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Sidd M

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  1. Hi All, Context: I chair my campus' student senate, and I'm looking to cancel the next meeting given that we've met the requirements outlined in our constitution about having two minimum meetings (Article II Section 4) Article II, Section 4: During the fall and spring semesters the Senate shall meet no fewer than two (2) times in each semester. The first meeting of each Semester shall be no later than the fourth (4th) week of the semester. The Senate may establish other meetings. My question is: As the chairperson, if I cancel the meeting, is it final, in that the members cannot convene a meeting by petition (or some other means)? I'm not sure if Robert's Rules of Order specifies some protocol that can allow the chair's cancellation of a meeting to be overturned. Thank you for your consideration! Note: As you will find in the attached document, our constitution does not specify anything about meetings other than the excerpt I pasted above. SA Constitution .pdf
  2. Hi All, There's a lot of confusion about how to proceed with an amendment to our bylaws. I've copied and pasted the excerpt of the bylaws that describes the amendment procedure below: Here's some helpful context: I serve as a chair for a senate of 20 voting members (including myself). The term "SA" refers to Student Association, which is the student government at our institution. I chair the Student Senate, which is not synonymous with the Academic Senate (that body governs curriculum). Each year in April, our campus holds elections for senators and the Student Association President, Vice President. Problem: A motion was made to amend the bylaws, and received a near unanimous vote. There's just confusion about whether we need a referendum campus wide amongst all the students, or if the amendment is final because the Senate has adopted it. ___________________ ARTICLE IX - INITIATIVE & REFERENDUM The Students reserve the right to express ourselves and the power to reject any action of the Student Senate. The act of expression and the power to reject shall be asserted through the right of initiative and referendum. Section 1: A petition of initiative must contain the complete text of the measure or statement being proposed. The petition must be signed by students totaling fifteen (15) percent of the total valid vote cast in the last election for SA President. The petition shall be presented to the Academic Senate Elections Committee for mandatory presentation to the all students at the next Spring General Election. Section 2: The Student Senate may, by a majority vote of the membership present and voting, establish a referendum for the Spring General Election. Section 3: Any referendum shall be adopted by a majority vote. ARTICLE X - AMENDMENT PROCESS Section 1: Amendments to this constitution may be proposed either through the process of initiative or by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the [Day] Student Senate. Section 2: To be adopted, amendments must receive a majority of favorable votes from all those voting on the matter in a referendum.
  3. Hi All, Context: I currently Chair the Senate within my organization, which serves to moderate the actions of the executive branch. The senate declares standing committees based on a list provided from our bylaws on an annual basis (as executive board members are elected annually, as well as senators). Appointments to those committees are then made by the President from the Executive Branch and the Senate has to consent to those appointments. Issue: Within our bylaws, it spells out that the executive board consists of the President, Vice President, the Programming Chair, Political Affairs Chair, Academic Affairs Chair and Non-Traditional Affairs Chairperson. However, the list of standing committees does not define "Programming committee" in its list (see attached image). The executive branch's contention is that because our bylaws state that the Senate has the purview to, "Establish and terminate SA Standing, Special and Ad-Hoc committees except as provided for in Section 9", the programming committee can therefore be declared and approved by the Senate. Is the declaration and approval of the "programming committee" technically permissible in that case?
  4. Hi All, There seems to be a bit of confusion about whether or not a ballot needs to be cast for unanimous consent, for motions that are NOT related to elections. I already read this thread (https://robertsrules.forumflash.com/topic/20339-secretary-casting-vote-in-uncontested-election/). My question is, for main motions such as adopting the agenda, approving the minutes of the last meeting, is it necessary for the Chair to "cast one ballot for unanimous consent"? I've also seen other variations of this phrasing, such as the image below, as well as "the chair asked the secretary to cast all ballots for unanimous consent". It seems a bit outdated & unnecessary...
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