CONSTITUTION OF THE COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES COLLEGE COUNCIL

PREAMBLE

The purposes of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences College Council (hereinafter called the CVMBS Council or the Council or the College Council; the terminology of college or CVMBS shall mean the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) are to represent a diverse student body in events where a representative voice for students of the college would be appropriate; to provide coordination between students and faculty, students and administration, and among student organizations; and to receive and distribute Charges for Technology according to established procedures.

The Council shall be a recognized student organization of Colorado State University and shall be sponsored by a faculty member of the college. In the event that the Faculty Sponsor is unable or unwilling to fulfill that role under the provisions of this constitution or the guidelines for student organizations as published by the Office of Student Organizations of Colorado State University, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education of the college shall act as Faculty Sponsor until such time as a Faculty Sponsor may be selected and installed or shall return to duty.

AUTHORITY OF THE COUNCIL

The Council shall have the power to generate operating funds as needed and determined by the Council by any legal mechanism available to student organizations at Colorado State University. The Council shall have the power to allocate the Charges for Technology collected by the college through mechanisms of technology grants, support of technology education or services, or in the form of scholarships so long as such allocations are in accordance with Charges for Technology Manual (most current edition) as posted on the Academic Computing and Networking Services, Colorado State University, web site. The Council shall have the power to approve or withdraw approval of all appointments to any body to which the Council has designated authority. The Council shall have the power to affiliate itself with other inter-collegiate or intra-collegiate organizations; to call for special elections as deemed necessary; to manage Council affairs as deemed proper; and to remove from office any negligent elected officer of the Council. The Council may suspend the voting rights of any appointed, general or Senator or Associate Senator member of the Council in matters before the Council for just cause where such procedure for suspension of voting rights is adopted as an action of the Council and published on the web site of the Council. Such suspension would be subject to the right of redress of grievance as set forth in this constitution.

MEMBERSHIP, VOTING, PROXY, AND QUORUM

The Council shall be composed of Appointed Members. Appointed members are regularly matriculated students within the college (declared major within the college or a biomedical sciences open option student; who has paid all applicable tuition and fees and technology fees for a given semester) and are representatives from each undergraduate student organization within the college (undergraduate student organizations shall be defined as those that are sponsored by a CVMBS faculty member or a CVMBS academic department within the college, are predominantly composed of CVMBS undergraduate students, or are composed of students whose organizational interests revolve around an issue clearly within the scope and mission of the CVMBS). There shall be up to 3 persons appointed by each organization that shall be members of the Council, and these members shall be appointed in the Spring semester of each academic year. Appointed members are appointed for an academic year (beginning Fall semester after appointment and continuing through the following Summer semester) but may be replaced at the discretion of the appointing organization with a notification to the President and Secretary of the Council. These appointed members shall have one vote each on any matter before the Council

The Council shall be composed of General Members. A general member may be any student regularly matriculated in the college; who has paid all applicable tuition and fees and technology fees for a given semester; and who has a declared major in the college or who is a biomedical sciences open option student. There is no limit to the number of general members on the Council. A general member shall be granted one vote on any matter before the Council when that member has attended at least two Council meetings within a given semester. The vote of a general member shall become effective at the second meeting of the Council attended within a given semester.

The Council shall be composed of Senators and Associate Senators to the Associated Students of Colorado State University from the college. The Senators and Associate Senators shall be members for one year beginning in the Fall semester and continuing through the following Summer semester. Each Senator and Associate Senator shall have one vote on any matter before the Council.

Any voting member of the Council may designate a proxy for votes taken in that voting member’s absence. The proxy notification must be in writing to the Vice President or Secretary of the Council at least 24 hours prior to the meeting in which the proxy is authorized to act for the voting member.

A quorum to conduct business shall consist of a presiding officer (either President or Vice President or an appointment by the President or Vice President of another elected officer of the Council) and a number of voting members equal to a majority of the number of appointed members and Senator members of the Council.

All business before the Council shall be decided by a majority of voting members who shall constitute a quorum at any regular or special meeting of the Council. The exception to this rule shall be in the case of constitutional amendments where such amendments must pass by a 2/3 majority of members present at a regular or special meeting provided that such amendments shall have the approval of the President. In the case of a Presidential veto, the amendment must pass by a 3/4 majority of members present at a regular or special meeting to override the Presidential veto.

