Student Life
Student Government Bylaws
By-Laws
Section I – Removal of SGA Members
A. Any member of SGA can be removed from the organization.
B. If any member does not perform his/her duties, has more than 3 unexcused absences, violates the zero tolerance policy, or performs any act that brings direct harm to either SGA or UW-WC, said member must present a letter of resignation within one week.
C. If said member refuses to resign they are immediately removed from SGA.
D. A vote of 2/3 is required to overturn the removal.
E. Any removed member may not be reelected or appointed to SGA for 1 semester.
Section II – 128 Account
A. SLIC will propose the following year’s recommended Segregated Fee Budget (128 Account) to the SGA who shall have final approval requiring a signature from the President.
B. SGA may rescind the approved budget, make changes, and reapprove the changed budget.
Section III – Allocation of Funds
A. Amount of allocation must be as exact as possible.
B. Allocation of funds should be done prior to purchase.
C. The Executive Board or advisor may not allocate Segregated Fee money.
D. Any SGA member may propose the allocation of funds with the majority vote of the SGA.
Section IV – References
A. If any questions or problems arise and there is no answer in the SGA Constitution, refer to:
SGC Constitution
Robert’s Rules of Order
SGA Reference Manual
SOC Manual
Shared Governance Manual
United Council web site http://www.unitedcouncil.net
UW System web site http://www.uwsa.edu
Section V – Proxy Vote
A. To give a proxy at a meeting, a member must fill out a Proxy Vote Form.
1. The form must be put in an Executive Board member’s mailbox no later than 24 hours before said meeting.
2. If the issue to be voted on changes during the meeting, the proxy becomes null and void.
Section VI – Advisor’s Responsibilities
A. To be current on all the laws and procedures pertaining to the SGA.
B. To be a reference as to how issues were dealt with in the past.
C. To give the SGA a schedule of planned events from the previous year.
D. To work with the SGA Treasurer.
1. To co-sign with the Treasurer on all SGA expenses.
2. If the Treasurer cannot be found within a reasonable time period, the SGA President can sign for the expenses in extreme circumstances.
3. Under no circumstances is there to be a payment made without the approval of the above mentioned people.
4. To assume the duties of Treasurer if needed.
E. The advisor may be called upon by SGA at anytime to perform additional duties.
Section VII – Voting Regulations
A. Candidates in the senatorial elections must establish their candidacy by one of two ways.
1. Through gathering ten signatures and writing a paragraph on their reasons for wanting to be elected. These candidates must turn in an information sheet one week before said election.
2. By becoming a write-in, which needs to be authorized by the candidate.
B. Voting for Members and the voting of the Executive Board takes place for two consecutive days.
C. Each student gets one ballot and no UW-WC student shall be denied the right to vote.
D. Each student is allowed to vote for 2/3 of the total number of candidates running, if the number of open positions is less than 2/3 the total of the candidates running, then each student is allowed to have the same number of votes as positions open.
E. Student Government Executive Board is required to count the votes.
F. Candidates must receive at least 10% of the total votes to be elected.
Section VIII – Campaigning for SGA
A. Candidates and/or student groups are not allowed to campaign within 20 feet of the voting booth on election days.
Section IX – Student Clubs
A. To be recognized as a University Student Club, the group must:
1. Have at least four members.
2. Create a Constitution.
3. Fill out a club form.
4. Have a faculty, staff, or administration advisor.
5. Be accepted as a club by a majority vote of the SGA body.
B. According to The University of Wisconsin System Administration Financial Policy and Procedure Paper, political and religious clubs cannot be funded by segregated fees.
C. In order for a student club to receive funding, they must come before SGA and submit a proposal for the amount requested and how the allocated funds will be used. SGA will consider the proposal and vote on it.
Section X – Constitution Committee
A. Appointed by the President, chaired by an Executive Board member.
B. To examine submitted amendments and ratifications to the SGA Constitution and by-laws.
C. To report findings by next regularly scheduled meeting.
Section XI – Executive Board Oversight Committee
A. An Executive Board oversight committee will be created by SGA at the beginning of each semester to critique the performance of the Executive Board members based on their duties as described in Article V, Section D, and to develop a proper disciplinary action for Executive Board members not performing their duties correctly.
