A Student Government Association committee started major revisions on their constitution over fall break.
SGA’s constitution is a document that lays out the duties and responsibilities of SGA and all of its officers. The constitution also has information on the procedures that SGA has to follow on and off campus. The committee revising the constitutions is made up of five SGA senators that volunteered to revise the document, with input from the SGA, as well as the general student body.
“It is important that the SGA constitution states the correct procedures and guidelines that SGA must follow and uphold,” said Emily McDonald, SGA president. “Therefore it is important that the constitution be revised so that SGA can effectively represent the students.”
The last revision to SGA’s constitution was in 2010 when the Student Organization Life Opportunity (S.O.L.O.) bill was added. Since then, other bills have been approved by SGA but have not been approved by the Administrative Council and a two-thirds majority of the student body, as is necessary by the current constitution.
“As an SGA we have evolved to best meet the needs of the TTU students, our constitution has not,” said Nick Russell, SGA member. “It is important that we revise the constitution so that it most accurately meets the needs of the TTU student body and matches what we as an SGA do. With a revised constitution, we will be a stronger SGA for Tennessee Tech.”
The revisions made to the constitution were substantial, for it had been a while since the document had been revised. With Tech constantly growing, evolving and changing, SGA had to adapt the constitution to better fit our current needs.
“I hope the revisions that we make will be relevant forever. A more clean and impactful constitution will always be a good thing,” said Russell. “I also hope that going forward, as an SGA, we will visit the constitution more frequently, making sure that it is in line with the needs of the student body.”
SGA will be voting on the changes to the constitution Tuesday. If approved, the changes will go on to the Administrative Council and then to the student body. SGA’s goal is to have the constitution vote finalized before the end of the semester.