THE ENGINEERING students ratified a new student constitution last Jan. 25 after the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) questioned the authenticity of the original 1985 charter.
“The original copy of the ESC constitution, with signatures of the people who drafted the constitution, was lost and the copy left with us was only a photocopy with the signed pages missing,” Robert de la Cruz, ESC president, said.
He added that this was reason that the OSA did not recognize Engineering’s student charter.
It is now known how the OSA could rule that a constitution that had been operative since 1985 was “illegal” or if it had the power to do so.
Ironically, De la Cruz and his council who agreed to junk the old charter and draft a new one was elected under the 1985 charter.
The new charter was drafted with the “cooperation” of the dean’s office, Enriquez said.
The new charter improves reportedly on the old constitution. From the original two-section bill of rights, the new charter’s bill has 22 sections, covering student -instructor relationships, grade constitution, confidentiality of grades, and formation of student organizations.
The new constitution paves the way for the creation of the Engineering Divisions Student Alliance, which will serve as the umbrella organization and coordinating body for all recognized student organizations in Engineering.
Also under the new constitution, Engineering students will have an internal and an external vice-president.
De la Cruz said the ESC immediately drafted the new constitution after the OSA threatened to abolish the student council because of the “illegal” 1985 chapter. Leonard James D. Postrado
