Student Senate

2023 Student Senate members posed outside
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Mission of NDSCS Student Senate

The NDSCS Student Senate serves and collaborates with our College community to provide a unified voice for all NDSCS students. We are adamant in promoting and encouraging wildcat pride, while upholding the Student Leadership Quality Standards.

Student Senate is the governing body of the enrolled students at NDSCS.

So what does that mean? The Student Senate is here to serve you, the students. Along with the authority to regulate student social activities and extracurricular activities, the Senate offers many services to the student body and to student groups through the funding received in student fees every year. The Senate meets Mondays at 6:15 p.m. in the Student Leadership Room of the Hektner Student Center.

Contact a Senator for:

  • Discretionary Funding
  • Fund Raising on Campus
  • Chartering new Student Organizations
  • Input into College decisions

Get Involved in Student Senate

The Student Senate includes representatives from the instructional divisions at NDSCS. Students are encouraged to get involved with student government and other club activities. Contact a Senator or Student Senate advisor to learn how you can get involved.

The Student Government Constitution and Bylaws are listed below. The North Dakota State College of Science Student Senate is a member of the North Dakota Student Association.

Student Senate Application

Meet Your Senators

Katie Willprecht

Katie Willprecht
President

Hayden Larson

Hayden Larson
Vice President

Cherokee Warnecke

Cherokee Warnecke
Admin Assistant

Aiden Hoff

Aiden Hoff

Bor Majok Bor Makuach

Bor Majok Bor Makuach

Briar Maudal

Briar Maudal

Conner Birnbaum

Conner Birnbaum

Elise Klindt

Elise Klindt

Joseph Hollingsworth

Joseph Hollingsworth

Lauren Parks

Lauren Parks

Parker Martinson

Parker Martinson

Sophia Weshnevski

Sophia Weshnevski

Zoey Bohnenstingl

Zoey Bohnenstingl


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NDSCS Student Senate Constitution
North Dakota State College of Science Student Body and Student Senate

All registered students of the North Dakota State College of Science are members of the student body. The governing body of the enrolled students is the Student Senate. The Student Senate is the voice of the student body in all campus affairs.

The Student Senate, with advisor's approval, has the authority to regulate all student social activities and all extracurricular activities except choral, drama and athletic events. Allocated operational funds are provided from student fees, and the Student Senate and Campus Activities Board have complete control over their expenditures under the guidance of the advisors.
The Student Senate meets regularly to discuss agenda items, formulate policies and make decisions regarding students concerns, programs and, in collaboration with the Campus Activities Board, activities.

The Student Senate shall form sub-committees and appoint chairpersons to such committees as necessary. The Student Senate enlists the assistance and cooperation of all student organizations to help implement these programs and activities.

Constitution of the Student Body
We, the students of the North Dakota State College of Science, desire to establish this constitution and bylaws in order to have an effective and organized method of exercising the authority which is inherent in, or delegated to, the student body of the North Dakota State College of Science hereinafter called the student body.

ARTICLE I
Purpose
The purpose of this organization is to govern the student clubs and organizations and to represent the student body both locally with campus administration and on the state level with the North Dakota Student Association.

ARTICLE II
Membership
All degree-seeking, registered students of the North Dakota State College of Science, as officially established by proper authority, and are in good standing with respect to all college regulations, shall be considered members of the student body.

ARTICLE III
Governing Body
Section 1 - The governing group of the student body shall be called the Student Senate.

Section 2 - The Student Senate shall be comprised of 14 total students, at least two first-year students, two second-year students, one North Dakota State College of Science Fargo student, four students from at least four different academic clusters or any combination thereof.

Section 3 - The officers shall consist of a President, a Vice-President/North Dakota Student Association Head Delegate, an Administrative Assistant, and a Treasurer.

Section 4 - The officers named and implied in Section 3 of this Article shall be elected by the current members of the Student Senate. However, current members of Student Senate may appoint a newly appointed senator to an interim Executive team position if unable to be filled by the board.

Section 5 - Appointments shall be made by an interview committee if the senate requires more delegates to meet quorum at any time during the academic year.

Section 6 - The interview committee shall consist of a at least two student senate members one of whom represents the executive board.

Section 7 - The members of the Student Senate shall be elected by the student body or appointed by the current Student Senate. Election and appointment procedures to be followed are set up in Article I of the attached bylaws.

