SGA Constitutional Amendments voting begins today

Update: On Monday afternoon, the Student Government Association announced it has rescheduled the constitutional amendment election due to technical issues with ballot distribution. Voting will instead begin at 8 a.m. Monday, March 7, and end at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 9.

Beginning at 8 a.m. today until Wednesday 11:59 p.m., the student body can vote on the proposed amendments to the Student Government Association Constitution.

Students should have received a ballot via their UTRGV email or may vote on campus between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Edinburg Student Union Commons and the Brownsville Student Union veranda.

Last Tuesday, the Student Government Association hosted a town hall to inform the student body about the proposed amendments to its constitution.

The speakers at the town hall were SGA President José Pablo Rojas and Vice President for Brownsville Samantha Lara, who spoke about the amendments that the SGA has identified to go through the Dean of Students level; and Chief Justice Mariana Estevan and Senator Dariel Arostegui, chair of the Financial Affairs Standing Committee, who discussed the amendments that will go before the student body for a vote.

Students will vote on the following changes:

–Vice presidents will no longer be required to represent a campus. This change would remove the requirement to be enrolled in at least six credit hours at the location they desire to represent at the time of application or appointment and while holding office.

–Of the four academic senators and four graduate senators, none will need to represent a different location.

–Undergraduate students must maintain good academic standing as defined by the university for enrollment at the time of application and appointment throughout their SGA term. This change would remove the minimum 2.5 GPA requirement.

–Members of the judicial branch will no longer have location-based requirements. This means there will no longer be a location requirement for eligibility.

–The Supreme Court will consist of four associate justices and a chief justice. The chief justice position must be filled by a student. This change would remove the requirement for the associate justices to represent a different location and the two faculty/staff from the associate justice branch.

–Should UTRGV establish a campus where the student population requires representation based upon the recommendation of the dean of students, or approval of a petition of the students from that location, the SGA Advisory Council will prompt the senate chair to create two senator-at-large positions followed by their location to represent that student population.

–The chief justice will initialize and oversee the removal and impeachment process as designated in the bylaws. The creation and dissolvement of a student court system will also be at the discretion of the chief justice.

–The student supreme court will have jurisdiction over the removal and impeachment processes unless otherwise noted.

–The dean of students will have the power to amend or appeal any provision in the constitution or bylaws by the SGA but will not be effective until approved by the UTRGV president and the SGA president.

In an interview with The Rider after the meeting, Rojas said the decision to change the membership eligibility to good academic standing rather than just lowering the GPA requirement was to make the eligibility more fluid to allow retention of student representation.

“In the past, it used to be even more detailed,” Rojas said. “Students had to remain 67%. They had to complete 67% of their courses. So, you could be taking 20 credit hours and you drop all your courses down to 12 credit hours, you’re still full-time. You have a good GPA, but you will be removed from office just because it falls below 67%.”

In regard to the removal of the location-based requirement in some amendments, Rojas said that he understands why some students may be worried but explained that the clause was removed for his term because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and had it not been, the senate’s membership would have been reduced by more than half.

“We want to make sure we’re representing all of UTRGV and to better focus on the campuses,” he said. “We’re leaving the senators at large to focus on the issues on those campuses and not focus on the academic part. If it’s something in academia, it can be delegated to a senator for an academic college.”

Rojas also said the requirement affects the retention of the SGA and the removal will provide a better structure for the student leadership.

Asked how he can ensure equal representation for the student body if this requirement is removed, Rojas replied that students should get involved in the senate meetings.

“As it currently stands, our senate meetings are in Brownsville and they are also in Edinburg,” he said. “And also we have the availability for Zoom capabilities. So there will always be a forum for them to speak on.”

In regard to representation, Rojas said it will not affect the student body at all.

“If it’s for a particular college, the location is not going to affect you because those four people are supposed to be advocating for all university campuses because they’re academic senators,” he said. “I know it’s very scary in a sense, for lack of a better word. But UTRGV is growing.

“To a certain point, it’s no longer going to be Brownsville and Edinburg. It’s going to be Weslaco, even further. It’s going to be other parts in the Rio Grande Valley. So, to ensure better representation, at this point, we have to open up the eligibility and allow more students in. Because this keeps students out from being representatives of the student body.”

In other business, the SGA proposed a change in the First Year Intern Program guidelines. Instead of students maintaining a 2.5 GPA throughout the school year to qualify, the change would require students to be in good academic standing with the university and enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours per semester.

The change will be referred to the Internal Affairs Committee for review and then sent back to the senate for a vote.

The next SGA meeting will take place at 6 p.m. March 8, in the University Ballroom on Edinburg campus.