student organizations.
2. Chairs the Diversity Commission.
3. Helps coordinate all programming that deal with issues of diversity.
4. Maintains communication between the SUA, campus units, and administrators that deal with issues of diversity, which include, but are not limited to, Hate/Bias and Title IX.
5. Track diversity statistics with regard to enrollment, retention, dropout rates and academic standing.
6. Attend weekly officer meeting(s) to ensure communication and collaboration.
7. Required to hold weekly office hours at the SUA office.
8. Prepares a monthly report evaluating the SUA, which provides constructive criticism, for the purposes of improvement
9. Carryout any other duties as forth in this constitution, the bylaws, and/or assigned by the Assembly and/or Chair.
10. Shall maintain a volunteer base composed of the SUA representatives.
5. Commissioner of Academic Affairs
1. Establishes and maintains communication with the UCSC and systemwide Academic Senate and all undergraduate academic related programs.
2. Shall and inform and represent the SUA on matters of academic policy.
3. Shall act as the representative to the Academic Senate on the Committee on Educational Policy.
4. Shall provide for periodic polls and information surveys to assess student concerns.
5. Required to hold weekly office hours at the SUA office.
6. Attends weekly officer meeting(s) to ensure communication and collaboration.
7. Prepares a monthly report evaluating the SUA, which provides constructive criticism, for the purposes of improvement.
8. Carryout any other duties as set forth in this constitution, the bylaws, and/or assigned by the Assembly and/or Chair.
9. Shall meet at least two times a quarter with the Student Academic Senate in order to establish a goals and criteria for academic policy and advocacy for the student body and delegate responsibilities.
10. Meet with all the Academic Student Representatives to discuss possible advocacy and policy within the Academic Senate.
6. Organizing Director
1. Primary student government organizer on internal and external campus issues.
2. Organizes and recruits students to attend programming sponsored by the Student Union Assembly.
3. Creates and maintains contact with student organizations and the Student Body at large.
4. Primary coordinator of campus-wide campaigns, UCSA campaigns and USSA campaigns.
5. Attends weekly officer meeting(s) to ensure communication and collaboration.
6. Required to hold weekly office hours at the SUA office.
7. Makes and facilitates connections between campus movements/issues and those of the UC system as a whole.
8. Prepares a monthly report evaluating the SUA, which provides constructive criticism, for the purposes of improvement.
9. Carryout any other duties as set forth in this constitution, the bylaws, and/or assigned by the Assembly and/or Chair.
10. Shall appoint the Historian/Media Coordinator by the last meeting of the Fall Quarter.
11. Shall maintain a logistical committee composed of the SUA representatives.
7. Historian/Media Coordinator
1. Coordinates with the Student Union Assembly Officers about publicity and maintenance of items coming from the undergraduate students.
2. Works with Student Media about finding new ways and ideas for getting out the student voice and opinions.
3. Coordinates history of past work for institutional memory.
4. Builds and maintains the network for maintaining institutional memory of the student government.
5. Maintains the SUA publicity materials, including the website, news publications and campus outreach.
6. Create the campus history archives by connecting with every campus college and/or group and their history.
7. Maintaining a media database for the Student Union Assembly to conduct media outreach for our campaigns.
8. Writes and contacts all media outlets when needed during campaigns.
8. Recording Clerk
1. Shall work with the SUA Officers to assembly the agendas, minutes and other items as needed by the SUA.
2. Will receive agenda item requests and meet with the Chair to distinguish what will go on the agenda. The Recording Clerk must receive the request by the Friday of the previous week in order to get on the Agenda the next Tuesday.
3. Shall have the agenda displayed for the body by Monday at noon before the SUA Board of Directors meeting Tuesday.
4. The Recording Clerk must have agenda items of the officers by 5pm on the day the meeting to prepare Agenda Packets.
5. The Recording Clerk will take minutes for the SUA Meetings and have them posted by the following Thursday at Midnight. Any corrections to the minutes shall be completed by the next Tuesday meeting.
