Article
I - NAME
The official
name of this organization shall be "Student Government
Association of West Georgia Technical College".
It may be referred to by the initials SGA.
Article
II - PURPOSES
The purposes
of this organization are as follows:
(A) To plan
activities that are designed to promote general fellowship
and school spirit among students enrolled at West Georgia
Technical College and to contribute to the development
of student campus life through group activities.
(B) To promote a positive image of vocational-technical education at the
College and in the community.
(C) To recommend to the College's authorities, programs and projects that
the association believes that are in the best interest of the College and
the student body of the College.
(D) To provide feedback to the College's authorities on concerns of the student
body relating to the College's policies and the College's programs.
(E) To develop a greater appreciation for democracy and democratic principles
by participating in a democratic organization operating in a democratic manner.
(F) To implement projects designed to promote WEST GEORGIA TECHNICAL COLLEGE.
Article
III - MEMBERSHIP
(A) EACH AND
EVERY instructional program and student organization (inclusive
of the Adult Education Program) shall be represented.
(B) Representation shall consist of one (1) Primary representative and one
(1) Co-representative (alternate).
(C) Membership shall be open to students who enroll for at least four
(4) hours per day of instructional training in their program and who
maintain
a minimum of a "C" average for their current quarter's work.
Representatives shall be elected by a popular vote of the area they are
to represent. Each
representative shall be in good standing with the College and community
as determined by an interview with the association's advisor and a committee
of SGA members prior to serving on the Student Government Association.
Instructional
programs not having students qualified to serve on the association shall
send an observer appointed by the instructor to sit in on association meetings.
The observer will not have voting status but will attend meetings in order
to inform his/her area of the Student Government Association's actions.
(D) To maintain membership in the association, students must maintain
at least a "C" average and remain in good standing with the
College and community and attend at least 75% of scheduled and called
meetings of
the association. Members who miss more than 25% of scheduled and called
meetings shall be subject to losing the right to represent their instructional
area.
As long as the member remains in good standing he/she will serve in the
association for one (1) year or until graduation, whichever comes first.
(E) Should a primary representative become the elected SGA President, the
instructional program he/she represents shall select a new primary representative
as soon as possible before the NEXT SCHEDULED SGA meeting. Until such time
the alternate representative shall assume the primary representative's voting
rights in the SGA meetings.
(F) Each representative will be subject to recall by the program or organization
they represent.
Article
IV - OFFICERS
The officers
of the SGA shall be elected by the members of the association
with each primary representative having one vote. The term
of office shall be for one (1) year or until the officer
graduates, whichever comes first.
(A) President:
The president shall preside at all SGA general session
meetings both called and scheduled. The President shall
also represent the student body at such meetings and
assemblies as designed by the College's President and
the SGA Advisor(s).
The President with the approval of the SGA Executive
Board shall represent the student body to the College’s
administration concerning issues that cannot be resolved
through SGA general
sessions.
(B) Vice President:
The Vice President shall assume ALL presidential responsibilities mentioned
in Article IV, Section A in the absence of the President. The Vice President
shall also attend assemblies as designated by the College’s President and
the SGA Advisor(s). If the President resigns, the Vice President will assume
the duties of the President until the SGA elects a new President. If the
Vice President does not agree to assume duties of the President while still
performing the duties of the Vice President until election of a President
the Vice President must also resign.
(C) Secretary:
The Secretary shall take minutes of all association meetings and reproduce
the minutes in a timely fashion to be distributed to association members.
The Secretary shall maintain a file of minutes to be passed on year to year
by association officials. The Secretary shall post notices on all bulletin
boards to announce the next scheduled meeting. Such notices shall include
at a minimum the date, time, and place of the meeting.
(D) Treasurer:
The Treasurer in conjunction with the Colleges business office shall maintain
any and all monetary records concerning activity fees paid by the students
and monies raised by SGA. The Treasurer shall also maintain the records of
any and all transactions concerning the disbursement of funds as designated
on behalf of the SGA. A report shall be submitted to the SGA general session
meetings on a Quarterly basis. An annual report will be submitted at the
first scheduled meeting after June 30 of each year.
(E) Parliamentarian:
The Parliamentarian shall be present at each meeting of the association to
assure that all procedures followed by the association conform to Roberts
Rules of Order--Revised.
(F) Advisors:
The Advisors shall be appointed by the College's president to oversee the
activities of the association. A minimum of two (2) advisors is required.
One advisor shall be from the instructional area and one advisor shall be
from the administrative staff
If officers do not perform their duties and obligations--including those
that pertain to committees for which the officers were selected or volunteered--the
officers will be dismissed. (refer to Article III, Section D).
Article
V-COMMITTEES
Committees
shall be appointed by the SGA executive board members.
