The Student Government Association maintains communication among all members of the student body and acts as the sole official representative for the entire student body to the faculty, administration, fellow professionals and the public at large.
This organization shall be known as the Student Government Association (SGA) of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
Every full-time student, defined as those who pay full tuition and activity fees, shall be represented by this association.
The representative body of this association shall be known as the Student Senate.
The purpose of this organization is to promote student involvement in all aspects of their class, campus, and community. The SGA should enable the student body to pursue all activities that are beneficial to the students, campus, and community as a whole.
The officers of this association shall be President, Vice President, Secretary, Historian, Treasurer, Student Representative to the WVSOM Board of Governors, and WVSOM representative to the State Advisory Council of Students, (WVSOM TOUCH Coordinator).
These officers shall comprise the Executive committee of the Student Senate.
The President shall be the official representative of the student body. The President shall be the presiding officer at all meetings of the Student Senate and the student body.
The President shall establish all necessary committees and appoint or remove their respective chairperson(s) as provided in Article XV of this document. The President shall serve as an ex-officio member of all standing committees of the Student Senate.
The President shall handle all communications and resolutions of problems that class leadership is unable to handle or extraneous issues or immediate concerns that relate to the student body at large and the WVSOM reputation and to work with WVSOM administration and staff to find an adequate immediate solution and to update the student body, staff, and administration any updates that may arise out of such situations.
The President will represent the student body at meetings of professional organizations such as the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and the American Osteopathic Association and will serve on and attend meetings of the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents and the WV Society of Osteopathic Medicine.
In the absence of the SGA President, the Vice President shall assume all duties of the President. The Vice President is a voting member of the Executive Committee and the Student Senate.
In accordance with Article VII, Section VIII of this document, in the event that the President resigns or is removed from office, the Vice President will replace the President.
The Vice President will oversee all Student Senate elections, including election of the Executive Officers and all class officers.
The Vice President will serve as the Student Senate liaison to the student clubs/organizations and will attend all meetings of the Club President’s Meetings as scheduled by the Office of Student Life.
The Vice President, will chair the SGA Club/Organization Committee. The Vice President will create and present a Club/Organization budget to the Senate at the first meeting of the new academic year.
The Vice President is to lead, maintain, and update the SGA Grant Committee and its necessary forms to ensure that proper SGA funds allocated to SGA Grants are made available to authorized clubs that serves to further the outreach efforts or learning objectives that are set out to benefit the community at large and the student body in particular. The annual monetary grant amounts shall be pre-determined by the SGA Grant committee that fiscally meets the existent SGA financial budget that year. The SGA Grant Committee shall be comprised of two (2) current SGA members and a member from both first year and second year leadership.
The Vice President will bring forward any club request for funds for consideration by the Senate, if the club is in good standing with the Office of Student Life and the request meets established criteria.
The Vice President will oversee the Frederic Smith Memorial Award selection process. Funds used for the award, in the amount of $500.00, will be payable directly from the SGA WVSOM Foundation Endowment account to the award recipient.
The Treasurer shall keep accurate written accounts of all monies collected and expended by the Student Government. The Treasurer will present an updated accounting of the SGA budget at each meeting of the Senate, including revenue received, expenditures and monies approved and set aside.
The Treasurer is a voting member of the Executive Committee and the Student Senate.
The Treasurer, in collaboration with the Executive Committee, will establish the annual budget and present it to the full senate at the first regular meeting of the senate in the fall of each year.
The Treasurer will serve as an ex-officio member of the Club/Organization Committee.
The Treasurer will serve as the chairperson of the SGA Activities Committee.
The Treasurer will serve as the chairperson of the SGA Constitutional Committee.
The Secretary shall maintain a permanent record of all official meetings of the Executive Committee, the Student Senate and the Student Body. The Secretary will make available minutes of meetings to the student body once they have been accepted by the Office of Student Life and the student senate; and shall administer all official correspondence of the Student Body and the Student Senate.
The Secretary is a voting member of the Executive Committee and the Student Senate.
The Secretary shall serve as the chairperson of the Student Admissions Leadership Team (SALT)
In the role of chairperson for the Student Admissions Leadership Team, duties entail the organization of student lunch interviews and the facilitation of communication between the Admissions department and members of SALT.
