Getting Involved

The President shall:

1. Preside over all meetings of the Senate and the Senior Executive Board.
2. Serve as the spokesperson and representative of the entire student body at all times.
3. Be unbiased and neutral in the execution of all rules, regulations, and provisions of this Constitution during Senate meetings.
4. By the virtue of the office of President, participate in any matter of University Governance.
5. Be a member of all Senate and University committees.
6. Direct the resolutions of the Senate to the appropriate body for execution via the Secretary.
7. Serve as a Student Delegate to the Board of Trustees.
8. Have the power to create and place legislation on the floor of the Senate.
9. Have the primary responsibility of communicating student affairs on behalf of the Senate and student body.
10. Have Senate veto power, which may only be used to prohibit, reject, block, and refuse assent to the enactment of a measure passed by the Senate. The veto may be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote of the Senate, which must occur in the meeting following the veto. 

The Vice President of Senate Affairs shall:

1. Act as President and fulfill all duties therein if the President is unable to fulfill the duties of the office.
2. In consultation with the Senior Executive Board, determine the Senate agenda.
3. Review business that is to come before the Senate. The Vice President of Senate Affairs may prevent an item of business from being placed on the Senate agenda. After a given item is denied three times in this manner, the person who submits the item may appeal the decision to the Senior Executive Board as a whole.
4. Keep the online agenda accurate and up-to-date.
5. Directly supervise all elections in conjunction with the Election Chairperson.
6. Be responsible for constitutional review, as well as keeping updated records of all amendments to this Constitution. S/he is also responsible for ensuring that copies of the Constitution are available for any student who should request one. 
7. Conduct a yearly review of the Constitution to ensure that all information contained within is current and relevant.  At the end of the process any suggestions must be presented to Senators to allow a vote to amend the Constitution (this vote requires a 2/3 majority of present voting Senators). An amended Constitution shall not become effective until it passes second approval.
8. Review the constitutions of all newly organized organizations seeking Thelmo recognition; once those constitutions are reviewed and edited, the Vice President of Senate Affairs shall place those organizations on the agenda of the Senate.
9. Be responsible for posting all Senate-approved resolutions onto a digital platform accessible to all students. The Vice President of Senate Affairs must also bring each resolution up for review by the entire Senate five years after the resolution has been passed or last reviewed.
10. Create and maintain a list of all active organizations every semester and collect proof of active status from organizations every year.
11. If necessary, initiate and administer the process for impeachment of Senate members.
12. At the first meeting of each semester, conduct a senate orientation presentation.
13. At the beginning of each semester, file a copy of the Constitution so its progression can be monitored. 

The Vice President of University Relations shall:

1. Assist the President in carrying out all duties of the Presidency.
2. Serve as the official liaison between the Senate and the University Committee governance system.
3. Be a member of all Senate and University committees.
4. Coordinate all University Committee appointments with the assistance of the Senior Executive Board. The Vice President of University Relations will be responsible for filling the student openings of the respective University Committees and will define a process to ensure student representatives are identified for each committee. Such appointments must fulfill the following criteria:
   1. A student may serve on no more than one committee.
   2. Positions will last one full semester and all candidates must be able to serve on a committee for a full term. A student must resign from any committee s/he may be on if s/he leaves campus for any reason.
   3. As committee meetings are mandatory, an appointee must be able to attend meetings.  However, specific attendance guidelines will be determined by the Committee chairperson and communicated to the appointee during the first meeting.
5. Be responsible for overseeing all student members on all University committees, which shall be part of the University Governance system; be charged jointly by the Senate and Faculty Council; include students, faculty, and administrators in their membership; and deal with any issue within their stated charge. These committees must report directly to the Senate and Faculty Council. All minutes, recommendations, and problems of these committees shall be forwarded to the Vice President of University Relations.
6. Have the power to remove and replace student University Committee members upon consultation with the respective University Committee Chair. Any student who is unable to carry out the responsibilities of her/his position may be requested to resign by the Vice President of University Relations. Also, if a majority of Committee members feels that a student is shirking her/his responsibilities, the Committee Chairperson must notify the Vice President of University Relations, and s/he can take action to remove the student.
7. Have the primary responsibility of communicating student affairs on behalf of the Senate and student body to the Vice Chairperson of Faculty Council, and the Council’s Committee on University Committees. 
8. Be responsible for the coordination of Thelmo Storage in conjunction with the Secretary.

The Student Delegate to the Board of Trustees shall:

1. Act as the primary liaison, alongside the President of Thelmo, to the University Board of Trustees.
2. Be able to attend all Board of Trustee Meetings, beginning with the June, Canaras meeting, followed by the October, February, and May meetings on campus.
3. By the virtue of the office of Student Delegate to the Board of Trustees, participate in any matter of University Governance
4. Be a member of all University committees.
5. Report to the Senate and the Student Body the minutes and developments achieved at all Board of Trustee meetings. 

