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BYLAWS OF THE STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCHOOL OF LAW

Purpose

These Bylaws are intended to describe and clarify additional matters beyond those covered in the SBA Constitution. The items contained herein are new in that the Constitution does not address these particular aspects of the operation of the Student Bar Association.

Article I. Conflicts with the SBA Constitution

Section 1:

Should any conflicts arise between the SBA Constitution and the Bylaws, the Constitution shall govern. The Bylaws are subservient to and dependent on the Constitution.

Article II. Social Committee Chairperson

Section 1:

In accordance with Article V, Section 2 of the SBA Constitution, the Social Committee is a standing committee of the SBA. The Social Committee shall consist of at least four (4) SBA Board members in addition to the Social Committee Chairperson ("SCC"). The quorum for any business meeting of the Social Committee will be either three (3) Committee Members or a majority of active Committee Members, whichever is greater.

Section 2:

At the first regularly scheduled SBA Meeting of every month, the Social Committee Chairperson will provide a detailed report to the Board outlining, at least, the previous calendar month's activities and expenditures and the next calendar month's planned activities and projected expenditures. The SCC need not strictly adhere to the planned activities and projected expenditures outlined in this report. The report is intended to inform the SBA Board and not to bind the SCC to specific courses of action. However, the SCC should endeavor to make these reports as accurate as possible at the time they are given. If there are no regularly scheduled SBA Meetings in a given month, the SCC will give a report at the next meeting as detailed in Section 1. That report must include the period of time from that meeting to the previous one.

Section 3:

If funding for an event to be paid for out of the social budget is projected to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), the Social Committee shall vote whether to fund the event as projected. A successful majority vote of voting Committee Members at a noticed committee meeting will allow the SCC to proceed with the planning and organization of the event. After such a vote, the SCC shall report the vote, whether successful or not, in addition to the event, at the subsequent regularly scheduled SBA Meeting.

Section 4:

All expenditures or projected events by the SCC may be subject to review by the SBA upon a successful majority threshold vote of voting members in attendance at a regularly scheduled meeting. Pursuant to a successful vote, discussion shall ensue. Expenditures and projected events may then be rejected by another two-thirds vote of voting members in attendance at the same meeting.

Section 5:

The President is empowered to veto any expenditure or projected event by the SCC. If the President does explicitly exercise this power, the President must report this during the President's report at the subsequent regularly scheduled SBA Meeting. The President's veto may be overruled by a successful two-thirds vote of voting members in attendance.

Section 6:

The SCC shall submit a budget to the Budget Committee at the same time, in a similar manner and for the same purposes as Student Groups do. The Budget Committee shall vote on that projected budget. At its discretion, the Budget Committee may allot the SCC and/or Social Committee all additional allotment, subject, if at all, to any restrictions or provisions the Budget Committee may provide.

Article III. Standing Committees

Section 1: Pro-Bono and Public Interest Committee

In addition to the Constitutionally mandated SBA committees, each Board shall form a standing committee called the Public Interest and Pro Bono Committee. This committee shall remain standing until such time as the Bylaws are amended to eliminate it.

Section 2:

This committee shall be comprised of any number of Board members, but more than zero. The appointment process shall be in accordance with the appointment powers for other committees directed under the Constitution.

Section 3:

The Public Interest and Pro Bono committee shall focus on the policy matter of supporting and developing and public interest and pro bono work, awareness, and opportunities at the University of Connecticut School of Law. This amendment represents a culmination of the 2004-2005 and the 2005-2006 Board’s efforts in this area.

Section 3(a): Responsibilities

Meet periodically with the student representatives on the Public Interest and Pro Bono faculty committee and provide no less than 2 reports to the Board per semester; Use the SBA’s March 2005 Open Letter as guidance; connect with student groups and individual students to communicate new and ongoing public interest and pro bono opportunities through the school; and create a voice for the administration about the importance of public interest and pro bono work at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Article IV. Budget Committee and Process

Section 1: Budget Committee Composition

The Budget Committee shall be composed of seven (7) voting members:

(a) The President and Treasurer shall serve as members. As per Article III, Section 4 of the SBA Constitution, the Treasurer shall serve as the Budget Committee Chairperson. The President shall choose the Committee Members after consulting with the Treasurer subject to the subsequent provisions. The Committee Members, except for the First Year (1LD) and First Year Evening (1LE) Reps., will be appointed before the end of the Spring Semester, after elections have taken place.

