On March 27, the Student Government Association held the last meeting of the 61st General Assembly.
Several pieces of legislation were brought before the Senate. Because this is the year of Constitutional revisions, several amendments to the current Constitution were brought to the table.
One piece of legislation that was passed last night was to add an amendment to a previous enactment. The addition of suggestion boxes, which are to be at places in every academic building on campus, was previously passed. The Assembly voted to designate an assigned number of boxes to be installed each year. Under this legislation, each General Assembly “will be required to install two boxes per year” until each assigned building has one.
The following amendments will be on the table for review over the next two weeks and are to be voted on at the next Senate meeting.
Revisions such as the president being required to be present at every meeting unless absent because of sickness, academic reasons or an Executive Council vacancy were brought to the table.
The Revision’s Committee also recommended that a printed copy of the Constitution be made available in the SGA office every year rather than every two years.
“Even on non-revision years, there is generally enough amendments to make it worthwhile,” Chief Justice William Morris said.
Also in the proposed revisions were two amendments to the GPA requirements of the Chief Justice and anyone acting as a Committee Chair. Currently, the requirement is a minimum of a 2.25. This amendment would increase that to a 2.5 and would be required to maintain this throughout his or her duration of office.
“The idea, in theory, is that your Chief Justice and Committee Chair[s] would be higher caliber people,” Morris said.
In order to run for a position on the Executive Council, candidates were required to get 50 extra signatures. This was not technically a Constitutional requirement, however if enacted, it will become a requirement for following elections.
In an effort to make UTM students more evenly represented, the Senators will vote at the next meeting on the reapportionment of Senate seats. The number given to each college will be based on the number of students enrolled at UTM compared to the number of students enrolled in each college. The larger colleges will receive more seats and the smaller ones will receive fewer seats.
Also, they will be voting to make the total number of Senators for a given Assembly 30. Currently, the number can fluctuate depending upon the number assigned to each college. If the amendment is passed, the number assigned to each college will be based on 30 seats. This, as Morris described it, will allow more students to have their voices heard.
On the table for review is an amendment that will change the limitations on the Freshman Council; if enacted, the stipulations will be loosened. Currently, the Constitution states that a person seeking a position on the Freshman Council must be a “first-time freshman.”
“[The way it is written now] eliminates any person who may have withdrawn from school because of a medical issue,” Morris said.
With the proposed amendment, any student with freshman classification will be allowed to hold a position on the Freshman Council.
Also with the new amendments, the Senators will also vote to add a new position to the SGA. The Speaker of the Senate will, if enacted, serve as the Chairperson to the Senate. This person would be responsible for reporting to the Vice President and would not vote as a Senator unless there was a tie. In order to hold this position, the person must be elected as a Senator during the year he or she is appointed. If approved as a position, there would also be a $250 dollar scholarship incentive, which would be applied towards tuition.
Other legislation that was proposed but is not directly associated with the revision packets will also be voted on at the next Senate meeting.
First, a legislation that requires all members of SGA to attend at least one night of UTM’s Diversity Week was introduced. Also on the table are four other pieces of legislation.
A proposed amendment to ensure that the Chief Justice is fulfilling his or her duties will also be taken to vote. This, if passed, will allow for review of the position. If the person holding the office is found to be negligent of duties, they could be demoted to Associate Judge.
The Senators will also be voting on an amendment that would force the Senators at Large to be held to the same standard as elected Senators. They would be required to take tests similar to those that the elected ones have to take.
“This is to make sure that people that are appointed know what they are doing. It safe guards against people not knowing anything about SGA being put into office,” Cassandra Rogers said.
The Communications Committee also proposed a legislation that would remove one of their duties. Currently, they are required to present one piece of legislation before the General Assembly per semesters. The committee proposed a legislation that would remove this requirement from the Constitution.
All proposed legislation should be voted on at the next Senate meeting, however, because the 62nd General Assembly will be in session at that time the new members will decide if they wish to continue what their predecessors began.
