Articles IX-XI

Article IX. STUDENT POWER COALITION (SPC)
Section 1. Members

The committee can (but does not have to) consist of;

  1. Representative(s);
    1. The representative(s) shall be a rising sophomore, junior, or senior elected through an internal election, by existing members only. If the position is not filled at the end of the Spring, then the representative shall be chosen in the fall through an internal election.
    2. The representative/co-representatives will include at least one member of the SGA.
  2. Infantry Organizer(s)
    1. Ensures roles and responsibilities are filled and met.
    2. Pinpoint person for campaign participants and roles.
    3. A rotating person who helps hold people accountable.
    4. Helps organize and structure projects, meetings, etc..
  3. Advisor(s)
    1. Are students who have been part of the Student Power Coalition’s recent history, most likely seniors.
    2. Shares knowledge from previous SPC experience.
    3. Ensures that SPC’s actions and decisions are informed by institutional memory.
  4. Historian(s)
    1. Conducts archival research to provide historical context to SPC.
    2. Keeps track of and archives SPC events and initiatives, ensuring that all relevant material is archived for future reference.
    3. Inducts new members by orienting through providing materials of organizations history.
  5. Radical Imagination Team
    1. The SPC will include a core group within SPC that is charged with the responsibility of envisioning the future of the committee and it’s ever evolving intention.
    2. Helps build and establish SPC on campus, and student power in general.
    3. Builds a living definition of student power.
  6. The committee will be made up of SGA and non-SGA members.
Section 2. Duties and Powers
  1. The Student Power Coalition is autonomous within the SGA.
    1. No one has a say in what the committee does, all decisions will be made internally.
      1. SGA will have no decision-making power over SPC activities or decisions.
  2. Standards of communication with SGA, administration, and the student body will be decided internally within SPC.
  3. The Community Organizer(s) organizes community building events for SPC and the campus at large.
  4. The SPC will operate as a network between other student organizations that are relevant to the mission of student power.
  5. The committee must position itself every term as not only an advocacy group and a liaison between the student body and administration, but also engage in monitoring administration to hold those in power accountable to harmful/uninformed decisions and actions.
  6. Community building/Outreach Coordinating
    1. To be taken up by the entire committee membership.
    2. Recruitment of both SGA and non-SGA members.
    3. Publicizing the SPC to the student body.
Article X. Sustainability Committee
Section 1. Members
  1. The chair of the Sustainability Committee;
    1. The chair shall be a rising sophomore, junior, or senior, elected in the spring all-college election for a term of one year and subject to re-election. If the position is not filled at the start of the fall, then the chair shall be chosen in the fall all-college election.
    2. The term shall begin at the last cabinet meeting of the academic year following the regular spring election. It shall end on the last cabinet meeting in that same academic year. The student shall be available for counsel to the successor for the remainder of the academic year.
    3. The chair shall sit on Senate as a voting member.
    4. The chair shall call, create an agenda for, and preside over all meetings of the Sustainability Committee.
    5. The chair shall be responsible for maintaining regular communications between all administrative staff that work on environmental sustainability at Smith.
    6. At the start of each semester, the chair shall call a meeting with the Sustainability Committee to create open channels of communication and to outline semester goals to foster sustainability awareness.
    7. The chair shall be responsible for receiving sustainability-related requests and recommendations from the student body and student organizations directing questions to the appropriate student or administrative body for action in a timely manner.
    8. The chair shall continue to monitor the progress in administrative changes towards making Smith College a more sustainable campus.
    9. In the event that the office of chair of the Sustainability Committee is vacated, the vice-president of the Sustainability Committee shall fill it.
  2. The vice-chair;
    1. The student shall be a member of the Sustainability Committee, elected in the fall from the committee’s membership for a term of one year.
    2. In the event that the office of vice-chair of the Sustainability Committee is vacated, another committee member, who shall be self-nominated and elected by a simple majority of the Sustainability Committee, shall fill it.
  3. The secretary;
    1. The student shall be a member of the Sustainability Committee, elected in the fall from the committee’s membership for a term of one year.
    2. The student shall be responsible for all correspondence and minutes from the Sustainability Committee
  4. The members of the Sustainability Committee
    1. Members of the Sustainability Committee shall be selected from the current senate body and organizations that address sustainability.
    2. The committee chair will work with the chair of the appointments committee to select up to three members-at-large at least.
    3. Members shall sit on meetings, no less than two times each month, called by the committee chair.
    4. Members shall be active liaisons, between their respective organizations, CEEDS and Senate, to campus-wide sustainability related events and challenges.
    5. Members shall creatively promote sustainability and awareness in their organizations, the Senate and the student body at large.
Article XI. House Presidents' Association
Section 1. Members

The House Presidents' Association shall consist of;

  1. The chair;
    1. The student shall be elected from among the membership of the House Presidents' Association in the fall.
    2. The student shall serve for one year. The student may run for and be elected to the office for no more than two terms.
    3. The student shall sit on the SGA Cabinet.
  2. The vice chair;
    1. The student shall be elected from among the membership of the House Presidents' Association in the fall.
    2. The student shall conduct meetings in the absence of the chair.
  3. The secretary;
    1. The student shall be elected from among the membership of the House Presidents' Association in the fall.
    2. The student shall record minutes of the meeting.
  4. All house presidents duly elected by their respective houses, including houses for Ada Comstock Scholars.
  5. A representative will be chosen to sit on SGA Senate.
  6. If a house does not elect a House President or House Council, Residence life staff- shall be responsible for representing a House.
Section 2. Duties and Powers
  1. Meetings of the house presidents shall be held once a week for the purposes of discussing concerns relating to the functioning of the houses.
  2. House presidents as a group shall recommend measures for consideration and action by the college committee dealing with community policy.
  3. House presidents shall act as an avenue of communication between the administration and the houses on matters of residence at Smith College.
  4. House presidents shall consider problems and questions referred to them by the administration, individual houses, or students.
  5. On occasion, the body of house presidents may be called upon to transmit information from other organizations to the members of the houses or to conduct elections, referendums, or surveys as requested by the cabinet or the senate.
  6. All house presidents shall return to campus approximately seven to ten days prior to opening convocation to participate in an orientation and training program.

Updated August 2023