The Historian shall maintain a working record of SGA sponsored events and SGA Executive Committee’s contributions to WVSOM. The Historian is a voting member of the Executive Committee and the Student Senate. The Historian shall serve as a liaison to the Office of Marketing and Communications and Institutional Wellness Committee at WVSOM. The Historian will also function as the COSGP Wellness/Medical Liaison.
The Board of Governors Representative must be current 3rd or 4th year student at WVSOM.
The Student Representative to the WVSOM Board of Governors attends all board meetings and reports to SGA. This position is a voting member of the Board and will report proceedings of the Board to the Executive Committee and the Student Senate.
The Student Representative to the WVSOM Board of Governors is a voting member of the Executive Committee and the Student Senate.
Section VII: WVSOM Representative to the State Advisory Council of Students (AKA WVSOM TOUCH Coordinator)
The Representative to the State Advisory Council of Students will also automatically become the WVSOM TOUCH (Translating Osteopathic Understanding into Community Health) Coordinator for WVSOM who will take charge in all related WVSOM student TOUCH events.
The Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents (COSGP) developed the TOUCH (Translating Osteopathic Understanding into Community Health) program.
TOUCH Coordinator duties include: inform all members of the student body about the TOUCH program; creating and maintaining and updating the TOUCH web site in accordance to the COSGP rules; training WVSOM student body on how to properly record and accumulate TOUCH hours; be responsible for the collection and recording of service hours submitted; take charge in approving or denying any student posted TOUCH hours; tallying the final TOUCH service hours accumulated as a whole student body and obtaining the Director of Student Life’s approval of final student TOUCH hours submitted; be responsible for creating and submitting a yearly report with certificate templates attached and submitted to the Director of Student Life to be awarded to individual students at appropriate level of service hours accrued by each student.
The TOUCH Coordinator will also take charge in spearheading the annual WVSOM SGA and student run Mini Medical School, offered to the general public as a health awareness service, and will ensure that each SGA elected member will take equal share of their contribution or lead in assisting the TOUCH Coordinator in making the event an annual success.
The TOUCH Coordinator will participate in all meetings of the Council as scheduled by the Higher Education Policy Commission.
The TOUCH Coordinator will report to the Executive Committee and the Student Senate business conducted by the Council.
The Representative to the State Advisory Council of Students is a voting member of the Executive Committee and the Student Senate.
The TOUCH Coordinator will also serve as the Parliamentarian of the Student Senate and will ensure that meetings follow Roberts’ Rules of Order.
The membership of the Student Senate shall include:
No student may simultaneously serve as an elected officer or Senate representative (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Curriculum Committee Representative, or Senate Representative) of both their class and the Student Government Executive Committee (President, Vice President, Secretary, Historian, Treasurer, WVSOM Representative to the State Advisory Council of Students, or Student Representative to the WVSOM Board of Governors).
No student elected to the SGA Executive Committee or as an elected officer for their class, including Senate Representatives and Curriculum Committee Representatives, are eligible to hold another elected or appointed office.
Each member of the Student Senate shall be allotted one vote in deciding all official policy and business of the organization.
As the presiding officer of the Senate, the President votes with all other members when a vote is by ballot. For all other forms of voting, the President does not vote. In the event of a tie, the President is not required to cast a vote unless they want the motion to be adopted. The President can then vote in the affirmative, and the motion passes.
In the event that the Class President cannot attend Student Senate meetings due to required academic obligations, they may appoint another member of their class to attend those meetings. The appointed representative will then have powers and duties equivalent to these of the duly elected representative for the duration of that appointment. The President of the Student Senate shall be notified in writing before this appointment is effective.
The President of the class shall be the official representative of his/her respective class to the student senate and the administration of WVSOM. The President shall be the presiding officer at all meetings of the class.
The President of each class is a voting member of the Student Senate.
As the official representative of the class, the president may be appointed by the administration to serve on school wide committees as deemed appropriate by the school’s administration. The President of the class may have ceremonial responsibilities at formal class and/or school events.
Each class shall elect one (1) Vice President.
