Spring Break
Senators could be censured or impeached if attendance policy is reinforced
by Harry Shipps
News | 2/10/09
Posted online at 5:42 AM EST on 2/10/09
The Student Union Senate is considering an act that would reinforce the current senatorial attendance policy for meetings and possibly institute a maximum number of meetings senators are allowed to miss with or without an excuse before facing punishments such as censure or impeachment, said Executive Senator and Acting Vice President Andrew Brooks '09, who introduced the act.
Senate procedure dictates that bylaws cannot be voted on until the week after they are introduced. The act, titled the Attendance Improvement Act of 2009, was originally introduced at the Feb. 1 Senate meeting, at which it was immediately tabled and set aside for further action during the next meeting. At last Sunday's meeting, the bylaw was again tabled because the language of the act had not been decided.
According to the current rule found in Article IV, Section I of the Student Union bylaws, "Senators shall attend all meetings of the Senate and committees on which they are assigned, except in extenuating circumstances. If a Senator must miss a Senate meeting, s/he must notify the President of the Union Senate in advance of the meeting."
Brooks said he believes some senators have been "abusing the bylaw," and that "they have taken 'extenuating circumstance' to mean any sort of excuse." By instituting the Improvement Act, Brooks said he hopes to clearly define "extenuating circumstance," to place a cap on the number of missed meetings, excused or unexcused, and to put clear punishments such as censure and impeachment in place for senators who violate the bylaw.
The exact language of the bill has not yet been decided, but the cap number Brooks suggested is a maximum of two absences, excused or unexcused, before a senator is subject to punishment in the form of censure or impeachment. This number is only tentative; the exact language is still unclear, and several senators have advocated a higher cap or no cap at all.
Student Union President Jason Gray '10 said, "I think that attendance is important, and the Senate has the prerogative to do what it thinks is appropriate so that we have a system that is set up to serve students as best we can." Beyond this, Gray declined to comment, saying that the issue was outside his purview as president and that he would support whatever decision the senate makes.
Senate procedure dictates that bylaws cannot be voted on until the week after they are introduced. The act, titled the Attendance Improvement Act of 2009, was originally introduced at the Feb. 1 Senate meeting, at which it was immediately tabled and set aside for further action during the next meeting. At last Sunday's meeting, the bylaw was again tabled because the language of the act had not been decided.
According to the current rule found in Article IV, Section I of the Student Union bylaws, "Senators shall attend all meetings of the Senate and committees on which they are assigned, except in extenuating circumstances. If a Senator must miss a Senate meeting, s/he must notify the President of the Union Senate in advance of the meeting."
Brooks said he believes some senators have been "abusing the bylaw," and that "they have taken 'extenuating circumstance' to mean any sort of excuse." By instituting the Improvement Act, Brooks said he hopes to clearly define "extenuating circumstance," to place a cap on the number of missed meetings, excused or unexcused, and to put clear punishments such as censure and impeachment in place for senators who violate the bylaw.
The exact language of the bill has not yet been decided, but the cap number Brooks suggested is a maximum of two absences, excused or unexcused, before a senator is subject to punishment in the form of censure or impeachment. This number is only tentative; the exact language is still unclear, and several senators have advocated a higher cap or no cap at all.
Student Union President Jason Gray '10 said, "I think that attendance is important, and the Senate has the prerogative to do what it thinks is appropriate so that we have a system that is set up to serve students as best we can." Beyond this, Gray declined to comment, saying that the issue was outside his purview as president and that he would support whatever decision the senate makes.
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