(A) Executive
Board:
The Executive Board shall consist of all officers of the SGA. Each member
shall have one vote. In the event of a tie vote, the question shall be taken
to the SGA general session meeting to be decided. A majority vote of members
in attendance in either case shall decide the question.
(B) Standing Committees:
Standing Committees shall consist of enough members of the SGA to be effective.
The members of such committees may consist of primary and co-representatives.
Each member may vote to attain a majority. In the case of a tie the chairperson
of that committee shall cast the deciding vote. (Only then may the chairperson
vote). Each committee shall formulate a Mission Statement and formulate a
plan of activities on a quarterly basis.
(C) Ad-Hoc
Ad-Hoc committees may be appointed by the President. Members shall abide
by Article V, Section B. The Ad Hoc committee will be dissolved upon the
completion of their purpose by motion made to the general session.
Article
VI-MEETINGS
(A) General
Session Meetings:
Regular meetings shall be held by the association. Time, date, and frequency
of the meetings shall be determined by the association. Parliamentary procedures
of all meetings will be governed by Robert's Rule of Order--Revised.
(B) Executive Board Meetings:
Meetings of the Executive Board shall be designated by the members.
(C) Committee Meetings:
Meetings of standing and alternate committees shall be held on days and times
as designated by the committee members. Committee chairpersons shall inform
the SGA Vice President of any problems and all progress so that the Vice
President may so inform the Executive Board. Each committee chairperson shall
also report at the general meetings of the committee's problems or progress.
(D) Voting: Voting: General Sessions: Primary representatives shall exercise
the right to vote. The co-representative shall exercise the temporary right
to vote in the absence of their respective primary representative. ALL OFFICERS
with the exception of the President shall exercise the right to vote. The
President shall exercise the right to vote in case of a tie vote of the members
present or if the President has passed the CHAIR to someone else in which
case the CHAIR shall not vote and the co-representative of the program that
the primary representative, having then been vacated, may vote.
Article
VII-FINANCES
(A) The association
shall have the power to request the privilege, subject
to the rules and policies of the College, to conduct approved-fund
raising activities in order to conduct activities of the
Student Government Association.
(B) All funds received from Student Activity Fees shall be expended with
the approval of the Student Government Association. All requests for expenditures
from the Student Activity account shall be approved by a vote of the Student
Government Association during general session meetings.
(C) All funds received by the Student Government Association shall be
maintained by the College’s President according to the rules and policies
of the College.
(D) Each quarter funds remaining after expenses shall be divided into two
categories and maintained as two separate accounts on paper. Such division
will enable the Treasurer to prepare the necessary report for submission
to the SGA.
A description of each account follows:
1.
Student Government Funds Revenues to be appropriated for the "Direct
Benefit" of the General Student Body populace. Funds appropriated
from this category will directly benefit students and can only be appropriated
by the SGA.
2.
Contingency Funds-Revenue to be appropriated for the "Indirect Benefit" of
the General Student Body populace. Funds appropriated from this category
will be used for activities that concern only a select group of students
or involve the school in superlative occurrences (such as, College activities
or an organization’s activities). Contingency funds may be requested
by the College's administration, Board of Directors, or organization
within
the College. Such requests, however must be approved by the SGA.
Each recognized
organization recieves $250 allotment for the fiscal year
(July1-June 30). Each organization may make a request for
their $250 allotment between July 1 to June 30 of each
year, any request for any additional funding by that same
organization has to be accompanied by that organizations'
financial records to support their request. Special funding
requests benefiting organizations shall be made to the
contingency fund and must be approved by the SGA.
At the beginning
of each new quarter, funds remaining in each account will
be recombined along with current net Student Activity Fee
revenues for that quarter. Afterwards these funds will
then be re-divided between the two accounts on a 50/50
basis.
Student Government
Funds may be appropriated in conjunction with Contingency
Funds at the discretion of the SGA. Once the funds in either
or both of these categories have been exhausted, no additional
ones will be available until the next quarter.
Article
VIII-AMENDMENTS
The constitution
may be amended as follows:
All proposed amendments to the constitution shall be submitted in writing
to the association to be voted on by the membership of the association..
If two-thirds of the association members present vote for the amendment,
it will be deemed passed an become a part of the constitution.
ARTICLE
IX-RULES, REGULATIONS, AND BYLAWS
Such rules,
regulations, and bylaws deemed necessary for the proper
conduct of this organization shall be adopted by majority
vote of the association. However, no rules, regulations,
or bylaws shall be adopted which are contrary to this constitution
or to the rules and policies of this institution.
*********************************************************************************************
Proposed
Change To
SGA By-Laws
(Article VII, Section B - Finances)
Dated April 24, 1995
*********************************************************************************************