6. Shall coordinate with the Historian/Media Coordinator to send out and document Resolutions and Actions coming from SUA.
7. Shall contact members of the SUA community and receive items or reports of the SUA for meeting purposes to be distributed to the SUA members by the Friday before the meeting.
9. Treasurer
1. Work with the SUA Officers maintaining the budget of the year.
2. Will work with campus Service Center to establish and maintain the budget throughout the year.
3. Does not have budgetary authority but can make alternative budgets and suggestions for the fiscal health of the organization.
4. Helps prepare checks and travel reimbursements, preparation for the SUA.
5. Will look at the expense reports of the year to analyze what changes can be made to the budget and present them to the Chair and SUA Board of Directors.
6. Every year with approval of the Chair, based on budget expense reports prepare at least 3 budget scenarios for the body to consider.
7. Research ways to save money and advise the officers on spending from their office budget.
8. Will look and advise the SUA Board of Directors on the UCSA and USSA budgets for improvements or suggestions during their budgetary cycles.
9. Helps contacts with both USSA and UCSA to pay membership dues.
10. Will not advise Engaging Education or Campus Sustainability Council because they have budgetary autonomy from the Student Union Assembly, and therefore will not present or help prepare budgets to the Student Union Assembly.
10. Legislative Liaison
1. The Legislative works with the External Vice Chair and the external office in order to coordinate actions on and off the campus with legislative officials.
2. Sets up lobby visits for the Student Union Assembly, address student concern.
3. Researches local, state and federal legislation and how it affects the student body.
4. Works with UCSA and USSA as the legislative aid to the organization on behalf of UC Santa Cruz.
5. Helps the External Vice Chair carry out campaigns and budget for the External Office from year to year.
6. Will debrief and check in with legislators and officers about the state of the campus.
7. Shall help establish and maintain the lobby corps by recruiting students to join in on lobbying opportunities.
11. Representatives
1. Represent and express the student voice and concerns of students in their respective college or organization.
2. Required to hold at least one hour of weekly office hours.
3. Sit on and participate in at least one SUA committee.
4. Prepare a monthly report to the SUA Chair that gives an update on the happenings of the college or organization, which they represent.
5. Prepares a monthly report evaluating the SUA, which provides constructive criticism, for the purposes of improvement.
6. Carryout any other duties as set forth in this constitution, the bylaws, and/or assigned by the Assembly and/or Chair.
SECTION B. Elections and Terms of Office:
1. The SUA shall conduct campus-wide elections for members of the Assembly (Article II, Section C-1 & 2a i) or Constitutional Amendments (Article IX) in a fair and open election held during the spring quarter of each academic year.
2. The SUA shall address all disputes, including issues of interpretation, regarding all candidate, and constitutional amendment items during any undergraduate student election.
3. The SUA shall charge an Elections Commissioner with the coordination of the SUA elections.
4. All Officers of the Student Body, as listed in Article II, Section C-1, shall be elected by popular vote of the undergraduate Student Body.
5. All officers of the Student Body shall serve for one year starting July 1st and ending June 30th.
6. Elected representatives of the Colleges (Article II, Section C-2a i) shall be elected by popular vote of their college student body in a fair and open election at the time of SUA elections (Article III, Section B-1).
7. The Elected representatives of the Colleges shall serve for one year starting July 1st and ending June 30th.
8. Representatives of an organization (Article II, Section C-3) shall be chosen through the methods as determined by those organizations.
9. The Representative of an organization shall serve for the designated time specified by the organization.
10. The other college Representatives (Article II, Section C-2A ii) shall be chosen by their respective college government through methods as determined by the college government.
11. All other college Representatives (Article II, Section C-2A ii) shall serve for the designated time specified by their college government.
SECTION C. Qualification:
1. All members of the Assembly must be a registered undergraduate student of the University of California, Santa Cruz to remain in office.
