SPRING 2023 UNIVERSITY-WIDE REFERENDA

UBE Referenda 1: Increase Size of the Board

Proposed Referendum Explanation:

Referendum Text

Currently, the University Board of Elections is not allowed more than eleven members. This referendum will increase the allowed number of executive members from eleven to fifteen.

An increase in the number of members will necessitate an increase in the size of the quorum.

UBE was originally sponsored by the ‘Office of the Dean of Students and the Vice President for the Division of the Affairs’, but a change in sponsorship is desired.

Proposed Constitutional Language (#1):

Article III. Membership of the University Board of Elections.

The University Board of Elections shall:

Be composed of no more than fifteen members.

Current Constitutional Language (#1):

Article III. Membership of the University Board of Elections.

The University Board of Elections shall:

Be composed of no more than eleven members.

Proposed Constitutional Language (#2):

Article III. Membership of the University Board of Elections.

The University Board of Elections shall:

Quorum: The Board must have a quorum of at least nine members, including the Chair, to take any action outside the jurisdiction of the Hearing Panels. All votes of the Board, absent removal of a Board member, shall be by a majority vote of those persons present.

Current Constitutional Language (#2):

Article III. Membership of the University Board of Elections.

The University Board of Elections shall:

Quorum: The Board must have a quorum of at least seven members, including the Chair, to take any action outside the jurisdiction of the Hearing Panels. All votes of the Board, absent removal of a Board member, shall be by a majority vote of those persons present.

Proposed Constitutional Language (#3):

Article III. Membership of the University Board of Elections.

The University Board of Elections shall:

The University Board of Elections, in partnership with the Division of Student Affairs, shall publicize an application process and timeline to allow interested persons to apply for nomination to the Board in the spring semester of each academic year. Applications for appointment and reappointment will be available on the University Board of Elections website.

Current Constitutional Language (#3):

Article III. Membership of the University Board of Elections.

The University Board of Elections shall:

The University Board of Elections, in partnership with the Office of the Dean of Students and the Vice President for Student Affairs shall publicize an application process and timeline to allow interested persons to apply for nomination to the Board in the spring semester of each academic year. Applications for appointment and reappointment will be available on the University Board of Elections website.

A yes vote is one in favor of the proposed change.

Honor Referenda 1: Rehabilitative Multi-Sanction Honor Constitution

Complete Text of Proposed Referendum:

Honor Committee Constitution

We the students of the University of Virginia recognize that Honor is at once an injunction and an aspiration. The Honor System exists at the intersection of these two purposes: to foster our Community of Trust and to hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity.

We recognize that as students, we have a responsibility to each other: to trust in the integrity of our peers; to recognize our capacity to make amends and restore our commitment to honor; and to value honesty above ambition and our community above ourselves. In these dedications to each other, we aspire to build this Community of Trust: a pluralistic community founded on the high values of trusting and being trusted, an allegiance to intellectual honesty, and of being honest in one’s dealings with others.

The Honor System rests on the University's foundational value of student self-governance, the audacious belief that students are capable of dedication to each other and these ideals. This Constitution delineates the role of the Honor Committee in this mutual commitment.

Article I: Purpose and Authority

 The authority of the Honor Committee is delegated to this Constitution and to this Committee by action of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia in accordance with its powers under state law. The Honor Committee shall embody the interests and attitudes of the current generation of Students of the University of Virginia in performing all functions which are necessary and proper to uphold and promote the Honor System and the Community of Trust.

Article II: Powers of the Committee

 The Honor Committee is empowered to:

a. Inform current and prospective students and faculty of the philosophy and operation of the Honor System;

b. Determine and publicize what constitutes an Honor violation in the view of the current generation of Students of the University;

c. Investigate, call for a hearing regarding, and hear appeals following the finding of an Honor violation;

d. Administer sanctions in accordance with the Honor Committee’s purpose of upholding and promoting the Community of Trust, including but not limited to; amends, education, and temporary or permanent removal from University student status;

e. Maintain records of all Honor violations and the resolution of any accusations of an Honor violation, in accordance with University of Virginia policy and Virginia state law;

f. Establish programs, policies, and guidelines for the operation and maintenance of the Honor System, including the Bylaws of the Honor Committee; and

g.  Establish rules of procedure for appeals from Honor accusations and from the findings of Honor panels.

