Senate constitutional amendments set for vote

Updated 6:30 p.m. Feb. 15, 2022

Correction: The SGA Constitutional Amendments Town Hall will take place at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 in Music, Science & Learning Center Room 1.105 on the Brownsville campus.

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Later this month, UTRGV students will vote on Student Government Association Constitutional Convention Amendments that include lowering the GPA requirement for serving in the senate and eliminating the requirement that vice presidents represent a particular campus. 

During its meeting last Tuesday, the Student Government Association passed a resolution recommending changes to its constitution and presenting them to the student body for a general election to vote in favor or against amending the document.

In other business, the SGA approved the Legislative Bylaws Amendment and Acting Interim Bylaw bills.

Matthew Cantu, senator for the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship, motioned for a vote on the bills each time Senate Chair José Raul Ruiz opened the floor for motions.

During the President’s Report, SGA President José Pablo Rojas said that now the student body will have the choice to decide if it will vote for or against the Constitutional Convention Amendments Bill.

As previously reported by The Rider, if students vote to amend the constitution, some of the changes that would be made include:

–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.

–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.

–Vice presidents will coordinate the actions and efforts of the SGA at the direction of the president for each campus, satellite campus and university facility in the UTRGV domain.

–At the time of assuming office, graduate students who have completed an undergraduate degree at UTRGV are eligible under the undergraduate requirements.

–The executive cabinet will consist of the chief of staff, secretary of administration and finance, the secretary of communications and recruitment, and the secretary of graduate affairs.

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

–The seven members of the Supreme Court would consist of four associate justices, two faculty/staff associate justices, and one chief justice, which must be filled by a student. The change would remove the requirement of all associate justices to represent either the Brownsville or Edinburg campus.

–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 First Year Internship Program director will move from the executive cabinet to its own branch in collaboration with the SGA.

“I don’t encourage not voting,” Rojas said. “I encourage voting. If you don’t like it, vote, vote. If you like it, vote. If you don’t care, get informed and vote. It’s pretty much just to ensure that everybody’s voices get heard. That’s the most important thing.”

Now that the senate has passed Legislative Bylaws Amendment Bill 01, the following amendment has been made to the SGA Legislative Bylaws:

–“Failure to provide an excuse to the sergeant-at-arms at least 12 hours before a mandatory event or meeting, unless deemed an emergency, shall constitute an issuance of an unexcused absence.”

After passing the Acting Interim Bylaw Bill, the SGA has adopted the following sections of the bylaw:

–In the case of a presidential vacancy, the vice president who was stipulated in the act of succession will assume the presidency and its responsibilities for 30 days or until a senate meeting is called for the election of the president.

–In the case of a chief justice vacancy, the president will appoint an existing associate justice to the role of interim chief justice and its responsibilities for 30 days or until a candidate is presented to the senate floor.

–At the time of their absence in a senatorial event or at a prescribed time stamp designated by their person, the chair of the senate will delegate their senatorial roles and responsibilities to their fellow senate officers. Based on the designation of the chair of the senate, the secretary or the sergeant-at-arms will assume coordination and control of the senatorial process.

The general student vote is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Feb. 28 and end at 11:59 p.m. March 2. A town hall is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 in Biomedical Research and Health Building Room 1.222 on the Brownsville campus and via Zoom before the next SGA meeting.

Under new business, the SGA voted to appoint Senator Job Martinez to the sergeant-at-arms position and Senator Dariel Arostegui to the chair of the Financial Affairs Standing Committee.

During the President’s Report, Rojas said research has been conducted in regard to the College of Fine Arts.

“So, recently we met with the Senators for the College of Fine Arts to see a little bit more about what’s going on in the School of Art and Design, particularly in the Brownsville campus,” he said. “Right now it’s located in … not in UTRGV. UTRGV basically rents a space from [Texas Southmost College] in the Brownsville campus and we have been getting a lot of student concerns in regards to that. So, we really want to be able to address as much as possible and shed some light into what’s going on and speak to higher-level administration just to look more into it.”

Rojas also declared the establishment of an executive ad-hoc committee “to prompt the conversation and construction, if need be, for a graduate student association, council, assembly or any of its likeness …”

“Basically entailing that these conversations will be conducted and the current graduate membership that we have in SGA, they will be a part of this conversation,” Rojas said. “My secretary for graduate affairs will be taking lead in this committee. They will be connecting with graduate students and they will be having these conversations, if need be, of creating, assume a form of official representation, like the School of Medicine, ensuring that each student concern gets addressed in a specialized manner.”

He said graduate students interested in being a part of this committee may email the SGA at sga@utrgv.edu.

Rojas then invited Senator Martinez and Aylin Madrigal, former President of the Student Stakeholder Advisory Board (SSAB) and now majority leader for the Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship, to stand alongside him and recognize the adoption of the SSAB into the structure of Collegiate Advancement Student Advisory Councils (CASAC).

The SGA acknowledged Madrigal, Dean Lance Nail, Associate Dean Linda Mathews, and student organization Presidents and/or leadership now known as delegates for the college:

–Nallely Balderas Gallegos, Association of Latino Professionals for America

–Angelica M. Guerra, Society for Human Resource Management

–Job Martinez, Enactus

–Jenny Milczewski, Masters in Business Administration Association

–Orfie Sepulveda, Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization

–Abelardo Villareal, Hospitality and Tourism Management Student Organization

–Jinna Yoom, Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business

“This will ensure a coalition between the caucus, the College of Business, and SGA,” Rojas said, who proceeded to give the floor to Senator Martinez and then Madrigal.

“This is a very historic moment,” Martinez said. “I’m just really happy that we have this opportunity to be able to work together and have that strong sense of communication.”

Madrigal proceeded to explain that the transition of the SSAB into the CASAC strongly encourages the collaboration between the SGA and an effort to strengthen the representation and communication with faculty, staff and students.

“So, overall, CASAC will function autonomously with its own jurisdiction,” Madrigal said. “Together we will serve as the voice of the student population with constant communication with our senator, of course, and together we will ensure the success of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship. With this, we hope to ensure that we are able to breach that gap between administration and students.”

She added that she is excited to be a part of this and hopes that other university organizations are able to take upon the CASAC as well.