The Vice President of each class will work in collaboration with the class President to actively resolve concerns, promote class unity and represent the class to the school’s administration.
The Vice President(s) may be appointed to serve or chair student senate committees as requested by the SGA President and/or to chair committees of their class as requested by their class President. The Vice President may be appointed to school committees as deemed appropriate by the school’s administration
Each class will elect one (1) person to serve as the Secretary for the class. Class secretaries shall record the minutes of all meetings of the class officers and class meetings. The minutes will be submitted to the Office of Student Life and made available to all members of the class and the Student Senate as well as the WVSOM Community.
Each class will elect one (1) person to serve as the Treasurer for the Class. The Treasurer of each class shall keep an accurate written account of all monies collected and expended by the class. The class treasurer will present an updated accounting of the class budget at each meeting of the class officers and all class meetings.
Each class will elect the number of senators that are assigned to that class: 1st year class will elect two (2) persons to serve as SGA Senators 2nd year class will elect two (2) persons to serve as SGA Senators 3rd and 4th year classes will each have one (1) person to serve as SGA Senator
In accordance with Article V, Section I, each class will elect representatives to the Student Senate. The class representative(s) should work in collaboration with the other class officers to insure that the best interests of their constituency and the student body are appropriately represented.
Class representatives are voting members of the Student Senate.
The Curriculum Committee is a faculty committee that serves in advisory capacity to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean. The second- and third-year class will appoint one class representative to the Curriculum Committee. These representatives will be voting members of the committee.
The first- and fourth-year students will elect a class representative to the Curriculum Committee to serve as alternates for the second and third classes respectively.
The student representatives to the Curriculum Committee will attend all meetings as scheduled by the faculty chairperson of that committee.
The student representatives to the Curriculum Committee shall report all proceedings of the Curriculum Committee at each meeting of the Student Senate. The representatives shall seek comment and guidance from the Student Senate on proposed changes to the curriculum in order to appropriately represent the student body.
The third year class shall elect one (1) representative from each of the statewide campus sites. Each statewide representative will serve as the liaison to the Student Senate and the school’s administration regarding all matters of concern regarding that site.
Statewide representatives are not voting members of the Student Senate and shall therefore take to their Class President and/or their Student Senator all matters that should be considered by the Student Senate.
The representative from each statewide site shall:
Each class of the first and second year shall elect three (3) students to serve on the Fact Finding Committee. These students will be representatives to the Fact Finding Committee on cases of cheating or nonacademic matters.
The COSGP liaison positions are global health liaison, medical/clinical education liaison, student doctor of the year liaison, diversity liaison, legislative affairs liaison, wellness/medical liaison, and TOUCH liaison. Club presidents will act as liaisons for the afore mentioned positions.
Any member of the executive committee of the Student Senate or class officer may be removed from elected office for reason of incompetence, malfeasance in office, or behavior unbecoming of a professional student in a college of Osteopathic Medicine.
Removal proceedings may be initiated by presenting specific charges of misconduct to the Director of Student Life in the form of a written petition signed by at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the on campus students in the form of a written petition supported by at least two thirds of the Student Senate.
The Director of Student Life shall establish and chair a special investigatory committee whose membership shall include the Director of Student Life, the SGA President, the President of each class, and one Representative from the First and Second Year Classes. If any of the above mentioned representatives are being investigated, they shall not serve on the committee.
This committee shall conduct an in-depth investigation into the specific charges, and shall, at its discretion, either drop the charges or advance the procedures by conducting a public hearing open to the on campus students. At this hearing the accused offender will be given a chance to present a proper and complete defense.
The investigatory committee shall, during the next regular school day, present the charges to the student body with regard to the validity of the charges of the accused offender. Voting will be done by secret ballot.
A majority (greater than 50%) vote of the Senate is required to remove an official from office.
Upon removal of an elected officer, the Student Government Association Vice President shall conduct a special election, in accordance with Article VIII Section IV, to fill the vacant position within one month. If the Vice President position is vacated, then the President will establish a special election committee, pursuant to Article XV of this document.
In the case of a special election where a single candidate is running for office, the candidate will win by default and a vote is not required.
Vacancies in the Student Senate shall be filled in accordance with the following: Vice President will replace the President; all other vacancies shall be filled by a special election.
