Available Positions

Elected Positions

• President of the Student Body

• Vice President of the Student Body

• Class President (Sophomore, Junior, Senior)

• Class Senator (2 from each year; Sophomore, Junior, Senior)

Timeline

• Friday, March 27th (11:59 pm) → Candidate registration due

• Monday, March 30th (8 AM) – Wednesday, April 1st (10 PM) → Campaigning

• Thursday, April 2nd → Election Day

Responsibilities of the President of the Student Body

• Be a rising junior or senior who is a full-time student at the College

• Be in good standing with the College, with no pending judicial cases, holds, or probations.

• Represent ​the ​Congress and student body ​to ​the ​broader ​college, faculty, administration, trustees,​ and the ​local ​community.

• Determine the semesterly goals of the Congress, and produce a report of the accomplishments ​of ​the ​Congress ​at ​the ​end​ of​ the ​Spring​ Term.

• Liaise directly with college administration, faculty, trustees, and professional staff on behalf ​of ​students.

• Sit on the Budget Priorities Committee.

• Call​ and​ preside ​over ​meetings​ of ​the​ Congress.

• Oversee the proper function of the Congress as a whole and of the Executive Board.

• Be the tie-breaking vote in the instance of a split ballot.

• Write a comprehensive transition memo at the end of each term.

Responsibilities of the Vice President of the Student Body

• Assume the role of President should the President be unable to discharge the duties of the office.

• Oversee the Academic Life, Housing, Dining, Student Wellness, and Sustainability Committees of the Congress.

• Work generally on all matters concerning the Congress, including but not limited to programming and planning external meetings.

• Oversee the appointment of students to committees of the Trustees, Faculty committees, as well as that of the Student committee chairs.

• Serve as the primary liaison to the Faculty Council and Staff Council.

• Be ​a ​voting​ member ​of the ​Congress.

• Write a comprehensive transition memo at the end of each term.

Responsibilities of the Class President

• Represent the interests and concerns of their respective classes on the Congress.

• Inform their classmates of Proposals, programs, class specific events and other information as deemed necessary by the Executive Board of the Diplomatic Congress.

• Develop a Strategic Plan that shall define the goals, budget, and timeline the Class Cabinet will pursue during the academic year.

• Ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are collaboratively incorporated across all of the Cabinet’s efforts to create Class programming and communications.

• Compose a transition memo at the end of the academic year at the request of the Diplomatic Congress executive board.

• Preside over their respective Class Cabinet in Class Cabinet meetings, which shall be held at least monthly during the academic year.

• Attend weekly General Assembly meetings and serve on at least one Congressional Committee of the Diplomatic Congress.

• Be a voting member of the Diplomatic Congress.

Responsibilities of the Class Senators

• Serve as a member of no less than one standing committee of the Diplomatic Congress.

• Participate actively in the implementation of Class Cabinet events.

• Participate in the Policy Action Committee of the Diplomatic Congress by authoring or co-authoring at least one proposal during your term.

• Attend all meetings of the their respective Class Cabinet.

• Attend weekly General Assembly meetings and serve as a voting member of the Diplomatic Congress.

Elected Position Application

Section 1. Candidate Eligibility and Ballot Access

Candidates for Executive Board, all Senatorial Positions, and Class Presidents must:

1. Be a full-time student in good standing with the College

2. Not hold a concurrent voting position on the Diplomatic Congress

To appear on the ballot in an Officer election, candidates must:

1. Draft and submit a Candidate Statement of no more than 200 words via email to the Election Committee or via the form disseminated by the Congress. 

2. Sign and acknowledge acceptance of these Election Regulations.

Note: Write-in candidates will only be permitted in cases of uncontested elections.

Section 2. Election Oversight

An Election Committee has been appointed by the Congress to oversee the election. Election Committee members must not be contesting a position in the election, must sign an agreement of impartiality, and are prohibited from publicly expressing support for any candidate. The Election Committee has full discretion to address all concerns election regulation violations. Concerns regarding the impartiality of an Election Committee member may be addressed to the Congress Advisor. The Chair of the Election Committee is Georgia Scherre and can be reached at diplomatic.congress@fandm.edu or gscherer@fandm.edu.