REDRESS OF GRIEVANCE

Any member of the Council deprived of any right under this constitution shall notify the President, Vice President and Faculty Sponsor of the Council in writing. The matter shall be resolved by the President and Vice President in consultation with the member and the Faculty Sponsor. Should such a resolution not be achieved, the member may have, upon request, the right to a determination by a jury of peers. The Faculty Sponsor shall select a panel of three students in good standing of Colorado State University who are also voting members of the Council but who do not hold the office or President or Vice President of the Council. This panel with the Faculty Sponsor acting as chair shall review the written grievance previously submitted, shall hear statements by the grievant and shall hear any response from a member or officer of the Council as appropriate to render a decision on the validity of the grievance. The panel and the Faculty Sponsor shall each have one vote on the matter of the grievance. If the grievance is upheld, this panel shall order a relief that will be instituted by the Council. There is no further appellate process for grievances to the Council.

OFFICERS – TITLES AND ELECTIONS

The appointed, general members, senators, and associate senators of the Council shall nominate from among themselves the following officers at the first meeting of the Fall semester in each academic year.

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

University Technology Fees Advisory Board (UTFAB) Representative

Upon nomination, each member nominated shall be called upon to make a brief statement and shall stand for any questions by other members of the Council. The election of the officers shall be from those nominated and shall be conducted at the second Council meeting of the Fall semester.

IMPEACHEMENT OF OFFICERS

Officers of the Council may be impeached and their election to office and voting privileges nullified for just cause. Such cause may be alleged by any voting member of the Council in writing to the Faculty Sponsor. The Faculty Sponsor shall bring such an allegation for impeachment before the Council at the next regular meeting of the Council according to procedures established and published on the Council’s web site.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS

President – Preside over all Council functions; cosign all Charges for Technology Fee allocations for technology education, technology services support, or scholarships along with the Council Faculty Sponsor; act as a negotiator and signatory for any contractual obligation approved by the Council; approve or veto any constitutional amendments by the Council; jointly oversee students hired by the Council in cooperation with the Council Faculty Sponsor; create new student positions to be hired by the Council as necessary.

Vice President – Oversee the proposal process for distribution of funds from the Charges for Technology intended to support technology education of students in the college; oversee the scholarship process for distribution of funds from the Charges for Technology intended to comprise scholarships awarded to students in the college; jointly oversee any students hired by the Council in cooperation with the President and Council Faculty Sponsor; assist the secretary in the maintenance of current lists of voting members; act as the President at any Council function over which the President cannot preside.

Secretary – Keep and post all minutes of the Council on the Council web site; maintain and post Council minutes, actions and decisions on the Council web site; keep attendance of all Council meetings and maintain current lists of all voting members of the Council.

Treasurer – Keep all accounts of the Council and provide a status report at all Council meetings and at the request of an Officer; attend any required treasurer meetings conducted by ASCSU or the Student Organizations Office; assume joint responsibility with a Senator or Associate Senator for any Long Bill appropriation request made to ASCSU in the Spring semester of a given year.

Senator or Associate Senator – Report on ASCSU activities and decisions to the Council; act as liaison between the Council and ASCSU; assume joint responsibility with the Treasurer for any Long Bill appropriation request made to ASCSU in the Spring semester of a given year.

UTFAB Representative – Report on initiatives and policies as they relate to the disposition and use of technology fees gathered at the college or university level and directed; represent the interests of the CVMBS College Council to the UTFAB and the university administration as necessary.

OPERATING PROCEDURES

The Council shall adopt its own operating procedures and those procedures shall be kept by the Secretary and published through the Council’s web site.

MEETINGS

The Council shall meet on a biweekly basis during the Fall and Spring semesters (excepting university class breaks and finals weeks) EXCEPT that this meeting frequency can be modified during the course of an academic year (Fall through the following Summer semester) by announcement of the President or Vice President and with the consensus of the Council at any regularly scheduled meeting. Special meetings of the Council may be called by the President or Vice President if announced at any regular Council meeting prior to the special meeting. Record of all meetings shall be kept by the Secretary and published on the Council web site.

AMENDMENTS TO THIS CONSTITUTION

A written motion to amend this constitution may be presented by any voting member at any regular meeting of the Council. A discussion and vote on the amendment shall be held at the regular or special meeting immediately following the one in which the written motion was presented. Voting on amendments to the constitution shall be according to the process set forth under the section on Voting, Membership, Proxy and Quorum of this constitution.