Posted by Julia Leef
On April 3, the Student Government Association Senate approved the amendment to the Club Affairs Committee Policies and Procedures which, among other changes, added a uniform process of impeachment for all student clubs on campus that voids all individual impeachment procedures.
Logan Brenner '12, vice president for Club Affairs, said the committee added the impeachment clause because many clubs either do not have impeachment policies in their charters or they are vague. In addition to establishing a standard system for impeachment, all clubs must now inform the vice president of Club Affairs of the intention to impeach, keeping the SGA aware of ongoings events and situations within student organizations.
"I think that a clearly outlined impeachment policy is important to ensure a greater sense of cooperation and transparency within the student groups, and by extension the student government," Wyatt Erchak '12, co-president of Friends of Anxiety Disorders, said.
Club presidents received an early draft of the changes and gave feedback to the committee on March 26. The policy was then revised based on the critiques and the finalized version presented to the SGA Senate the following week.
"I think that these new revisions are good for clubs, as they provide a good method for potential impeachment of board members, especially if the club charter of the club does not mention impeachment," Stefan Cocorelis '13, president of the International Student Union, said. "Of course, I would never want this to ever happen, but if it was necessary, I think these new revisions would definitely help in what is an uncomfortable process."
Senate members also asked for clarification on the language surrounding Benef-Action, a student-run volunteer club that supports community service within the student body.
The Benef-Action board asked Brenner to change the language in the policy to give students trying to start new clubs the option to discuss with the executive board whether they would prefer to operate under Benef-Action.
"This policy was decided because many niche community service clubs do not last very long," Michael DuPr?? '12, president of Benef-Action, said. "Benef-Action wanted to offer to help students working on community service projects without demanding that they work under us."
This would give clubs an opportunity to work with Benef-Action on community service projects, but also allows them the freedom to engage in non-community service activities as well, eliminating the need to work towards an overall community service goal.
"Basically we're looking for a place to help clubs be sustainable," Brenner said. "It's just to make sure all of the right people are consulted. I updated these also because I think policies should be looked at once a year to keep them current and keep everyone involved."