BYLAWS of the Columbia College Student Council
Article I. Membership and Duties
Article II. Meetings
Article III. Distribution of Funds
Article IV. Elections
Article V. Committee Appointments
Article VI. Adoption of Bylaws
Article I. Membership and Duties
Section 1. The membership of the CCSC shall be beholden to the following guidelines.
Section 2. All members of the CCSC, including members of the Executive Board, shall prepare and present an agenda of activities and initiatives for the year within the first month of the academic calendar.
A. This agenda shall be prepared with the President and the Vice President for Policy.
B. This agenda shall be informally approved by the Executive Board before being presented to the entire CCSC.
C. Members shall be held to the agenda for the year, though it may be amended at any time with the knowledge of the President and the Vice President for Policy.
Section 3. Duties of the President
The President shall chair the weekly CCSC meeting and Executive Board meeting as outlined in Article II, Section 1 and represent the council and student body in the other meetings specified for the President in Article II.
The President shall facilitate communication among the Class Presidents and Class Vice Presidents, convening them for a roundtable at least once a semester. The President shall support the class council in meeting the needs of their respective constituencies by helping them arrange meetings with administrators and advising where needed.
The President shall communicate with the presidents of the other undergraduate student governments regularly.
The President shall be responsible for composing the weekly email sent to the Columbia College student body. This communication shall serve to promote council events, update students on policies, invite student input on various issues, publicize up to one event per student organization per semester, and highlight resources for students. It shall aim to be informative, but also as concise as possible.
Section 4. Duties of the Vice President for Policy
The Vice President for Policy shall chair meetings of the Policy Committee, a subcommittee of the larger council consisting of the Academic Affairs and Student Services Representatives.
The Vice President for Policy shall bear responsibility for all nominations to University and College administrative committees through the processes outlined in Article V of these bylaws.
The Vice President for Policy shall maintain direct working relationships and communication with counterparts in other councils and governing boards in order to coordinate university-wide or multi-school policy efforts.
Section 5. Duties of the Vice President for Funding
The Vice President for Funding shall be responsible for the efficient allocation of student activities fees, as well as oversight of the appropriate use of these funds. Additionally, the Vice President for Funding shall be responsible for guiding Class Council Officers in the preparation of a budget for the entire year. The Vice President for Funding shall serve as the chair of the Co-sponsorship Committee and shall be responsible for coordinating the funding of the following:
A. Governing Board Allocations and Appeals
B. Class Council, Senior Week, and Awards Committee Appropriations
Section 6. Duties of the Vice President for Campus Life
The Vice President for Campus Life, among his or her other duties, shall bear responsibility for perpetuating and enhancing the following traditional College events organized through the CCSC and its standing Campus Life Committee:
A. Passport to Columbia: a multicultural showcase
B. Events Surrounding Homecoming
C. The Tree-Lighting Ceremony
D. Basketball Mania
E. Activities Fair
F. CCSC-ESC Retreat
G. Columbia College Days, including King’s Ball
H. End-of-Year Backyard BBQ
I. Semesterly Midterm & Finals Week Study Breaks
Section 7. Duties for the Vice President for Communications
The Vice President for Communications shall maintain a calendar of activities, meetings, and programs for the entire CCSC and keep both the CCSC website and CCSC TV Screen in Lerner Hall
A. Members are required to report any planned programs, initiatives, or meetings to the
Vice President for Communications at the earliest date possible for inclusion in the CCSC calendar to be maintained on the CCSC website.
B. Members are required to submit updates on a weekly basis to the Vice President of Communications who shall then compile and distribute the collective document to the full board prior to the CCSC Meeting on Sunday.
C. The Vice President for Communications shall chair meetings of the Communications Committee, a subcommittee of the larger council charged with gauging and aggregating student opinion, raising awareness around council policies and activities, and promoting internal and inter-council information sharing.
D. In accordance with the constitution, The Vice President for Communications must consolidate an end of the year report on activities of all Board members and publish it before Spring Elections.
