The Jonathan Edwards College Council meets every Monday at 10 pm in the JE Common Room. Feel free to stop by - all JE students are welcome.
Class of 2012
Class of 2013
Class of 2014
The Jonathan Edward College Council shall consist of five Representatives from each Class, one President, one Vice President/Treasurer and one Secretary.
A. Representatives from the Sophomore, Junior and Senior classes shall be elected for a term of one academic year. Elections shall be organized by the President and executed by the President, Vice President/Treasurer and Secretary after the council has convened once since commencement of the fall term. The ballot shall be a secret ballot, and votes shall be counted electronically. Candidates may be self-nominated, and all students of the College may vote for up to five Representatives only from their own classes. In the event that five or fewer students in a class run, the election is not considered competitive. The election of each class's representatives shall be official after at least three days of balloting. If an election is competitive, 60 percent of the students of that class must have cast a ballot. The President may extend representative elections at his/her discretion. A similar process shall elect the Freshman Representatives one session later. At any time, if a class has fewer than five representatives on the Council, a student may alert the President of his/her intention to run. The President will give the entire class 48 hours notice to submit their candidacy. The President shall then call an election for only that class.
B. Officers of the Council, namely the President, Vice President/Treasurer and Secretary, shall be elected by a majority vote of the Council for terms of one calendar year by the end of the fall term, and shall take office upon election. The Vice President/Treasurer and the Secretary are automatically re-appointed to act as Class Representatives in the beginning of the fall term. The number of available positions for election shall be one less for the class that the President, Vice President/Treasurer and Secretary are part of.
C. Each Representative shall have one vote. The Vice President/Treasurer and Secretary shall also have one vote. The President is a non-voting Representative. When the President's term expires, he/she will have a vote until the end of the academic year.
a. In case of a tie, people who have abstained are given a chance to change their votes. If the vote is still tied, the President has the deciding vote.
D. Electronic votes are considered valid if announced with a minimum timeframe and a quorum of votes has been cast.
The duties of the Officers are as follows:
A. The President shall lead, and provide an agenda for all Council meetings, maintain order through rules decided on by the President and subject to the Council's acceptance, ensure that all viewpoints are fairly represented, and remain impartial whenever possible. The President shall ensure the effective and smooth carrying out of all council functions, shall run all Council elections, and shall serve as the representative of the Council at official functions and to the Master and Dean.
a. Rules - come from modified Robert's Rules of Order
b. President cannot propose a motion
c. All motions need to be proposed and seconded. Then, a majority vote will pass the motion.
d. In the case of competing motions, it is up to the President's discretion to organize the motion in form of: 1) motion one 2) motion two 3) abstention
e. Motions exist in the form of "I move that …"
B. The Vice President/Treasurer shall take the place of the President in case of his/her absence or incapacitation, and shall develop and oversee the budget for the Council in consultation with the President and Master's Office. The Vice President shall also give a semesterly report to the college on how JECC money has been spent. This report need not include specific allocations of funds. The Vice President is also responsible for working with the President on ad hoc committees.
C. The Secretary shall keep and post accurate minutes of all Council proceedings, ensure that they are distributed to the Representatives and officers, as well as to the students of the College and to the Master and Dean. The secretary shall also be responsible for copying and distributing agendas and other copies at the request of the President.
The Secretary shall keep and post accurate minutes of all Council proceedings in Temptations and on the JE College Web site. Whenever possible, JECC plans shall be publicized by the Secretary on the Web site and in Temptations beforehand.
A. If a Representative misses four meetings during a single term, it is the responsibility of the President and Council to investigate and take appropriate action. In order to remove a Representative from the Council, there must be a three-fourths majority vote of the rest of the representatives.
B.
i) The President's term is divided into two halves. The first half of the President's term ends with the last day of spring semester. Should the President resign during the first half of the term in office, an election will be held to fill the vacant position. All representatives are eligible for election. If the Vice President/Treasurer and Secretary choose to run for the position, both may do so without resigning from their positions. If either of the two Executive members is elected President, subsequent elections will be held to fill the newly vacated positions until all Executive positions are filled.
ii) If the President should resign during the second half of term in office, the Vice President/Treasurer will automatically assume the office of President. The new President will then appoint a representative to fill any vacant executive position. All representatives are eligible for appointment.
iii) If a Representative intends to apply to be a freshman counselor and to run for President, he/she must consult with the Master and Dean before submitting his/her candidacy.
iv) No person may be SAC Chair and JECC President.
C. In the event of the resignation from the Council of the President or of any of the Executive officers, an election to fill the newly vacated position must be held within one week of the announcement of the resignation.
A. The council shall not take binding action without a quorum of at least two-thirds of its current members. The Council shall convene as the President decides — normally weekly and no less than twice each month.
B. Council meetings shall be open to all, and the minutes shall be distributed to the College as described in the duties of the Office of the Secretary. Whenever possible, Council business shall be publicized in Temptations, on the JE College Web site or in official reports. The Council should strive at all times to maintain effective communication with its constituency, both through individual Representatives and Council announcements.
C. Ad hoc committees may be created by the President or by majority vote of the Council. Each Committee shall have a chairperson, who shall report on that Committee's activities to the Council.
Article V: Council Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Council are as follows:
A. To investigate and publicize matters of concern to Jonathan Edwards College students; to provide a forum for discussion of those matters with the aim of maintaining an acceptable standard of College life; and to lobby for the various interests of students within the College.
B. To advise the Master of Jonathan Edwards College and the University on matters of security, construction, renovation and maintenance within the College, and to recommend the capital improvement projects.
C. To ensure the operation and organization of College facilities, including the Jonathan Edwards College Darkroom, Gameroom, Buttery, Kitchen, Movie Suite, Libraries, Artspaces, Theater, Press, Condom Kingdom and Gym. The Council shall elect managers when necessary at the second meeting of the fall term. Manager responsibilities are to be decided by the board in conjunction with the Master’s Office.
a. The Buttery and Café Managers shall be nominated by the outgoing managers in December and confirmed by the Council. In the event the managers are not confirmed, the President shall make a temporary appointment until elections may be held.
b. Temptations Editors will be selected by the Master’s Office for one semester following a meeting between the Master and the editors regarding content.
c. The Council shall appoint liaisons for each of the managers it elects.
d. In the event a manager is negligent in fulfilling his/her duties, the President or liaison shall issue two official warnings — written or verbal — and alert the council. If he/she fails to fulfill their duties after these warnings, the manager may be removed from his/her position and the Council shall begin the election process as soon as possible. The President shall appoint a temporary manager until the new manager is elected.
D. To supervise the operation of the Jonathan Edwards Big Sibling program, to promote familiarization of incoming freshmen to Jonathan Edwards College. The council will appoint students to head the program by the first week in April. They are responsible for arranging Big/Little Sib groups and sending out the Freshman Handbook.
Article VI: Ratification and Amendment of the Constitution
This constitution shall be effective and shall supersede all previous constitutions immediately upon ratification by a two-thirds majority of the Council, and can be amended or discarded by the same proportions of the council at any time. The President shall convene a committee to review the constitution preceding Fall Break at least once every three years.
This constitution was ratified Jan. 22, 1991
Most recently amended Dec. 2, 2009
