ASLC COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE BYLAWS

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1 ARTICLE I. Purpose & Scope ASLC COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE BYLAWS Section 1. Purpose The Community Relations Committee is a standing board of ASLC that acts as a diplomat between members of the Senate, the Lewis & Clark College community, and the outside community. The Committee is a representative for the Senate and the student body. It serves as an outlet for student voice and an advocate for student needs and desires. The Committee works to bring together the many facets of the Lewis & Clark and greater Portland communities. Section 2. Scope The Community Relations Committee s operations shall be executed by the Committee Chair, four Student Senators, and five to seven other Committee Members who collectively work to address the two following areas: Student Voice and Community Connections. The Committee will also have the following responsibilities: A. Committee Responsibilities 1. Common Hour: The Committee shall organize and participate in Common Hour. Common Hour is a monthly forum between students, staff, and faculty to promote collaboration and effective communication. The Committee will allocate a portion of the Community Relations Committee budget to pay for advertising (posters) and Bon Appétit catering for Common Hour. All Committee members are required to attend each Common Hour. 2. Student Art Forum: The Committee is responsible for managing the Student Art Forum: the student art that is displayed in Fields Dining Hall. Every spring semester, the Committee will collaborate with a drawing professor to obtain 9 large drawings from her fall semester drawing class. The professor will ask students to donate their drawings and the Committee will display them in Fields Dining Hall. The students donating their art must verbally agree that the Community Relations Committee is not responsible for any lost or damaged art. The drawings that are being replaced should be returned to Professor Beers. 3. Community Calendar: The Committee is responsible for maintaining the Community Calendar in J.R. Howard. The Committee should update the calendar by changing the month and taking down old posters. Committee members should be assigned to a particular month in which they are responsible for maintaining the calendar. The Committee is also responsible for updating the poster ASLC is Working On given the current projects and accomplishments of student government. 4. ASLC Display: The Committee is responsible for updating and maintaining the various posters (CAS Budget, Research, Subsidized Tickets, Grants) on the wall outside of the ASLC offices. The Committee should update the budget posters each academic year as well as the ASLC chart of positions. The ASLC chart should contain a small

2 picture of each person on the chart so students can more easily identify student government members. 5. Collins View Neighborhood Association (CVNA): The Committee Chair will accompany the student CVNA liaison to all CVNA meetings. If there is no appointed liaison, then the Community Relations Committee chair will take up the position. 6. Funding: The Committee may only fund 3CE Alternative Spring Break grants. The Finance Committee and Student Academic Affairs Board will receive all other grants. The Committee chair should collaborate with the director of the Center for Career & Community Engagement to fund each Alternative Spring Break trip for the amount that is requested. If each committee members deems the requested amount to be exorbitant, then the Committee will vote on how much to fund the trips. 7. Friends in Fields: The Committee is responsible for coordinating the Friends in Fields program. The program allows students to invite a staff or faculty member to Fields Dining Hall or the Trail Room. The staff or faculty member receives a free meal, but the student must still pay for his or her own meal. The Committee chair should pass out the Friends in Fields cards by placing the cards in students mailboxes. Each card should have a miniature printout of the Friends in Fields poster (the one with information about the program, not the poster with a list of professors) outside of the Bon. The Committee chair is responsible for maintaining and updating the Friends in Fields posters that are outside of Fields Dining Hall. The Committee chair should work with the Dean of Students to improve the efficiency and scope of the program. 8. Subsidized Tickets: The Committee will subsidize tickets to events in the greater Portland area. The list includes but is not limited to: concerts, lectures, sporting events, theater performances, movies, and gardens. The Committee will not subsidize tickets for students under the age of twenty-one to events where minors can obtain alcoholic beverages For instance, if a group of eighteen year old students request discounted tickets to a concert that has a bar, the Committee may subsidize the tickets as long as no under the age of twenty-one is allowed to enter the bar. However, the Committee may subsidize tickets for students over the age of twenty-one that would like tickets to events that may have alcoholic beverages. The Committee chair must verify the age of all students receiving discounted tickets if the tickets are for an event that has alcoholic beverages. Students can only receive subsidized tickets if: there are at least four students purchasing tickets, individual tickets are less than or equal to eighty dollars, the CRC Subsidized Tickets document is property filled out, and the students pay for half the total cost of the tickets. If the cost of an individual ticket is greater than eighty dollars, the Committee may still subsidize forty dollars for each ticket. This will be left to the discretion of the Chair. The Committee will subsidize half the ticket price if all of these conditions are met. Only Lewis & Clark undergraduate students can receive discounted tickets. The Committee will not subsidize tickets for events before or after classes officially end, according to the Academic Calendar. If the Committee has insufficient funding to continue subsidizing tickets, the Committee may apply for a grant from the Finance Committee. The Committee is also responsible for updating the Portland Events/Subsidized tickets poster that will placed outside of Fields Dining Hall, in J.R. Howard and the Opportunities & Announcements notification. 9. Trick or Treat: Every fall semester, the Committee will collaborate with Campus Living and the Boys & Girls Club to organize a Trick or Treat event on campus. The

