Friday, March 20, 2009
Another BoR meeting, constitutional amendment still pending
The Board of Regents April 2009 meeting will have one agenda item noticeably missing: the ASUN constitutional amendment from 2008 that is still pending. More than one year after it was ratified by the students, it still has not climbed the administrative ladder from student passage to Board of Regents approval. We have previously discussed this issue here and here.
In an effort to move this along a little more quickly, as the Senate might find great use in the contents of the amendment in the near future, below is a specimen certificate that Sean Driscoll can use to certify the amendment to UNR President Glick so that it might appear on the Regents' next agenda (June), more than one full year after it happened.
Specimen Certificate to UNR President on ASUN Constitutional Amendment, 2008
We should also note that this issue was raised directly to Sean Driscoll, the Chair of the Election Commission. In fact, we transmitted to him a copy of the specimen certificate above. It would appear that he has not acted on our (humbly) well-researched--dare we say accurate and competent--advice.
Could you guys maybe get on this? It is the Constitution and all, so it is kinda important. Sort of. Yeah.
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I've spoken to Sandra and Sean regarding this matter. I haven't followed up since the week before elections. But Sandra and Sean informed me that Sean would be pushing it forward. Your certificate to the president was not used, nor should it be, because (1) plagiarism (2) Sean should have complete knowledge on the amendment that was passed (he's new to our university and, to my knowledge, wasn't around when the amendment was passed. He should make sure what he's signing is legitimate.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I gave your dear friend, Shane, some documents regarding the board of regents amendment. If passed, NSHE student governments will not have to pass amendments to their constitutions through the board of regents as a whole. It will only need to be approved through the chancellor and university.
Indeed Sean should determine whether he is certifying something grounded in fact. All the documents are public record and are available in many places. I would dispute your claim that by using our certificate, which we gave him permission to use, would constitute plagiarism. That's like saying one has plagiarized the U.S. Constitution when certain phrases are borrowed.
ReplyDeleteOn the second matter, although it may be expedient for student government constitutions to be approved by one individual, it could also be dangerous. What if a student government is attempting to put into place something that the president or chancellor do not like? Is there going to be an appeal mechanism to the full Board? Furthermore, such a policy might be contrary to state law. NRS 396.547 states that the governing document of a student government must be approved by the Board of Regents. Has there been any discussion of whether the Board can delegate its powers and mandates under state law to subordinates?
Finally, in response to a situation that occurred with respect to ASUN's current constitution, the Senate passed a resolution petitioning the Board of Regents for a policy change (S. Res. 75-24). It would do you well to look that up and understand what had happened with your current constitution. You can view the resolution (page 242 of the electronic file, page 220 of the printed document).
These events are remove from you by only one year. Please do not be ignorant to them and believe only what your "advisors" tell you. Hell, for that matter, don't believe everything we tell you just because. Look into these things on your own and draw your own conclusions. We, as always, will supply information and analysis. The decision making ability is in your capable hands.
Well, thanks for the information, Sean McDonald. I'll look into it further, as I did not read S.R. 75-24 (my apologies).
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologize, as I'm sure you didn't know about the resolution. And I'll be sure to pass word along to Sean about your giving him credit for this. I'm sure he'll get a chuckle out of it.
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