Article III: Structure

Section 1: The Honor Committee shall consist of two elected representative members from each school of the University, except that the Undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences shall be represented by five elected representatives and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences shall be represented by three. Each member shall have one vote.

Section 2: The Honor Committee, by a majority vote, shall elect from among its members a Chair and six Vice Chairs. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Honor Committee, and a Vice-Chair shall preside at the request and/or absence of the Chair. These officers shall also perform other duties which the Honor Committee may from time to time assign to them.

Section 3: The Honor Committee may provide for the selection of such other officers as it may deem appropriate and assign to them such duties as it may deem appropriate, provided, however, that one officer shall always be responsible for keeping the records and minutes of the Honor Committee.

Section 4: Honor Committee officers may be removed from their positions as Honor Committee officers by two-thirds vote of the entire Committee.

Section 5: Any elected officer of a school shall be eligible to sit on honor panels in accordance with such rules as the Honor Committee may establish.

Section 6: A quorum shall consist of two-thirds of the Honor Committee. Meetings may be called by the Chair or by request of three of its members.

Section 7: Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution or Bylaws adopted under it, meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.

Article IV: Election and Removal

Section 1: Honor Committee elections shall be conducted at least seven weeks before University Spring commencement exercises each year. Those elected shall take office at noon Eastern Time on the first Monday in April, provided that the newly elected Honor Representatives may meet in their official capacity before such a date for the limited purpose of electing incoming Honor officers consistent with this Constitution and the Bylaws of the Committee.

Section 2: Unless otherwise provided in a school’s constitution, an Honor Committee member may be recalled by a majority of those voting in a recall election in his school within a reasonable time after its receipt of a recall petition signed by at least ten percent of the students in the school.

Section 3: The Honor Committee shall provide procedures for the removal of any Honor officer or any Honor Representative for cause or violation of the Code of Ethics. Such procedures shall always permit a school of the University, in accordance with its own policies, to recall any elected Representative to the Committee.

Section 4: Any Honor Officer or Honor Representative officially accused of an Honor Offense shall be suspended from their duties pending the result of any subsequent Hearing.

Section 5: Unless otherwise provided in a school's constitution, a vacancy shall be filled by another election within a reasonable time.

Section 6: The University Board of Elections or its successor body shall have the power to regulate Honor Committee elections.

Article V: Rights of the Accused

Section 1: Every student accused of an honor violation shall have the right:

a. To have their Honor accusation heard before an impartial panel, with the Panel for Guilt to consist of five randomly selected Committee representatives and seven randomly selected student panelists, provided that at least one representative and two random student panelists are from the school of the accused;

b. To be advised in writing of the nature of the accusation;

c. To be informed of the nature of the evidence to be used against the accused student;

d. To have all proceedings against the accused student held publicly or privately at the election of the accused student. Where charges against two or more students will be heard at the same trial, the proceedings shall be held either publicly or privately, as agreed upon by such students and, lacking such agreement, shall be held privately.

e. To be given a reasonable time to prepare for a hearing before the panel;

f.  To be assisted by counsel chosen by the accused student from the student body;

g. To cross-examine witnesses against the accused student;

h. To present evidence and witnesses in the accused student's own defense;

i.   To be heard in the accused student's own defense; 

j.   To refuse to testify; 

k. To be informed of the results of the vote of the Panel for Guilt;

l. To be informed of the sanction(s) the Counsel for the Community proposes to the Panel for Sanction;

m. To present their case for reasonable sanction(s) to the Panel for Sanction;

n. To be assisted by counsel chosen by the accused student from the student body in front of the Panel for Sanction;

o. To be advised in writing of both the decision and reasoning of the Panel for Sanction within one week of Sanctioning; and

p. To appeal the decision of the Panel for Guilt or the Panel for Sanction for new evidence or good cause.