3 event will be for the children (ages 4-10) of Lewis & Clark students, staff, faculty, residents of the Collins View Neighborhood Association, and the children that participate in the Boys & Girls Club. The children will Trick or Treat through several residence halls and students will pass out candy. The Committee and Campus Living will do the following one month before the event: choose a date (three or four days prior to Halloween), choose four residence halls through which the children will Trick or Treat, the Resident Advisors for those halls asking them to advertise the event and collect names/room numbers of students that want to participate, and decorate the halls. The Committee will purchase the candy and decorations for the event and distribute them free of charge to students and Resident Advisors that are participating. The group of children should have a Resident Advisor chaperone and the parent(s) of each child should accompany the group. 10. Crossword Puzzle Contest: Every spring semester, the Committee will collaborate with the New York Times liaison for Lewis & Clark to organize a Crossword Puzzle Contest. The NY Times should provide prizes and a new puzzle (or a puzzle that is more than five years old) for the contest. 11. Pio to Pio: The Committee is responsible for updating and distributing the Pio to Pio handbook. This is a collection of advice and tips for incoming freshman. The handbooks should be distributed during NSO by including Pio to Pio in the NSO packets. 12. Evaluations: At the end of the academic year, the Committee chair shall distribute evaluations to every Committee member. The members will evaluate the Chair, the efficiency of the Committee, the projects that were completed, and offer suggestions for how the committee could function more effectively in the future. B. Student Voice The Committee shall seek to represent the Senate and the student body as a whole. Aspects of Student Voice include: 1. Student Opinion The Committee should actively seek the opinions of students on aspects of the College. The Committee must host at least two open forums per semester designed for students to voice their opinions. 2. Student Ideas The Committee shall inquire into the implementation of ideas that it believes would benefit the student body which are brought to the Committee by students. When possible the Committee shall work to implement those ideas it agrees are feasible and beneficial to the community. 3. Student Inquiries The Committee shall invite students to share their inquiries about aspects of the College (including the ASLC Senate) that may be operating below or beyond their parameters. The Committee will decide whether an inquiry constitutes a legitimate grievance, thereby requiring further investigation. 4. Investigations The Committee must conduct an investigation of any student inquiry deemed a legitimate grievance by a majority of Committee Members. The Committee shall, in consultation with the ASLC President, take appropriate action and work to enact desired change on behalf of students as a result of its investigations. 5. Resident Advisor Selection Process The Committee will work with members of the Campus Living staff to incorporate student voice into the selection of Resident Advisors. 6. Public Relations The Committee shall serve as the coordinating and representative body for student public relations. Outside entities seeking to contact

