The Student Government Association of Mount Saint Mary’s (SGA) is compromised of elected representatives whom work of the behalf of the undergraduate student population. As such, it acts with the ability to engage and communicate with the faculty, staff, and University administration. SGA’s objective to promote three goals--to actively encourage student interests, provide student organizational support, and to enhance the experience of handling leadership. The student government works on issues ranging from campus improvements to university issues, as well as recognizing and funding student clubs.

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SGA Executive Officers
Hengameh Sedghi - President
Ricardo Silva - Vice President
Rob Posey - Treasurer
John Leubecker - Secretary

Senior Class Officers
Andrea Consalvo - President
Emily Dashiell - Vice President
Greg Spacek - Treasurer
Jeff Thoelen - Secretary

Junior Class Officers
Ryan Coleman - President
Elizabeth Connolly - Vice President
Ashley Swope - Treasurer
Jen Martin - Secretary

Sophomore Class Officers
Johnny Foley - President
Sara Ramsburg - Vice President
Alex Will - Treasurer
Kristen Maffei - Secretary

First Year Class Officers
Michelle O'Donnell - President
Jules Launi - Vice President
Kristin Costanza - Treasurer
Amberly Battersby - Secretary

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Student Government Constitution
Preamble

We the student of Mount Saint Mary's University, Emmitsburg, Maryland, in order to enhance the ideals of Mount Saint Mary's University and to provide a structure by which we follow, have set forth the following constitution. The purpose of this constitution is to foster the recognition of the students as the body of this Catholic academic institution. We, the Student Government Association, exist to represent the student body, to act as a link between the administration and the students, to provide and promote community activities through clubs, organizations, and events, and to empower the students with a vehicle for the expression of ideas through the government of Mount Saint Mary's University.

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The Government of the Student Body of
Mount Saint Mary's University

The government of Mount Saint Mary's University shall be vested in three branches: the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branch. These three branches shall derive their power from the students and the administration.

The Student Senate

Purpose
The purpose of the Student Senate is to provide an open forum for constructive ideas, to form committees, to duly appropriate funds, and to grant or with hold formal recognition of clubs and organizations. The Student Senate is responsible for addressing Student Government Legislation and issues of concern of the entire campus.

Members
The Student Senate will be composed of elected hall residents (see list below) two-elected non-residents, and two elected these house residents. This number shall be updated and revised as needed through a majority vote by senate.

• three residents per A-Towers (one per column)
• three residents per Horning Towers (one per column)
• three residents per Keelty Towers (one per column)
• three residents in Sheridan (one per floor)
• four residents in Pangborn (one per floor)
• four residents in Brute (one per floor)
• four residents in Basil/ Macaffery (one per floor)
• four residents in Dubois (one per floor)
• one resident in Bradley
• one resident in Annex Suites

No person may be a member of the Student Senate who is not a registered member of the undergraduate student body.

The members of the Student Senate shall be elected during the third week in the fall semester. Guidelines are stated in the election board rules.

Any vacancies that may occur will be announced to the Senate, and elections will be held within two weeks of the announcement.

The Vice President shall be the presiding officer of the Senate and will be known as the Chair of the Student Senate.

Student Senators must reside in the residence hall they represent. Senators who move from their hall during the year will vacate their position.

No person, with the exception of the Vice President, may simultaneously hold positions on the Student Senate and the Executive Board.

Officers
The Chair shall appoint a Recording Secretary who is a member of the Student Senate.

The duties of the Recording Secretary will be to keep records of the proceedings of the Student Senate, to post all notices of business of the Senate, and to assist in the operational and procedural duties of the Senate.

The Senate shall at its second meeting of the academic year elect a Chair Pro-tempore from among its members.

The duties of the Chair Pro-tempore shall be to preside over the Senate and to represent the Senate at Executive Board meetings in the absence or incapacity of the Vice President. The Chair Pro-tempore will also serve as chair of the Election Board.

The Vice President will not take part in voting procedure except in the case of a tie of the Senate members.

Duties
The Senate shall have the power of impeachment of all elected and appointed members of the Student Government. The senate will bring these impeachments to trail. The trail on these charges of impeachments may be presented by any member of the student senate. Three-fourths of the senate must vote to start the impeachment proceedings. Impeachment shall be determined by vote of the ENTIRE Student Senate.

If the Chair Pro-tempore is being impeached, the Chair of the Senate will take over the impeachment process.

