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SGA Abington

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  1. Is it not possible to continue a regular meeting for more than a week? The rules for amending bylaws are strict and they would not be able to get amended in time.
  2. Hello, Our bylaws prohibit us from holding special meetings except in certain circumstances. We expect to have business come up in an off-week which we'd like to dispose of before our regular meetings. How do we allow ourselves to meet during the off-week in order to approve the important business? Our bylaws regarding meetings are below. ARTICLE V. Meetings Section 1. Regular Meetings. The regular meetings of this body are held every second Friday during the Fall and Spring semesters, unless ordered otherwise by a vote at a previous meeting. The first meeting of each school year shall be held no later than the third Friday of the Fall semester. The first meeting of each calendar year shall be held no later than the second Friday of the Spring semester. Meetings shall occur no less than once every three academic weeks. The secretary shall email a call to the meeting three days prior to the meeting. Section 2. Quorum. Six members of this body constitute a quorum. To establish a quorum, the secretary shall call the roll immediately after the presiding officer calls the meeting to order, at the conclusion of a recess, after this body votes to adjourn but before adjournment, and when any member suggests the absence of a quorum. To be effective, business conducted without a quorum must be approved at the next meeting with a quorum by a two-thirds majority vote. Section 3. Special Meetings. This body may not hold special meetings, except if a special meeting is ordered as part of a formal disciplinary procedure for the purpose of conducting a hearing and deciding punishment. Section 4. Cancellation of a Regularly Scheduled Meeting. The speaker may not cancel meetings except in case of extreme weather, emergencies, public transportation strike, university declared snow days, or an Act of God. The speaker may cancel a meeting for those reasons unilaterally. The president of the Penn State Abington Student Government Association may cancel a meeting in consultation with the Speaker.
  3. Yes, of course. So far, however, the only time that the Senate Speaker has not been presiding is when she is absent, so she wouldn't be counted for the quorum anyway.
  4. Our Senate Speaker (the bylaws' term for the presiding officer) is elected from the membership of the Senate. Our understanding has been that they retain all the rights and responsibilities of a Senator, but in the interests of appearing neutral do not vote or debate while they are presiding. If the Senate Speaker is absent we have a series of alternative presiding officers, who assume the chair if they are present and the higher-ranked alternates are absent. Some of those alternate chairs are not members of the Senate, and other alternates are. If we are understanding you correctly, then only when an alternative presiding officer is a member of the Senate would they count for quorum. Is that accurate?
  5. We are concerned that at our next meeting, we will not be able to establish a quorum. For the purposes of determining a quorum, does the presiding officer (if they are a member) count towards the minimum number of members? The bylaws for our senate say: Six members of this body constitute a quorum. To establish a quorum, the secretary shall call the roll immediately after the presiding officer calls the meeting to order, at the conclusion of a recess, after this body votes to adjourn but before adjournment, and when any member suggests the absence of a quorum. To be effective, business conducted without a quorum must be approved at the next meeting with a quorum by a two-thirds majority vote. Pursuant to our bylaws, our current chair is a member of the Senate. In accordance with the principles of neutrality from the presiding officer, the chair has not historically voted or participated in debate.
  6. Would this unanimous consent permission require everyone who originally voted to consent in writing (or audibly), or would it be permissible to make the request if some members have left prematurely? What would the procedural steps be for this permission? That is an interesting proposal, but we doubt that prevailing members would risk having the motion defeated after it was passed. Procedurally, yes. But, as you might be aware, saying to Penn State administrators that a motion was adopted unanimously carries more weight than even a lopsided vote.
  7. Hello, As a hypothetical, an assembly takes a counted vote of 35 to 3 in favor of a motion, with 2 abstentions. There is a desire among the prevailing members to record the vote as unanimous in order to give it greater weight. Is this allowable? Would it require a motion to record the vote as unanimous, and if so, what would be the standard requirement for that motion to pass (majority, 2/3rds, etc.)? Thank you.
  8. Update: The person in question resigned. Whether the resignation actually has any force is up for debate because they never were supposed to be on the committee, but for our purposes the issue is solved. Thank you, everyone!
  9. They were nominated by the Vice President, who, according to the bylaws, has the authority to make nominations. The council approved the ineligible nomination as part of a slate which was elected at the same time.
  10. Does anyone know where to find a citation that says you cannot suspend an organization's constitution, unless the constitution is amended? A student council approved someone's nomination, even though they were constitutionally ineligible, with a unanimous vote.
  11. We have not looked into it thoroughly, but there doesn't appear to be anything in the Executive Orders issued by the Governor which would address that. @J. J. mentioned a meeting of the PA Parliamentarians which was held in-person. I imagine that if anyone would know about such an order, it would be the state Parliamentarians.
