Constitution of the Cooper Union School of Art Student Council

Preamble
To create a better Cooper Union Student Council with equality, opportunity and freedom within a just and strong collegiate community, we dedicate ourselves to organizing the recruitment and participation of students in the Cooper Union School of Art.

Understanding the importance of participation in The School of Art to the preservation of our values and principles, we pledge to organize its students in order to further its philosophy and programs.

For these ends and upon these principles, we, the students of The Cooper Union School of Art, do hereby associate ourselves and adopt this Constitution for our branch of the Student Council.

Article 1: Purpose
To create an open forum in which issues may be formally addressed in an attempt to improve and/or maintain the excellence set forth by The Cooper Union School of Art and its programs, and to fairly represent and acknowledge those viewpoints expressed by students in the School of Art.

Article 2: Membership

A. Members
The membership of the Art Student Council shall be as set forth in the constitution of the Joint Student Council.

B. Members in Good Standing
(Refer to the Constitution of the Joint Student Council.)

Article 3: Elected Officers

A. Authority and Responsibility
The elected officers shall have general authority and responsibility for the ongoing affairs of The Cooper Union School of Art Student Council. All decisions made by elected officers must be presented to the members in good standing at the next general meeting. Any of these decisions may be overruled by a majority vote of the Members in Good Standing.

B. Meetings
The elected officers will meet no less than once a month or as often as is needed and/or determined.

C.Elections
Members will be elected at the closing of their first year at The Cooper Union School of Art so that they may immediately become officers in their second year, effective upon the beginning of the fall semester. As of fall 1997, candidates will require 10 votes from their constituents in order to become eligible for office.

D. Removal
The Student Council of the Cooper Union School of Art reserves the right to remove elected officials with poor participation or lack of participation in its entirety.

Cause for removal shall be defined as malfeasance or nonfeasance of assigned duties, being convicted of a felony, or upon other grounds found by all of the other members of the Members in Good Standing to constitute good and sufficient cause.

The process for removal of an elected officer shall begin when a Member in Good Standing charges the officer in question with the reasons for his or her removal at a meeting. The officer in question must be offered an opportunity at that meeting to defend himself or herself. A two-thirds majority of the Members in Good Standing in support of the motion to remove is required for an officer to be removed.

E. Vacancies
A vacancy shall be declared when an elected officer dies, resigns or is removed from office. If the vacancy occurs in a representative position, the alternate on the committee on which the representative had served will serve in place of the originally assigned representative. The Student Council of the Cooper Union School of Art reserves the right to appoint a suitable representative to the vacancy by a two-thirds majority vote.

Article 4: Amendments
This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Members in God Standing in accordance with issues pertinent and relevant to the students of The Cooper Union School of Art.

Approved by JSC, 12/1/96