Any vacancies in the class shall be filled by a special election.
The power to appoint a temperorary officer shall originate in the Student Senate.
Any student who is in good professional standing, student must not be on AAR1 or AAR2, and has a minimum GPA of 85 percent is eligible to run for any one position on the Executive Committee of the Student Senate or Class Leadership. No student can run for or accept a position that will allow for him/her to have more than one vote on the Student Senate. The Office of Student Life will place each name on the ballot after certifying that each candidate is indeed a qualified student as defined in Article I, Section II.
SGA and Class Officer Nominees accepting their nomination for an elected position will hereby be referred to as the “candidate” in Article VIII.
Each candidate will be subject to review by a Screening Committee composed of the Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Associate Dean for Preclinical Education, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Registrar, and Director of Student Life.
The purpose of the Screening Committee is to review each candidate’s record for academic performance, GPA standing and professional misconduct violations and trends in professional misbehavior during their time at WVSOM. Upon review of each nominee, the Screening Committee will submit their recommendation of each nominee to the Director of Student Life regarding candidates’ fitness to serve in the capacity of the SGA or Class Leadership.
Candidates receiving a negative recommendation by the Screening Committee will be determined eligible for the election at the discretion of the SGA Executive Committee. No decision by the SGA Executive Committee will be based solely on the recommendation of the Screening Committee’s recommendation.
Candidates who receive a positive, non-negative, or no recommendation by the Screening Committee will automatically be placed on the final ballot and are eligible for student voting.
Prior to Student Senate and class elections, a meeting of the on-campus students will be held at which all candidates for the Executive Committee on either Student Senate or Class Leadership will be given a maximum of five (5) minutes to present their qualifications and platform.
An SGA-run information session may be held for SGA elected positions at a date prior to the Open Nomination Period.
Nominations for all elected positions will be open for a minimum of 3 days.
At the end of the Open Nomination Period, the SGA Vice President will notify all nominees that they may accept or decline their nomination. Nominees must accept their nominations within 24 hours of being contacted by the SGA Vice President. Failure to accept a nomination within the 24-hour timeframe will disqualify a nominee from running for an elected position. A nominee who fails to accept their nomination within the 24-hour time frame, due to extenuating circumstances, may appeal to the SGA Executive Committee for reconsideration of their eligibility status.
The SGA Vice President will submit the names of all candidates to the Screening Committee as defined under Article VIII, Section I, Clause I and Clause II. The committee will have a maximum of two (2) days to review all candidates and inform the SGA Vice President of their recommendation.
All eligible candidates are required to submit a one-paragraph response, to the SGA Vice President, outlining their qualifications for the position and their platform. A deadline for the paragraph submission is at the discretion of the SGA Vice President. Any deadline imposed by the SGA Vice President should take into consideration the academic schedule and date of the election.
Speeches will be held for the designated positions.
Voting will take place electronically. Voting will begin the day of the candidate speeches and close following at least three (3) school days.
Voting results will be verified and released by the SGA President, SGA Vice President, and the Office of Student Life within 24 hours of the closing of the voting period.
Elections will be held in the spring of each year starting with the election of the Executive Committee as defined in Article III, Section I. Newly elected Executive Officers, and Senate members and class officers assume their duties effective July 1st.
Voting for the Executive Committee as defined in Article III, Section 1, will be open to the entire student body. Voting for Class Officer Elections shall be limited to the respective class. The candidate receiving a majority (greater than 50% of votes cast for each respective office shall be declared the winner. In the event that a candidate does not get a majority vote (greater than 50%) of votes cast, a run-off election will be held on each subsequent day until a candidate receives a majority (greater than 50%) of the votes cast.
Class officer elections will be held one week after the completed election of the Executive Committee.
Election of officers for the first year class will be held the beginning of the second (2nd) full month of the new academic year in the fall and assume their duties immediately.
All clubs are required to hold elections for leadership positions following the Class Officer elections but no later than the last club president’s meeting for the academic year. Exceptions to this rule are for clubs whose national by-laws require Club Officer Elections to occur during a specified time frame.
Elections shall be under the direction of the Vice President of the Student Government Association assisted by one additional Senate Executive Committee member.
