RESOLUTION 61

A RESOLUTION TO BE ENTITLED

An Act to Call for Improvements in The Student Governance of the Union and University Student Centers

Short Title: Union Governance Act (Public)

Sponsored by: Senators Fabricius and Hutcherson

First Reading: September 29, 2004 Version Date: September 26, 2004

Referred to: __________________________________________________________.

WHEREAS, in 1973 the Union Constitution was ratified, accepted by the administration, and enacted, a product of a multiyear negotiation between the student body and university administration; and,

WHEREAS, the Union Constitution is the supreme governing document for the Union and University Student Centers, and with the Student Body Constitution, one of only two general popularly ratified constitutions at NCSU; and,

WHEREAS, it is recognized both by student and administrators that compliance with charters and constitutions is a fundamentally necessary behavior for just and democratic operations; and,

WHEREAS, the Union Constitution, in Section Three, provides the Union Board of Directors with the power and duty “to approve the Union programming budget and to approve the University Student Center operational budget for recommendation to the University Administration”; and,

WHEREAS, the Union Board of Directors has failed to approve the Centers operational budget for at least several years; and,

WHEREAS, attempts by members of the board to resume the required practice of approving the operational budget have been met with resistance by the staff and administration of the Student Centers; and,

WHEREAS, the Union Constitution, in Section Three, provides the Union Board of Directors with the power and duty “to evaluate the performance of the University Student Center staff and to pass on such evaluation to the administration”; and,

WHEREAS, the Union Board of Directors has not performed a personnel evaluation as required in at least several years; and,

WHEREAS, lapses in student governance at the Union Board of Directors level rob the student body of their rights to financial transparency and accountability; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the North Carolina State University Student Senate calls upon the Union Board of Directors to take immediate steps to restore its proper role in the governance of the Union and University Student Centers.