University of Central Florida Student Government

Last updated
University of Central Florida
Student Government
AbbreviationUCF SG
PresidentBryce Lister
Vice PresidentAlexander Brawley
Speaker of the SenateAllison Pohlmann
Senate President Pro TemporeDanishka Morissette
Chief JusticeDaniel Rivera
Supervisor of ElectionsLuke Brown
FoundedMarch 9, 1969;55 years ago (1969-03-09)
Preceded byFlorida Technological University Student Government
(1969–1978)
Headquarters Orlando, Florida, United States
Membership (Fall 2021 [1] )70,386
University University of Central Florida
BudgetUS$21.1 million (FY 2022-2023)
Executive cabinet seats16
Senate seats70
Judicial seats14
Website
studentgovernment.ucf.edu

The University of Central Florida Student Government (UCF SG) is the student body government for the University of Central Florida, a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is the largest Student Government within the state of Florida and one of the largest in the United States. [2] It also often places in the top ten Student Governments nationally for the services and outreach it provides for the students it serves. SG also serves as the liaison between the student body and University Administration. The Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches as well as the Election Commission are governed by the student-adopted Constitution.

Contents

Student Government creates, approves, and oversees an approximately $20 million budget generated by student fees and self-generated revenue – one of the largest student government budgets in the United States. With its budget, SG funds and operates two campus facilities, the Recreation and Wellness Center and the Student Union, while also providing nearly $1 million in funding to 600 registered student organizations. [3] [4]

Constitution

The preamble of the Constitution of the Student Body of the University of Central Florida reads: [5]

We, the students of the University of Central Florida, in order to maintain the benefits of constitutional liberty, to create a representative association through which the individual student can participate actively in this University, and to promote cooperation among the Student Body, Faculty, and Administration, do hereby ordain and establish this Constitution for the University of Central Florida Student Body.

The Constitution consists of six Articles. The first Article details the jurisdiction of the student government, franchise, and the requirements for referendums. The second, third, and fourth articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers seen in the federal and state constitutions, whereby the government is divided into three branches: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, respectively. The fifth article discusses the Senior Student Affairs Officer, which is a staff member designated as the administrative head of the student government, and designated as such by the university president. The sixth article provides the procedure for amending and ratifying the Constitution. [5]

The Constitution has been amended over forty times, the first being in April 1970. [5] An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of the senate, or a petition with fifteen percent of the number of votes cast for president in the previous election. Amendments must be reviewed and approved by the university president.

Legislature

Senate Apportionment [6]
College/schoolSeats
Arts and Humanities 4
Business Administration 8
Community Innovation and Education 5
Engineering and Computer Science 11
Graduate Studies 10
Health Professions and Sciences 6
Medicine 3
Nursing 2
Rosen College of Hospitality Management 3
Sciences 15
Optics and Photonics 1
Undergrad Studies 1
Undeclared 1

Legislative authority is vested in a Student Senate. [5] The Senate currently consists of seventy elected senators, one for each 1,000 students as required by statute. [7] [8] The Senate is led by the Senate President, who is elected at the beginning of each term. The Senate President Pro Tempore is also elected at the same time as the Senate President to help manage the legislative agenda. According to the Constitution and Statutes, elections for Senate are held each spring – usually in late March or early April. A plurality of the votes cast is required to win. The newly elected senators are inaugurated at the first meeting of the new Senate session. The Senate is bound by university policy, applicable state and federal statutes, and the state and federal constitutions. Newly elected senators take an oath to obey the student body, state, and federal constitutions. [9]

Senate bills must be signed by both the Student Body President and the Senior Student Affairs Officer. Either officer may veto any Senate bill. The Senate may override the veto of the student body president by a two-thirds vote, at which the time the legislation is passed to the Senior Student Affairs Officer for approval or veto. If a bill is vetoed by the Senior Student Affairs Officer, the Senate may override the veto by a two-thirds vote, at which time the legislation goes to the president of the university for ultimate review. The decision of the university president is final and may not be overridden by the Senate. [5] [10] In 2010, a veto by the Senior Student Affairs Officer was successfully overridden by the Senate and sent to the university president. [11] Resolutions require only the signatures of the Senate President and President Pro Tempore. Proclamations require the signatures of both the Senate President and the Student Body President.