All elections shall be conducted electronically. There shall be strict accounting of persons casting ballots by checking them off with an official roster of students provided by the Office of Student Life. Number of votes will not be disclosed. The President and Vice President of the SGA will approve and sign off on the completed ballot with the Director of Student Life prior to the announcing election results.
All ballots shall be retained by the Office of Student Life for a period of five school days following the election, after which time the election results may not be contested.
Each WVSOM student may only hold one (1) elected position in any capacity
The time and place of all official meetings of the Student Senate shall be designated by the SGA President. There shall be at least two meetings per semester resulting in four (4) meetings per Academic Year.
The President shall call a meeting within one week of receipt of a written request signed by a majority of the Executive Committee.
Unexcused absence of any member of the Student Senate for two (2) meetings shall cause a vacancy, which will be filled by a special election of the representative’s electoral units
Elected Class Representatives are required to attend Student Senate meetings and will be subject to Article X, Section I, as it pertains to Student Senate meetings.
Each Class President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Curriculum Committee Representative, and Student Senators for the first and second year classes are required to attend all class meetings, for their respective classes, in which the entire class has been invited to attend. Failure to do so is cause for initiation of the Removal from Office procedures as outlined in Article VII, unless permission to be excused was granted by the Director of Student Life prior to the meeting.
A majority of the members of the Student Senate shall constitute a quorum.
Unless otherwise stated in this constitution, official business and meetings of the Student Senate shall be conducted in accordance with the latest revision of Roberts’ Rules of Order, which shall be enforced by the TOUCH coordinator acting as Parliamentarian at all Senate meetings.
All checks, vouchers, cash, or other expenditures by the Student Senate shall be signed or authorized in writing by both the President and the Treasurer of the Senate. The executive committee of the Student Senate shall be required to submit a working budget to theSenate for its approval two weeks after notification of funds from the Office of Student Life. The budget shall outline estimated revenue and expenditures for the duration of the executive committee’s term of office. All expenditures from the Student Government Association account shall require approval by the Student Senate. Such approval may be granted either by approving the expenditure as an item of the budget or as a separately introduced appropriation.
WVSOM students in leadership positions, etc. SGA, Class Leadership, Club Leadership, and are in good academic standing that are required to attend conferences required by National affiliations, COSGP, SOMA, AAOA, etc. and depend on WVSOM for travel expenses shall adhere to the following guidelines:
Once travel has been approved, student will make travel arrangements through the Office of Student Life as travel expenses must be paid by WVSOM credit card/pcard.
The President of the Student Senate shall, with majority approval of the Student Senate, create all necessary committees and appoint or remove their respective chairpersons.
Each Committee will conduct all assigned business and will report its activities to the Student Senate at each official meeting.
The standing committees of the Student Senate are:
The Club/Organization Committee will to review all club/organization requests for funding in accordance with the criteria and budget established by the Student Government Association.
The Club/Organization Committee shall confirm that a club is in good standing with the Office of Student Affairs as part of its review and consideration of all requests.
The Club/Organization Committee of the Student Senate will be chaired by the Vice President. The Treasurer of the Student Government Association will serve as an ex-officio member of this committee.
The Activities Committee shall plan and run events open to the student body and the WVSOM community. (Examples include: Spirit Day, Celebrate Osteopathic Medicine Week and Student Appreciation Day.)
The Activities Committee of the Student Senate shall be chaired by the Treasurer of the Student Government Association.
The Secretary will chair the Student Admissions Leadership Team
As a sub-committee of the WVSOM SGA and under the supervision and final direction of the Director of Student Life, will be chaired by an elected past CRC committee chairperson.
The committee chair will work with and attend all meetings with the Lewisburg Parks and Recreation Committee as a liaison for the school. The committee chairperson will be in charge of electing its members from the current 1st year students to create a committee that will each take on a school wide or community wide project that will benefit both the student body in involving the student body to give back to the local surrounding public communities in offering Director of Student Affairs pre-approved volunteer work or services that will positively broaden and expand the relationship WVSOM has with its surrounding communities throughout the academic year.
As an SGA sub-committee, CRC members will work in coordination to help out with SGA ran events where and when help is needed.