Section 8 - The Student Senate shall be responsible for furthering college spirit and encouraging worthwhile campus activities of the student body.

ARTICLE IV
Advisors
Section 1 - The Student Senate shall have such advisors as the President of the college shall deem necessary.

Section 2 - The advisors shall attend regularly scheduled meetings of the Student Senate in order to enlighten the members with regard to the college's official positions.

Section 3 - Advisors shall not vote.

Section 4 – Advisors shall determine the Student Senate stipend.

ARTICLE V
Amendments
Section 1 - Amendments to this constitution shall be approved by a majority vote of the Student Senate membership, along with notice to the college Management Team.

Section 2 – The bylaws of this organization shall be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Student Senate membership.

ARTICLE VI
Effectiveness
Section 1 - This constitution shall replace and repeal any and all previous constitutions made by this student body.

Section 2 - This constitution and bylaws shall go into effect immediately following approval by the Student Senate membership and the college Management Team.

NDSCS Student Senate Bylaws
North Dakota State College of Science Student Senate Bylaws

ARTICLE I
Election Procedures
Elections of members to the Student Senate and of Senate officers are conducted according to the following provisions:

Section 1 - Candidates are required to have at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA) to be eligible for the Student Senate. Prospective member who does not have a GPA from any College may use their transfer GPA; any students in their first semester of college may use their high school GPA. Members must maintain a 2.0 GPA to remain in office. Senators who receive an incomplete grade from a previous semester will have 2 weeks starting at the beginning of the current semester to rectify and submit their updated grades.

Section 2 - Prospective students who are inquiring to become a senator shall prepare to lead the student body and be an active member in the Student Senate including:

  1. Participate in the community projects
  2. Attend meetings
  3. Be an active speaker and listener
  4. Talk to students across campus
  5. Be able to represent not only yourself but the school on the state/national level
  6. Give committee reports when deemed necessary by an officer.

Section 3 - Only members who plan to attend the North Dakota State College of Science for the entire academic school year are eligible to become a member of the Student Senate.

Section 4 - Each candidate for the Student Senate must file a petition for candidacy signed by at least 25 qualified voters. The Registrar and the Executive Director of Student and Residential Life must also approve the petition for candidacy. Petitions must be submitted to the advisor of Student Senate by the stated deadline.

Section 5 - In the event a member of the Student Senate does not return to college, withdraws from college, resigns, or is asked to leave, the Student Senate shall have the option to nominate willing candidates and vote in a new Senator to fill the vacant position by a majority vote, or elect to continue on without filling the vacancy with the option to vote in a candidate later on in the school year.

Section 6 - Notice of Student Senate elections shall be marketed through various avenues for at least one week prior to the date of the election.

Section 7 – In the event that the number of applicants is equal to or less than the number of open positions, interviews shall be conducted by a special committee that consists of at least one executive team member and one member at-large. The applicants will be approved or denied, and new members shall be appointed at the recommendation by the interviewing committee.

Section 8 - Elections for Senate officers shall be held on a regularly scheduled spring semester meeting.

Section 9 – Senators elected in the spring will serve for the remainder of the academic year at a prorated stipend until the next academic school year, and for as long as they wish to serve while attending NDSCS for subsequent years.

Section 10 - Senators can be removed at any point if deemed unable to meet the Student Leadership Quality Standards by the Executive team as previously stated in Section Two.

ARTICLE II
Qualifications for officers of the Student Senate
Section 1 - All officers must be duly elected members of the Student Senate.
Section 2 - Officers shall be elected by the Student Senate.
Section 3 - Be knowledgeable and/or willing to learn Robert’s Rules of Order.

ARTICLE III
Powers and duties of officers and members of the Student Senate
Section 1 - All officers and members of the Student Senate shall attend all meetings unless the advisor and/or president has excused the absence prior to the meeting time except in special circumstances decided by the Senate.

Section 2 - The President of the Student Senate shall:

  1. Call and preside over all meetings of the Student Senate.
  2. Have power to call for special reports from members.
  3. Have the power to assign duties.
  4. Have no vote except to cast the tie breaking vote of the Senate.
  5. Act as the official representative of the Student Senate at meetings and functions of the College, student body and community or appoint a member of the Student Senate to take his/her place as an official representative.
  6. Attend the Management Team meetings or appoint a member of the Senate to attend in their place.
  7. Call for special meetings when needed at the President’s discretion, and be responsible for notifying all members of said meetings.
  8. Be provided with information regarding parliamentary procedure.
  9. Be responsible for notifying all members of special meetings.

