 |
A Sample Student Association Charter
by the Student Association of Emperor's College |
The Student Council of
Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine
Recognized the need for a cohesive student association charter. One
that was flexible enough for the changes that were unforseen, yet expected.
While at the same time, we hoped to create enough structure in order to
provide student council members as well as students at large with a workable
and effective student government.
Student councils at other schools are encouraged to begin with what
we've created and build upon it. That's why we've uploaded it.
STUDENT COUNCIL MISSION STATEMENT
The goal of The Student Council of Emperor's College is to foster a
better learning atmosphere for the students of Emperor's College. This
shall be done by informing students of the ongoing events with regard to
Oriental Medicine and the profession. Student Council will also aid in
arriving at solutions when students have any problems with the school,
classes, teachers or the administration. Student Council will also facilitate
social act ivities such as parties, lectures and sports so that students
can be more familiar with each other as peers and fellow colleagues. The
Student Council will make efforts to reach the larger community as to the
concerns of the ECTOM student body concerning Oriental Medicine and the
healing arts.
I. The Emperor's College STUDENT GOVERNMENT CHARTER:
- a) All new Charters must be approved by a Petition of fifty-one percent
of the student body as a whole.
- b) Amendments and changes may be made to the Charter by the same amount
of students.
II. THE STUDENT COUNCIL
- a) ELECTIONS:
- b) Students shall vote for 7 self-nominating candidates. If less than
7 students run for the office, the student council may consist of 5 members.
- c) Elections must be held at least once a year.
- d) In extraordinary cases an election can be called at any time with
a petition (requesting an election) consisting of signatures from one half
(1/2) the number of ECTOM students as a whole. The time period from the
presentation of the petition (to the current student council or to the
student body to the actual voting) must be at least 2 weeks.
- e) Ballot rolls will be determined by current enrollment lists provided
by the administration. Such a roll will be considered "the student
body as a whole" mentioned further in this document.
- f) After elections, the incoming student council will make the transition
within two (2) weeks following the election results.
- g) The transition to the incoming student council shall be made easier
by the cooperation of the out-going council.
- h) All files, records, monies and assets shall be turned over to the
new council.
III. MEMBERSHIP
- a) All members must be currently enrolled at ECTOM
- b) Members must attend at least half of the meetings formally called
during a six month period or must make efforts at complete communication
and participation with the student council.
- c) Members who leave may be replaced by a vote of a majority of Student
Council members.
- d) Members may be removed by unanimous vote of the existing members.
- e) Members can be removed if it is found that they have participated
or been party to fraud, theft or other criminal acts.
- f) If a member finds that s/he cannot serve on Student Council due
to graduation, leaving the school, illness, time constraints or other matters,
that member should inform the Council as soon as such determined.
IV. OFFICERS
- a) Each Council shall elect or appoint members for Secretary and Treasurer.
- b) The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes at each of the Student
Council Meetings. These minutes constitute the official record of the Student
Council and must be available and archived.
- c) The Treasurer is responsible all monetary record keeping of the
Council. The Treasurer may not necessarily be a voting member of the student
council.
- d) A Council might find it necessary to elect or appoint a President
or Vice-President. This may be done by popular election or by consensus
within the Council.
V. MONEY
- a) The Student Government shall collect a payment of dues each quarter
- from each enrolled student. It shall be the responsibility of the
- Treasurer to ensure that this money is collected from the ECTOM
- Administration in a
- timely manner.
- b) All monies to be spent over $300 must be approved before spending
by
- a majority of the council.
- c) All monies collected or spent must be reported to the student
- council.
- d) The student council is not to be used for personal monetary gain
by
- any member. Such gain will be considered fraud.
- e) All monies spent must be accounted for with receipts.
- f) It shall be the job of the Treasurer to make available and public
an
- accounting of monies spent each quarter.
- g) No expenditure of money may be held secret.
VI. MEETINGS
- a) Meetings should be held at least 2 times a quarter.
- b) Meetings shall be held in an orderly fashion.
- c) A majority of the full Council shall constitute a quorum.
- d) A quorum must be present in order for the meeting to be called to
order.
- e) Only elected members of the Council shall have voting rights on
Council matters.
- f) All meetings must be open to all students. Students who wish to
speak must speak with the chairperson before the meeting to have time for
their concerns placed on the agenda. Students who have not done so may
be recognized by the chairperson as long as their concerns do not disrupt
the meeting as a whole. Students (or council members) cannot interrupt
the agenda items nor disrupt the meeting by speaking out of turn. A time
period may be allotted at the end of a meeting for non-agenda items for
open discussion from non-Council members.
- g) The chairperson shall use appropriate means to keep the meetings
in order and within the time frame allotted. These might include asking
that all speakers to speak only when recognized by the chairperson. In
extraordinary cases, the chairperson may ask that dominating members speak
less.
- h) All meetings shall be thoroughly recorded by a permanent or temporary
secretary and all notes from these meetings must be made available to the
student body as a whole.
- i) A chairperson should be appointed agreed upon before each meeting
to insure that all the meetings be held in an orderly fashion. The chairperson
is to insure that meetings are productive and held within a agreed upon
time frame. The chairperson (or any other members) should not use the chair
for their own personal aggrandizement or agendas. Members must respect
the rights of speech by other members. No member should dominate the meeting
at the expense of the rights of others.
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are a series of recommendations based upon the experiences
of the Student Council drafting this charter in the fall of 1994. This
section of Recommendations (VII) may be added or amended by subsequent
Coun cils. Such Amendments and Additions do not constitute a change of
the Charter as such and may be made freely without a vote of the student
body.
- a) Student Council 1994/5 We have decided not to elect a president
or vice president but instead to form a series of committees that each
student council member heads one or more of. committees. Our reasoning
is that the office of President implies that one student will have more
say and responsibility than others. Eventually as the burdens of the added
work pile up (in addition to student life in general), duties which fall
more heavily on the President might be neglected. In spite of all the enthusiasm
and energy that a President may initially bring to the office. By spreading
tasks through the work of committees, we feel that the student council
can be most flexible in addressing needs as they come up as well as clearly
defining tasks among the council members. At the same time we find it very
important to have both a Secretary and Treasurer who will take the necessary
time and effort to maintain a scrupulous record of the minutes of all meetings
and expenditures.
- The committees of the Student Council of 1994 include:
- Charter
- Xerox
- Social
- Commissary/Food Supply
- Student Grievance/School Administration Liaison
- Finance
- Communications
- Public Relations and Education
- Library Information/Research
- Election
- Political Action
- These committees report at each meeting as to their activities.
- All meetings should start promptly. The first thing done is that all
members look at the agenda and make comments and suggestions. The first
item of business is to set the next meeting time and chairperson for the
next meeting. The chairperson for the current meeting should set time limitations
for each agenda item. Many items will require only a few minutes at most
while others may require more time for discussion. All discussion should
closely follow the agenda items and time frames. If students come in late,
they may be allowed to speak at the end of the meeting if time permits.
Otherwise they should put their concerns on the agenda for the next council
meeting.
WHY THE CHARTER?
We see the Charter as a necessary way for the student council to function
in a professional and effective manner. It provides the guidelines for
what present student government exists and a continuity for future ones.
It is deliberately open in some respects while at the same time guards
against abuse of the council by ECTOM Students and by the Emperor's Administration.
The Student Council of
Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine
1807-B Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90403