Constitution
of the Student Body at
Arnold & Marie Schwartz College
of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
at Long Island University
We the students of the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy, in order to form a more efficient student organization, provide effective representation of the students, and promote our general education through our rights and regulations as students, do establish this constitution.
Article I
The student body to be represented by this constitution will consist of all students officially registered in the professional phase of the pharmacy program at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University.
Article II (The Constitution)
Section 1:
This constitution will serve as the official document of the student body and the guideline for The Pharmacy Student Leadership Council. This constitution will hold precedence over all other forms of legislation for the student body, with exception of previously enacted legislation of the Faculty of the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University.
Article III (The Official Pharmacy Student Governing Body)
Section 1:
The pharmacy student body will be represented by an official Pharmacy student government.
This student government will be known from hereafter as The Pharmacy Student Leadership Council of The Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University. For common reference, and on all official and unofficial documents, this organization will be known as the Pharmacy Student Leadership Council, abbreviated PSLC, and the Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Science will be hereafter abbreviated as the College.
Section 2:
1. The PSLC will represent the student body to the faculty, administration, and any other constituency of the College.
2. The PSLC will serve to organize and unify all areas of the pharmacy student body in order to better represent the needs of the pharmacy students at the College.
3. The PSLC shall organize activities and programs to educate and inform the student body of all issues, opportunities, and important information concerning the field of pharmacy.
4. The PSLC will work to assist in
the academic, professional, and social welfare of the student body.
Section 2:
1. The PSLC shall consist of a Cabinet of six members including a President, Vice President, an Executive Secretary, a Director of Communications, a Treasurer, and an Events Secretary.
2. This group will work to serve the best interest of the entire student body.
3. No student shall serve as a member of the PSLC who is not a member of
the student body or who is not in satisfactory academic status or under
disciplinary action, as determined by the administration of the College.
4. The Cabinet will serve as one of the branches of the PSLC and will work closely with the two other branches to be described later in this constitution.
5. The Director of Student and Professional Activities of the College shall serve as the advisor of PSLC. The advisor will assist the PSLC in carrying out its duties
as dictated by this constitution.
6. The PSLC will make itself available to the student body. The PSLC will hold regular office hours and create other ways for students to reach them when needed.
7. The PSLC will be responsible for interviewing applicants for student/faculty committees. The nominations will then be sent to the Office of the Assistant Dean for approval.
8. All officers of the PSLC will abide by and uphold all principles, rules and ideas as dictated by this constitution.
Section 3:
1. The office of the PSLC President will serve as the highest ranking office in the PSLC. He/she is the official Student Body President of the College of Pharmacy.
2. The PSLC President will have the authority to set a meeting of the PSLC.
3. Only the PSLC President can officially call a PSLC meeting to order and only he/she can adjourn the meeting.
4. The PSLC President has the authority to call for a vote of the PSLC.
5. The PSLC President will serve as the official Student
Representative to the Council of Overseers and to any other constituency
of the College.
6. The PSLC President will be responsible for reviewing the agenda
prior to each leadership/student council meeting.
7. The PSLC President has the ability to create committees as necessary
to conduct student government business. All students enrolled in the
Colleges are eligible to serve on these committees.
8. The PSLC President in conjunction with the PSLC Cabinet will dictate what responsibilities each committee will have.
9. The PSLC President will be responsible for making sure announcements are made to the student body concerning important events, activities, and dates that are of interest, and are important to the students.
Section 4:
1. The PSLC Vice President will serve to handle all the responsibilities of the PSLC President in his/her absence.
2. The PSLC Vice President will serve as the primary advisor to the PSLC President.
3. The PSLC Vice President will serve as the Alumni Association Liaison.
4. The PSLC Vice President will represent the PSLC on all committees when the PSLC President is unable to attend.
5. The PSLC Vice President will be responsible for interacting directly with the other branches of the PSLC.
6. The PSLC Vice President will be responsible for collecting and organizing all data, complaints, questions, and other miscellaneous information before it is presented to the President.
7. He/she will be present at all meetings called by the PSLC President.
Section 5:
The other offices in the PSLC Cabinet will manage responsibilities as dictated by their position
1. Secretary of the Treasury: The Treasurer will be responsible
for maintaining a detailed log of all expenses of the PSLC for the year. The Treasurer will be responsible for preparing a detailed budget report for all proposed activities sponsored by the PSLC. The Treasurer must make sure all financial matter are clearly outlined and updated for viewing by the president at any time.
2. Executive Secretary: He/she will take the official minutes of each meeting
of the PSLC.
a. He/she will be responsible for maintaining a detailed book of important events
or programs for the PSLC and its officers.
b. The Executive Secretary will be responsible for preparing all official documents of the PSLC.
c. The executive secretary will be responsible for obtaining meeting minutes and other records from all pharmacy organizations.
