Constitution of the Iliff Student Senate

Article I. Name and Purpose of the Iliff Student Senate 

Section 1   The official name of this organizational body is the Iliff Student Senate, herein referred to as the Senate. 

Section 2   The Senate is a representative body of students at the Iliff School of Theology striving to serve the needs of the student community encouraging individual growth, communal ties, and spiritual development. 

Section 3   Senate duties shall be decided by the Senate at the start of each operating year. For detailed descriptions of positions, missions, and duties, see Student Positions located on Senate Google Drive. 

Section 4   The Senate Mission Statement is: “The Iliff Student Senate is an elected representative body which serves student needs by encouraging individual growth, communal ties, and spiritual development.  The Senate supports the Mission Statement of the Iliff School of Theology by providing a forum for open and civil communication and acting as a liaison between the student body and faculty, staff, alumni/ae, and trustees.” 

Article II. Membership and Structure 

Section 1   The members of the Senate are five (5) elected officers, ten (10) elected senators, a designated representative from each independent student organization (ISO), and a non-voting liaison from the faculty or staff. 

Section 2   Elected officers of the Senate with voting privileges are: Two (2) co-chairs, one (1) Secretary, and one (1) Treasurer, and one (1) Communications Chair. 

Section 3   Elected Senators with voting privileges are: (1) MDIV student, one (1) MASJE student, one (1) MAPSC student, one (1) MTS student, two (2) Journey reps, (1) First Year student, (1) Fellowship Chair, one (1) Iliff Voices in Action Chair, one (1) Spirituality and the Arts Chair.  All elected senators shall have one (1) vote each.

Section 4   Representatives of Independent Student Organizations with voting privileges are selected by their respective organizations. ISO Chairs or Co-Chairs may be persons elected to other positions, but cannot represent both an ISO and a budgeted position simultaneously.  ISO are free to send whomever they choose from their membership as a voting member of Senate if substitution is called for. 

Section 5   ISO’s are encouraged to elect a representative to student senate. This person represents the interest of the ISO and gives reports of the ISO’s activity to the Senate. An ISO with representation issues can petition Senate to designate a current elected representative (excluding Senate co-chairs and standing committee representatives) as their standing representative. This representative will only hold one vote. The Executive Council wants to encourage the maximum number of voices possible at each Senate meeting. This will not preclude ISOs from sending substitute representatives in the event of illness or emergency on the part of the standing representative. 

Section 6   The Senate shall meet on a regular basis throughout the academic year. Quorum for all meetings shall be established as simple majority of voting members.  

Section 7   The Chair(s) of ISO’s are required to have at least one planning meeting at the beginning of the academic year with the Iliff Student Senate Staff Advisor and the Student Co-Chairs to be considered active (see Article VI Section 8) 

Section 8   Senators must attend at least two (2) ISO events per quarter of which the senator is not a member of or a Senate Event (i.e. Fellowship, Community, or Iliff Voices in Action event). Exceptions made for Journey Representatives if event occurs outside of Gathering Days.  

Section 9   All students enrolled in the Iliff School of Theology are eligible to be elected members of the Senate. All elected senators with voting privileges are expected to maintain good academic standing as per the Master’s Student Handbook. All elected Senators are expected to attend all Senate meetings. When a Senator cannot attend a Senate meeting, they are expected to communicate their absence in advance to the Senate Secretary. 

Section 10 Senate meetings are open to the entire Iliff Community. 

Section 11 ISO’s are required to have a representative at each Senate meeting.  Attendance is suggested to receive funding for ISO meetings and events.   

Article III. Financial Policies 

Section 1    Each academic year will consist of 3 separate quarterly budgets (Fall, Winter, & Spring). 

Section 2    Any funds remaining in a designated quarterly account at the end of each quarter will be transferred back into the general Senate account to be disbursed the following quarter. 

Section 3    Each quarter’s total budget will be based on the amount of student activity fees received in the prior quarter and any monies left over from previous quarters (persistent funds notwithstanding). Budgets will also be evaluated against previous quarters’ expense reports. Any budget increase of more than 50% or over $499.00 will require an itemized budget proposal for approval by Student Senate.  

