2008 Woodie Awards
Clubs Held to Stricter Standards in Newly-Passed Bills
Student Government Calls for Club Reforms
Brian O'Connor
Issue date: 4/6/05 Section: News
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Bills L012 and L013 spearhead the current push for club accountability-- the former dealing with club elections and the latter club budget submissions. Within bill L012, new guidelines for uniform elections are outlined, officially establishing elections for all clubs that do not fill out written requests for exemption from the new legislation. Elections must now occur sometime between 25 October through 10 November of the fall semester, or between 25 March to 10 April of the spring semester, unless Student Government grants special permission.
Furthermore, Bill L012 mandates that "all results must be submitted to the Activities Committee on the first day of classes subsequent to November 10 or April 10 of the respective semesters." Students elected into office will now be required to take their positions after completing a Leadership Day sponsored by the activities committee, unless special exceptions are made.
With this new legislation, Student Government places more responsibility on clubs to maintain order in regard to club elections. Through a yearly establishment of election dates, rosters of elected officials, and a more standardized procedure for elections and elected officials, student government and the Student Activities office have more discretion over the basic functions of clubs.
The bill states that, "...The Director of Student Activities and the Student Activities Committee realize the election of club officers are often arbitrary and there is not adequate time for a proper transitional period for incoming officers to fully comprehend what their duties are and will be."
Bill L013 enacts new legislation regarding yearly budgets requested by clubs to Student Activities and Student Government. The bill requires that "All clubs and organizations must meet with the joint Activities Committee and Financial Committee, or such designees as the chairpersons authorize, prior to budget submissions of each semester."
This year, many clubs that were asked to clarify aspects of their budget attended a similar meeting, dubbed "fight for your budget night" by some club leaders. Under this new legislation all clubs could anticipate meeting with Student Government committees in order to thoroughly analyze budget requests. Through these meetings, Student Government representatives could speak to representatives from Manhattan's various clubs and get a general feel for the amount of money necessary for each club based on the previous, turnout, budgets, and success of programs performed in the past.