Article I Establishment of Bylaws

Section I: It is the purpose of these bylaws to supplement the Constitution of the Associated Students of Western New Mexico University and provide assistance in the day-to-day operations of the ASWNMU Student Government.

Section II: These bylaws will become part of the Constitution of the Associated Students of Western New Mexico University until and unless further amended.

Article II Amendments

Section I: Amendment shall herein be defined as a legal revision, change or addition to this constitutional supplement. Any member of the Associated Students may propose an amendment.

Section II: Amendments to this constitutional supplement shall be presented to the Senate in the form of a resolution. Approval shall require:

A. Two-thirds (2/3) approval by vote of the Senate

B. Two-thirds (2/3) approval by vote of the Associated Students.

C. Processing through regular channels of the University beginning with the Office of Student Affairs; recommendation by President of the University; and final approval by the Board of Regents. 

Section III: All proposed amendments shall be published in the student newspapers and posted in all appropriate areas of the University prior to vote by the Associated Students.

Section IV: Any proposal to amend this Constitution or its Bylaws supplement shall be reviewed by the Attorney General for legal sufficiency upon introduction to the Senate.

Article III:  Senate Scholarships 

Purpose: To define and establish scholarships for the ASWNMU Senate

Section I: The Senate Scholarships shall be fixed at $800.00 with the exception of Senate Pro-Tempore, Floor Leader and Secretary whose scholarship shall be fixed at $1200.00.

Section II: The Senate Scholarships shall be conditional upon each member of the Senate working five recorded hours per week in the performance of their duties with the exception of the Senate Pro-Tempore, Floor Leader and Secretary who must work eight recorded hours per week. Hours shall be approved by the President of the Senate and submitted to ASWNMU Treasurer on a basis of Two-Week Intervals.Sub Section 1: The ASWNMU Student Senate shall meet at least once bi-weekly during the Fall and Spring semesters. For purposes of calculating scholarship hours, meetings of less than one hour duration shall count as one hour and meetings of more than one hour duration shall count as actual time elapsed.

Sub Section 2: The President Pro-Tempore of the Senate and the Floor Leader shall work one hour per week in association with the President of the Senate.

Sub Section 3: The Secretary of the Senate shall work one hour per week in association with the Secretary of the Executive Branch.

Sub Section 4: Each Senator, excluding President Pro Tempore, the Floor Leader and the Secretary, shall work one hour per week in the ASWNMU offices, in association with a member of the Executive Branch.

Sub Section 5: Each Senator shall serve as student representative on at least one University wide committee. For the purposes of calculating scholarship hours, active membership in a University wide committee will count as one half (1/2) hour per week.

Sub Section 6: Each Senator, for purposes of calculating scholarship hours, may earn up to one hour per week working on assignment at the discretion of the President of ASWNMU.

Sub Section 7: In regard to senate hours under special circumstances a Senator may elect to contract (copy of written contract in Senate log book for hours) with the Senate President to make up hours to be missed. This must be gained, in writing, one week prior to the absences anticipated, at discretion of the Vice President. Allowances such as this might include, but are not limited to: sports, related travel, club related conferences, or other student government activities. A two week period to complete existing hour’s obligations in addition to regularly scheduled hours and committee work is all that shall be permitted under this special circumstance provision; not to exceed two consecutive periods totaling two weeks.

Section III: The amount of the scholarship is contingent upon the number of academic weeks the Senator served in the ASWNMU Senate, qualified by the recorded hours for each academic week. 

Article IV: Campus Clubs and Organizations

Section I: Recognition: To be recognized as club or organization, the following shall apply: Have an original club constitution or bylaws approved by the ASWNMU Attorney General and placed on file in the offices of ASWNMU Student Government by the filing deadline.

1. File an application for recognition that includes officer and advisor names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. The club advisor must be a full-time staff member of a faculty member (full-time or adjunct professor) employed at Western New Mexico University.  Student work studies and student employees who work less than forty hours per week are not considered full-time employees of WNMU.  A minimum of four officers are recommended [President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer]. However, with the combination of the offices of Secretary and Treasurer, three officers are acceptable. Only student members may hold office in a recognized campus club or organization.  A student is described as a person taking one or more credit hours from Western New Mexico University.  A person not taking any credit hours from Western New Mexico University can assume the same rights as a guest speaker when at club functions; and,

2. At the time of application for initial recognition, the club or organization shall submit an article or press release pertaining to the club, which is used for publication in the Mustang.  The amount of words will be at the sole discretion of the Mustang editor-in-chief or an equivalent thereof.  This portion of the process is not necessary for re-recognition of existing clubs; and,

3. Meet the filing deadline. The filing deadline is four [4] weeks of the fall and spring semesters’ commencement. Clubs recognized during the fall semester are recognized for the entire academic year. Clubs failing to meet the fall semester deadline may be recognized during the spring semester and will be recognized for the balance of the academic year.

