Student Government officials want to change certain parts of their constitution — and they can do it by having the student body vote on changes to seven existing amendments during the upcoming SG election. Voting begins Sept. 20 and ends Sept. 21 on OwlCentral.

Chief Justice Benjamin Cohen said the Constitutional Revision Committee put together the amendments they saw “as appropriate for the future of Student Government.” The CRC focuses on reviewing the constitution and recommending changes once every three years.

“While these will not have an immediate effect on the student body, each one is important to ensure the continued stability and efficiency of SG. I encourage every student to look at the amendments and vote to approve them in the upcoming election,” said Cohen.

Here are brief descriptions of what the amendments will change if passed:

• Amendment 1 – Each Campus House of Representatives will be capped at 50 members. (The current limit depends on student populations from each campus)

• Amendment 2 – Minor corrections to reflect SG policies and State Law.

• Amendment 3 – Removing the responsibility of overseeing the President’s Administrative Cabinet from the Vice President. SG statutes and practice has the Chief of Staff performing this duty.

• Amendment 4 – If a Campus Governor resigns or is removed, a Governor’s Administrative Cabinet member will take over as Governor instead of the Campus Speaker of the House.

• Amendment 5 – An Associate Justice At-Large will be added to the Student Court, bringing it from four to five Justices.

• Amendment 6 – Changes to allow SG members to serve on advisory boards and internal committees.

• Amendment 7 – Modifications for future CRC procedures. (Reduces the members in the committee from 20 to 15)

Amendment 4, in particular, came to fruition due to internal issues the succession policy caused in recent years, according to Chief Financial Officer Reilly Bridgers.

“The Broward campus’ house speaker during the 15th Legislative Session attempted to impeach their campus governor so they could become governor,” said Bridgers. “This is one example of many where this succession policy has presented a clear conflict of interest, hurt the balance of power between branches, and resulted in speakers getting thrust into a new role with a team they did not select or potentially work with in the past.”

Bridgers hopes the amendment will simplify the succession policy for when a campus Governor position is vacant.

“Rather than have a campus speaker forced into a role they may not want or even be prepared to fill, the Governor’s Administrative Cabinet will select one of their members who are best prepared for the role,” Bridgers said.

For each amendment to pass, a majority of the student body has to vote in favor of them. Once adopted, the proposals will go through Vice President of Student Affairs Larry Faerman for approval due to his position as a designee for the FAU Board of Trustees. According to him, this will be his first time reviewing amendments.

“The process the CRC undertakes prior to amendments being presented to the student body for adoption is quite rigorous,” Faerman said. “Thus my evaluation will primarily be based on conflict with hierarchy of laws or any inconsistency with university procedure.”

Cohen emphasized the importance of amending the SG Constitution.

“Experienced Student Government leaders have worked to create amendments that they feel will best serve Student Government going into the future,” Cohen said.

Richard Pereira is the News Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.