The Associated Students Board of Directors approved a slew of amendments to the bylaws for its boards, commissions and committees within the three councils at San Diego State at its Dec. 2 meeting.
A.S. has been operating this semester as it continues to reorganize its government structure. At its final meeting of the semester, the A.S. Board of Directors approved and made adjustments to a semester’s worth of proposed amendments.
The charters for the five college councils representing the College of Education, College of Sciences, College of Business Administration, College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts and undeclared students were amended to reflect the councils’ new responsibilities. The councils must host a forum each semester and send out a monthly email to their student constituents.
Stricter rules for members of the A.S. Marketing & Communications Committee regarding attendance and participation in outreach were approved. Committee members can now be removed from the board for missing three meetings, and must commit to tabling for the committee.
The charter for the Recreation & Wellness Commission was approved. The commission is new to the A.S. government restructure.
An unlimited number of students can now serve on the Community Service Commission. The change was made to maximize the amount of student involvement in community service, A.S. President Josh Morse said.
The six student-at-large representatives within A.S. can now vote on Campus Life Council and University Council. Both councils previously only held voting positions on the Board of Directors.
A motion to amend the bylaws to allow the later filing of documents in A.S. elections was defeated by the board.
Appointments to positions in A.S. last year hit a snag when many candidates missed the 9 a.m. deadline to file campaign expenditures reports after elections. The candidates were then called before a review hearing only for most to be dismissed once it was determined that they had filed their paperwork late and not made serious errors in reporting expenditures.
“I think it’s almost petty and silly for not only students but also for the members that have to review it,” A.S. Executive Vice President Becca Cohen said.
Cohen proposed that the filing deadline be moved back to 12 p.m. the Monday after elections. She added that she thought serious measures should still be taken against students whose campaign expenditures reports contain discrepancies.
Other members of the board raised concerns about the strain that would be placed on Judicial Affairs Council by moving back the deadline. Members stressed that doing so might impact the amount of time the council has to review the documents and approve appointments.
The Judicial Affairs Council and Board of Directors only have a week to review and approve appointments, a time frame determined by their pre-scheduled meetings.
Cohen’s motion to amend the bylaws was defeated, only gathering two votes in addition to her own.
Morse said the Elections Committee will stress filing deadlines to candidates in the future to avoid a repeat of last year.