Article II: Meetings
Section 1. CCSC Meetings
CCSC Meetings shall take place every Sunday night at 8:00 PM in the Satow Conference Room on the fifth floor of Lerner Hall. All members are expected to be in attendance at every meeting.
A. All votes shall be conducted by the President [changed from the Vice President for Communications] and shall require the quorum and majority described in Article III, Section 1, A, B, C, and D of the CCSC constitution.
B. During meetings, the President of the CCSC shall lead discussions. If he or she chooses, another member of the executive board may lead discussion in his or her place. If the leader of discussion chooses, a speakers list shall be kept by either the President or the Vice President for Policy.
C. Discussion on an issue ends when there is a seconded motion to end discussion followed by a 2/3 vote in favor, or if the Chair believes that there is a general consensus that the discussion is no longer moving forward in a productive manner.
D. A vote can be called for at any time by any member of the CCSC. However, if there are still members who feel the need for further discussion, the member calling for a vote must first move to end discussion. Once this has been approved, the call for a vote must be properly seconded by a second member of council. A member calling for a vote need not always move to end discussion.
E. Meetings shall be adjourned at the discretion of the Chair. However, any member of the CCSC may move for the meeting to remain open. A simple majority vote shall be sufficient to require the meeting to remain open.
F. CCSC meetings are open to the public unless otherwise noted. During an open meeting, the audience may be asked to leave at the discretion of the Chair.
G. CCSC reserves the right to have closed meetings or have a part of the meeting at the beginning or end closed. If closed, this needs to be indicated in advance on the agenda that is distributed to council members and media representatives.
Section 2. Attribution and Speaking Terms Used During Open CCSC Meetings
As CCSC meetings are open and public unless otherwise indicated, the following speaking terms and attribution protocol will apply:
- To take a statement “Off the Record,” a speaker must seek the permission of the media representatives prior to making the statement.
- To put a statement “On Background,” a speaker must seek the permission of the media representatives prior to making the statement.
Section 3. Meetings of the Executive Board
The Executive Board will hold a closed meeting at least once a week and will meet with the Engineering Student Council’s Executive Board at least once a semester.
Section 4. Meetings of the President
The President shall maintain regularly scheduled meetings with: the Dean of Students; the Dean of the College; and the Associate Director of the Office of Student Activities.
A. The President shall inform the Council of the agendas for these meetings, as well as any discussion and outcomes at his or her discretion.
B. The President shall include other members of the CCSC in these meetings when appropriate, and shall make substantial efforts to do so.
Section 5. Meetings of the Vice President for Policy
The Vice President for Policy shall chair meetings of the Policy Committee, a subcommittee of the larger council consisting of the Academic Affairs, Student Services and Pre-Professional Representative.
Section 6. Meetings of the Vice President for Campus Life
The Vice President for Campus Life shall chair regular meetings of the President’s Council for the President and Vice President of each class.
Section 7. Meetings of the Vice President for Funding
The Vice President for Funding shall chair meetings of the CCSC Cosponsorship Committee, as outlined in Article III, Section 2 of these bylaws. The VP for Funding shall also serve as a board member of the Activities Board at Columbia (ABC) according to the ABC’s Constitution, and maintain communication with the Student Governing Board (SGB) at Earl Hall, Community Impact (CI), Intergreek Council (IGC), and Club Sports (CS) in order to stay apprised of their needs.
Section 8. Meetings of the Vice President for Communications
The Vice President for Communications shall serve as the CCSC’s representative on the Lerner Hall Committee on Scheduling and Programming and Chair the Communications Committee Meetings.
Section 9. Meetings of the University Senators
The University Senators should obey all Senate attendance policies. Senators must also attend weekly CCSC meetings in accordance to the CCSC attendance meeting policy.
Section 10. Meetings of the Academic Affairs Representative
The Academic Affairs Representative shall hold regular meetings with the Dean of Academic Affairs, Advising Programs, and Columbia College’s student representatives to the Committee on Instruction (COI) and the Committee on the Core (COC). The Academic Affairs Representative must also attend CCSC’s Policy Committee Meetings.
A: The Academic Affairs Representative shall make available the schedule and agenda of these meetings to the entire CCSC.
