By-Laws of Associated Students of Rocky Mountain College
ARTICLE I: Committees of the Senate
Section I: There shall be three standing committees of the Senate. Each committee shall consist of at least three Senators chosen at the semester budget meeting. The committees shall be the Student Relations Committee, Student Publications Committee and Education Committee.
Section II: The Student Relations Committee (SRC) will be responsible for overseeing all student activities and events sponsored by ASRMC funds. The SRC will have great latitude to develop and promote student activities and events; however, funding of SRC initiatives ultimately rests with the student Senate and when financial resources are required, must be approved by the Senate. The SRC will be responsible for overseeing all clubs and organizations chartered/ recognized, respectively, by ASRMC. The SRC will review club/ organizations activities and ensure that said groups are adhering to the goals and objectives outlined in their charters and mission statements.
Section III: The Publications Committee shall be responsible for the overseeing production of ASRMC sponsored publications. The committee will include the Publications Advisor and the Editor(s) of the Yearbook, Newspaper and Literary Magazine.
Section IV: The Education Committee shall be the liaison to both faculty and administration. The Education Committee will oversee the continuation of both Academic Forum and Student Leadership Program. The Educational Committee will address all grievances and complaints dealing with the educational opportunities at Rocky Mountain College.
Section V: Additional Responsibilities.
Each committee shall make progress reports of all areas of responsibility. Further, members of each committee shall be expected to actively participate in program development, production and evaluation.
Section VI: Meetings of each committee will be held, at a minimum, every two weeks. Each committee shall meet with the ASRMC President and/or Activities Programmer to coordinate and plan events. Meetings will be regularly scheduled and open to any ASRMC member.
Article II: ASRMC President.
The ASRMC President will be expected to maintain regularly scheduled office hours equal to 15 hours per week. These hours will be published at the beginning of each semester. S/He will oversee all ASRMC events including; fund raising efforts, regular evaluations of committee chairpersons and the Activities Coordinator, policy development and review, as well as his/her responsibilities outlined in Article III, Section II, of the ASRMC Constitution. The President will present a report to the Senate elected in the Spring Term. This report will contain a record of Senate activities for the academic year to include committee progress, the budget, and the current agenda of the outgoing Senate.
Article III: Activities Programmer.
The Activities Programmer, and employee of the college, shall work with the senate and SRC to develop, plan and execute activities. The Activities Programmer will be responsible for the preparation and submission of an annual programming budget request, to be considered by the Senate, prior to the Senates regular budget meeting. The Activities Programmer shall work with the residence life staff to coordinate their activities and programs with those of SAB. The Activities Programmer will present a minimum of once per month update to the Senate of all current and pending projects/ activities and budget.
Article IV: Outdoor Recreation.
The Outdoor Recreation Director, an employee of the College, will be responsible for the preparation and submission of an annual budget request, to be considered by the Senate, prior to the Senate's regular budget meeting. The Outdoor Recreation Director, or a representative, will present a minimum of once per month, an update to the Senate of all the current and pending projects, activities and budget.
Article V: Financial Administrator.
The council through the college work-study program will retain a Financial Administrator. Working with the Dean of Students, the financial administrator shall be responsible for keeping an accurate record of all ASRMC finances. The Financial Administrator shall work with the Dean of Students to manage ASRMC funds and shall present a report of ASRMC's financial condition to the Senate a minimum of once per month. The Financial Administrator will keep regularly scheduled office hours to be determined by the ASRMC President and Dean of Students. The Financial Administrator will maintain a minimum of three copies of the budget: one with the Financial Administrator, one with the Dean of Students, and one with the ASRMC Office.
Article VI: Secretary.
The Senate through the college work-study program will retain a secretary. The secretary shall keep an accurate record of all Senate meetings. The secretary shall distribute copies of the minutes of each Senate meeting to all members of the Senate, the RMC President, and the RMC Dean of Students and shall also post them in the Student Center and appropriate student publications. The secretary shall also be responsible for maintaining a file of all ASRMC correspondence.
Article VII: Chartered clubs and Organizations.
Section I: Clubs.
- A: Club defined: Any RMC student group organized for the common purpose, which meets regularly and, whose enrollment and participation is not limited by education, training and ideology.