B. This committee shall consist of 4 senators voted into said committee by a majority vote, with at least 2 of the committee members having been in SGA for at least one semester.
C. The Executive Board Oversight Committee will meet twice each semester, once at midterms and once at least three weeks before finals to review Executive Board performance. If need be, this committee may have special meetings.
D. The results of said committee will be presented to the SGA as a whole, discussed, and changed as needed. Each Executive Board position will be voted on separately. During the special vote, Executive Board members do not have voting rights. If an Executive Board member is still not performing his/her duties at that time, disciplinary action will be enforced.
1. The only three acceptable forms of punishment are loss of pay, removal from office, or removal from SGA.
E. Duties within the committee
1. The advisor will serve as chairperson of said committee.
2. At the first meeting, someone will be appointed as Secretary of said committee to keep minutes.
3. To collectively fill out Executive Board member critiques by vote.
Section XII - Events Committee
A. To create and run SGA sponsored events for students.
B. Chaired by an Executive Board member.
C. In order to receive funding, a motion must be made at a formal SGA meeting with an approval of the majority of the SGA body. The proposal must be for an approximate amount, which should be as close to the actual amount needed to run the event as possible.
D. To plan yearly events sponsored by the SGA and provide a calendar to the SGA body for approval.
Section XIII– Ex-Officio Member
A. Any UW-WC student who is not on the Executive Board may be invited to sit in at the Executive Board meetings.
B. The Ex-Officio member(s) has no voting rights.
C. If a closed session is called, the Ex-Officio member(s) may be asked to leave.
Section XIV - Zero Tolerance Policy
As adopted from United Council Bill EX 1098-02
We the Student Government Association (SGA) of the University of Wisconsin-Washington County (UW-WC) strongly stand against acts of discrimination and/or harassment based on gender, race, national origin, age, sexual orientation, religion, mental or physical challenges, or creed.
Any member of the SGA at a UW-WC that commits an act of discrimination and/or harassment based on any of the said above can be brought before the Zero Tolerance Committee by any offended party. This committee shall be a terminal committee only activated when a party has been accused of violating the Zero Tolerance Policy. The Zero tolerance committee shall consist of three Executive Board members as well as three senators appointed by the President. The Zero Tolerance Committee must also consist of three males and three females. If any Executive Board member comes under the prosecution of the committee, the President shall appoint another senator. The Zero tolerance Committee must reach a decision of whether or not the offending party is in violation of this policy by a majority vote. If the Zero Tolerance Committee finds that the offending party is in violation of the Zero Tolerance Policy, the offending party will then be brought before the entire SGA body for a final hearing. The SGA body must find the offending party in violation of this policy by a 2/3 –majority vote. If the SGA body finds the offending party in violation of this policy, the SGA body then reserves the right to suspend the rights and privileges of the offending party along with their duties for an undisclosed amount of time. If the offending party is again found in violation of this policy after their first suspension has been served, all of the offending party’s rights and privileges as a member of SGA will be terminated permanently.
Section XV – SGA Logo
A. The SGA logo must appear on the first page of every official SGA document.
B. Every poster and sign that is made for SGA purposes must have either the SGA logo or “Sponsored by SGA” on it.
C. All events that are co-sponsored by the SGA must have the SGA logo on it.
Section XVI– Advisor Oversight Committee
The SGA Advisor will be overseen by the Advisor Oversight Committee, consisting of two SGA Senators and One Executive Board Member. A report will be filed per semester on the Advisor’s performance, and filed in the SGA Office, and a copy provided to the Dean and the Assistant Dean of Student Services. This committee will be formed within the first two meetings of the SGA each and be reformed each semester.
Section XVII – SGA Day
The SGA President will organize a day that is called SGA Day. This day will be to bring about awareness of the organization and its purpose. There will be at least one SGA Day per academic year.
Latest By-Law Update: May 2, 2007
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