Budget and fiscal policy

The Senate is the body required by statutes to pass appropriations and to submit funding bills passed to the student body president for signature. Fiscal decisions are governed by rules and statutes regarding the budget process. Under state law (§ 240.235), the Senate has sole jurisdiction – except for the approval by the Senior Student Affairs Officer or their designee – over the allocation of the university's Activity and Service Fee budget. [10] [12] Each fall, a budget committee is created and is responsible for the creation for the next fiscal years budget, including the allocation of funding to the various SG branches, departments, agencies, services, and buildings. The annual budget is completed in early spring and presented to the Senate for consideration before the end of the spring semester. The proposed budget must be approved by the Senate, Student Body President, Senior Student Affairs Officer, and the university president.

The Senate is also responsible for the creation of rules governing the use of appropriated funds, including the setting of funding levels for bills and allocations, and the prohibition of use of funds for certain items and activities.

How the SG budget is spent is a matter of public record, and UCF's attempts to invoke a federal privacy law called FERPA to conceal portions of SG spending were deemed illegal by one of the highest courts in Florida. [13]

Committees

Within the Senate are seven committees with unique and sole jurisdiction over their respective matters. [14] Each committee is composed of a maximum of 20% of the total number of senators, including a chair and vice-chair. Senators are elected to four committees by a majority vote of the Senate and are appointed to the three committees by the Senate President. Statutes require that senators serve on a minimum of one committee. [7] Senators are also required to hold a meeting each semester with their constituents and deans, as well as represent about 10 of the over 600 registered student organizations.

Fiscal committees
Internal committees

Executive

The boardwalk behind the UCF Student Union, an SG funded and operated facility UCF Student Union Boardwalk.jpg
The boardwalk behind the UCF Student Union, an SG funded and operated facility

Article IV vests the executive power in a Student Body President. The Student Body President and Vice President serve an identical one-year term, elected each spring by a majority vote of the student body. The president may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms and may not seek further elected office after their term(s) has/have ended. The vice president may serve in that capacity for a maximum of two terms. [15] Candidates must be UCF students, and in good academic and financial standing with the university. [5] Candidates usually have prior experience in SG, either as a member of the Senate or the Executive Cabinet. [16]

The president is vested with the authority to appoint officers to vacancies within SG, including open senate seats, and to the Executive Cabinet – which consists of an Attorney General, Judicial Advisor, Comptroller, Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Director of Communications, Director of Student Affairs, Academic Affairs Coordinator, Sustainability and Innovation Coordinator, Safety and Transportation Coordinator, Athletics Coordinator, and various other positions as determined by the Student Body President. [17] In total, within the executive branch are between 10 and 20 appointed and paid cabinet members that oversee everything from university policies to tracking the state's legislature. These positions are subject to confirmation by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. The president also has the authority to call and preside over meetings of the Student Body when appropriate, to call for a referendum of the student body (with two-thirds concurrence vote of the Senate), and to veto legislation passed by the Senate. The Senate may override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote. The president may remove appointees to Executive offices at will, unless otherwise specified in the Constitution. The president is also vested with the power to provide for the effective expenditure of student funds as allocated by the Senate. With this power, the president has the authority to suspend SG agencies for malfeasance or violation of statutes. [5] [17]

The president serves as a member of the university's Board of Trustees and the Florida Student Association (FSA), which is an association composed of all student body presidents and their respective staffs from Florida's state universities. The chair of the FSA serves on the Florida Board of Governors, the governing board of the state university system. UCF student body president Cortez Whatley served as FSA chair from 2012 to 2013. [18]