Section 11. Meetings of the Student Services Representatives
The Student Services Representatives shall hold regular meetings with the University’s administrators of student services. Student Services Representative must also attend CCSC’s Policy Committee meetings.
Section 12. Meetings of the Pre-Professional Representative
The Pre-Professional Representative shall hold regular meetings with the Center for Career Education, the Pre-Professional Advising Offices, and pre-professional student organizations.
Section 13. Meeting of the Class Councils
All class councils are required to hold regular, weekly meetings at a time that is publicized to the entire CCSC and to the respective constituencies of each class council.
Section 14. Follow-Up and Transparency with Non-Regular Meetings
Any CCSC member who has a meeting with any member of the Administration or Faculty shall update the Council with the outcome of the discussion at the following CCSC meeting in order to facilitate smooth discussion between the CCSC and the Columbia University Administration.
Article III: Distribution of Funds
Section 1. Funds shall be allocated to the following governing boards: Activities Board at
Columbia (ABC), Student Governing Board (SGB), Community Impact (CI), Club Sports (CS), InterGreek Council (IGC). Each class council shall also receive an allocation for the year.
Section 2. CCSC Co-Sponsorships
The CCSC shall allocate money to recognized student groups, or unrecognized student groups at the discretion of the Vice President of Funding, through co-sponsorships.
A. Co-sponsorship requests shall be voted upon by members of the Co-sponsorship Committee.
a. The CCSC Co-sponsorship Committee shall consist of the following five members: Vice President for Funding and four other members of CCSC. The Vice President, Funding shall chair all meetings of the Co-sponsorship Committee.
B. The Co-sponsorship application shall be guided by the following protocol:
a. Groups shall submit applications either via email to the Vice President for Funding, or to the Student Government office on the 5th floor of Lerner Hall. Only recognized student groups shall be allotted co-sponsorship funds from the CCSC. Special initiatives are limited to new initiatives by non-recognized groups. Incomplete applications shall not be considered. Complete applications include the Information Sheet and the Budget Request Sheet.
b. The CCSC Co-sponsorship Committee shall review the application and make a recommendation regarding the sum of money to offer in co-sponsorship.
c. After the committee makes its recommendation, its decision must be approved by a majority vote of the CCSC. Decisions shall be made within 2 weeks.
d. Approved funds shall be transferred into the appropriate organization’s account.
e. The cosponsored event should recognize CCSC as a cosponsor.
C. Co-sponsorships shall be guided by the following requirements:
a. CCSC does not accept appeals from student groups, as the governing boards act in this capacity. Rather, the Co-Sponsorship/Special Initiative Fund is geared towards event planning, and funds shall only be allotted for specific events.
b. The event must have more than one co-sponsoring campus group.
c. All requests must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event.
Article IV: Elections
Section 1. Elections shall be run by the CCSC Elections Board.
Section 2. Spring Elections should occur in April, to allow the incoming council sufficient time to learn their responsibilities and meet relevant administrators. The CCSC Elections Board should adhere as closely as possible to the Elections Timeline Template (see Appendix I, Elections Board Constitution), scheduling no fewer than two information sessions, a rules meeting, candidate forums, postering periods, non-postering campaign periods, and a moratorium period directly preceding the election. The Elections Board should take into account holidays, vacations, and other campus events when scheduling the elections, with the aim of garnering maximum student participation.
Section 3. In the event of a dispute during the elections, candidates may appeal an Elections Board decision to the Judicial Board.
A. The board shall be chaired by the highest-ranking member of the CCSC who is also a senior.
B. The board shall be comprised of five seniors from the membership of the CCSC, chosen by the Chair of the committee.
C. The chair of the Elections Board shall not be a member of the board, but shall be available to explain the Election Board’s ruling and shall be allowed to observe all proceedings.
D. The decision of the Judicial Board shall be final.
E. The board, at its discretion, may refuse to hear an appeal. Such a refusal shall require a 2/3 majority vote of the members of the board.
