Constitutional Affairs Election Committee
The Constitutional Affairs and Elections Committee, or CAEC, is a standing committee of the Dickinson College Student Senate and is governed by the CAEC Bylaws. The committee has several administrative responsibilities: to approve new clubs, to review existing clubs, to oversee and regulate Senate elections, to oversee and amend Senate governing documents, and to regulate Senate attendance policy
Click Here to See Who’s on CAEC.
All student organizations must be recognized by the Student Senate to be eligible for privileges such as reserving campus facilities and requesting Senate funding. The process for obtaining Senate recognition is overseen by the Senate Constitutional Affairs and Elections Committee (CAEC). Gaining recognition may seem like a daunting process but these standards are in place to assure that Senate recognized clubs are strong, viable, and carefully thought out. For help with starting your club, download a new club packet.
To get started you should gather people interested in the kind of group you want to organize and begin discussing the group's purpose. In addition, the group needs to begin creating a constitution, which will add structure to your club's leadership, membership, and how it accomplishes it goals and deals with certain internal problems. When you are ready to go forth with your proposed club, contact the CAEC Chair to discuss your organization. It will be helpful to have the following required items at that time:
- A typed constitution that follows the guideline as established by CAEC
- A digital version of the same constitution
- A letter of intent from the club's leadership elaborating on the purpose and goals of the new club
- A completed Club Membership Database form with 15 student entries
- Senate Recognition Agreement, signed by each club officer and the faculty adviser, agreeing to comply with the responsibilities and expectations of Senate-recognized clubs.
- A detailed plan of what the club hopes to accomplish and the events it hopes to host in its first semester of existence.
Clubs must also hold at least one organizational meeting that is attended by a member of CAEC.
All proposals for new organizations are reviewed and upon approval, CAEC will make a recommendation to the Student Senate for official recognition. The club will have to get CAEC approval (achieved by simple majority vote) as well as Senate approval (also achieved by a simple majority vote).
Any club that has submitted all required materials to CAEC and does not receive the committee's approval may appeal directly to the Student Senate body, which can approve the organization by a 2/3 vote of the senators present
Click Here to See Who’s on CAEC
Club review is a yearly process where the CAEC reviews half of the existing Senate-recognized clubs. In order to be recognized, a club must complete four tasks:
- Resubmit a constitution with any additions or amendments. A guideline for writing one can be found here.
- Resubmit a Senate Recognition Agreement signed by the club’s president and the faculty advisor. A copy can be found here.
- Resubmit a club membership database with 20 signatures, email addresses, and HUB box numbers. A copy can be found here.
- Present their club to the CAEC, describing past, current, and future activities.
If a club is on probation, a club is missing one or more parts of a successful club review but does not warrant a complete loss of recognition. A club will effectively lose Senate recognition until the missing parts are submitted to CAEC. A club will automatically be taken off probation once all of parts are completed
If a club does not pass club review, the club loses Senate-recognized status. In order to regain Senate-recognized status, the organization must present themselves to the CAEC as a new club.
Click Here to See Who’s on CAEC