Judiciary

The Judicial Branch performs the judiciary function for SG. [19] The Judicial Council consists of fourteen Associate Justices, led by a Chief Justice. Justices are appointed by the president and subject to confirmation by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. The council has jurisdiction over questions of the Student Body Constitution, student rights, disputes and regulations of university policy, and parking and grade appeals. The council has the final authority on questions of constitutional interpretation for SG when such questions are submitted by any student. The council also has the power of judicial review, the power to examine legislative and executive acts. Such acts brought to the attention of the Council may be declared unconstitutional. All decisions by the council are binding and valid on all affected parties. [5] [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal government of the United States</span> National government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the common government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, five major self-governing territories, several island possessions, and the federal district of Washington, D.C., where most of the federal government is based.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Legislature</span> Legislative branch of the state government of Florida

The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the legislature and how it is to be constituted. The legislature is composed of 160 state legislators. The primary purpose of the legislature is to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws. It meets in the Florida State Capitol building in Tallahassee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Separation of powers under the United States Constitution</span>

Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating in the writings of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws, in which he argued for a constitutional government with three separate branches, each of which would have defined authority to check the powers of the others. This philosophy heavily influenced the United States Constitution, according to which the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of the United States government are kept distinct in order to prevent abuse of power. The American form of separation of powers is associated with a system of checks and balances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Senate</span> Upper house of the state legislature

The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single-member districts, the Senate is responsible, along with the Maryland House of Delegates, for passage of laws in Maryland, and for confirming executive appointments made by the Governor of Maryland.

The Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) is the undergraduate student government of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The GUSA bylaws state that the organization's mission is "to (i) empower Hoyas by giving them control over resources, (ii) improve the student quality of life, (iii) safeguard Hoya rights, (iv) involve Hoyas in the governance of the University, and (v) ensure that the University conducts itself in an ethical and responsible manner."

The legislative veto was a feature of dozens of statutes enacted by the United States federal government between approximately 1930 and 1980, until held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in INS v. Chadha (1983). It is a provision whereby Congress passes a statute granting authority to the President and reserving for itself the ability to override, through simple majority vote, individual actions taken by the President pursuant to that authority.

Florida Student Association was formed in 1976 and is a non-profit corporation composed of the student body presidents from each of the State University System of Florida universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Senate</span> Upper house of the Florida Legislature

The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the Legislature and how it is to be constituted. The Senate is composed of 40 members, each elected from a single-member district with a population of approximately 540,000 residents. Legislative districts are drawn on the basis of population figures, provided by the federal decennial census. Senators' terms begin immediately upon their election. The Senate Chamber is located in the State Capitol building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Florida</span> Government of a U.S. state

The government of Florida is established and operated according to the Constitution of Florida and is composed of three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the governor of Florida and the other elected and appointed constitutional officers; the legislative branch, the Florida Legislature, consisting of the Senate and House; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Florida and lower courts. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, and ratification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Illinois</span> Government of a U.S. state

The Government of Illinois, under Illinois' Constitution, has three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The State's executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the Governor as chief executive and head of state, and has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions. Legislative functions are granted to the General Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of the 118-member House of Representatives and the 59-member Senate. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Illinois and lower courts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Alabama</span> State government of the US state of Alabama

The government of Alabama is organized under the provisions of the 2022 Constitution of Alabama. Like other states within the United States, Alabama's government is divided into executive, judicial, and legislative branches. Also like any other state, these three branches serve a specific purpose in terms of power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Turkey</span>

The Government of Turkey is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party system. The term government can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Cabinet.

The student government president is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class president are very similar to each other in some ways, the main difference between them is that while a class president represents a specific grade within the school, the student government president represents the school's entire student body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Georgia (U.S. state)</span> Overview of the government of the U.S. state of Georgia

The state government of Georgia is the U.S. state governmental body established by the Georgia State Constitution. It is a republican form of government with three branches: the legislature, executive, and judiciary. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances", each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches. The seat of government for Georgia is located in Atlanta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Kansas</span>

The government of the U.S. state of Kansas, established by the Kansas Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the Federal Government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Through a system of separation of powers, or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, and also some authority to regulate the other two branches, so that all three branches can limit and balance the others' authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Student governments in the United States</span> American organizations representing high school or college students