4 students shall be directed to the Community Relations Committee. C. Community Connections The Committee shall work to build connections within and between the student, faculty, staff, college, and greater Portland communities. Aspects of Community Connections include: 1. Lewis & Clark Community Building The Committee shall work to build a strong sense of community on the Lewis & Clark College campus. The Committee shall work to bring students together by planning projects, events, and activities. The Committee shall, when appropriate, work with other offices and student organizations to successfully execute its community building plans. 2. College networking - The Committee shall initiate contact with other area colleges and universities in order to unite members of those college communities. This may include working with Lewis & Clark organizations to network with similar organizations, publicizing opportunities open to other students, and planning co-college events and activities. 3. Faculty and Staff Outreach The Committee shall work to build connections between students and Lewis & Clark professors, staff, administration, contracted workers and the ASLC Student Senate. 4. Alumni Outreach The Committee shall work with the Alumni Relations office to assist in building connections between students and alumni. 5. Community Outreach The Committee shall work to build connections between students and the greater Portland community. This may include organizing both oncampus and off-campus opportunities for students that involve members of the Portland community. The Committee shall work with appropriate campus offices and non-college organizations to ensure the success of these opportunities. 6. Publicity The Committee shall assist in publicizing ASLC Student Senate proceedings, actions, events, and programs. 7. New York Times Readership Program The Committee shall oversee and publicize this program, working to engage the student body in global awareness through newspaper readership. The Committee chair is responsible for hiring a New York Times courier at the beginning of fall semester. ARTICLE II. Membership Section 1. Composition of the Community Relations Committee A. The Community Relations Committee shall consist of nine to eleven Committee Members: the Community Relations Committee Chair, four members of the Student Senate, and five to seven other students-at-large. B. The Community Relations Committee Chair position shall be filled the Community Relations Officer as elected by the Lewis & Clark College student body in the general elections held in the preceding semester. C. The four Committee Members from the Student Senate shall be appointed by the ASLC Vice President in consultation with the Community Relations Officer. D. The six to eight other Committee Members shall be selected from the student body by the Community Relations Committee Chair and approved by a majority of the ASLC Student Senate.

5 E. The Community Relations Committee shall be assembled within the first three weeks of the fall semester. In order to achieve a fluid transition, all Community Relations Committee Members who continue to attend Lewis & Clark College the following semester shall remain Committee Members until the new Committee has been assembled. F. Any person involved in an inquiry such that there may be a conflict of interest must temporarily remove him or herself from those proceedings. Section 2. Duties of the Community Relations Committee Chair The Community Relations Chair is responsible for: A. Selecting interested members of the student body to be members of the Community Relations Committee. The Chair and Vice Chair are responsible for ensuring that this selection process is conducted fairly and in a manner that will best serve the goals of the Committee. These members are subject to majority approval by the ASLC Student Senate. B. The maintenance of the CRC website. C. Convening and presiding over all meetings of the Committee. D. Abstaining from voting except in the event of a tie. In the event that a vote of the Board ends in a tie, the Chair shall cast the deciding vote. E. Taking minutes of all relevant information at each meeting and posting those minutes on the Committee website. F. Upholding all duties of Community Relations Committee Members as outlined in Article II, Section 4 of these Bylaws. Section 4. Duties of Community Relations Committee Members All Community Relations Committee Members are responsible for: A. Familiarizing themselves with the relevant policies of the College, the ASLC Constitution, these Bylaws, and any other relevant policies and documents. B. Attending all Committee meetings of his or her Subcommittee. A Committee Member shall notify the Chair if he or she will be absent from a meeting. C. Casting one vote, except the Chair. The Chair shall only cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie. D. Ensuring that the Committee fulfills the responsibilities outlined in these Bylaws. E. Ensuring the fairness and integrity of all of the Committee s investigations, reports, recommendations, and actions. Section 5. Vacancies A. In the event that a vacancy occurs in the Community Relations Committee, the Committee must fill the vacant position, as long as the Chair is still serving on the Committee. The replacement must be approved by a majority vote of Committee and by a majority vote of the ASLC Student Senate. B. In the event that there is a vacancy in the position of the Chair, the Committee will vote on a new Chair. The new Chair will be responsible for replacing his or her former position on the Community Relations Committee. The new Chair and any new Committee appointments must be approved by a majority vote of the ASLC Student Senate. C. The Community Relations Board may, by 2/3 majority vote, dismiss any member,

