The Augustana Student Association (ASA) is rewriting its constitution. The constitution has not been amended since 2004, and ASA President Maggie Van Bockern says things need to be cleaned up.
"Right now, we feel that the current document is not serving the student body the best that it can be," Van Bockern said. "There are some strange loopholes, it is vague in some areas, and other areas get a bit confusing."
Changes to the constitution will include greater specificity and updates. The biggest change will be in regards to the election season. While normally Senate elections are held in the fall, elections will now take place in the spring at the same time of president and vice president elections. Freshman senator elections will still take place in the fall, but earlier elections for other class senators will allow for greater productivity. Last year, ASA was not in full swing until mid-October.
Junior class Senator Steven Lindquist said the spring elections are an exciting change.
"Moving the election time will allow for the Senate to get into gear at the end of the year and summer so that the Senate can better serve the Augustana community," Lindquist said. "We'll be at full steam by fall semester."
A draft of the new constitution has been written and is being edited by the entire Senate. The Senate will be having short debates during meetings, and then the Administration and Planning Committee will take over to complete the new constitution. Van Bockern said ASA is also hoping for some input from the student body.
Van Bockern hopes that by amending the constitution the ASA Senate will be able to run more efficiently.
"We can ensure that we are running in accordance to the constitution and don't have to second-guess our actions because of the lack of clarity in the document," Van Bockern said.
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