University of Wisconsin’s student body voted to pass a new student government constitution that will alter some branches of the Associated Students of Madison and introduce new ones.
The 15-page-long new constitution, which includes various changes to the structure of the Associated Students of Madison, was voted on by a total of 4,255 students across campus in a three-day period from March 11 to March 13. It won by 3,065 online votes, with 72 percent of students voting in favor of it.
The current session of Student Council will now need to approve the bylaws of the new constitution with a two-thirds vote before it goes into effect for the 20th session of Student Council beginning May 1, according to Press Office Director David Gardner.
ASM Chair Andrew Bulovsky said he is optimistic that the new constitution will address and help solve inefficiencies in governance, internal communication as well as student outreach.
“It’s going to make for a more efficient ASM,” Bulovsky said. “The new leaders of the 20th session [Student Council] will have a better framework for the organization in general, and they will be able to move forward from there.”
The new constitution would define more clearly jurisdictions for authorities in ASM, making the branches more specialized and more proactive in student outreach in general, he said.
Aside from addressing the need to make the organization more accessible to UW students, the new constitution would also help Student Council focus on grassroots campaigns and initiatives through two different approaches, according to Nominations Board Chair Sean McNally.
First of all, the new document outlines the creation of an Appropriation Branch, which combines the functions of the current Student Services Finance Committee, Finance Committee and the Student Activities Center Governing Board.
McNally said the Appropriation Branch would make financial decisions under the new constitution. Budgets and grants passed by the new branch would not need to be passed by Student Council, which would become the Student Senate under the new constitution.
“The grassroots committees won’t need to deal with finance and can just focus on the campaigns,” McNally said. “The new constitution will also create a President’s Council… that’s [comprised of] all the different student leaders across the campus that will help drive the campaigns in addition to the Appropriation Branch.”
Another change of the legislative body under the new constitution is the creation of the President’s Council, which plays a similar role as the current Coordinating Council but will include leaders from the large student organizations on campus as a way to bringing in more student input.
The new executive branch will consist of a President and Vice President.
If the current session of Student Council does not approve the new constitution bylaws, the new session will continue to adopt the current constitution, McNally said.
The current Student Council approved to move the new constitution to campus referendum by an 83-percent majority in February.
McNally said debate surrounding the need for a new constitution dated back to 2008, and members of the Student Council have been talking about the changes since then.
