The Ross School of Business Student Government Association recently passed a new and shortened version of the body’s constitution. In the process, the constitution went from seven to four pages and the bylaws went from 23 to 13 pages and revamped the governing body’s structure.
Previously the Ross SGA was split up into two bodies under the executive board: Bachelor of Business Administration SGA and the Masters of Business Administration SGA. The old structure also had a governing body of non-voting members that would advise the council. Now, the SGA Executive board oversees three councils: the Graduate Council, the BBA Council and the Part-time MBA council.
The constitution was passed last week by leaders of each set of Ross SGA constituents with a 97-percent approval rate. According to the Ross SGA Constitution synopsis given to the representatives who were voting on the change, the main reasons for the revisions were to “create a structure that better represents all Ross students,” and to “simplify the constitution and give a more appropriate level of detail when needed.”
Christine Baron, who recently became the president of the Ross SGA when the new constitution passed, was the main advocate behind the revision. Her previous position — Vice President of Graduate-Day students — was expunged with the new constitution.
Baron said the old document was behind the times, prompting the executive board to move fast toward restructuring.
“I noticed that our constitution and our code were slightly outdated,” she said. “We felt the need to tighten it up and made it match more on how we were actually operating.”
She added that the demographics of the school are changing and not all students were fairly represented in the old constitution. The BBA program added a sophomore year in 2005 and the master’s students were recently incorporated into the Ross SGA.
“We wanted to make sure they had representation as well,” she said.
According to Baron, the previous constitution also failed to have the “consistency” necessary to support the needs of Business School students.
“We decided that there were some changes that we could make,” she said. “Not only to help (the constitution) fit how we function, but also to try to set up a better structure for future years.”
Though the basic frame of the document is staying the same, Baron said it will offer more opportunities for collaboration.
“I think there is going to be some good information sharing going on among the councils,” she said. “The next step is that we are going to adjust and change our bylaws.”
Lily Chen, vice president of clubs on SGA, said the new document will make the body more transparent to the students it represents.
“The constitution is sort of like a guiding light for the entire school,” she said. “I’m really excited, hopefully this will help clean this up and operate more efficiently.”
Chen, who is a Business School junior added that the executive board’s goal was that their hard work would be accepted by the student representatives.
“Honestly, this year’s board has tried to remain unanimous — have one voice” she said. “In the end, we realized what were the best options for the students here.”