If the Chair Pro-tempore is seen as a conflict of interest to anyone being impeached and three-fourths of the senate agrees to this, then the Chair of the Senate will take over the impeachment process.

No conviction before the Legislative Branch shall bar member from the Student Senate, unless the student is on academic or disciplinary probation.

The Student Senate will meet at least once every two weeks during the academic year to conduct business. All meetings will be called by the senate chair or in his/her absence by the Chair Pro-tempore of the Senate. Any member of the Mount Community may attend these meetings.

The Recording Secretary will keep role and minutes of the proceedings and will post the minutes regularly on the SGA bulletin board, or by any other means off communication he/she finds useful and necessary.

The Secretary will call role at every meeting.

Any Senate member missing two (2) meetings per semester will be subject to review by the Chair. If the absences are found to be unexcused, the member will be dismissed by the Chair.

A senator who is not present at the meeting forfeits his/her right to vote, if voting takes place at that particular meeting.

The Student Senate has sole authority to grant or rescind formal Student Government recognition to clubs and organizations subject to three-fourths vote of the Senate.

The Student Senate shall allocate funds to any club or organization whose semester budget exceeds five hundred dollars ($500). These funds will only be allocated to Student Government recognized clubs, organizations, and committees after three-fourths approval from the Senate and the Presidents signature. Standard veto policy applies.

The Senate has sole authority to appointments made to Executive positions by three-fourths vote.

Any veto handed down by the Student Government President may be overridden by four-fifths vote of the Senate.

The Senate has sole authority to allocate funds to persons of the community that are not members of any club or organization after three-fourths approval of the Senate and SGA Presidents signature. Standard veto applies.

The Student Senate may amend a section under article by three-fourths vote with approval of SGA President. Standard veto applies.

Any other legislation of the Student Senate must be passed by three-fourths vote and approval of the Student Government President. Standard veto applies.

Student Senate members may make proposals which they believe will improve student life at Mount Saint Mary's University, subject to three-fourths vote.

Meetings may be adjourned by motion subject to three-fourths vote of the Senate members in attendance.

No member may vote on an issue in which the Chair deems a conflict of interest. The chair may be overruled by three-fourths vote of the Senate of the members not in question.

Committees
The Student Senate will be broken into separate committees as their formation is deemed necessary, subject to the Chairs discretion.

The chairman of each committee is appointed by the Chair, subject to approval by three-fourths vote by the Senate.

The purpose of each committee is to investigate ideas and proposals and report them to the Senate with their recommendations. They shall prepare reports to present to the SGA President at a date specified by the Chair, with the concurrence of the Senate.

The reports and recommendations of each committee will be either accepted or rejected by the Senate. If accepted by three-fourths vote of the Senate they will be sent to the President for approval. The Chair may represent the Senate and make the presentation to the President if necessary. If vetoed, they will be retained by a four-fifths vote of the Senate.

The purpose of the Election Board Committee is to hold elections and to interpret the election rules. It shall be comprised of the Chair, the Chair Pro-tempore and other members selected from the Student Senate. The Election Board Committee will be selected following the election of the Chair Pro-tempore.

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The Student Executive Board

Purpose
The purpose of the Executive Board is to promote general welfare of the student body, provide and oversee activities for the Mount Community, and constitute a medium for expressing student opinions on matters of general interest.

Election of the President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer
The President will be elected with his/her Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, for the term of one year, during the month of April in accordance with the rules established by the Election Board.

The President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer will be elected by a plurality of the student body’s vote under the regulations established by the Election Board.

The President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer must be full time members of the undergraduate student body for the duration of their term.

For SGA elections, each ticket must present their platform in writing to the Student Senate. A three-fourths majority vote of the senate members will be needed to support each tickets platform, with the results being posted by campus media prior to the elections. However, any ticket that does not receive a favorable recommendation may still run in the election.

The President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer will be inaugurated at the end of the first week of the fall semester by taking the oath given by the President of the University or the President’s delegate.

Duties of the Executive Officers
The President
The executive authority of the Student Government shall be vested in the President.

Every resolution or piece of legislation must be presented to the President of the Student Government. The President’s signature is required for approval.

The President has the authority to veto any decisions of the Student Senate which, in the Presidents opinion, are contrary to the purpose of the Student Senates role. The President must follow these certain guidelines when exercising a veto:

The resolution or piece of legislation must be returned to the Student Senate with a written explanation of the President’s objection. The objection will be documented in the minutes of the next executive board meeting.

