Two proposed amendments to the SGA constitution will be on the Miss Homecoming ballot Friday, one of which will essentially create a new judicial structure for the SGA.
"It's giving them (students) more opportunities when it comes to having their voice heard by us," said Ashley Nichols, SGA vice president and senior in political science.
Currently, the SGA has a Jurisprudence Court that hears appeals made by candidates for office who are found to be in violation of campaign rules by the SGA Electoral Board.
The proposed amendment would broaden the court's function to provide greater oversight of the SGA administration.
"Most of our counterparts in the SEC, they have a process that a student can follow if they want to bring a charge against a student official or against an action that was taken," Nichols said.
Auburn's SGA currently has no formal outlet for a student or group to file a complaint against an SGA member or decision.
The proposed amendment would give the Jurisprudence Court that ability, as well as remove the faculty adviser from the role of Chief Justice of the court.
Instead, a student will be installed in that position.
Should the amendment pass, the court would have six student justices, with a faculty adviser overseeing proceedings.
The amendment would also create an attorney general to communicate between the court and the SGA during cases.
Carol Myers, junior in interdisciplinary studies, SGA senator and chair of the constitutional reform committee in the senate, said student organizations "are really wanting this because they need a voice within SGA, and that's what we need."
Myers said the court will be an outlet for student organizations to voice their concerns when the SGA determines the budget for campus organizations every year.
"I've never heard of a formal complaint from an organization," Nichols said. "But they may feel like they can't without this judicial process."
The second amendment would remove the clause in the SGA constitution that says the SGA senate must meet in the summer.
Nichols said the senate has not met for a summer session in years and that it was merely archaic language that needed to be removed to update the constitution.
The two amendments were on the ballot in the last SGA elections in March, but they failed to pass. For an amendment to pass, it must clear the senate and then be approved by a two-thirds majority in either the fall or spring elections.
However, at least 25 percent of the student body must cast a vote for or against the amendment for the results to count.
"Overwhelmingly, people were in favor of passing," Nichols said. "It was simply that there needed to be a few more people voting on the amendments."
Nichols and Myers said they are confident they have gotten the word out about the amendments and are optimistic they will pass this time.
"We're trying to do our best to let students know what these amendments are so they don't skip them this time," Nichols said. "We really want this campaign to stand out this time."
Voting for the amendments will be held Friday on the Tiger-I tab under AU Access.
Students will have the opportunity to decide on the constitutional amendments while voting for Miss Homecoming.
If the amendments fail, the SGA will have to wait until the spring to propose them again.
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