Section 4    The Senate is not authorized to approve a budget shortfall. 

Section 5    Although ISO and Standing Committees maintain financial priority, any Iliff student may submit a budget request form, which will be considered by the Senate. 

Section 7 Check request forms must be accompanied by an invoice or bill and must be submitted at least one week in advance of the distribution of funds. Any check request requires two signatures (Student/ISO Chair & one Co-Chair). 

Section 8    Once funds are approved by the Student Senate, advanced funds will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Executive Committee and are subject to availability. Receipts (and any change) must be submitted within 24- hours of purchase and within two weeks or receiving the checks. Failure to submit a receipt and change will have two effects: (1) repayment of all advances distributed, and (2) denial of any future requests for advances. 

Section 9 Persistent Funds are funds are monies earned outside of the general Senate budget and designated to specific ISOs. These funds are earned by independent student organizations through donations or working the annual book sale. These funds may be used for general purposes of the ISO. Policies regarding requesting funding from the treasurer applies for getting access to the persistent funds. ISO's are encouraged to use their persistent funds. While persistent funds may remain for an undesignated length of time, the persistent funds will only remain in an active ISO account.   

Article IV. Elections 

Section 1   Regular elections for all elected Senate positions shall occur within the last six weeks of the Spring Quarter at the discretion of the Senate. Exceptions for this election are one (1) First Year At-Large student. Any vacant seats not filled during the Spring election shall be placed on a ballot within the first four weeks of the following Fall Quarter at the discretion of the Senate. 

Section 2   Supervision of the nomination and election process shall be the responsibility of the Senate officers. Specific election duties of the committee shall include: supervision of the nomination by petition process; establishing election procedures not specified by the Senate Constitution; conducting the election, including all matters related to balloting, and be the final judge for all election results; providing notice of election results to the Iliff Community; providing each newly-elected Senate member with a copy of the Senate Constitution. Any Senate officer running in the election cannot participate in counting ballots.

Section 3   All elected officials of the Senate may be subject to removal from office. Removal procedures shall commence no sooner than seven (7) nor more than fourteen (14) days after a petition calling for removal and signed by ten percent (10%) of the student body is reviewed by the Senate. Upon receipt of such a petition the duties of the Senate include confirming all signatures on the removal petition as enrolled students at the Iliff School of Theology, and conducting a special election of ‘no-confidence.’ Special election procedures are at the discretion of the Senate. A two-thirds (2/3) majority of those voting in the special election shall constitute removal from office. 

Section 4   The newly elected Senators assume office on the day following the last day of classes in the Spring quarter. Required transitions of positions must occur before the first day of the Fall quarter. 

Article V. Standing Committees and Taskforces 

Section 1   Standing Committees of the Senate are committees created by the Senate to address long-standing facets of community life. At their formation, these committees are intended to exist for periods of time longer than one (1) year. 

Section 2   The chair of each standing committee must be a senator with voting privileges elected by the student body.  In the event that a committee chair resigns his/her position, another chair will be appointed by the Senate officers. 

Section 3   All members of the broader Iliff community may be members of standing committees of the Senate. Community members may act as co-chair of a standing committee. Each standing committee will have only one (1) vote.  Co-chairs may be elected within the committee by consensus, but the student body elects only one (1) chair. 

Section 4   Committee names may be changed by a consensus of the respective committee and submitted to the Senate for approval. 

Section 5   Senate may dissolve current standing committees or create new standing committees by a simple majority vote. 

Section 6   A current list of standing committees is as follows: Fellowship Committee: Iliff Voices in Action Committee; Spirituality and the Arts Committee 

Section 7   All Standing Committees shall include a minimum of three members, including the Chair. 

Section 8   Senate task forces address issues affecting community life or issues of immediate concern, including events for the Iliff Community in any given academic year. These committees are, at formation, intended to function for the period of one (1) academic year.  However, said task force may disband at any time during the academic year. 