The SLUSAF Central Treasurer shall:

1. Be primarily responsible for all St. Lawrence University Student Activity Fund, hereinafter referred to as SLUSAF, funds.
2. Be the Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee.
3. Deal exclusively with the University Business Office to maintain a central banking procedure.
4. Be responsible for informing student organization Presidents and/or Treasurers of SLUSAF related regulations at meetings to be held within the first two weeks of each semester.  If representatives from organizations fail to attend these meetings, it may jeopardize their funding for the coming year. 
5. Give a short presentation to the Senate at the beginning of each semester to educate Senators about the budget process.
6. Be responsible for arranging the yearly budget process, including making budget applications and guidelines available to the University community and scheduling and overseeing budget hearings.
7. With the assistance of the Budget and Finance Committee, the SLUSAF Central Treasurer is responsible for allocating budgets to organizations represented by Thelmo and is responsible for determining the dollar amount based upon the budget application and availability of SLUSAF funds.
8. Keep record of the SLUSAF account and ensure that the Senior Executive Board is aware of its status as the year progresses. To this end, the SLUSAF Central Treasurer must report each semester to the Senior Executive Board regarding the status of the fund. Said report must include exact figures including the total amount spent in said semester(s) and the amount allotted for contingency spending. Reported figures must be checked with the University Business Office for accuracy to maintain the integrity of the fund.
9. Keep the Senate aware of the amount available for contingency funding; to this end, at the beginning of each meeting, the SLUSAF Central Treasurer must disclose to the Senate the remaining amount of money (in dollars) available for contingency funding.
10. Be responsible for the transfer of money from the SLUSAF account into the accounts of other organizations, and vice versa.
11. Be responsible for handling the payroll of employees hired by Thelmo as approved by the Senior Executive Board.
12. Resign from any treasurer positions held within a SLUSAF funded organization during his/her tenure as SLUSAF Central Treasurer.
13. Keep total and individual records of all financial transactions by student organizations and inform organizational treasurers of their financial status on request.
14. Review contingency requests that are to come before the Senate. The SLUSAF Central Treasurer may prevent a contingency request from being placed on the Senate agenda.  After a given item is denied three times in this manner, the person who submits the item may appeal the decision to the Senior Executive Board as a whole.

The Secretary shall:

1. Maintain and keep the minutes of all Senate meetings.
2. Keep informal documentation of Senior Executive Board minutes to be distributed upon request.
3. Maintain and keep all attendance records of Senate meetings and keep an active roster of membership of the Senate and the Executive Board.
4. Distribute Senate meeting minutes to the University community. The Secretary shall make any and all Senate documents available to any member of the St. Lawrence University community who may request them by posting them online.
5. Keep record of all legislation passed by the Senate.
6. Distribute and collect Senator and Committee Chairperson applications.
7. Be responsible for the coordination of Thelmo Storage in coordination with the Vice President of University Relations.
8. Be responsible for maintaining Thelmo public relations; specific platforms and avenues are up to the discretion of the secretary (i.e. Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc.).
9. Be responsible for the coordination, drafting, and sending of Thelmo content to class Listservs.
10. Maintain the Thelmo email inbox and respond to or forward all messages to the appropriate officer for response.

Thelmo committees are chosen each semester by the Executive Board, to pertain to a specific issue impacting students. Committee Chairs are members of the Junior Executive Board, who are responsible for directing the work of the 4-7 Thelmo Senators who are on their committee. Chairs are required to convene their committee once a week, outside of Thelmo Senate meetings and make active progress on their key issue area.

The following are recent Thelmo committees: Academic Affairs, Canton Community Outreach, Diversity and Inclusion, Environmental Affairs, Examining Systemic Bias, International Student Affairs, Student Life, and Student Wellness. 

All Committee Chairs shall:

1. Be a member of the Junior Executive Board.
2. Be appointed at the beginning of each semester by the Senior Executive Board, after successful completion of the application and interview process.
3. Be responsible for leading her/his committee in addressing issues pertinent to her/his committee’s mission.
4. Have the primary responsibility of communicating with the Senior Executive Board.
5. Serve as student delegates on the University Standing Committee most closely related to the Thelomathesian Society Committee which they chair.
6. Formulate a report during the last quarter of her/his term to be delivered to the incoming Chairperson, with the intention of assisting the incoming officer with acclimation to the position and its responsibilities.

Each semester, there are 35-50 Senators in Thelmo. Senators are responsible for conveying the concerns of students to Thelmo, and Thelmo's work back to the student body. 

Attendance

1. Attendance to all Society meetings is required.  If a Senator will be unable to attend a meeting for a foreseeable conflict beyond her/his control, s/he must notify the Secretary at least twenty-four hours prior to the beginning of any meeting of the Senate. At this time, s/he must notify the Secretary what member of the student body will be filling in at that meeting. If a senator will be unable to attend a meeting for an unforeseeable conflict, s/he must notify the secretary as soon as possible.
2. Failure to notify the appropriate party or find a responsible substitute will result in a warning after the first occurrence. A repeat occurrence will result in the automatic termination of that Senator’s Thelmo duties and her/his ability to act as Senator for the remainder of the current semester.

 Correspondence with the Student Body

1. All Senators must acquaint themselves with the members of the student body as they see fit. Senators should also be well aware that the Senior Executive Board will direct constituents to consult their representatives to bring matters before the Senate. Any Senator who fails to appropriately address an issue brought to their attention may be removed from the position of Senator.

2.   It is the responsibility of each Senator to verbally or electronically inform members of the student body of issues raised and to be raised, in Senate meetings.

Committee Membership

1.   Senators will be appointed as a member of two committees. First, to a standing committee in Thelmo, chaired by a member of the Junoir Executive Board. Second, as the student representative to a tri-partite committee chaired by a University staff or faculty member. 

2.   All Senate members are responsible to attend every meeting unless excused by the chairperson of the respective committee.

3.   The Senior Executive Board shall determine the assignment of senators to each committee at the beginning of each semester. Only a member of the Senate may be considered an official committee member, though non-Senators may sit in on committee meetings with the permission of the committee chair.