SECTION D. Compensation:
1. The Officers of the Student Union shall receive compensation for their services as stipulated in the bylaws.
2. The Representatives may receive compensation for their services as stipulated in the bylaws.
SECTION E. Vacancies:
1. A vacancy occurs when any member of the Student Union Assembly has resigned, been removed from office, is no longer a registered UCSC undergraduate student, or becomes otherwise ineligible for office as provided in this constitution.
2. If the vacancy is an Officer position, other than SUA Chair, and has been vacated before the next SUA election, or in the event that a temporary emergency appointment by the Student Union Assembly is called for, that position shall be advertised in campus media, and via fliers posted campus-wide for at least one week campus-wide. Any candidate for the vacancy must have been a registered student at the time of the previous Officer's election.
3. All interested candidates shall be present at a specified Student Union Assembly meeting at which time they will each have the opportunity to present themselves. The Assembly shall vote on one of the candidates present to fill the position for the remainder of the term.
4. If the vacancy is a College Representative position and has been vacated before the next SUA election, or in the event that a temporary emergency appointment by the Student Union Assembly is called for, that position shall be chosen in a manner determined by their respective college government.
5. If the vacancy is an Organization Representative position or in the event that a temporary emergency appointment by the Student Union Assembly is called for, that position shall be chosen in a manner determined by their respective organization.
6. In the event that the Chair position is vacant, the Internal Vice-Chair shall assume the position and an Internal Vice-Chair candidate search will begin. If there is no Internal Vice-Chair or the Internal Vice-Chair does not wish to become the Chair, then the External Vice-Chair shall assume the duties of Chair and an External Vice-Chair candidate search will begin. If there is no External Vice-Chair or the External Vice-Chair does not wish to become the Chair, then a candidate search for Chair will begin.
7. If the vacancy occurs within 14 calendar days prior to the spring election, the position will not be filled on a temporary basis. The person elected shall take office immediately upon certification of election results by the SUA Elections Commissioner.
SECTION F. Recall, Procedures and Re-election of Student Union Assembly Members:
1. A recall convention for any SUA Officer may be called by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the Assembly. At this convention, each college government chair, each voting organization chair, and one officer chosen by the remaining officers shall each have one vote. Once the case for removal of the officer has been presented and appropriate time has been allowed for rebuttal, a vote shall be taken. If a simple majority of the college government chairs, the organization chairs and the Officers' delegation vote to remove the Officer, then the Officer shall relinquish his/her position immediately. The procedure listed in Article III, Section E-2 shall be followed to replace the Officer.
2. Elected College Representatives (Article I, section C-2a i) may be recalled by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the SUA.
3. Elected College Representatives (Article I, section C-2a i) may also be recalled by the students of their respective college in a recall election. A recall election will be held if twenty percent (20%) of the students in the representative's college petition for an election to occur. The recall ballot would ask if the representative should be removed and shall only be voted on by students of that college. If a majority of the students voting in the recall election vote to remove the representative, that representative shall relinquish his/her position immediately. The procedure listed in Article III, Section E3 shall be followed to replace the representative.
4. Other college representatives (Article I, section C-2a ii) can be removed from office by their respective college government.
5. Organization representatives (Article I, section C-3) may be removed from office by their respective organization.
ARTICLE IV: RELATIONSHIP OF THE COLLEGE GOVERNMENTS WITH THE STUDENT UNION ASSEMBLY
SECTION A. Jurisdiction:
1. Due to the expertise of the college governments on issues inside their colleges and the personal contact of the college government members to members of the college, the college governments shall continue to have full jurisdiction on the issues within their college.
2. The college governments shall handle issues relating to their college activities and policies.
3. The college government shall distribute college membership fees.
4. The college governments shall appoint their representative to the Academic Senate.
5. The college government may request assistance of the SUA on any issue to protect and assure the rights and needs of students.
6. Authority of the Student Union Assembly is recognized by the Regents of the University of California, the Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Membership is strengthened by the participation of the college governments and organizations to the Student Union Assembly.