4. Re-recognition of any club or organization approved by the Senate in the prior academic year, must also file any amendments to the club/organization’s constitution or bylaws since prior filing, in addition to the change in new officers or sponsor and their respective contact information, or differing press release. If there is not change to any one or all of these items, it should be noted on the approval application at the time of submission.

Section II: Fund Allocation: The ASWNMU Senate will allocate funds from the commissions on vending machine sales to eligible campus clubs and organizations. A two-thirds [2/3] vote of the Senate is required for fund allocation approval. To be eligible to receive funds from the vending machine commissions on sales, a club shall comply with the following:

1. Participate in two [2] campus activities during each of the fall and spring semesters. During the fall semester, the activities shall be homecoming or a community involved project, and an activity of choice at the discretion of the club and approval of the ASWMNU Senate. During the spring semester, the activities shall either be the ASWNMU annual elections or the Great Race, and an activity of choice at the discretion of the club and with the approval of the ASWNMU Senate. The intended activities that the respective clubs intend to participate in, must be noted on the application and approved at the time of submission for recognition or re-recognition; and,

2. Submit an oral or written report which entails the activities and fundraising events the club participated in throughout the semester.  The reports must be given and accessible to the Senate during one of the two final meetings of both the fall and spring semesters.  Failure to present reports shall result in the possible revocation of club recognition and loss of privileges for matching funds at the discretion of the Senate.

3. Clubs that receive funds from the commissions on sales from vending machines and do not fulfill their obligation to participate in campus activities shall be placed on probation for one full academic year. Clubs on probation shall not receive any funds from the commissions on sales from vending machines. It should be noted that no matching funds shall apply to either seed money at initial set-up or re-recognition of a club or organization. Nor shall funds be matched for donations to the club or organization that is not acquired directly through documented fund raiser deposits.

Section III Criteria: The criteria for allocation of funds from the commissions on vending machines sales shall be:

1. Seed money in the amount of one hundred fifty dollars [$150.00] shall be awarded at the initial recognition of new clubs. The Senate may either award or deny seed money. The Senate may not pro-rate the amount of seed money allocation; or,

2. Start up money in the amount of one hundred dollars [$100.00] shall be awarded at each subsequent recognition for continuing clubs. The senate may either award or deny start up money. The Senate may not pro-rate the amount of start up money allocation; and,

3. In order to receive matching funds from the commission of sales from vending machines, clubs shall provide documentation of their continued allotment of fund raisers in their account for the current semester.  Clubs must also show proof or receipt of deposit in order for the funds raised to be matched.  If no proof is given, then the Senate will not appropriate the funds to be matched.  The Senate may either award or deny matching funds.  A printed treasurer report must accompany the request for matching funds allocation; and,

4. The matching funds will follow the gradient scale. The scale is for the cumulative amount of funds to be matched.  For the first $250.00, the club will be matched 1:1, and so on according to the scale. Any club can come to the senate as many times as the club feels necessary for matching funds. A club may be matched either on a fundraiser basis or a total lump sum of all fundraisers.  Example: Fundraiser #1 raises $200.00. This amount will be matched 1:1. Fundraiser #2 raises $250.00. The first $50.00 will be matched at 1:1, and the rest will be matched at 1:2. If the club decided to bring the total amount of $450.00 at one time, then the first $250.00 will be matched at 1:1 and the $200.00 that is left will be matched at 1:2.

Matching Funds Gradient Scale

$1 - $250.00 matched at a 1:1 ratio

$251 - $500.00 matched at a 1:2 ratio

$501 - $1,000.00 matched at a 1:3 ratio

$1,001.00 + matched at a 1:4 ratio

This is an accumulative scale and the Senate may be petitioned for matching as many times as the club chooses within the given semester. A recorded running balance shall be kept in the ASWNMU Offices in the respective organization’s file(s).

Section IV Restrictions: The policy addressed in Article III applies only to the allocation of funds derived from the commission on sales from vending machines on the campus of Western New Mexico University.  This policy restricts the ASWNMU Senate from the allocation of funds to clubs or organizations when those funds are derived from the collection of fees. Clubs will be limited to a total of one thousand [$1000.00] in matching funds derived from the commission of sales from vending machines per semester in accordance with the matching funds ratio.

Article V: Legislation

Section I: Any legislation brought before the Senate must be presented in bill form. All bills must be sponsored by two members of the ASWNMU Senate. All bills must be presented to the Attorney General for the purpose of “constitutional adherence” prior to being voted on in a Senate meeting.

Section II: Any legislation brought before the Senate that is not in bill form during a Senate meeting, must be tabled until a bill can be written for the legislation.

Article VI: Stipulations: 

Any questionable situations arising/concerning the constitution or by-laws must first be brought before the ASWNMU Attorney General.  If no solution can be found, an ad-hoc committee shall be formed by the Senate for further investigation.  The committee shall be made up of two Senators, one Executive Branch Member, one Supreme Court Justice, and one student-at-large at the discretion of the Senate.