Section 2: No student shall be found to have committed an Honor violation unless:

a. Evidence against the accused student supports, beyond a reasonable doubt, an accusation of an act of lying, cheating, or stealing that the accused student knew or should have known might constitute an Honor Offense, to the satisfaction of at least three-fourths of the Hearing panel; and

b. The act is significant, such that open tolerance of such an act would be inconsistent with the Community of Trust, to the satisfaction of at least a majority of the panel. The panel shall take a separate vote on each criterion of guilt.

Section 3: Every Guilty student shall be subject to appropriate sanction(s) by a four-fifths vote of the Panel for Sanction consisting of Committee panelists from the Panel for Guilt. The Panel for Sanction shall consider the significance of the case to the Community of Trust, arguments for reasonable sanction(s) from the Guilty Student and their counsel and the Counsel for the Community, taking into consideration the advice of the random student panelists, the evidence presented, and all other aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The Panel for Sanction shall not consider expulsion and permanent sanctions in any case in which five-sevenths of the random student panelists vote that the offense(s) do not rise to such sanction(s), except in such case in which the Guilty student has previously been found to have committed an Honor violation.

Section 4: Every student found to have committed an Honor violation shall have access to a record of the proceedings and may appeal both panels’ findings on the basis of new evidence affecting that finding or of a denial of a full and fair hearing in accordance with this Constitution.

Section 5: All documents of the proceedings against a student not found to have committed an honor violation shall be destroyed in accordance with state law, provided that statistical data concerning the accusation are maintained in accordance with this Constitution and the Bylaws of the Committee.

Section 6: Notwithstanding any other provisions in this Constitution, a student leaving the University upon accusation shall be deemed to have admitted the Honor violation.

Section 7: A student who has been reported for an Honor violation shall have the right, within a reasonable timeframe of being informed of the report by the Honor Committee, to file an Informed Retraction admitting guilt and waiving all rights except those pertaining to the Panel for Sanction and Appeals.

Section 8: A student filing an Informed Retraction shall have the necessary sanction(s) determined with a Panel for Sanction who shall consider the admission(s) of the Informed Retraction and credit the accused student for their willingness to repair and rejoin the Community of Trust. Where a complete and timely Informed Retraction is submitted, expulsion or any other permanent notation shall not be considered by the Panel for Sanction. 

Article VI: Bylaws

Section 1: Honor Committee shall establish Bylaws to administer the operation of the Committee and the Honor System consistent with this Constitution and shall be adopted by a majority vote of the Honor Committee.

Article VII: Self-Governance

Section 1: Every year, the Honor Committee shall, in accordance with its most fundamental purpose, convene a Popular Assembly open to the general student body with the following aims: to facilitate discussion on the state of the Honor System; to ascertain the pressing concerns of the community; and to generate potential measures to be put before the student body for consideration.

Section 2: Should a majority of voting students vote affirmatively on a non-binding question of opinion pertaining to the Honor System in a University-wide election, the Honor Committee shall enact a response within the timeframe of one year.

Article VIII: Amendments

Amendments to this Constitution shall be proposed either by a vote of two-thirds of the entire Honor Committee, or by a petition meeting the requirements, including the form of the petition and all signature requirements, set by the University Board of Elections or its successor body from time to time. In either case, proposed amendments take effect, if at all, upon ratification by three-fifths of those students voting in a referendum election, provided that at least ten percent (10%) of the entire eligible voting population has voted in favor of such amendments. The validity and deadlines for receipt or petitions and signatures, election dates, vote counts, and other matters relating to the process and administration of elections, shall be determined by the UBE.

Article IX: Ratification

Section 1: This Constitution shall take effect on July 1, 2023, provided that its adoption meets the requirements of Article VIII by that date.