- B: RMC student clubs must charter with ASRMC. The club must submit a charter to the Vice President. The Vice President will ensure that all charters meet the appropriate requirements. The Vice President will give the charter to the President to be presented at the next administrative meeting. The Senate must approve the charter with a simple majority. The charter must contain: a statement of structure and purpose; a current list of club officers; an assessable list of goals and objectives; and have a faculty/staff advisor.
- C: Membership in clubs seeking ASRMC charter must be limited to ASRMC members exclusively. Groups with blended membership (i.e. non RMC members) must petition the College, through the Dean of Students office, for formal recognition.
- D: Once chartered, clubs will be allowed to advertise events/activities, hold and conduct meetings and conduct business as stated in their club charter.
- E: Upon being chartered, the club will be required to renew annually if there are no changes in the mission statement. If there are changes, the club must re-charter. The club will submit to the Vice President a renewal request for presentation at the second Senate Meeting of the Fall Term.
Section II: Organizations.
- A: Organizations defined: Any RMC student group organized for a common purpose whose enrollment and participation is limited by education, training and/ or ideology.
- B: RMC student organizations must be recognized by ASRMC. To become recognized, the organization must have an on-campus advisor/sponsor from the faculty or staff, and present a written statement of purpose and structure to the Vice President. The Vice President will give the request to the President to be presented at the next administrative meeting. The organization's representatives must appear before the senate at the scheduled meeting. The Senate must approve the request by a simple majority.
- C: Other organizations (i.e. outside organizations, political organizations, solicitors, etc.) that will involve the student membership must also be approved by the Senate prior to any on campus activities.
- D: Membership in clubs seeking ASRMC recognition must be limited to ASRMC members exclusively. Groups with blended membership (i.e. non RMC student members) must petition the College, through the Dean of Students office, for formal recognition.
- E: Once recognized, organizations will be allowed to advertise events/activities, hold and conduct meetings and conduct business as outlined in their statement of purpose document.
- F: Upon being recognized, the organization will be required to renew annually, if there are no changes to the mission statement. If there are changes, the organization must be re-recognized. The organization will submit to the Vice President a renewal request for presentation at the second Senate Meeting of all Fall Term.
Section III: Funding.
Access to ASRMC funds in support of club activities will be made available in accordance with ASRMC budgeting process and procedures. ASRMC funds may be made available to organizations on a case-by-case basis and is contingent on availability. ASRMC club funds will not be provided to support events/activities, which are not open to all ASRMC members.
Article IX: Meetings
Section I: The ASRMC senate meetings shall be held at least every two weeks. The time and place shall be made public to all ASRMC members. Any and all proposals must have a Senator sponsor that proposal. The Senator will ensure that person, persons, or organizations presenting has properly prepared for presentation to the Senate.
Section II: Attendance Policy for Council Members of ASRMC
- A: Absence will be considered excused when written notice is received by the President of ASRMC 24 hours before the meeting to be missed. If the President will not be present at a meeting, the Vice President will be assigned to receive notices of absence. For a voting member, the written notice must include the name of a proxy which may be a program officer, another member of ASRMC or a member of Hall Council. All notices of absence must be signed by the member to be absent and proxy (if applicable).
- B: An absence will be considered unexcused if written notice is not received as written above. Three unexcused absences will result in immediate removal from office. The open position will then be filled as described in Article VI of the Constitution.
- C: An unexcused absence can be removed from the record and be recorded as excused by providing a written petition to the Senate within seven calendar days of the absence. During the next meeting of the Senate, the petition will be considered and submitted to a vote of the council. A majority vote of the Senate can overturn an unexcused absence and the absence will be considered excused in the permanent record.
Article X: Financial Procedures.
Section I: At the beginning of each Term, the Senate shall meet for the sole purpose of planning a balanced budget for that Term. All chartered clubs will be required to present a prospective budget at this time. This shall be done upon receipt from the Dean of Students a summation of the total amount of activities fees collected and will be the third meeting of the Senate. If the Senate has not received the summation, Senate will create a budget based on an estimation made up of the number of students from the previous Term's population minus five percent. It will be the responsibility of the Financial Administrator to get the number of students in the last Term.