(b) Five (5) members of the Budget Committee shall be appointed provided at least one (1) Second Year Day (2LD), one (1) Third Year Day (3LD) and one (1) Upper-class Evening (2/3/4LE) Representatives are included in the five appointed members.

(c) One (1) First Year Day (1LD) Representative and one (1) First Year Evening (1LE) Representative shall be appointed to the Budget Committee during the Fall Semester. These Committee Members shall be appointed soon after the elections.

(d) No member shall be appointed who is not currently a member of the SBA Board or SBA Executive Board.

Vacancies may be filled by appointment by the President after consultation with the Treasurer subject to the composition requirements outlined above.

The Budget Committee Chairperson shall be empowered to appoint up to five (5) ex-officio members to the Budget Committee. The ex-officio members may participate in conversations and contribute to the planning and operation of the Budget Committee but may not vote on any particular matter.

Any appointments to the Budget Committee may be subject to review by the SBA upon a successful majority threshold vote of voting members in attendance at a regularly scheduled meeting. Pursuant to a successful vote, discussion shall ensue. Appointments may then be rejected by another two-thirds vote of voting members in attendance at the same meeting.

Section 2: Budgetary Guidelines

The outgoing Budget Committee shall produce a set of budgetary guidelines ("guidelines") in the Spring Semester. The guidelines will detail the funding principles the new Budget Committee will follow in preparing a new budget for the subsequent year. The guidelines may address items including, but not limited to: Student Group food funding; speaker fees, meals and transportation; Student Group competitions’ transportation, lodging and food; conference registration fees, transportation and lodging.

The guidelines are intended to act as a helpful guide to Student Groups in preparing their budget proposals in the Fall Semester. In such a manner, Student Groups will be aware of the principles the Budget Committee will apply in preparing a budget proposal for the SBA Board. The budgetary guidelines will be binding upon the Budget Committee but not upon the SBA Board.

The guidelines shall be presented by the outgoing Budget Committee at least 10 days prior to the final regularly scheduled SBA meeting.

At the final regularly scheduled SBA Meeting of the Spring Semester, the newly-elected SBA shall vote upon the budgetary guidelines for the upcoming academic year. The budgetary guidelines shall be adopted by a successful majority vote of voting SBA members in attendance, excluding outgoing 3LD, 3LE, 4LE, and LLM Representatives. The guidelines may be amended thereafter by a majority vote of voting members in attendance at any SBA Meeting.

Subsequent to the adoption of the guidelines:

(a) The presentation of the Budget Committee shall be sent to each acting member of the SBA Board in the form of an email and/or e-mail attachment and a hard copy placed in their student mailboxes.

(b) The presentation of the Budget Committee shall be sent to each active Student Group through their official mailboxes or, should there be no official mailbox, through the student mailbox of the President of the Student Group.

(c) The presentation shall be posted on the official SBA Bulletin Board.

(d) An e-mail so noting this distribution and posting will be sent to the students e-mail list.

Subsequent to the election of First Year Day (1LD) and First Year Evening (1LE) Representatives in the Fall Semester, the Budget Committee Chairperson shall ensure that the newly-elected Representatives are made aware of the then current Budgetary Guidelines in effect. The Budget Committee Chairperson shall provide each of these Representatives with a written document containing the Budgetary Guidelines. The Budget Committee Chairperson shall also provide each of these Representatives with a summary of the budget to bring them up to speed.

Article V. Amendments or Revisions to the Bylaws

Any amendments or revisions to these Bylaws may only take effect upon a successful two-thirds vote of voting members in attendance at a regularly scheduled meeting of the SBA Board provided advance notice of the vote has been given to the Board and the Student Body and the proposed amendments or revisions have been posted for at least six days prior to the meeting.

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