With a nearly unanimous vote and minimal debate, the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) enacted a wide range of constitutional changes at its meeting last night.
The constitution, which underwent minimal changes from the version recommended by the constitutional review committee, must earn the approval of an external board that is composed of five members. Four members of the board have been picked, with a faculty member left to be chosen.
Twenty-five voted to pass the the changes, while one person abstained.
The members of the board are Stan Latta, director of union and student activities; Mark Taticchi, Association of Residence Hall Students president; Raquel Jones, Lation Caucus president; and Shaira Morales (senior- health policy and administration).
Jay Chamberlin, UPUA president, said he had not spoken to the people on the board yet, but he was sure they would "give it a fair evaluation."
Ralph Crivello, who served as chairman of the constitutional review committee, said he would "find it very troubling" if the board rejected the constitution, saying his main concern is that the board only has a couple weeks to evaluate what took UPUA two months to do.
There are several "significant" changes to UPUA in the new constitution, Chamberlin said, including the establishment of departments serving under the president, creating a Board of Arbitrators to review constitutional amendments and other disputes and changing the membership structure of the association.
Gavin Keirans, Undergraduate Student Government trust director, said the constitutional changes met the requests USG outlined in its merger proposal. "[UPUA] now has the capabilities to truly serve as the student voice," he said. Keirans said USG will meet Thursday to decide whether to transfer its $25,000 in assets to UPUA.
The new constitution cannot take affect until after the next association takes office, so UPUA's upcoming elections on April 25 will be conducted under its old constitution.
Since some of the representative positions are different under the new constitution, some seats will not be elected in the spring elections.
Chamberlin said seats not filled through the elections would be filled through the appropriate appointment procedure outlined in the constitution, which differs for each position.