Section 2: Honor Committee members elected to take office on April 1, 2023, shall take office as described in Article IV.

Section 3: The Honor Committee shall bring its existing literature, rules, and Bylaws into conformity with this Constitution as soon as practicable to do so.

The text of the current Constitution can be found here.

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Definition, Ratification and Voter Information:

Per the UBE’s Rules & Regulations, a referendum is “a question that has been certified to appear on an official ballot in an election administered by the University Board of Elections pursuant to these rules and the qualifications established by the constitution of the relevant student governing body, if applicable.”
An amendment to the Student Council Constitution must be ratified by two-thirds of those students voting in a referendum election.
An amendment to the Honor Committee Constitution must be ratified by three-fifths of students voting in a referendum election, provided that at least ten percent (10%) of the entire eligible voting population has voted in favor of such an amendment.
An amendment to the University Judiciary Committee Constitution must be ratified by two-thirds of the students voting in a referendum election, provided that at least ten percent (10%) of the entire eligible voting population has voted in favor of such an amendment.
An amendment to the University Board of Elections Constitution must be ratified by a majority of those students voting in a referendum election.
For more information regarding University referendum, please consult Section III, Subsection E of the UBE’s Rules & Regulations, found here.
Voters may exit out of the ballot before voting on the proposed referenda. Votes for the other elected offices will be saved. Voters may return to the ballot at any time within the voting period of Wednesday, March 2nd at 10:00am to Friday, March 4th at 4:00pm. Voting on the proposed referenda is optional – voters may choose to vote on some, all, or none.

Important Referenda Information:

Please refer to the University Board of Elections Rules and Regulations for information regarding student referenda. If you have any questions, please email ube-referenda@virginia.edu

Individuals or organizations seeking the certification of a question to be a referendum item must submit a petition pursuant to these rules:

A petition for a referendum on a non-binding question of opinion to be put to the entire student body shall be made on a form provided by the UBE and shall be signed by not less than 950 students.
A petition for a referendum on a non-binding question of opinion to a particular school or undergraduate class must be signed by five percent (5%) of full-time students in that particular school or class. Individuals or organizations collecting school or class referendum petitions should request that the UBE provide them a signature minimum based on up-to-date enrollment figures.
A petition for a referendum on a binding constitutional amendment to be put to the entire student body shall be made on a form provided by the UBE and shall be signed by a number of students governed by the requirements established in the existing constitutions of the governing body for which the amendment applies; the specific number, when set as a percentage of a student population, will be determined by the governing body using the previous semester’s enrollment numbers. If the constitution of the governing body does not specify a required number of signatures, the University Board of Elections shall require a petition signed by no less than 1,250 students.

Only official petition packets created by the UBE that include the referendum text on each signature page will be accepted.

Referenda Process Steps:

Download and complete the Referenda Proposal.
Submit the completed proposal by email to ube-referenda@virginia.edu from your U.Va. email address by February 17th at 4pm.
The UBE will create the official petition packets with the text, and the final packet will be emailed back within 72 hours pending approval from the General Counsel. If a review of your proposal cannot be completed within 72 hours you will receive notification from the UBE.
You may only gather signatures with the official petition forms; duplicates may be permitted in some circumstances.

The UBE will not reject any properly submitted referendum proposal based on content except in special circumstances; the purpose of the proposal submission is to verify sponsor and referendum information.

Constitutional Amendments:

For referenda that affect the constitutions of the Honor Committee, University Judiciary Committee, Student Council, School Councils, or Class Councils, the UBE strongly recommends that you work with the Office of the Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer to help you with the text of the referendum to ensure its legality. While the UBE may not remove referenda from the ballot if a proposed constitutional amendment might be illegal, an amendment with questionable legality may not be approved by the Board of Visitors, even if passed by the student body. The UBE would like to prevent these sorts of situations as they can confuse and upset the student body and reflect poorly on all involved.