On Wednesday April 23, Student Government discussed the revision of the 2014/2015 constitution.  The most recently revised and ratified constitution was voted on, resulting in the majority of candidates in favor of the change.

Many individuals had the floor to speak in regards of and answer questions concerning the constitution revisions.  As the parliament members debated, the main concern many individuals had was regarding the GPA requirement.

The current and previous GPA requirement called for a 2.3 minimum average for the General Board and a 2.7 for all Executive members.  As of next semester, all current and prospective government candidates will be required to have a minimum grade point average of 2.7.

“The intent of this GPA requirement is to ‘raise the standards’ of all prospective and potential government members,” said Executive Student Body President Tilia Gjata.

“Being apart of this board is urging these students to work for their grades and keep their grades up,” she concluded.

Many students were opposed to this motion. Junior Class Representative Yaribeth Ruiz mentioned that the GPA requirement may be a little unfair, especially to those select few students who strive to succeed in classes, yet may not have the required GPA to prove it.

Shortly after questions regarding the foundations outlined in the document, Director of Student Engagement and Leadership Zachary Beaver took to the floor to discuss his ideas concerning the constitution.

“The main idea of this document is to outline the responsibilities all members of the student government organization are expected to see in the upcoming year,” said Beaver.

The revised document outlined the responsibilities class officials including, Executive President, Executive Vice President, Executive Treasurer, Parliamentarian, Class Presidents, Class secretaries, both school and class Representatives, Commuter Representatives, Campus Relations Representatives, SAC Representative, and a SAAC representative are expected to maintain.

“At this point the constitution committee does not feel as if they have fully put together the factors including membership and financing involved in the outline of the ratification process.  We don’t want to just throw something out there; we want to do it right,” said Beaver.

Although the outline that was provided to all members was not 100% steadfast in the ideas that were highlighted, the main points were outlined.

“Both Dean O’Shaughnessy and I are looking for spending time in reevaluating the amount of money to cover more people.  So this might mean less compensation for some roles but it means more people will benefit.  Greater access to more people rather than just a select few,” concluded Beaver.

Although all regulations remain to be in the proposal stage, the money will be advocated and distributed by how individuals see most beneficial.

“You should be joining student government to fulfill that role not because it is there for extra scholarship money, or that it’s going to make life easier for you.  You should be in it for the job,” concluded Beaver.

The Board of Trustees, administration staff, as well as the constitution committee have really been challenged to look at what it means to be a student at AIC, “what is the mission of this organization and what do we need to put in placement as this constitution,” added Beaver.

Three main concerns have been focused on the revision plans of the student government association including: funding for student organizations, membership organization for government, and how officials are elected.

“Those thr

ee areas need to be addressed, but may not be finalized. There will be time to review this document before it is ratified as a constitution,” said Beaver.

By the start of next school semester it has been set that the rules and regulations for the 2014/2015 Student Government organization will be outlined in a clear and concise ratified constitution.