Any candidate found in violation of a campaign regulation is subject to appropriate penalties at the discretion of the Election Committee, which may include loss of campaigning privilege or forfeiture of candidacy. Candidates may also be referred to Facilities and Operations for misuse of campus spaces or to the Office of the Dean of the College for actions in violation of the Student Code. Candidates found in violation of Regulations after voting has closed may be subject to vacation of their results. Appeals to the decision of the Election Committee must be made by email to the Congress President within 24 hours of the Committee’s decision. If a student suspects a violation of these Campaign Regulations has occurred, they should report that violation immediately to the Election Committee at diplomatic.congress@fandm.edu, including photographic evidence if it is available.

Upon reasonable evidence of elections fraud, Executive Board has the power to void a contested election if two-thirds of all members present vote to do so. b) Any student may protest any specific election result by registering a complaint in writing to a member of the Elections Committee. This protest shall be heard in a meeting of the whole Executive Board.

Section 3. Campaigning

Campaigning may begin on Monday, March 24th at 8:00AM and must end by Wednesday, March 26th at 11:59PM. No campaign activities may be publicized in any way outside of these dates and times. 

Alongside any campaign activities, the Diplomatic Congress will post all Candidate Statements on social media on the first day of the Campaign Period. 

The following constraints apply to all in-person and digital campaigning: 

1. Congress Members cannot use any congressional resources to campaign for themselves or another candidate.

2. There will be no campaign parties of any kind. Candidates may not publicly express support for any other candidates for positions on the Diplomatic Congress.

3. Candidates are permitted to attend pre-scheduled in-person or virtual meetings of campus organizations to gain support, however to host any event for the purpose of gaining support, candidates must request authorization from the Election Committee.

4. Candidates must CC or BCC the Election Committee (diplomatic.congress@fandm.edu) on all emailed campaign advertisements. However, emails to pre-made administrative lists of students (i.e. a class, College House, sports team, etc.) are prohibited. Candidates may campaign on social media without prior approval of posts up until the end of the campaign period. 

5. Physical campaign advertisement materials (i.e. posters, flyers) are permitted, and candidates may distribute those materials themselves. Candidates must submit an image of any flyers for prior approval through the Candidate Registration Form or send copies to diplomatic.congress@fandm.edu.

6. Tampering with campaign materials of other candidates, or encouraging others to do so, is strictly prohibited.

7. All physical and electronic campaign materials must be respectful and decent. Personal attacks on other candidates or campus groups, pornographic or otherwise sexually explicit materials, depiction of illegal activity, lewd humor, and foul language are prohibited in all campaign materials. The Election Committee has sole discretion to assess the respectfulness and decency of a post.

8. No candidate for any office may spend in excess of twenty five dollars for President and Vice President and fifteen dollars for all other offices (Senators, Class Presidents) on campaign purposes. The fair market value of any items donated to the candidate’s campaign or provided at a discounted rate unavailable to other candidates for the same position shall count towards this total. Candidates must submit all receipts of purchases and documentation of the fair market value of any donated items within two (2) business days of any purchase or donation to the treasurer of the Diplomatic Congress. 

   1. 1. • 1. • Each candidate will be afforded this amount of money through the Diplomatic Congress Budget.

              • In order to receive reimbursement, Candidates are required to submit itemized receipts to the treasurer of the Diplomatic Congress up to two weeks after Election Day. Please email diplomatic.congress@fandm.edu for more information about reimbursement.

9. On the day of the election, all campaign activities shall be suspended. It is permitted to post the voting link to social media, but candidates cannot promote themselves after the campaigning window has closed. Any behavior that the Election Committee may reasonably perceive as bribery, fraudulent voting, harassment or intimidation toward any other candidates for office, or voter intimidation is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification.

Section 4. Election Day

On Election Day, the Election Committee will circulate an email announcing the election and including the statements from each candidate in alphabetical order by last name. Voting will take place from 8:00AM to 5:00PM by an electronic poll sent out over email. Students must present their Student ID number to vote online. Candidate names will be listed alphabetically by last name on the ballot, and candidate statements will be made available in the email.

Section 5. Outcomes

For positions with one seat, winners must receive a majority determined by an instant runoff. For positions with multiple seats, such as Senators, winners are determined using single-transferable vote. To win a seat, candidates must equal or exceed the winning threshold calculated by the Droop Quota. Surplus votes shall be reallocated using random selection. The Election Committee will notify the candidates of the election outcome in private as soon as possible. Percentage outcomes may be made available to candidates at their request, however they will not be publicized. After notifying all candidates, the results will be announced by email to the campus. The Elections Committee shall notify the student body of the election results within 48 hours of the conclusion of voting.