The President shall be allowed seven days to act upon the resolution or piece of legislation. After seven days, it will become a law without the President’s signature.

A Presidential veto can be overturned with a four-fifths vote of the senate.

The President will preside over the Executive Board and make recommendations for legislation. At request of the Student Senate, and the student body, the President must report on the process of the Executive Board.

The President will sit on the Budget Board Council.

The President will sit on the Mount Council as a voting member.

The President is, above all else, the voice of the student body.

The Vice President
In the absence or incapacity of the President, the Vice President will preside over the Executive Board and take over any Presidential duties.

The Vice President is responsible for organizing and carrying out all elections on campus for his/her entire term in office. This includes Class officer elections Senate elections, as well as the Student Government Elections for the next term.

The Vice President is in charge of the Student Senate and is responsible for reporting to the Executive Board. The Vice President is also responsible for reporting to the Senate what the Executive Board is doing.

The Vice President will sit on the Budget Board Council.

The Vice President will sit on the Mount Council as a non-voting member.

The Secretary
The role of the Secretary is to take and keep a record of all Executive Board meetings.

It is the Secretary’s duty to print the minutes of every Executive Board meeting and to hand them out to the members, as well as posting these on the SGA bulletin board.

The Secretary will also be responsible for collecting all Student Government documents and having them scanned and placed on disk with the Archives in order to preserve them for future use.

The Secretary will sit on the Budget Board Council.

The Treasurer
The responsibility of the Treasurer is to keep the financial books of the Student Government.

It is also the Treasurers responsibility to write checks for all student activities on campus that is funded by the Student Government. This includes any activities that the Campus Activities Board holds.

The Treasurer will sit on the Budget Board Council.

The Executive Board Chairs and Committees
Any member of the Executive Board, other than the elected President and Vice President, must fill out an application in order for the President, Vice President and the Student Senate to deem that officer/ chairperson worthy of that position. Al members of the Executive Board, after the application process, will be appointed by the President and Vice President and must be approved with a three-fourths vote in the Student Senate.

The members of the Executive Board are expected to attend all meetings. The permanent members of the Executive Board shall consist of:

The President has the authority to dismiss chairpersons or representatives of the Executive Board who fail to fulfill their duties or responsibilities as Executive Board members.

The Executive Board will hold regular meetings at least once every two weeks. Any member of the Mount Community may attend the meetings.

The President and the Vice President shall have the authority to amend the committees of the Executive Board (additional or remove), subject to approval by three-fourths vote from Senate.

The Executive Board shall enact, enforce, and execute the finalized orders, resolutions, and legislation of the Senate.

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The Student Hearing Board

Purpose
The purpose of the Student Hearing Board is to hear judicial cases on campus.

Members
Two Undergraduate Assistants will sit on the board. These are members that are selected by the Campus Life Staff.

The Student Government President will appoint two (5) hearing board members, and approval from the Student Senate with a three-fourth vote, to be part of a student pool.

No underclassmen will be allowed to be a Judicial Board member.

Members of the Judicial Board must have a cumulative grade point average of at least a 2.5 GPA.

The Office of Campus Life will determine when hearings will be held, and what the severity of the case may be.

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Amendments

An amendment may be introduced to the Student Senate by any member of the student body.

The Student Senate may amend any section of the constitution by three-fourths vote and approval of the Student Government President.

The Student Government President has the power to veto any amendment proposed by the Student Senate.

In the event of a presidential veto, the amendment may be enacted by fourth-fifths vote by the Student Senate.

If the Student Government President fails to act upon the amendment before the regularly scheduled Student Senate meeting it shall become an amendment without the Student Government Presidents signature.

The Student Government President must be allowed a minimum of seven days to act on the amendment.

The student body has the power to propose a referendum appealing the Student Senate’s action.

Members of the Student body have seven days to appeal to the Student Senate’s action.

In order to introduce a referendum, signatures of ten percent of the total student population must be obtained.

If the minimum ten percent is met, the Student Senate is required to hold a vote for the student body.

If the majority of the voting student body disapproves the referendum, the amendment is overturned.

If the majority of the voting student body disapproves the referendum, the amendment will stand.

All amendments must be formally drafted to the Constitution and become effective upon ratification.