The Student D.O. of the Year Committee shall select the student who best characterizes the values of an osteopathic medical student at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
The committee, chaired and appointed by the President of the Student Government Association shall conduct the nomination and selection process in accordance with the procedures and timelines defined by the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents. In addition, the Associate Deans for Preclinical and Predoctoral Education and the Director of Student Life should review the names of all nominees to ensure that the students nominated are in good standing. The President will notify the Director of Student Life of the WVSOM recipient. The Award will be presented at either the Spring Awards ceremony or at the Graduation Awards Ceremony; this will be determined based on the class status of the recipient.
The President of the Student Government Association shall serve as the chairperson of the Fundraising Committee.
The chairperson will appoint members of the Student Senate and the student body to serve on this committee. The committee will be responsible for all levels of planning and running the Fundraising Event. The committee will work with the Vice President for Communications and Administrative Affairs and other appropriate members of the school administration to coordinate the event.
It will be required of all prior 1st year students who received and benefited from any award given to them as last year’s Spring Award Recipients, should be required to become automatically included as part of the Fundraising Committee. They will all be required to assist in the setting up AND breaking down of the Fundraising event on the actual date of the event at the direction of the committee, no excuses or absences are tolerated, accepted or considered, regardless if they themselves are paid attendees or not planning to attend the event at all. This is a way for them to contribute to the gift that keeps on giving, Spring Awards.
The Treasurer of the Student Government Association shall serve as the chairperson of the SGA Constitutional Committee.
The chairperson shall appoint only members of the Student Senate to serve on the committee. The committee is to review and ensure that all policies stated within the Student Government Association’s Constitution and By-Laws are current and in accordance with school policy. Recommendation of new amendments can be proposed on an as-needed basis. The chairperson is to submit their recommendations to the Director of Student Life prior to the first Student Senate meeting of the academic year for review. Following approval from the Office of Student Life, any proposed amendments are subject to the voting guidelines as outlined in Article XVIII.
The first year class shall elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, one Curriculum Committee Representatives, and three (3) Fact Finding Committee members. The second year class shall elect a President, Vice Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary, Curriculum Committee Representative
The first and second year classes shall each elect two Class Senators to the Student Senate.
The third year class shall elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Curriculum Committee Representative, and one Student Senator. Officers for the third year class will hold office for two (2) consecutive years, with the exception of the Curriculum Committee Representative who will serve one (1) year as the representative and one (1) year as an alternate.
During the first and second year, all students are eligible to vote for and fill the following positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Curriculum Committee Representative, Student Senator, and three (3) Fact Finding Committee members.
Class elections shall be held in accordance with Article VIII.
All clubs/organizations that are currently approved and recognized by the Office of Student Life shall also be recognized by the Student Government Association.
The honorary organizations recognized by the Student Senate are Psi Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Phi.
Each organization shall establish by-laws by which to govern themselves and submit a copy of said by-laws to the Director of Student Life and the Student Government Association. The Student Senate shall review said by-laws and send comments to the Director of Student Life for consideration.
A committee of Organizational Presidents shall be formed and made up of the presidents of each organization recognized by the Student Senate.
In order to qualify for SGA funding each organization shall:
Fund requests submitted during the first semester shall be accompanied with written documentation of scheduled business meetings, community service projects, and fund raising events, when applicable.
Amendments and by-laws to this constitution may be proposed by any member of the Student Senate with two-thirds majority approval of the Senate. Also, amendments and by-laws may be proposed by a petition signed by 100 members of the student body. Amendments and by-laws shall next be submitted to the Director of Student Life for approval.
Following administrative approval, a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Student Senate will be necessary to adopt a constitutional amendment or by-law.
After a 30-day review period and approval by a majority vote (greater than 50%) of the votes cast, the amendments to this Constitution will become binding upon all students of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
In order for amendments to this Constitution to be rejected by the student body during the 30-day review period, at least 100 members of the student body must vote against the amendments. The 100 student votes against the amendments must constitute a majority of the total student voting.
An agenda should be posted in each classroom and on the SGA webpage one week prior to Student Senate meetings. The minutes of the Senate meeting are to be posted within one (1) week of each meeting.