3. Events Secretary: The Events Secretary will be responsible for organizing all events sponsored by the student government. He/she will be responsible for
maintaining a calendar of events for all pharmacy constituency's events, activities, and speakers.
a. The Events Secretary will chair an Events Committee consisting of members that represent the interests of each pharmacy organization.
b. He/she will be responsible for submitting Events Committee meeting minutes to PSLC President.
c. The Events Committee will plan all joint PSLC and pharmacy organization events.
4. Director of Communications: The Director of Communications will be responsible for disseminating information to the pharmacy student body through various media.
a. He/she will be editor-in-chief Online Doses, the pharmacy student
electronic newsletter.
b. He/she will be responsible for the advertisement of all PSLC sponsored events.
c. He/she is responsible for maintaining all bulletin boards in the Health Sciences
building lobby and the one outside the Pharmacy Student Lounge.
5. Mentor: Each Student Government will have a mentor from the previous administration. The preceding President of the PSLC will make him or herself available to the new administration of the PSLC. He/she will aid the new PSLC in continuing the work of the student government and aid in the transition of administration.
Article V (The Pharmacy Student Leadership Council)
Section 1:
The PSLC will serve as a democratic way for all organizations and constituencies to voice their opinion, and exercise their right to vote on issues that concern the student body as a whole, and as members of individual groups or organization.
Section 2:
1. The PSLC will meet minimally twice a semester, and on any occasion deemed necessary by the President.
2. The PSLC will be made up of three branches, including the PSLC Cabinet, Class Representatives and Club/Student Organization Representatives.
3. Every member of the PSLC is expected to be familiar with the contents
of this constitution.
4. The PSLC Cabinet will only be responsible for making decisions that concern
all aspects of the student body (all of the classes and organizations).
Section 3:
Class Representatives.
1. Class representatives will be students in each of the four years of the
professional phase of the Doctor of Pharmacy program. Each professional class will elect one President and one Vice President respectively.
2. Each of the Representatives will serve to represent the interest of
the respective members of their constituencies.
3. The elected officers will hear the problems and complaints of
their class respectively and will address them to the proper authorities.
4. The officers will also organize and plan any activity or event for their
respective constituency.
5. Each officer is responsible for making announcements and holding
meetings with the purpose of informing their respective members of important
information and upcoming events that may be of interest.
6. Class officers will only address issues concerning those students they represent.
7. Class officers will only address students within the constituency
that they represent. They can address a constituency outside of the one they represent only with the written approval of the PSLC President and/or the President of the group that they would like to address.
8. The branch of Class Representative will serve as an extension of the
PSLC .The Class Representatives will in all cases be considered a part of the Pharmacy Student Leadership Council. Only during a PSLC meeting will they be considered a separate entity.
Section 4:
1. The final branch of the Pharmacy Student Leadership Council will consist of the presidents of each student organization or club at the College. Hereafter, each member of this branch will be referred to as the Club President.
2. The Club President will vote in the best interest of the organization and its members.
3. The Club President will be responsible for holding club meetings regularly and keeping his/her organization informed.
4. The Club President will be responsible for submitting minutes and attendance to PSLC as it would to The Office of Student Life and Leadership and SGA.
5. He/she is also required to submit a list of events to PSLC at least one week prior to the start of each semester.
Article VI (The Elections and Impeachment)
Section 1:
1. All PSLC officers and Class Representatives will serve a term of one year starting one week after the last day of final exams in the spring semester.
2. PSLC President and Vice President will be elected at the end of the Spring Semester.
3. Each perspective officer must submit a nomination application, with at least 25 signatures from members of the student body that they wish to represent to be approved by the Assistant Dean of the College. All nomination applications must be submitted by the deadline stated on the form to secure their name on the ballot for the given election.
4. All officers must be in good standing in the university at the time they take office. A prospective officer may run for office while on probation, or under other action at the college only if his/her application is approved by the Assistant Dean of the College.
5. All officers must be a member of the student body at the College of Pharmacy to serve.
5. The offices of the PSLC will be occupied by a member of the student body who will be a P4 or P5 student for the year that they will serve office.
6. Representatives of classes in the professional program will be elected at the same time the PSLC officers are elected, with the exception of the class entering its first year of the professional phase. Class Representatives of the class entering its first year of the professional phase will be elected at the beginning of the fall semester.
7. Representatives of Clubs and Organizations will be elected in the Spring semester.
Section 2:
1. The election of Class Representatives and PSLC officers will be run by an Election Committee. This committee will choose the day, time and manner in which the elections will be held.This committee will be comprised of representatives of each class of pharmacy students.
Members of this committee may not be running for office in the election that they will be supervising.
2. The Election Committee will be chaired by a person appointed by PSLC President and
will consist of no less than six members. The PSLC Vice President will co-chair the committee. The members will be nominated by the Election Committee Chair and must be approved by a majority vote of the Cabinet.
