Appointments and a President with an agenda

[Guest JackieS.]

I am a member of the student senate at my college and our president (who is newly elected) has approved several people to be appointed at our first meeting of the year. In order to be appointed the president just has to add them to the agenda and it has to be approved upon by a simple majority of the senate. However some of the people who are to be appointed I don't agree with and do not feel that they would do an adequate job. I feel as though the president is just appointing them to fill seats and to say that he is better than the previous president because all of the seats are filled. We have an appointments committee and a government administration committee that appointments usually are sent through after the president approves them to be in senate. While this is not required it is typically considered the norm. We haven't even had our first meeting yet and I am really concerned that our new president has not given adequate notice concerning the vacancies. Our statutes do not a state that the president has to wait or that they have to be sent through a committee. They only thing slightly relevant that they say is that the president is encouraged to give adequate notice to the proper college about the vacancy. I feel that our president is trying to appoint people who will help with his agenda and will not help with the best interests of the students. Please give me some advice on what I can do. I have looked into a filibuster, but I really don't understand it or know if we could use that. Our statutes state nothing about that at all. Any help would be appreciated.

[Josh Martin]

Please give me some advice on what I can do.

You have a wide variety of options, but I think these are some of the best:

-You can speak in debate against the appointments. You may speak up to twice per motion per day, for up to ten minutes each time, unless your rules state otherwise. A motion to change these limits (or to just end debate) requires a 2/3 vote and is not debatable.

-You can vote against the appointments.

-You can move to Refer the appointments to a committee, such as, for instance, one of the committees you say customarily review appointments. You can give the committee instructions on when to report back (or whatever other instructions you feel are appropriate).Such a motion is debatable and requires a majority vote for adoption.

-You can move to Postpone the motion to approve the appointments to the next meeting.

-You can move to direct the President to provide notice to the colleges, or to do whatever else you think is desirable that he hasn't done already. Since this takes time, this strategy is really only effective if you either Refer or Postpone the approval of the appointments first.

Before the meeting, be sure to discuss your thoughts on this matter with other members of the assembly. While many of these motions are debatable, it's best to have some support lined up before the meeting. At the very least, you'll want to be sure you have someone who is willing to second your motions.

I have looked into a filibuster, but I really don't understand it or know if we could use that. Our statutes state nothing about that at all.

A filibuster is not an option in RONR. Since your rules are also silent on it, you cannot use it. The filibuster is used primarily in the United States Senate and is not applicable or appropriate for most societies.

[hmtcastle]

In order to be appointed the president just has to add them to the agenda and it has to be approved upon by a simple majority of the senate. . . . Please give me some advice on what I can do.

Persuade a majority of the senators to reject the president's appointments.