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The 18th Congress of Graduate Students

BILL 42
On Petition from the COGS/LSC July 2010 Workgroup

Clarifying the Duties and Responsibilities of LSC vis-à-vis COGS

On September 6th, 2010, the body voted to amend Chapter 300 of the COGS Code governing the Law
Student Council in accordance with the attached document.

The purpose of this bill is to clarify and more accurately delineate the relationship and responsibilities
of COGS vis-à-vis the Law Student Council by prohibiting leadership overlap in the organizations and
expanding upon procedures for allocations and amendments by LSC including the addition of default
rules.

Strikethrough indicates deletions, underlined items are additions.

___________________ __________________________________
David Grimes Joyce Howard
Speaker of the House Director of Student Affairs
___________________ _____________________________
Quinn Straub Mary Coburn
Deputy Speaker for Finance Vice President for Student Affairs

6 September 2010
300.3 Selection of LSC members shall be as stated below:

A) LSC shall be composed of seven (7) law students elected as members-at-large by the
Law School students.
B) Three (3) members shall be elected in the Fall Semester, and the other four (4)
members shall be elected during the Spring Semester. Each member shall serve a
term of one year (12 months), beginning immediately after the elections. Elections
shall be conducted in accordance with a procedure pre-approved by the Speaker of
COGS.

C) An administrative representative appointed by the Law School Dean shall be a non-

voting and advisory member of the LSC Board. This representative shall assist the
Board in ensuring that LSC is compliant with the COGS Code, Student Body
Statutes, Law School Policy, and University Policy.
D) Vacancies of the LSC Board shall be filled by the Council of LSC Presidents upon
receipt of nomination from LSC.

E) Before any individual may stand for election to LSC, they must be approved by the
Law School Council Selections Commission, the Commission hereafter. The
Commission shall conduct interviews of all interested students to determine if they
possess the requisite knowledge and availability to serve on LSC. A decision to
deny a candidate the ability to run for office is non-appealable.

1. The Commission shall be composed of the Speaker of COGS, the Deputy

Speaker for Finance, the Chairperson of the COGS Internal Affairs
Committee, a representative from the Law School Administration, the
outgoing chairperson of LSC unless they seek reelection, and a representative
from the Student Bar Association.

2. In the event that the Commission fails to meet in a timely manner before an
election for LSC, all candidates shall be considered approved for placement
on the ballot and qualified to hold office, notwithstanding any other
qualifying provisions of the COGS Code or Student Body Constitution and
Statutes.

F) No person shall be eligible to serve on the LSC board if they are a member of the
COGS Executive Committee.

300.6 Appropriation

A) LSC shall allocate those funds granted to it by COGS to the Recognized Student
Organizations at the Law School in a fiscally responsible manner, keeping in mind
the purpose of the allocation, which is to provide activities and services for the
benefit of the maximum number of students.

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B) LSC shall submit a proposed budget of the registered Law School organizations to
the Congress of Graduate Students in a timely manner and comply with all other
requirements of the annual budget process.

C) All LSC allocations, whether original allocations, or after the fact amendments to the
budget, shall require the signature of either the Speaker of COGS, or the Deputy
Speaker for Finance. The Speaker or Deputy Speaker may deny any allocation or
amendment deemed excessive or irresponsible.

Allocations and budget amendments shall be conducted in the following manner:

1) Allocations and Amendments from the LSC account line in the COGS budget
shall only be made by LSC in accordance with the provisions of this code,
and only after securing the signature of the LSC Chair shall they be submitted
to COGS for review. The Speaker of Deputy Speaker for finance may
authorize the allocation or amendment by affixing their signature; to reject an
allocation or amendment shall require that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker
for Finance both agree to veto the measure. If the Speaker and/or Deputy
Speaker take no action within two weeks (10 school days) from submission
of a measure, the measure shall be considered approved.

2) If a measure is vetoed in accordance with the provisions of §300.6(C)1 it

shall be returned to LSC for reconsideration. In order to be reconsidered the
measure must receive a unanimous affirmative vote of all members of LSC
present and voting. If the measure receives a unanimous affirmative vote it
shall be resubmitted to COGS via the Ways & Means Committee; if the
measure does not secure a unanimous affirmative vote it shall be
extinguished.

3) If a measure is referred to COGS in accordance with §300.6(C)2 it shall be

heard by the Ways & Means Committee within two weeks (10 school days);
failure to hear the measure within two weeks (10 school days) shall
automatically refer the measure to the COGS Assembly. The Ways & Means
Committee may by an affirmative majority vote submit the measure to the
COGS Assembly. The Committee may by an affirmative majority vote
dismiss the measure. The committee may take no other action than referring
or dismissing a measure.

4) If a measure is referred to the Assembly in accordance with §300.6(C)3, it

shall be heard at the next scheduled meeting of the assembly. The Assembly
shall have the authority to approve the measure, extinguish the measure, or
amend the measure. Amended measures shall be submitted to LSC for
ratification. If LSC does not ratify the amended measure by an affirmative
vote, the measure shall be extinguished.

D) LSC, or registered Law School organizations, may petition COGS or the Student
Senate for additional funds at any time during the fiscal year including the
preliminary allocation.