ARTICLE V: STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE STUDENT UNION ASSEMBLY
SECTION A. Committees:
1. The Student Outreach Committee: Facilitates the outreach to the Student Body, and creates and distributes publicity to inform students of the issues of SUA. The committee should sponsor campus-wide programming and educational events related to SUA issues.
2. The Diversity Commission: Facilitates the overview and tracking of all issues of diversity at UCSC.
3. Student Committee on Committees: Facilitates the appointment and tracking of all student representatives to campus-wide committees, including academic senate and administrative committees.
4. The Student Academic Senate Committee: Works to establish common goals among all the colleges and talk about academic and university policy to promote academic progress.
5. The SUA is empowered to create additional committees, subcommittees as well as ad hoc committees as it deems necessary.
6. The SUA shall determine the rules and procedures for all committees, subcommittees, and task forces.
7. College wide elected officials are required to sit on logistical committees for the Student Union Assembly. One shall sit on the Lobby Corps headed by the External and Internal Offices; one shall sit on an Organizing/Volunteer Corps headed by the Organizing Director and the Commissioner of Diversity. Appointed representatives and organization representatives do not have sit on the Lobby Corps or Organizing/Volunteer Corps, but can if they decide to on their own.
ARTICLE VI: CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION COMMISSION OF THE STUDENT UNION ASSEMBLY
SECTION A. Purpose:
1. To provide interpretation of this constitution in the event of a constitutional crisis and recommend amendments of this Constitution to the SUA.
2. Constitutional crisis is considered a disagreement over the interpretation of a specific Article, section or subsection within the Constitution of the Student Union Assembly (SUA).
SECTION B: Composition
1. The commission shall be composed of the following voting members;
1. One elected college representative of each college at UCSC
2. The voting representative from each of the student organizations with a vote in SUA
3. The Chair of the SUA
4. The Vice-Chair of External Affairs
5. The Vice-Chair of Internal Affairs
2. The commission shall be composed of the following non-voting ex-officio members;
1. The Organizing Director
2. The Commissioner of Diversity
3. The Commissioner of Academic Affairs
SECTION C. Powers, Responsibilities and Procedures:
1. The Vice-Chair of Internal Affairs shall chair the commission.
2. The Commission shall only meet in the event of a constitutional crisis, as defined in Article VI Section A1.
3. The Commission shall be convened by the request of any of the following;
1. A 2/3 vote of the SUA voting body.
2. A 2/3 vote of the college governments, rounded up.
3. A petition signed by 10% of the undergraduate student body that must include the following in order to be valid:
1. A statement on the top of each page of the petition that says "We, the undersigned undergraduate students of the University of California Santa Cruz call for the Student Union Assembly (SUA), which is the undergraduate campus-wide student government, to convene a Constitutional Interpretation Commission to review the interpretation of Article (Number), or Section (Letter), or subsection (Number/Letter), which reads (disputed part of constitution). The SUA's interpretation(s) of this section are: (List all interpretations from the SUA) As (State name(s) and/or student organization(s)) my/our interpretation is/are as follows: (List complaint interpretation) As there appears to be a disagreement over the interpretation, I call for a SUA Constitutional Interpretation Commission in accordance with Article VI, Section A in the SUA Constitution to be convened to determine the final interpretation."
4. The petition must include a printed name, signature, student I.D. number, college, and college box number for each person who signs, in order to be valid.
5. In order to be valid, the petition must also include a section for phone and email address. This information would be listed as optional, but must be on the petition.
6. The commission will automatically convene there is a conflict of interpretation between SUA and University administration.
7. The decision of the Commission shall be made by 2/3-majority vote.
8. The decision of the Commission shall be considered the SUA's final decision.
ARTICLE VII. FISCAL MATTERS
SECTION A. Fiscal Authority:
1. The SUA shall have authority over all the budgets of the SUA or any of its committees, subcommittees, and task forces.
