Student Government had a rift in its line of succession last year when the former student body president stepped down during his term. In response, Student Government passed a new bill that established the student body vice president position.
Student Government Bill 69 was enacted to prevent the problems that arose when former Student Body President Matthew Williams resigned and to lessen the workload of the Student Body President position, according to AJ Rackl, press secretary for Student Government and junior in aerospace engineering. Rackl said prior to the bill, the line of succession went from student body president to student senate president and then to the student senate pro tempore.
Most Student Government members agreed that this line of succession wasn’t an ideal situation and decided to change things, according to Rackl. Rackl said although Parker has done a “fantastic” job as president, he had no experience working with the Executive Branch of Student Government.
Rackl said Parker stepped into an executive team that he didn’t choose. Though the team didn’t share the same goals as Parker, it was willing to work with him.
“The introduction of a student body vice president will lessen the chance of this discontinuity within the Executive Branch, should a succession like this happens again,” Rackl said.
The SBVP will be elected using a joint ticket with the student body president. SBVP candidates required to have served at either half of Executive Cabinet meetings or half of Student Senate meetings in a given session, according to Student Government Bill 69.
Carson Shepherd, College of Humanities and Social Science Senator and sophomore in political science, said the Student Senate passed the bill on Jan. 22 and will be enacted immediately, meaning the SBVP will become an official position on the ballot for the spring 2014 election.
“Having two candidates running together will change campaign dynamics and how the candidates will work to appeal to the general population of students,” Shepherd said. “It will definitely add both more competition and excitement to the campaigns.”
The position also alleviates internal duties of the Executive Branch for the student body president so the president has more time to deal with his external responsibilities, such as attending Board of Trustees and university functions, being the Chief Executive of ASG, Chief Executive of the Executive branch and the chief representative of the student body, according Student Body President Alex Parker.
“The president will now be able to focus on being a trustee and an effective representative of the student body,” Parker said.
According to Government Bill 69, the Student Senate called for referendum in the fall of 2013 to change the Constitution. The bill passed unanimously which amended the first article of the University Body Constitution.
N.C. State students not affiliated with Student Government also had a voice in the University’s constitution change. Out of the 380 students who voted during the referendum bill ballot during fall 2013 elections, 325 approved of it.
The SBVP will serve as the internal leader and coordinator of the Executive Branch and it’s suggested that he or she attends Senate meetings, but it’s not required.
In addition to various duties, the SBVP will also have the responsibility of collaborating with the Student Senate Leadership Development Chair for planning both the fall and Spring Student Government Retreats. The Student Body Vice President’s role is to take over some of the SBP’s Executive responsibilities and be sort of the Executive “overseer” as to allow the SBP to focus more on outreach, according to Rackl.
The N.C. State Student Senate is still discussing the terms of pay for the SBVP.
According to Government Bill 69, current Student Body Statutes do not contain up-to-date information about the recent Student Body Vice President role and will need further editing.
