Are Student Government leaders completely reformatting the program? No, they have actually initiated a constitution rewrite in order to make the document more representative of the de facto processes. Executives, including the Student Body President, Jerry Barca, Vice President, Sam Norwood, and Secretary, Elliot Mark, opened the floor for suggestions to the whole student council.
In recent years the program has evolved so that procedures now occur which have been left largely up to moderator and member determination. The constitution in many areas seems too vague. For example, disciplinary actions including the levels of severity were left completely to moderator discretion. The reality of the 10 year standing document was brought to the attention of the executive council and, by the current constitution, they were allowed to initiate a rewrite.
In order to gain the full input of the student body, the executives allowed the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior councils to suggest additions or amendments to the current document. This input was not required by the current document; however, the executive council wanted to make the rewrite as democratic as possible.
This process began in August and has continued into December and January with the councils reviewing the current document. The hope is to have a completely rewritten and amended version be in effect before elections in May. This will allow rules for the new election process to be used to elect the members on the councils that will serve under the new constitution.
All in all, the amendment process is one that will affect the student government at Saint Joe for years to come. However, with the task of this assignment in the safe and responsible hands of the current student government, there should be no issues.
