Constitution

Wesleyan Student Assembly
Constitution as of May 2009

Article I
Name
The name of this organization shall be the Wesleyan Student Assembly.

Article II
Membership
Every student recognized by the University as a enrolled, degree-seeking undergraduate shall be considered a member of the College Body.

Article III
Wesleyan Student Assembly (hereafter referred to as “WSA” or “the WSA”)

A. The WSA shall act as the legislative and deliberative body of the College Body.

B. The WSA shall be responsible for:

1. overseeing the allocation of Student Activities Fee.
2. transacting all other business of the College Body.
3. identifying student interests and representing them to the Wesleyan community.
4. serving as a forum for the consideration, development, and promotion of University policies consistent with student interest.

C. Furthermore, the Wesleyan Student Assembly shall not discriminate against anyone on the basis of race, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, color, age, national or ethnic origin, or disability in the execution of its responsibilities under this constitution or in the administration of its policies and programs.

Article IV
Composition of the Wesleyan Student Assembly
The WSA shall be composed of thirty eight (38) members, each of whom shall serve on one or more standing committees (By-Laws Article 1). Unless indicated, all positions listed below are undesignated (i.e., candidates are elected to the WSA, not to a specific committee).

A. Ten (10) members shall be elected to the WSA at the beginning of the fall semester to serve terms beginning upon election and ending at the beginning of the final meeting of the spring semester of the following calendar year.
1. The frosh class shall elect seven (7) representatives from the entering (frosh) class.
2. Three (3) at-large representatives who are members of the sophomore, junior, or senior classes shall be elected by students in the aforementioned classes.

B. Ten (10) members shall be elected to the WSA at the beginning of the spring term.
1. Six (6) at-large representatives shall be elected by students in the aforementioned classes, to serve terms beginning upon election and ending upon the election of their replacements at the beginning of the spring term of the following calendar year.
2. Four (4) students shall be elected to the Student Budget Committee and the WSA concurrently by the entire student body, to serve terms beginning upon election and ending upon the election of their replacements at the beginning of the spring term of the following calendar year.
3. If any member of the Executive Committee is scheduled to have their term expire at the beginning of the spring semester, then their term will automatically be extended to the end of the spring semester, one seat will be removed from the at-large election for each member of EC covered under this article, and an additional half-year seat will be added to fall elections at the discretion of the coordinator.

C. Fifteen (15) members shall be elected to the WSA at the end of the spring semester to serve terms beginning upon the beginning of the final Assembly meeting of the spring semester and ending the beginning of the final Assembly meeting of the spring semester of the following calendar year.
1. The frosh class shall elect five (5) frosh to represent the following academic year’s sophomore class.
2. The sophomore class shall elect five (5) sophomores to represent the following academic year’s junior class.
3. The junior class shall elect five (5) juniors to represent the following academic year’s senior class.

D. Two (2) members shall be elected to the WSA at the end of the spring semester to serve terms beginning at the beginning of the final Assembly meeting of the spring semester day that year and ending upon the final Assembly meeting of the spring semester of the following calendar year.
1. The frosh, sophomore, junior, and senior classes shall elect one (1) president, who is a member of one of those same classes.
2. The frosh, sophomore, junior, and senior classes shall elect one (1) vice-president, who is a member of one of those same classes.

E. One (1) member, appointed through the standard WSA appointments process, as outlined in the by-laws, and ratified by a majority of the voting student body, who shall serve as chair of the concert committee and have all of the rights and responsibilities of any other WSA representative, in addition to those assigned to the chair by the by-laws.

Article V
Officers and Committee Chairpersons

A. The officers of the WSA shall be the President, the Vice President, the Coordinator, and the Treasurer. All officers of the WSA shall be members of the Executive Committee [EC] (By-Laws Article 4), act as Student Representatives to the Board, and oversee the WSA office, staff and evaluation of Administrator.
1. The President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the WSA and shall be the chair of the Executive Committee.
2. The Vice President shall be an assistant to the President of the WSA and shall assume that office should the President be unable to fulfill hir duties. The Vice President shall chair the Organization and External Affairs Committee and the Student Representatives to the Board and will be the Vice Chair of the EC. Ze shall be the Chief Communications Officer.
3. The Coordinator shall be the Vice Chair of the Organization and External Affairs Committee, and shall be the chair of all general WSA meetings. When chairing meetings of the WSA, ze shall not be permitted to vote on any matter before the Assembly except in the event of a tie, in which case ze shall cast the deciding vote.
4. The Treasurer shall be the Chief Financial Officer of the WSA and chair the Student Budget Committee (SBC).

B. The non-officer committee chairpersons of the WSA include the Community Outreach Committee Chair, the Academic Affairs Committee Chair, the Student Affairs Committee Chair, and the Finance and Facilities Committee Chair. All non-officer committee chairpersons of the WSA shall be members of the Executive Committee and act as Student Representatives to the Board.

C. Internal Elections will be held at the final Assembly meeting of the spring term that will determine the composition of the coming year’s EC, to be held in a manner at the discretion of the presiding officer. These elections will be held with an Assembly composed of 27 voting members. All outgoing Assembly members are invited to serve as ex oficio members for the purposes of internal elections. A student is eligible to run for a chair position if ze meets any of the following two conditions: the student has been elected to the Assembly in either the most recent Winter Elections or the most recent Spring Elections; the student has been appointed to fill a position elected in the most recent Winter Elections or the most recent Spring Elections. If the student was an official candidate for President or Vice President in the most recent Spring Elections, ze is eligible to run for a chair position contingent upon hir election to the WSA in the Fall Elections.
The President-elect and Vice President-elect will be ratified by the Assembly at this meeting. The President is the only Assembly member eligible to stand for election to the EC chair, and the Vice President is only Assembly member eligible to stand for election to the Organization and External Affairs chair. The Final Assembly meeting must be held after Spring Elections are complete. Students will begin their tenure as Officers or Chairpersons upon commencement day, and their terms will end upon commencement day of the subsequent year.

D. The members of the Executive Committee must be re-approved by the full Assembly at one of the first four meetings of the fall semester, with the vote to be scheduled at the President’s discretion. At the first meeting of the semester, every Executive Committee member must present and justify what they have accomplished since the last WSA meeting of the spring semester. Once the presentations of summer accomplishments are complete, the Assembly must vote by secret ballot to re-approve each internally elected Committee Chair and the Coordinator in hir position. The President and the Vice President are exempt from re-approval, but must nevertheless give a presentation of their summer accomplishments. A majority of the Assembly is required to re-approve each Committee Chair. If a Committee Chair fails to garner majority support of the Assembly, then an internal election, for which any member of the Assembly is eligible, will be held to replace that Committee Chair.

E. All other interim positions shall be internally elected at the last WSA meeting of the academic year per the recommendation of the Executive Committee.