1. The SUA must approve a budget in spring for the following academic year.
2. The Chair has overall responsibility for proper fiscal management of the Student Union Assembly.
3. A Business Manager of the Student Union Assembly shall chair all SUA committees charged with the management and allocation of finances of the Student Union Assembly or its committees, subcommittees, and task forces.
4. A Business Manager shall be responsible for other financial matters as assigned by the SUA, the Chair or the bylaws.
5. The budget of the Student Union assembly shall be public to anyone in accordance with campus policies and law.
6. The SUA may specify in the bylaws restrictions on the use of SUA funds.
7. The SUA Budget shall be reviewed by the body by the 5th week of the Spring Quarter to be ratified by the 9th or 10th week of quarter. If this does not occur, the Student Union Assembly must meet in emergency session, including going into summer session until a budget is passed.
ARTICLE VIII. CONSTITUTIONAL SUPREMACY
SECTION A. Supremacy:
1. This Constitution shall be the supreme governing document of the Student Union Assembly. All bylaws and regulations of the Student Union Assembly shall be inferior to this Constitution.
ARTICLE IX: STUDENT UNION ASSEMBLY BYLAWS
SECTION A. Purpose:
1. The SUA bylaws shall supplement this constitution by establishing such boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, and task forces the SUA deems necessary. The bylaws shall enumerate powers, duties, and rules pertaining to these boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, and task forces. The bylaws shall also lay out procedures governing the function and/or activities described in the constitution, and may assign additional duties to the Officers and Representatives.
SECTION B. Amendments and Procedures:
1. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the SUA shall be necessary to ratify, modify, or suspend portions of the bylaws.
2. One-week notice must be given to the Assembly before amendments, creation or removal of any bylaws.
ARTICLE X: AMENDMENTS OF THIS CONSTITUTION
SECTION A. Procedures:
1. An amendment to this Constitution may be proposed by either a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the SUA, two-thirds (2/3) of the college governments (rounded up), or petition signed by at least ten-percent (10%) of all registered undergraduate students and shall be taken to a vote in accordance with Article III, Section B-1.
2. Approval of any amendment requires a simple majority where twenty- percent (20%) of the Student Body, the undergraduate students of UCSC has voted on the amendment measure. If adopted, the amendment shall take effect on the date specified in the amendment, or if no date is specified, immediately upon confirmation of election results by the Elections Commissioner of the Student Union Assembly.
3. Proposed amendments cannot be approved by the SUA, a student petition, or college government during Summer Session.
4. Whenever the constitution is amended, an annotation of the date on which the amendment is adopted shall be placed at the end of the "as amended" section of this Constitution.
5. If two (2) or more conflicting amendments are passed simultaneously, all non-conflicting parts shall be enacted and the conflicting part(s) of the measure receiving the highest number of votes shall be enacted.
6. 6. Anyone from the Student Union Assembly or Partnerships can call for a Constitutional Emergency for amendments to the Constitution and bylaws without a campus wide vote until a campus wide election can be run. SUA requires a 2/3rd's vote from the Student Union Assembly, and then majority vote (50% + 1) of the Partnerships of the Student Union Assembly (Engaging Education, Campus Sustainability Council and the Student Committees on Committees) in order for an amendment to be considered. A 2/3rd's vote is then required of the SUA body in order to pass.
A "Partnership" is a taskforce or a standing committee that is a part of the SUA.
ARTICLE XI: TRANSITION
SECTION A. Procedures:
1. All pre-existing bylaws and regulations that do not conflict with new constitutional amendments shall remain in effect.
2. If a new elected position is created by a constitutional amendment, an interim appointment shall be made as specified in Article III, Section F3 until the next SUA election is held, unless otherwise stated in the amendment.
3. If an elected position is eliminated by a constitutional amendment in the same election as that position is filled, the winner of that election shall remain in office for the specified term.
4. All approved changes to the constitution shall be completed by the Spring Quarter Election of the next year. In order to ensure updated constitution to the student body, all changes to the Constitution must be completed/changed by the SUA to be presented to the entire student body two months after the results of the election are given through the website and paper documentation.
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