Section II: The budget shall contain five major parts those being: contingency, honorariums, clubs, activities board, and activities programmer salary. The budget shall provide the contingency fund with an amount to equal no less than ten percent of fund collected through activities fees.
Section III: The publications fee shall be allocated to the Publications Committee and the Publication Editor for budgeting to be approved by the Senate.
Section IV: Each chartered club on campus will be allowed access to a pool of funds reserved each term to support club activities. The Senate will establish a set amount of money to be made available each term at the initial budget meeting of the Senate. Any club wishing to make use of this money must present to the Senate a formal proposal for funding. Upon receipt, the Senate will consider the request and act in on of the following manners:
- A: Fund the proposal presented
- B: Fund a portion of the proposal
- C: Request additional information and defer action
- D: Reject the proposal.
Section V: All clubs, organizations, person, and activities requesting funds, after the formal budget meeting, in excess of $1,000 will require a minimum of two sessions for deliberation before approval.
Section VI: All funds allocated by ASRMC must be spent before the end of ASRMC's fiscal year. Any funds allotted, but not spent by this deadline, are returned to the ASRMC general budget. ASRMC may vote to extend this deadline in special cases for a period not exceeding six months from the end of the fiscal year.
Section VII: The ASRMC fiscal year shall end May 31st.
Section VIII: All financial commitments drawn against the ASRMC accounts shall be signed by: ASRMC Financial Administrator and the RMC Dean of Students or RMC President. All transactions, except the President's discretionary budget, must go through the Financial Administrator to maintain an accurate budget. When the President spends any of the President's discretionary money, the President must give the Financial Administrator a receipt within 2 days of the transaction.
Section IX: Contracts legally binding ASRMC shall be signed by the ASRMC President and Dean of Students and must first be approved by the Senate.
Section X: All funds allocated by the Senate shall remain in the ASRMC account until they are expended on the items for which they were allocated.
Section XI: No clubs may withdraw funds from ASRMC's account for the purpose of placing in an outside account.
Section XII:
- A: Each member of the Senate shall receive an honorarium for serving office. Honorariums are not considered payment for services and therefore should not be related to an individual's performance in comparison with other officers. The Senate shall have the power to withhold honorariums for failure to perform the duties of the office as described in Articles II, III, and IV of the constitution. The ASRMC President, with the approval of the Senate, shall have the powers to withhold honorariums of the publication editor. The Dean of Students, with the approval of the senate, shall have the power to withhold the President's honorarium.
- B: The following honorariums shall be distributed at the end of each semester as follows:
OFFICE SEMESTER ACADEMIC YEAR
Senators14(100 each) 1400 2800
Publications Advisor 500 1000
Total 1900 3800
- C: The following honorariums shall be distributed at the beginning of each month as follows for the nine months school is in session:
OFFICE MONTH ACADEMIC YEAR
President 375 3375
Publications Editor 200 1800
Total 575 5175
Section XIII: ASRMC shall annually contribute a sum equal to the yearly salary and benefit expenses of the Student Activity Programmer to Rocky Mountain College. The contribution shall be sued to fund the Activity Programmer position.
Section XIV: Two dollars from each student's semester activity fee shall be allocated toward the outdoor recreation fund to be utilized at the director's discretion.
Section XV: Five dollars from each student's semester activity fee shall be allocated toward the SAB to be utilized by the student activities programmer for use at their discretion.
Article XI: Alcohol Policy.
Section I: Funding.
Under no circumstances will ASRMC funds be used to purchase alcohol.
Section II: Serving of Alcohol.
Alcohol will not be served at any ASRMC function. Separate vendors who serve alcohol will not be allowed at any ASRMC sponsored event.
Section III: Security.
Professional security will be hired at all ASRMC sponsored events upon recommendation of the ASRMC council. All ASRMC members will be held accountable for their action and actions of their guests at these sponsored events.
Article XII: Discipline of Members.
Section I: Academic Eligibility.
All members of the Senate and program officers must maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined in the academic policies of RMC. Any member not maintaining satisfactory academic progress will be informed by the Dean of Students and shall then be required to resign their office.
Section II: Ban by Vote.
By three-fourths majority vote, the senate shall have the power to ban an ASRMC member from any ASRMC sponsored function or event.
