Constitutional Referendum Semester 2

7/24/2019 Constitutional Referendum Semester 2

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Constitutional AmendmentsDCUSU Referendum


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Why another referendum?The incorporation of the three institutions is a lengthy and complicated process, so too is the process of incorporating the

students union of St. Patricks College Drumcondra and Mater Dei into the new DCUSU.

This referendum proposes to tidy up some parts of the constitution, decrease the number of nominations requried before a

candidate can run for election, expand the deadline set by the constitution for students union general elections, make the

language in the DCUSU constitution gender neutral and to introduce a new part-time officer, the Irish Language Officer.

These proposals will be voted on by the students of DCUSU only.


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Nominations process

At present a universal-franchise candidate must be

nominated by .5% of the membership.

It is proposed to change this to 1%. This change will be

made in article 9.2.2.6.

For faculty and postgraduate officer candidates the

number of nominations will be changed from 2.5% of

the constituency elligible to vote for the position to

.25% of said constituency. This changes article 9.2.2.7.

What is a universal-franchise position?

These are the positions in which all members vote for.

These include:

President

VP for Academic Affairs

VP for Education & Placement

VP for Engagement & Development Clubs Officer

Socieites Officer

Irish Language Officer / Oifigeach na Gaeilge*

*If passed

Why do we have such a nominations process?It was decided that candidates should be able to prove they have the baseline support of a

proportion of the student body before being able to be declared a candidate. Nominations

will be online through the eVoting system.


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Irish Language Officer / Oifig


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An Irish Language Officer

At present the CRC can appoint an officer of Council to

be the Irish Language Officer. It shall be proposed to

make this position part of the Executive.

Job description (insert new article 8.6)

There shall be an Executive member elected, who is

responsible for the representation of the Irish language

within the Students Union known as The Irish officer.

The Irish Language Officer / Oifigeach na Gaeilge hasthe following responsibilities:

The Irish Language Officer / Oifigeach na Gaeilge shall

engage the membership on Irish language issues.


promote and implement Students Union policy with

regard to the Irish language.


receive support from the Students Union Executive.The Irish Language Officer / Oifigeach na Gaeilge

shall sit on relevant university and Students Union

committees in pursuance of their duties.

each na Gaeilge


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Expanding the constitutional deadline for elections

At present the students union general election must take place before the end of Week 9 of semester two each year. It is

possible that such a date is no longer practical and CRC has decided to propose to the membership to expand this to Week 10.

This will give some additional flexibilty when deciding the dates for elections and referenda. It will allow us greater flexibility

around work placements for students, reading week and any public holidays. The proposed new wording shall read as follows:


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The election for positions to the Students Union Executive shall be held before

the end of the tenth week of the second semester. The elections shall formally be

called by the Returning Officer of the Students Union.


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Gender Neutral LanguageThere is also another proposal to remove gender references from the constitution, that is

the words he/she him/her. Instead these shall be replaced with references to the position

the article refers to. The articles to be changed are 5.6.4, 5.6.10, 5.6.11 and 5.9.5.

Housekeeping changesSome additional housekeeping changes are also being proposed to the DCUSU constitution.

These changes primarily updated the position titles of officers and list the executive officers

correctly in various articles throughout the constitition. For example article 6.2 and article

9.2.1.4 will be changed to include the Irish Language Officer / Oifigeach na Gaeilge.

What will be the question on the ballot paper?

The question on the ballot paper shall read as follows:

Do you agree to the proposed changes to the DCUSU Constitution as proposed

by the Class Representative Council on February 4, 2016?These changes will introduce an Irish Language Officer to the Executive, modfiy nomination requirements, expand the deadline

for elections to be held by, create a gender-neutral constitution and make minor housekeeping changes.

If you vote yes these changes will take immediate effect. If you vote no these changes will not be incorporated into the

Constitution of DCUSU.


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Produced by

Steve Conlon

DCUSU Returning Officer

Constitutional Referendum Semester 2

Documents

Transcript of Constitutional Referendum Semester 2