3. Candidates will submit their nomination form no less than two weeks prior to the election date (one week for those being elected at the start of the fall semester) to the Election Committee.
4. The nomination form will contain information about the candidate including their full name, address, phone number, email address, academic classification, and which office it is they want to be considered for.
5. The Election Committee will verify that the application submitted is complete and will proceed to forward it to the office of the Assistant Dean of the College for final approval.
6. Any member of the student body is considered an eligible voter for the
offices of the Pharmacy Student Leadership Council. And those members of the
student body who will be members of the specific constituency by the fall
semester will be allowed to vote for the representative of their respective class.
7. The Election Committee will be responsible for tallying all the
ballots of each election. The Chair of the Election Committee will present the results to the Assistant Dean of the College, and with the Dean’s approval the Chair of the committee will announce the results.
8. All ballots will be held by the Election Committee in the Office of the Assistant Dean for a period of six months follow the election. These results will be available in the case of a challenge of the
election.
9. Any student who wishes to challenge the results of the election may do so. First the student wishing to challenge must submit a written appeal of the election to the election committee and to the Assistant Dean of the College. If the Election Committee and the dean feel a wrongdoing or any other deviation from the established procedure, unintentional or otherwise, has occurred they can call for a new election to be held at the earliest convenience. The Dean also has the authority to disqualify from holding office any student who has been believe to have participated in a wrong doing with the election. The Dean may also choose to forward the case to the Committee on Professional Conduct, Discipline, and Grievances for further evaluation of the situation. No appeals will be accept after one month from the date the election took place.
Section 3 (Election Rules and Regulations):
1. During the campaign period, any candidate found acting unprofessionally will be disqualified from the election.
i. Flyers, posters, and all campaign objects may not contain slander against other
candidates.
2. There shall be no promise of gifts, monetary gain, etc in exchange for votes made by any of the candidates.
3. During the day of election, candidates will not be allowed in election area unless they are voting or they are going into and out of a class.
4. No person may advocate one candidate over another in the election area. Any person found doing say will be reported to Assisted Dean for unprofessional conduct.
Section 4:
1. If an officer does not execute his/her position properly, or does not
uphold all responsibilities of their position a motion to impeach can be
made. The procedure for impeachment is as follows: First an official
complaint, fully detailed and explained, must be submitted (to the highest ranking pharmacy student government officer available) against the officer in question fully detailed and
explained. After a complaint has been filed a motion to impeach must be made and then seconded during a PSLC meeting. If the motion is seconded a call for a vote will be made. The motion to impeach will be carried out if the Student Council vote is at least two branches
supporting impeachment.
2. Grounds for impeachment include failure to uphold the office for which they are elected, excessive unexcused absences from PSLC meetings, or any other act deemed immoral or inappropriate by the PSLC or by the constituency that they represent.
3. If a club or student organization officer is impeached, the club that they represent
will also be responsible for disciplining their representative.
4. The Assistant Dean of the College can mandate a person resign from office if they fail to maintain proper academic status, fall under disciplinary review or action, or behave in a manner deemed inappropriate by the standards of the college.
Section 5:
1. If the PSLC President is unable to perform the responsibilities of their office the Vice President will assume office.
2. If the Office of PSLC Vice President, or any other office within the PSLC is left vacant the serving PSLC President will nominate a qualified member of the student body to assume
office. The nomination will be voted on by the PSLC Cabinet. If the nomination is approved the new officer will take office on the first Monday following the approval of their nomination.
3. If a Class Representative office is left vacant then the same procedure must be followed as for the election of new class representatives.
Article VII (Amendments)
Members of the PSLC may propose amendments to this constitution at any time it is necessary. The amendment must be proposed in writing to the PSLC by the one proposing the change. Following the proposal a special meeting of the PSLC shall be held no more than two weeks following the proposal of the amendment. At this meeting the amendment will be proposed once again and a vote will be called. Each branch will submit one vote collectively, and a majority rules decision will be made. If the amendment is approved by the student council it will be forwarded to the Assistant Dean for approval. If approved by the Dean it will then go to a vote of the student body for ratification. If two thirds of the voting student body vote for ratification the amendment will be added to
the constitution.
Article VIII (Miscellaneous)
1. The Pharmacy Student Leadership Council will conduct business according to
the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order. If there is a conflict
between this Constitution and its future amendment, and with Robert's
Rules of order, this constitution will take precedent.
2. The PSLC shall keep a Journal of its meetings, financial reports, judgments, activities, etc.(only papers regarding events that require secrecy will be withheld from this journal).
Article IX (Ratification)
This constitution will become official upon a ratification by the
majority of the voting members of the Student Body at Arnold & Marie
Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University.
The election for ratification will be held at the earliest convenience
after approval of the Assistant Dean of the College of Pharmacy. Upon
ratification of this constitution the Pharmacy Student Leadership Council will displace the Pharmacy Student Government Association as the governing body for the students.
