PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION

[Grosseschnauzer]

Taking into account all pending proposals related to revision and replacement of the Constitution in its current form, and in order to preerve the existence, continuity and independence of the University, hereby propose the following amendment to TNP Law 17:
This proposal would remove any specific reference to any government body other than the Regional Assembly, and replaces those references with generoc terms. It would elect a seventh member and allow the Regents o select their own chair from among the Regents. It also removes implementation language that it no longer necessary.

I request that this proposal be brought to a vote no later than November 15th, and that formal discussion commence by November 8th.

TNP LAW 17
The North Pacific University

Section 1. Creation.
A - The North Pacific University is created as an autonomous, independent institution of learning, scholarship and knowledge of The North Pacific.
B - The University may contain one or more special institutes or schools for the training of personnel to be used in the diplomatic, security, law enforcement, judicial, military, or other functions of the Regional Government.
C - The University shall have standing to be a party in a proceeding in The Court of The North Pacific any regional judiciary entity.

Section 2. Mission Statement.
A - The goal of the University includes, but is not limited to, the creation of an environment where members’ experience and lessons learned may be shared in an instructional setting for the betterment of all players of Nationstates and the game itself. Further, the University may commission original research which includes, but is not limited to, any aspect of gameplay and the history of Nationstates and The North Pacific.

Section 3. The Board of Regents.
A - The Board of Regents of The North Pacific University is created as the governing body of the University. It shall consist of a chair and six seven elected members. The elected members shall serve six month terms.
B - The Minister of Culture and Education shall serve as the  chair of the Board of Regents, shall elect its own chair, who may and shall vote on any matter before the Board in case of a tie vote among the Regents.
C - In the event of an emergency, or where such an action is deemed necessary or appropriate, the chair may refer an appropriate matter to the Cabinet or the Regional Assembly regional government, when in the chair's judgment, such a referral is warranted.
D - The Board shall be elected in the first week of March and September by an election in the Regional Assembly. Regents shall be members of the Regional Assembly in good standing during their term. The Board of Regents shall be elected by plurality vote of the Regional Assembly in the manner prescribed by law for Security Council elections. Vacancies on the board shall be filled in the same manner as vacancies on the Security Council. by a special election in the Regional Assembly. In all instances, there will be a nomination period not to exceed one week, and a voting period not to exceed one week.
E - The Board shall have power to adopt and modify rules and policies concerning student admissions, course offerings, general faculty procedures, and degree certifications, as well as any other appropriate statements of rules and policy. The Board may adopt procedures for its business. The rules shall provide for who shall preside at deliberations of the board in case of the absence of its chair, and who may serve as Acting Chancellor in case of the Chancellor's absence or inactivity at any time during the Chancellor's term.

Section 4. Chancellor.
A- The chief administrator of the University is the Chancellor. The Chancellor shall be appointed by the Board of Regents during the first week of the months of June and December of each year, and shall serve a six month-term.
B - The Chancellor shall be a ex-officio, non-voting member of the Board of Regents. The Chancellor shall be a member of the Regional Assembly during their term of office.
C - The Chancellor shall be accountable to the Board of Regents for the administrative and operational functions of the University.
D - The Board of Regents shall have power to remove the Chancellor for cause, and that removal may be reviewed by appeal to the Court of The North Pacific.

Section 5. Effective Date and Implementation.
A - This law shall be effective upon adoption.
B - During the first week following the adoption of this law, the Speaker shall organize an election of the initial Board of Regents, who shall serve until a Board of Regents is elected in September for a normal six-month term.
C - Within a week thereafter, the initially elected Board of Regents shall appoint the initial Chancellor of the University, who shall serve until the first week of December, at which time a Chancellor shall be appointed for a normal six-month term.
D - The Board of Regents and the Chancellor shall expeditiously arrange for its initial course offerings to begin as soon as practicable, within 30 days after the initial Board of Regents and the initial Chancellor are installed in their positions.
Section 5. Effective Date.
This law as amended takes effect on its adoption.

 

[Westwind]

C - The University shall have standing to be a party in a proceeding in The Court of The North Pacific any regional judiciary entity.

I don't understand the whole purpose of this. I recommend complete removal. If something is a part of TNP, then I would automatically expect that it comes under the authority of whatever judicial system may exist in the region. Seems redundant.

A - The Board of Regents of The North Pacific University is created as the governing body of the University. It shall consist of a chair and six seven elected members. The elected members shall serve six month terms.

Why so many Regents? In an Era of low numbers of active members, it does not make sense to me to increase the Regent membership. Rather I'd recommend lowering the number.

B - The Minister of Culture and Education shall serve as the  chair of the Board of Regents, shall elect its own chair, who may and shall vote on any matter before the Board in case of a tie vote among the Regents.

Excellent.

C - In the event of an emergency, or where such an action is deemed necessary or appropriate, the chair may refer an appropriate matter to the Cabinet or the Regional Assembly regional government, when in the chair's judgment, such a referral is warranted.

I don't really see the need for this part either. I would think that emergency matters would obviously escalate to the appropriate leadership personnel - government or forum.

D - The Board shall be elected in the first week of March and September by an election in the Regional Assembly. Regents shall be members of the Regional Assembly in good standing during their term. The Board of Regents shall be elected by plurality vote of the Regional Assembly in the manner prescribed by law for Security Council elections. Vacancies on the board shall be filled in the same manner as vacancies on the Security Council. by a special election in the Regional Assembly. In all instances, there will be a nomination period not to exceed one week, and a voting period not to exceed one week.

This is fine, but it occurs to me that final verbage and voting should not occur until the matter of the Constitution is settled.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

The language substitution is designed to cover all possible outcomes of the current debates and pending votes on constitutional change.
Some of the proposals arguably keep the current court, and others do not even provide for a judiciary. The language about the standing of the University as an entity is to avoid te need to adopt a law on legal entities, since at the moment, the University is the only artificial" person that has a legal right to appear in a court.
As to the size of the board of regents, it is the same size as it is currently; instead of an elected Minister of Culture and Educaion serving as chair, a seventh elected member of the board would act as chair. Also keep in mind the intention to have the University be a nonpartisan body. There is no direct evidence that a small board would be beneficial, it could be counterproductive to assuring representation of the different points of view within TNP.
The election procedure is the one currently used for the security council, and none of the current constitutional proposals mention that body. Failure to make these changes now would cause the at least temporary abolition of the University, which is an outcome that would be highly disruptive and should be avoided.