Section 3 - The Vice-President/ North Dakota Student Association (NDSA) Head Delegate shall:

  1. Call and preside over Student Senate meetings in the temporary absence of the President.
  2. Serve as the North Dakota State College of Science Head Delegate representative to the North Dakota Student Association.
  3. Appoint a representative as Head Delegate to attend a North Dakota Student Association meeting if the Vice-President cannot attend said meeting.
  4. Collect documents from the Student Senate mailbox prior to meetings.
  5. Coordinate hosting NDSA along with travel plans for NDSA.

Section 4 - The Administrative Assistant shall:

  1. Keep accurate minutes of all official Student Senate meetings and have them available by the Friday of the current week.
  2. Prepare an agenda with help from the officers and advisors for each regular meeting by the Friday of the previous week for regular meetings to make it available for Student Senate members.
  3. Be responsible for handling correspondence between the Student Senate and outside sources. This shall include maintaining the information on the North Dakota State College of Science website and other social media sources.
  4. Be responsible for keeping a permanent record of previous agendas, meeting minutes, special committee minutes and other documents for the Student Senate.
  5. Call and preside over Student Senate meetings in the temporary absence of the President and Vice President.
  6. E-mail clubs and maintain records of all fundraising request approvals and denials.
  7. Post weekly minutes in a prominent place.

Section 5 – The Treasurer shall:

  1. Work collaboratively to prepare the Student Senate’s budgets.
  2. Present the budget to the Senate for approval.
  3. Ensure the Senate adheres to the approved budget.
  4. Maintain accurate financial records throughout the year.
  5. Call and preside over Student Senate meetings in the temporary absence of the President, Vice President, and Administrative Assistant.
  6. Be able to report the financial standing of the Student Senate.
  7. Track all financial transactions and reporting of the financial condition of the Student Senate with the advisors.

Section 6 - The Senators shall:

  1. Uphold the Student Leadership Quality Standards (SLQS) at all times while on and off campus and online.
  2. Report any student concerns to the Senate.
  3. Be an active participant in Student Senate meetings, programs, and activities.
  4. Attend at least four North Dakota Student Association meetings within their first full academic year of being elected. Senators must attend at least two meetings within their first semester of membership.
  5. Be a member of at least one standing committee within a month of being elected.
  6. Complete a committee report at the following Senate meeting and present it to the Senate in the case they are elected to chair a committee.
  7. Committee chairs will communicate meeting summary and attendance to the administrative assistant prior to the next meeting.

ARTICLE IV
Meeting Time, Place and Attendance
Section 1 - The Student Senate shall meet at least once a week during the academic year, on the day and time most convenient for the members and advisors.

Section 2 - The Student Senate shall meet in the Student Leadership room in the North Dakota State College of Science Hektner Student Center unless otherwise specified.

Section 3 - All members are expected to attend all meetings. Any member who fails to perform his/her assigned duties, is absent for more than three regular meetings, sub-committee meetings, or a combination thereof, within an academic year, without just cause, may be removed by a vote of the majority of the Student Senate. Three “tardies” or “early leaves” for any meeting shall result in one absence of a meeting.

Section 4 - Members of the student body may attend in reasonable numbers. Persons representing special interest groups may appear before the Student Senate to present their proposals if it is in the best interests of the College.

Section 5 - A quorum shall be necessary to transact any business. A quorum shall consist of a majority of the Student Senate membership and an advisor.

Section 6 - Senators shall wear appropriate clothing when representing the College. Student Senators should wear North Dakota State College of Science Student Senate clothing to each regular meeting and when the President and Advisor deem it appropriate.

ARTICLE V
Additional Powers of the Student Senate:
Section 1 - The Student Senate shall have the power to regulate all student activities which are sponsored by student organizations, involve the entire student body or are open to the entire student body. The Student Senate recognizes all North Dakota State College of Science policies as official regulations governing student activities.

Section 2 - The Student Senate shall voice its opinions on matters of day to day operations of the school to official presiding bodies.

Section 3 - In the event that situations arise which are not specifically described or allowed for in this Constitution and Bylaws, the Student Senate shall have the power to act in the best interests of the student body so long as this action is not contradictory to policies of North Dakota State College of Science.

Section 4 - One Student Senate member shall have open communication with the Faculty Senate once a month.