6 except the Chair. The Chair may only be dismissed in accordance with the ASLC Constitution. ARTICLE III. Operation Section 1. General Principles of Operation The Community Relations Committee shall follow principles of operation in accordance with those outlined in the ASLC Constitution, Article III, Section 7, Subsection E. Section 2. Meetings A. A meeting of the entire Community Relations Committee must be held at least once every other week. The purpose of this meeting shall be to identify new ideas, update committee members on existing projects, and improve collaboration between members of the Community Relations Committee B. A schedule of meeting dates and times for both subcommittees shall be set within the first three to four weeks of the fall semester. C. A quorum shall consist of a majority of committee members. D. Meetings shall be open to all members of the student body, except when confidential information is being discussed. Section 3. Publicity and Advertising A. The Community Relations Committee shall publicize its existence, purposes, and findings through the appropriate campus media. The Committee shall determine what media it deems appropriate for advertising and publicity. B. The Community Relations Committee will work to ensure that students understand how, and to whom, they can file inquiries. ARTICLE IV. Inquiry & Investigation Process Section 1. Accepting Inquiries A. Students shall file inquiries with the Community Relations Committee Chair. The Chair is responsible for keeping a file of all inquiries received. B. The Chair shall invite the inquiring party to present his or her inquiry to the Community Relations Committee. The Committee shall follow the Student Inquiry Interview Outline. If a party does not wish to present the inquiry to the Committee in person, the Committee can still decide to investigate that inquiry. The student must be able to answer the Committee s questions regarding that inquiry. C. Committee members shall determine, by majority vote, whether submitted inquiries involve aspects of the College having taken inadequate or wrongful action or whose processes are unnecessarily harmful to students. Any inquiry determined as such requires further investigation by the Committee. Section 2. Investigation A. All inquiries that are determined to involve aspects of the College having taken inadequate or wrongful action, or whose processes are unnecessarily harmful to students, shall be subject to investigation. B. The Community Relations Committee Chair shall coordinate the investigation,

7 assigning tasks to each Committee Member. C. The purposes of the investigation are to: 1. Substantiate any true claims made in the complaint. 2. Work to come up with a complete account of the event. 3. Obtain information and opinions from all sides of the event. 4. Determine to what extent any inadequate or wrongful action was taken. 5. Inquire into possibilities for further action that can be taken to remedy the problem from which the original inquiry arose. D. All investigations shall be conducted in a neutral and unbiased manner. Section 3. Post-Investigation A. All investigations shall culminate in a report written by the investigating Committee Members. The report shall be used to determine both the necessity of further action and a suitable course of action. C. Based on the results of the investigation, the Committee will decide by majority vote whether any further action should be taken. The Committee shall create a plan of action that includes Members responsibilities. D. The party that originally presented the inquiry to the Committee shall receive a written letter through campus mail with the results of the investigation and details of any further action taken by the Committee. E. At the end of each academic year, the Committee shall compile and publish a report detailing all inquiries it received, listing those it chose to investigate, the results of the investigations, and any further action taken by the Committee. Committee members must gain consent from the aggrieved before including a complaint in this report. In the event that consent is not received, specific names, locations, and dates must be omitted. ARTICLE V. Idea & Investigation Process Section 1. Accepting Student Ideas A. Students shall file their ideas with the Community Relations Committee Chair. The Chair is responsible for keeping a file of all ideas received. B. The Chair shall invite the filing student(s) to present the idea, in person, to the Community Relations Committee. The Committee cannot take further action on an idea if a party does not wish to present the idea to the Committee. C. Committee members shall determine, by majority vote, whether the idea is feasible, beneficial to students, and if the Committee should take further action on the implementation of that idea. Section 2. Idea Follow-Up A. The student(s) with an idea deemed by the Committee to warrant further action must be involved in any action taken on that idea by the Committee. This requirement can be waived, by majority vote, if special circumstances prevent the filing student from participating in the follow-up. B. The Committee shall conduct an investigation into the implementation of the idea approved by the Committee for further action. C. The Committee shall, when possible, work towards the implementation of the idea approved by the Committee for further action.

8 ARTICLE VI. Amendments Any amendment to these Bylaws must be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the Community Relations Committee and a majority vote of the ASLC Student Senate.