Emporia State’s Associated Student Government has made major changes to its operational structure following updates to the ASG constitution. 

The updates, which are made every two to three years, were finalized in November 2025. 

Here’s what you should know.

Student representation

Calculating the number of senators given to each academic area and school presented a recurring issue with previous revisions to the constitution. Every time the constitution was revised, the number of senators allocated to represent students in each group had to be changed. 

To combat this, ASG created a percentage system to determine the amount of senators given to each academic area based on the percentage of “associated students”—or the number of on campus, enrolled students—they make up. This will be used to allocate senators to represent academic areas and schools moving forward.

ASG Vice President Josh Manahan explained the system. 

“Applied Health Sciences (makes up) about 30 percent of our student campus. They get four senators. They need the most people to be looking after them,” he said. “Visual and Performing Arts, who’s about 7 percent, Interdisciplinary Studies, who’s less than 10 percent– they get one senator, and then they can utilize the help of at-large senators.” 

The new percentage system is as follows:

• 1-9.9 percent: one senator
• 10-14.9 percent: two senators
• 15-24.9 percent:  three senators
• 25 percent and up: four senators
• At-large: fill the remaining seats

Additionally, the constitution now recognizes international students as a separate entity. The group makes up 17 percent of associated students according to Manahan and will now be represented by three senators. The revisions also recognize the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies and the School of Library and Information Management as one entity, reflecting the merger of the two schools. 

A judicial system of ‘checks and balances’

“The first time Azwad and I were reading the constitution, we were like, ‘wow, we get to do whatever we want,” joked Manahan. “That’s not good.”

So, the constitution also establishes a judicial system as a check on senators and executives. The system, which is a separate entity from the student senate and executive office, will be led by a chief justice with four supreme justices, as outlined in Article II, subsection 6. The justices cannot be part of the same schools or Recognized Student Organizations. 

The judicial system will have two key duties, Manahan said: to keep members of the other branches and committees in check and to handle issues that occur with RSOs. 

The judicial system ensures that “checks and balances in policy for committees and executive operations” are present, and sees that senators and executive officers are “staying the course” with good standing in membership requirements, behavior, academic standing and attendance. 

One big authority the system has is to deem policy and amendments made by the student senate and executive actions unconstitutional. In this case, justices can call emergency meetings with committees and executive officers. Further, the judicial system may dismiss senators and begin the impeachment process of any elected official—but not appointed positions—if deemed necessary. The president maintains veto power over any decision of the judicial branch, but a veto can be overridden by a two thirds vote of the senate. 

Similarly, the judicial system is also responsible for giving “just punishment” to RSOs who are not in compliance with RSO policy as suggested by the Senate Operations Committee. In the past, RSOs who did not meet all of their requirements were simply dissolved of their RSO status.

The old process had become an issue, particularly for new RSOs, Manahan said. 

“We’ve seen so many times how there will be that organization that’s brand new and just missed one (requirement) … then they got completely dismissed and then they have to try to come back, and it’s a whole process,” said the vice president. “And it happens over and over and over again, I mean, I think it happened six times last semester. It’s not good for anyone. 

Now, the judicial branch will be responsible for determining an appropriate punishment for the RSO based on unmet requirements. For example, if an RSO does not meet their service hour requirements, they may be required to complete an additional amount of hours the following semester.

A ‘restructure’ for the students 

Adjustments to the constitution also come with smaller, yet significant, changes, notably to the president pro tempore.

The president pro tempore will now be called the speaker of the senate. The speaker is no longer a member of the student senate, but has additional and more significant duties. They will serve as chair for any temporary committees, assist permanent committees, communicate RSO policy changes and manage ASG property. 

Other changes to the constitution include the addition of the vice president to many presidential powers and duties, more responsibilities given to various ASG officers and the adjustment of the executive cabinet to include the chief justice of the justice system. 

“First and foremost, the changes are to restructure our students in it as best as we can. (We are) moving our area more into actually going out into campus, into academic units, into our residential dorms, into our Memorial Union Main Street, and being able to ask people questions about where they think that campus is at now and areas of improvement they would like to see,”  said Manahan.

 “(We are) going out to the University and actually finding the issues instead of waiting for them to come to us, because that hasn’t been very successful.”