Section 5 - Students interested in establishing a student club/organization are required to be recognized by the Student Senate and should complete the following:

  1. Attend a regular meeting of the Student Senate to state the purpose of the organization and to receive authorization to carry out organization procedures.
  2. Obtain a copy of the "Petition to Organize and Establish an Organization" and a copy of the model constitution from the NDSCS.edu/Clubs webpage.
  3. Obtain signatures of at least fifteen students interested in forming the proposed organization and in becoming members.
  4. Obtain the written consent of one full-time faculty member to serve as faculty advisor.
  5. Have a representative of the proposed organization present the signed petition and ten copies of the proposed constitution to the Student Senate Administrative Assistant.
  6. Await notification of approval of the constitution before scheduling the first official meeting. (A two-week waiting period is required after submitting the constitution to enable the Student Senate to study the petition and the constitution).

Section 6 – The Student Senate shall have the power to dissolve inactive clubs.

  • Active shall be defined as meeting once per semester.
  • Dissolution shall be overseen by the club advisor.
  • Upon failure to meet activity requirements, the club advisor shall send a written report to the Student Senate at the end of each calendar year.
  • Dissolution shall be finalized by the Student Senate.

Section 7 - Discretionary Funding

  1. Discretionary funding is used for:
    • Monetary requests by clubs and organizations;
    • Student awards banquet;
    • Broadcast Music Inc., annual dues;
    • All joint activities that involve the Senate.
  2. The process to distribute funds to clubs and organizations is as follows:
    • Add up number of members in all clubs.
    • Determine dollar amount to be awarded.
    • Divide award by total membership (this number is a per student figure).
    • Multiply by the number of individuals attending the activity.
    • Compare to 50% of the request.
    • May use other factors when needed.
  3. Funding other organizations:
    • Student Senate reserves the right to fund and participate in Campus Activities Board and other campus organizations for student activities.

Section 8 - Student Senate shall provide funds to student clubs and organizations of the College for service-learning projects. A maximum reimbursement for student clubs and organizations shall be $150 per academic year (Senate’s discretion may be used in determining reimbursement amounts depending on project scope and campus/community impact).

Section 9 - All guest speakers shall inform the executive board, including advisors, when they propose to speak and the relevance of their topic. Topic must support the mission of both NDSCS and NDSCS Student Senate.

ARTICLE VI
Parliamentary Authority
The most current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall be the parliamentary authority on all matters not covered in the North Dakota State College of Science Constitution and Bylaws.

NDSCS Senate Members
Name Hometown Program Email
Katie Willprecht
President
Lidgerwood, ND Nursing Katie.Willprecht@ndscs.edu
Hayden Larson
Vice President
Sunburg, MN Ag Business Hayden.C.Larson@ndscs.edu
Cherokee Warnecke
Admin Assistant
Dickinson, ND Music Liberal Arts Transfer Cherokee.Warnecke@ndscs.edu
Aiden Hoff Fargo, ND Construction Management Technology Aiden.Hoff.1@ndscs.edu
Bor Majok Bor Makuach Rochester, MN Robotics, Automation, and Mechatronics Technology Bor.Makuach@ndscs.edu
Briar Maudal Wahpeton, ND Liberal Arts Briar.Maudal@ndscs.edu
Conner Birnbaum West Fargo, ND HVAC/R Conner.Birnbaum@ndscs.edu
Elise Klindt Campbell, MN Liberal Arts Elise.Klindt@ndscs.edu
Joseph Hollingsworth Fargo, ND Liberal Arts - Engineering Transfer (Dual Credit) Joseph.Hollingsworth@ndscs.edu
Lauren Parks West Fargo, ND Nursing Lauren.Parks@ndscs.edu
Parker Martinson Kensington, MN Automotive Technology Parker.Martinson@ndscs.edu
Sophia Weshnevski Buffalo, ND Occupational Therapy Assisting Sophia.Weshnevski@ndscs.edu
Zoey Bohnenstingl Ligerwood, ND Construction and Business Management Zoey.Bohnenstingl@ndscs.edu

Advisor:

Heather Nelson, Hektner Student Center 146, 701-671-2404 heather.r.nelson.1@ndscs.edu

Guest Speakers

All guest speakers must inform the executive board, including advisors, when they propose to speak and the relevance of their topic.

Topic must support the mission of both NDSCS and NDSCS Student Senate.

Email: ndscs.studentlife@ndscs.edu