COLLEGE OF THE REDWOODS

Board of Trustees Policy No. 540
Administrative Regulation No. 540.01

MANDATORY STUDENT FEE ELECTIONS

In order to petition the Board of Trustees to collect a special mandatory student fee from registered students on their behalf, the Associated Students (AS) must conduct a special election.  This is to ensure that the students who will be required to pay the fee are reasonably supportive of the fee.  This election must meet the following requirements:

1. A formal motion to propose a mandatory fee election must be made at a regular Associated Students meeting. A quorum must be present, and 2/3 of those voting on the motion must vote in favor of the fee.  The following elements must be specified in the motion:
   • The basic purpose of the fee;
   • The amount of the fee proposed to be collected from students each semester;
   • The semester that AS would like to begin collecting the fee; and
   • A date by which the fee would cease to be collected unless reaffirmed by the student body in the future.
2. The proposed fee must be permissible under the state’s Education Code, and must comply with the legal guidelines contained in the Chancellor’s Office “Student Fee Handbook.”
3. The text of the ballot measure, the election dates, the polling locations, the poll hours, the voter turn-out number, and written arguments for and against the measure must be forwarded to and approved by the Board of Trustees at least six weeks before the election is to be held.
4. Mandatory fee elections may only be held between the first instructional day of week five and the last instructional day of week twelve of the fall or spring semester.
5. A non-biased campaign publication which will include pro and con arguments submitted by any interested registered student or student organization will be made available to students at least 10 instructional days prior to the first day of the election.  (Holidays and/or break periods excluded.) At least one public forum must be held during this time to provide an opportunity for students in favor of and opposed to the measure to present their points of view.
6. In order for the mandatory fee to be forwarded to the Board for approval, the following two conditions must be met:
1. At least 20% of the students registered for the semester in which the election is held must vote in the election by the special election.  The number of registered students as of the census date of the semester in which the election is held will be used to establish the voter turnout requirement.
2. At least 55% of the students who vote in the election must vote in favor of the fee being collected.
7. Overall responsibility for the conduct of mandatory fee elections will rest with the Chief Student Services Officer, who will design a comprehensive election plan for each special election.
8. Anyone wishing to file a complaint about the election must submit such complaint in writing to the President/Superintendent Office within 48 hours of the time the last polling location closes.  All such complaints will be forwarded to the President, who will decide whether or not the alleged infraction may have been sufficient to change the final outcome of the election.  If so, the election results will be nullified, and no recommendation to collect the mandatory fee will be forwarded to the Board.
9. If all required election criteria are met, the fee measure will be forwarded to the Board for approval at their next regular meeting following the election.
10. Upon approval by the Board, the fee will be collected in keeping with the timeline specified in #1, above.
11. Should a mandatory fee measure fail to receive the approval of the student body in a special election, the same or substantially similar mandatory fee proposal may not be placed before the students again for at least 4 semesters.

References:  BP 540

Approved:  February 6, 2006