Bylaw XII regarding the disbursement of the student activities fee is meant to clear up an ambiguity in the AAS Constitution that made it uncertain as to who had the authority to allocate the money of the student activities fee and how that money was allocated. The new bylaw makes it clear that the AAS Senate is charged with making all of the allocations from the student activities fee. There is, however, one exception to this rule: disbursements from the fee initiated by a petition of the student body and are greater than $10,000 must be approved by two-thirds of the student body in a campus-wide referendum. “Budgeting the student activities fee is very complicated and the Senate has to be fair,” said Tullis. “The provision for student referendums makes sure that all of the power is not in the Senate.”
Bylaw XIII, which concerns the role of the Judiciary Council in reviewing referendums, corrects a flaw in the Constitution which allowed students to bring issues to referendum via petition without any sort of oversight. Under the old bylaws, according to Tullis, students were permitted to hold referendums through petitions, and no individual body was in place to determine if what those students were seeking was legitimate and in accordance with the Constitution of the AAS. “[Bylaw XIII] gives the Judiciary Council the responsibility of looking through the language of the student referendums to ensure [that they are in compliance with the rules],” explained Tullis. The Judiciary Council, however, will not have the power to make binding changes to the language of referendums. Though the Council will be able to “prevent [the] realization” of the referendums that it deems inappropriate, it will only be able to make suggestions for improvement to the authors of failed referendums.
The revisions to existing bylaws that were approved by the Senate on Monday night principally concern the budgetary structure of the AAS treasury, and more specifically the allocation of resources from the Master General Fund. The Master General Fund accounts for 40 percent of the overall AAS budget and was established to allow certain student organizations to operate without being micromanaged by the AAS Senate. Student organizations that receive their funding through recognized club budget allocations and the Senate discretionary fund need to provide the Senate with precise details as to how the money allocated to them will be used.
The Master General Fund gives the Senate minimal oversight over the actions of organizations such as the Olio, Amherst College Emergency Medical Service, Program Board and Social Council. According to Tullis, the bylaw revisions that have been approved will “allow for more oversight of the Program Board and the Social Council” by the AAS Senate and “will increase transparency and the relations between the Program Board, Social Council and the Senate,” though the Senate will still not have the power to micromanage either of the two organizations.
Tullis acknowledges that there are still many problems with the existing AAS Constitution and that the additions and revisions approved on Monday night are only a small step towards the development of a more streamlined governing structure for the AAS. “I think that the new bylaws are a way to address some of the problems [of the Constitution], with the hope that there will be a much more thorough revising of the Constitution in the fall,” he said. Tullis expects there to be a “constitutional convention” and hopes to be a part of it.