Student governments in the United States exist in both secondary and higher education. At the collegiate level, the most common name is Student Government, according to the American Student Government Association's database of all student governments throughout the United States. The next most common name is the student government association. Other names are student senate, associated students, or less commonly students' union. There was one instance of a government of the student body, at Iowa State University. At Yale University, the undergraduate student government is known as the Yale College Council. High school student governments usually are known as Student Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Undergraduate Student Government at Stony Brook University</span>

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at Stony Brook University is a governing body representing the undergraduate students of Stony Brook University. As with most student governments in the United States, one of USG's main functions is to recognize, fund and regulate student organizations. The USG is composed of an executive, a legislative, and a judicial branch. Along with the Graduate Student Organization, USG is the only other organization authorized to distribute the Student Activity Fee (SAF) in a viewpoint-neutral manner. In accordance with State University of New York Policies and Procedures, the mandatory SAF provides the USG with an annual budget of approximately $3.1 million, independently of the state budget.

The University of Colorado Student Government (CUSG) is the student body government for the University of Colorado Boulder. Known formerly as the University of Colorado Student Union (UCSU), CUSG creates, implements and oversees a $24 million budget generated by student fees and self-generated revenue for the operation of CUSG Cost Centers. CUSG also serves as the liaison between the student body and University Administration. Three branches, an executive, a legislative and a judicial are governed by the student-adopted Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Obhof</span> American politician

Larry J. Obhof is an American attorney and politician, who served as a member of the Ohio Senate from 2011 to 2020. He also served as the President of the Senate from 2017 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Washington University Student Association</span>

The George Washington University Student Government Association is the student government of the George Washington University in Washington, DC. The SGA is responsible for advocacy on behalf of the GW student body at and is modeled after the U.S. Federal Government and consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

References

  1. "Enrollment". University of Central Florida Institutional Knowledge Management. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  2. "April 2009 headcount". Florida Board of Governors. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  3. "Knights of the RoundTable 2008–2009 Registered Student Organization Awards" (PDF). University of Central Florida Student Government. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  4. "UCF Student Union Goals and Mission". University of Central Florida Student Government. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 University of Central Florida Student Government. "The Constitution of the Student Body of the University of Central Florida" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  6. University of Central Florida Student Government (2021-12-02). "Senate Seats Reapportionment for Spring 2022 SG Senate Elections - Bill 53-21" . Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  7. 1 2 University of Central Florida Student Government. "Constitution & Statutes - Tile III: The Legislative Branch" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  8. Reapportionment of the Senate occurs each fall (before spring elections), and is based on the average enrollment of the colleges from the preceding fall semester as reported by the university. Per statute, there is to be one senator per 1,000 students, rounded to the nearest thousand. Reapportionment is completed by the Elections and Appointments Committee and is subject to a majority vote of the Senate.
  9. "SG- Legislative Branch Budget Request Packet FY22-23". 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  10. 1 2 "The 2000 Florida Statutes Chapter 240 Postsecondary Education". The Florida Legislature. May 2000. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  11. "Senate steps up". Central Florida Future. 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  12. "Student Activity and Service Fees Are Spent to Benefit the Entire Student Body" (PDF). Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability an office of the Florida Legislature. May 2006. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  13. Klawe-Genao, Joseph (21 June 2017). "Appellate Court Rules UCF Broke the Law by Covering Up Spending Controversies - KnightNews.com". knightnews.com. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 University of Central Florida Student Government. "Senate Committees" . Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  15. University of Central Florida Student Government. "Constitution & Statutes - Title X: Installation and Eligibility Requirements" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  16. "SG- Executive Branch Budget Request Packet FY22-23". 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  17. 1 2 University of Central Florida Student Government. "Executive Branch" . Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  18. Sunshine State News (2012-06-21). "UCF Student Cortez Whatley Joins Florida Board of Governors" . Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  19. 1 2 University of Central Florida Student Government. "Constitution & Statutes - Title V: The Judicial Branch" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-06-25.