Section 9   Chairs of Senate task forces may be elected senators or members of the broader Iliff Community so appointed by a simple majority (51%) vote of the Senate. 

Section 10 All members of the broader Iliff Community may be members of Senate task forces. 

Section 11 At the end of the academic year in which a Senate task force was created or when the goal of the committee has been accomplished, it is the responsibility of the committee chairperson(s) to present a detailed report of the committee’s activities to the Senate. 

Section 12 Senate task forces are considered disbanded at the end of the academic year in which they were created or when the goal of the committee has been accomplished. A simple majority vote of the Senate may renew a Senate task force’s mandate for any given length of time less than one (1) year. A simple majority vote of the entire Senate body may turn a Senate task force into a standing committee with a chair elected by the student body. 

Article VI. Independent Student Organizations (ISO) 

Section 1   An Independent Student Organization (ISO) represents a facet of the interests of the Iliff Community. 

Section 2   As an independent organization, an ISO shall not be considered part of Senate and as such the rules for standing committees and task forces presented in Article IV shall not apply. Senate shall not intervene in the internal affairs of an ISO, nor may Senate affect the bylaws of an ISO. 

Section 3   Senate shall be responsible for the budgetary allocation of student activity fees to ISOs requesting funding. 

Section 4   ISOs requesting funding through the student activity fee must provide an itemized accounting of requested funds, along with an event proposal. 

Section 5   ISOs will submit a quarterly report of all activities for review by Senate. The representative shall be a voting member of Senate, and shall provide Senate with updates on the activities of their respective ISO. Reports shall include number of event attendees with a breakdown of categories of attendees: ISO members, non-member students, faculty/staff, and non-Iliff participants. Reports will also include evaluation of the event by the coordinators, what went well, what went poorly, whether this event will be done again in the future. Reports should be submitted no later than the end of week 8 of the quarter. 

Section 6   Senate must be notified of the formation of all new ISOs, should those organizations request funding through the student activity fee. Official standing of the new ISO shall be recognized upon receipt by Senate of the following documents: a membership list for the new organization containing the names of at least four (4) student members of the Iliff community; a petition of support from at least twenty (20) members of the general Iliff community; a mission statement describing the benefits of the new organization both for its members and the greater Iliff community.

Section 7  A current list of ISOs can be found in Appendix III of the Master’s Student Handbook. 

Section 8  ISO’s are required have a Chair of their organization to be considered active. If an ISO does not have a Chair, the ISO will be considered inactive until a new chair is elected to represent the ISO at Student Senate for the following academic quarter. If the ISO does not elect a representative, the ISO will be considered inactive for the remaining academic year. 

Section 9 If an ISO has remained inactive for three years, there will be a ‘last call’ for support, and barring support, the ISO will move from inactive to disbanded. Once disbanded, the ISO is no longer is considered an Iliff student organization. If students want to re-start the IOS, they must utilize the process of formation for an ISO (see Section 6). When and ISO becomes permanently disbanded, any remaining persistent funds will be divided equally among the active independent student organizations.  

Article VII. Addenda 

Section 1   This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the entire Senate body at a regularly scheduled meeting or a special meeting called for that purpose. 

Section 2   Proposed Constitutional and Bylaw amendments must be written and distributed to the membership of the Senate and no less than seven (7) calendar days before the meeting in which the amendments are to be acted upon. 

Section 3   Amendments to the Constitution and/or to the Bylaws shall take effect immediately upon passage. 

Section 4   This Constitution shall supersede all prior Constitutions and Amendments. 

Section 5   Senate shall hold responsibility for student activity fees. Student activity fees shall be raised or lowered with two steps. 1) The Senate approves by a 2/3 vote and 2) by a simple majority vote of the student body. Such a vote shall be conducted by the Senate. The vote will be preceded by a one week public notice; all other election considerations shall be decided by the Senate. 

Section 6   The two (2) Senate Co-Chairs will serve as the Student Trustees of the Iliff Board of Trustees during their elected term.