A bill to be debated tonight by the Duke Student Government legislature could significantly alter governance of student groups.
The 33-page proposal, written by Trinity sophomore and DSG legislator Randy Fink, posits a number of changes to the current system by which student groups are recognized, chartered and funded by DSG and its Student Organizations Finance Committee. Fink said the bill could "redefine how DSG does business."
The proposal for revamping the process by which DSG approves groups. Currently, very little legwork is required by a group for DSG to grant official recognition, which allows the group to use the Duke name and campus space, or for DSG to award a charter, which gives a group the right to request SOFC funding. In addition, DSG does not thoroughly check paperwork new groups fill out, Fink said.
The current policy creates loopholes for violations that may go overlooked, such as when Sigma Gamma Delta, a now-defunct campus honor society, received a charter last year when it did not have a faculty advisor, Fink said.
"The approval process used to be automatic. Now, we're going to take a fine-tooth comb to that process," he said.
Fink's proposal also asks DSG to keep records of all groups for at least four years. DSG is not currently required to keep any records.
"We don't want to make the clubs the bad guys," Fink said. "DSG should be responsible for keeping track of what's going on."
Trinity senior and DSG president John Tolsma agreed that responsibility for verifying and watchdogging lies with DSG.
"Anything we can do to increase our accountability to students is important. This is their money we're dealing with," Tolsma said.
Some student-group leaders said they approve of a verification process, so long as the watchdogging process does not get out of hand.
"It's important to verify legitimacy, but I hope they do not get too bogged down in red tape," said engineering senior Charles Choi, president of the Asian Student Association.
The proposed bylaws also seek to limit the amount of funding a newly-formed group can receive from DSG in its first year to a maximum of $150 for its general operations. The group can still apply for money from the programming fund for special events.
Tolsma said he was concerned about this part of the proposal.
"We need to be promoting as many ways as possible for programming. I think [the funding cap] may be overly restrictive to coming up with programming students need."
Choi agreed. "Everyone will be after the same pot, which will be limited since the student activities fee didn't pass."
A referendum to raise the fee by five dollars, which would have created a $20,000 fund for new programming, failed last month due to low voter turnout.
Another facet of Fink's legislation seeks to hold student groups accountable to the DSG judiciary branch for any violations of the SOFC contract. Currently, bylaws do not allow DSG to revoke a group's charter unless there is a violation found in the group's approval request form, Fink said. The proposal would grant the judiciary the authority to sanction groups for other violations, such as unapproved expenditures.
Lastly, the legislation proposes to increase the amount of voters needed in a referendum vote of the student body on an activities fee. Fink's bill would require a 33 percent turnout, whereas the bylaws currently require a 25 percent turnout. Fink said the increase will force DSG to do a better job in making students aware of proposed fee increases.
"Right now, DSG can get away with and benefit from student apathy," he said, since many of the typically small number of students who choose to vote are in favor of an increase. "This a step towards trying to counter that student apathy."
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