F. Appealing candidates shall have the opportunity to remove one member of the board before the proceedings begin, and when challenged, the board member must step down. The chair may be one of those members challenged, and in the event the chair steps down, the board shall select a new chair.
G. From the time an appeal is filed, the CCSC Judicial Board shall have 24 hours to conduct a hearing and rule on the appeal.
H. Disqualified candidates shall be treated as unrecognized candidates from the time of disqualification regardless of pending appeals.
Article V: Committee Appointments
Section 1. The following is a list of committees for which the CCSC is responsible for nominating members.
A. Committee on Instruction (COI): nominate 5 students from the college, 2 shall be chosen by administration.
B. Committee on the Core (COC): nominate 5 students from the college, 3 shall be chosen by administration.
Section 2. The following is a list of the processes for offering nominations to University and
College committees.
A. The creation of Sub-Committees of CCSC members for selecting nominees for each position.
a. The sub-committee to select members for the COI and COC should be co-chaired by the outgoing and incoming Academic Affairs representative of the CCSC and include the Vice President for Policy. This sub-committee is responsible for creating an application for each position, collecting and reviewing the applications, conducting an interview process for selected students, reaching a majority decision on the student chosen for each committee, and reporting the results to the Dean of Academic Affairs.
b. The sub-committee to select members for the PCSA should consist of the Executive Board of the CCSC and should be chaired by the CCSC President. This sub-committee is responsible for creating an application the position, collecting and reviewing the applications and selecting 5-7 finalists. The finalists shall then be interviewed by the CCSC board, upon which the board shall select three nominees whose names shall be submitted to the University President.
B. The setting of a timeline for each committee nomination.
a. Each of the sub-committees should have nominations processed by the last meeting of the academic year.
b. COC, COI: Nominations should be made by the last meeting of the academic year. The final appointment process shall occur in the fall; however, a hard copy and an electronic copy of the finalists’ applications should be sent to the Dean of Academic Affairs by the last meeting of the academic year.
c. PCSA: Nominations should be made by the last meeting of the academic year.
d. The process of for each of these nominations should be roughly one month in length.
C. The publicizing of open positions.
a. Publicizing should begin two weeks before the application deadline.
b. A description of each open position, including, if necessary, an application, details of position duties and time commitment, and contact information should be created by the subcommittees outlined in Section 2.
c. The CCSC should use e-mail and postering to ensure that all students are informed about each open position.
d. If necessary, the CCSC should also contact group leaders through student governing boards. If the search is open to graduate students, then special efforts should be made to contact graduate students governing bodies and organizations and enlist their assistance in the publicizing the open positions.
D. The establishment of Criteria and Selection Protocol by which nominees shall be selected.
a. The subcommittee for selecting member for COI ,COC and PCSA should develop criteria based on what the student body requires of a representative to one of these committees. This should include and ability to work and communicate with the student council, and working knowledge of the current issues in each area under the committee for which the application is being considered.
b. Each applicant should complete a general written application which should consist of: school and year at Columbia; a statement affirming that the applicant can commit themselves to attending most events and meetings related to the position; a short answer question detailing what sector of the Columbia community the applicant feels he or she can best represent on the committee; and a short essay stating why the applicant desires to serve on the committee.
c. Applications should be available online at the CCSC website and 1 hardcopy format in the SGO.
d. The sub-committees for selection should notify the applicants of results within two weeks of the application due date.
E. Terms of the Committee Positions
a. COC, COI: Committee positions should be two year positions, with a position opening up when a student either finishes their two years, or decides to resign. Ideally, each year would being with at least one returning committee member and one new committee members. However, the most important aim of this bylaw is that there be continuity and constancy within the student representation on these committees.
b. PSCA: The committee position is a 1-year term.
F. The reporting of nominated students to the appropriate committee chair.
a. Once each position has been filled, results should be reported to the appropriate administrator, the students, the CCSC, and the general public via e-mail and notice sent to the Columbia Daily Spectator.
Article VI: Adoption of Bylaws
Section 1. These bylaws shall become binding when adopted in the manner described in the CCSC constitution.
Section 2. Bylaws must be renewed or revised at the first meeting of each academic year.