  12. Our advisor is in charge of Student Affairs at our campus, and would be able to issue a policy for our campus. Would that satisfy the requirements? The full name of our campus is The Pennsylvania State University, Abington College, and it's part of the Pennsylvania State University Commonwealth system. Under other university regulations, Commonwealth Campuses have significant leeway in enacting or changing policies for their campus.
  13. We Are! Well, first off, it'd need to happen twice, according to the bylaws. Second, we've told other student orgs that they don't get money if they meet in-person, so it's a pretty bad look for us to do it twice.
  14. We are not allowed to meet in-person on campus, and we have no desire to meet in-person off-campus. It would put our members at risk, and more importantly it would be a bad example to the other student organizations, especially when we've told them they will get no funding if they meet in-person.
  15. Hi everyone, I'm sure you've gotten tired by now of answering the same question about whether organizations can meet online, and giving the same answer: "It depends on what your bylaws say." Nevertheless, SGA Abington is in need of some guidance about this issue. Background: Due to the whole pandemic thing, student organizations- ourselves included- are not allowed to hold events or meetings on campus. We think we need to change the Senate's bylaws to allow virtual meetings so we can have a working legislative branch. Obviously, this puts us in a bit of a pickle. How are we supposed to meet in-person with 6 people (a quorum), twice, to change the bylaws if we're not allowed to meet in-person? Or do we need to meet in person at all? Would a policy from the University saying: "For the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic, SGA Abington is prohibited from meeting in person. For the duration of the pandemic, any online meetings using Zoom (or other, similar programs) shall have the full weight and authority, and responsibilities of in-person meetings. All decisions, votes, or actions taken during said meetings following such procedures as the Senate shall establish shall not require ratification by an in-person meeting." allow the Senate to meet virtually, without any bylaws amendment? I include the following relevant bylaws for further context. Apologies for formatting issues, I'm writing on my phone. Article II Section 4. Membership Requirements. Members are required to attend all meetings of this body. If a member is unable to attend a meeting of this body, the member shall notify the speaker no later than 24 hours before the meeting in order to be excused from the meeting. ARTICLE V. Meetings Section 1. Regular Meetings. The regular meetings of this body are held every second Friday during the Fall and Spring semesters, unless ordered otherwise by a vote at the previous meeting. The first meeting of each school year shall be held no later than the third Friday of the Fall semester. The first meeting of each calendar year shall be held no later than the second Friday of the Spring semester. Meetings shall occur no less than once every three academic weeks. The secretary shall email a call to the meeting three days prior to the meeting. Unless specified otherwise in the Constitution of the Penn State Abington Student Government, these bylaws, or in the parliamentary authority, all votes require a majority to be adopted. Section 2. Quorum. Six members of this body constitute a quorum. To establish a quorum, the secretary shall call the roll immediately after the presiding officer calls the meeting to order, at the conclusion of a recess, after this body votes to adjourn but before adjournment, and when any member suggests the absence of a quorum. To be effective, business conducted without a quorum must be approved at the next meeting with a quorum by a two-thirds majority vote. Section 3. Special Meetings. This body may not hold special meetings, except if a special meeting is ordered as part of a formal disciplinary procedure for the purpose of conducting a hearing and deciding punishment. Section 4. Cancelation of a Regularly Scheduled Meeting. The speaker may not cancel meetings except in case of extreme weather, emergencies, public transportation strike, university declared snow days, or an Act of God. The speaker may cancel a meeting for those reasons unilaterally. The president of the Penn State Abington Student Government Association may cancel a meeting in consultation with the Speaker. ARTICLE VII Parliamentary Authority The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, Tenth Edition [we are aware it's not current but we don't have the most recent edition in the library yet] shall govern meetings when they are not in conflict with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the policies of the Pennsylvania State University, the Constitution of the Penn State Abington Student Government Association, these bylaws, or any special rules of order that this body may adopt. ARTICLE VII Severability If any part of these bylaws is in conflict with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the policies of the Pennsylvania State University, or the Constitution of the Penn State Abington Student Government Association, the conflict shall invalidate and replace the specific bylaw or phrasing in question, but may not be applied to invalidate or replace any other bylaws. ARTICLE VIII Amendment of Bylaws These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote if previous notice of the proposed amendments was given to the presiding officer at the prior meeting in writing and then sent to all members by the secretary. The Speaker shall send notice by postal mail or e-mail and shall send a copy of notice to the SGA Advisor. The Speaker may renumber sections in the Bylaws and any standing rules established by this body, without a vote to authorize the renumbering, when appropriate.
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