In the latest revision of its constitution, FUSA reserves the right to close any meeting to the public “when the rules of procedure require that they be closed,” or by the consent of “a simple majority vote of those attending the meeting,” it was proposed to the FUSA Senate at its weekly meeting Sunday.
The change, which appears within the “Declarations of Rights and Responsibilities” of FUSA, represents the first constitutionally protected “right” of the governing body to close a meeting to the public.
Kristina Chomick, chairperson of the Constitutional Convention, further clarified the clause as it is applied to senate proceedings.
“If a senator motions for a closed meeting,” she said, “and can get someone to second that motion, and the motion passes by a two-thirds majority, they can close the meeting. And there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”
Other new changes to the constitution include a shake-up of the leadership in the upper echelons of the organization. According to the draft presented to the senate at a meeting Sunday night, the new constitution would call for only two elected officials within the executive branch – FUSA president and vice-president. The VP of senate and VP of programming offices would effectively be eliminated. Their function, however, would survive in other manifestations.
The responsibilities of the VP of senate would fall on the shoulders of the new FUSA VP who would preside over and facilitate senate sessions. A new power given by the students to the FUSA VP would be the tie-breaking vote in the event that the 40-member senate could not come to a majority ruling.
The responsibilities of the VP of programming would transfer to a new position, the executive director of programming, who would be appointed by the FUSA president.
“This is good because it makes sure the president and programming director are on the same page,” said FUSA President Paul Duffy.
Because of past student confusion regarding the role of the Board of Governors (BOG), the new constitution calls for the body to be renamed the Student Organizations Board of Governors (SOBOG). This clarifies the role BOG plays as the governing body of most campus clubs and organizations.
The senate has already called an “emergency session” scheduled for Monday, Feb. 22, when the senate will undoubtedly propose amendments to the new constitution and possibly vote on passing it on to the populous.
In the event that the constitution passes in the senate, the legislation would be subject to a vote by the student body. The students would vote in a campus-wide referendum requiring 25 percent voter-turnout for validity.
“We need to pass it in the meeting on Monday,” Chomick told the senators Sunday, “in order to make sure we have the referendum before the spring election.”If the referendum is not held prior to the spring election, any constitution passed at a later date would not go into effect until April or May 2006.
Though not new to the latest draft of the constitution, the consolidation of FUSA from five branches to three was proposed, effectively placing BOG and programming branch under the jurisdiction of the executive branch.
The FUSA President would appoint several cabinet members, including a secretary of academics, student life, treasury, and communications, an executive director of programming, and the SOBOG chairperson.
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