Student Senate Meeting
March 23rd, 2016 – 8:00 pm, Kyle Morrow Room
★ Call to Order- Commencement: 8:07 PM
○ Jones IVP to be voting member at Senate in place of Jones President
★ Roll Call
★ Approval of Minutes
★ Parliamentary Procedure
○ Whole year→ total of 4 absences (no more than 3 in a row)
○ Proxies cannot vote
○ Legislation
■ Bills
● Used to create working groups → action
■ Resolution
● Expresses a formal opinion of Senate
■ Class A
● Presented at senate, has to be voted on by entire student population
■ Class B
● Presented at senate, automatically takes place
○ Write Legislation! Email to Annabelle/Griffin by Thursday at noon before Senate, meet with Annabelle by Monday at 5 to go over, present at Senate (***once presented- belongs to entire Senate**)
○ Motion to…
■ Vote
■ Table/postpone
■ Amend
■ Adjourn
○ Types of Voting
■ Unanimous consent
■ Hands
■ Roll Call
○ Rules of Debate
■ Chair pre-determines time limit, facilitates debate, calls on people
★ CUC Discussion
○ Set: 20 minute limit
○ Key proposals are…
■ limit of 17 hours for new students
■ Limit of 18 hours for returning students→ music/architecture not to be held to limits
○ Petition explanation by OAA
○ # of credit hours for engineering→ outside scope of CUC
○ Motivation→ encourage students to register for fewer hours, especially if not required to complete major → Student wellbeing
○ Response from colleges:
■ We have the ability to take classes outside of major, with less hours, not enough time to take these classes to explore
■ Why create this barrier at all? CUC- force students at beginning of semester to think about why they are taking these hours
■ No quantitative way to make easier process to petition for more hours
■ Flexibility for study abroad→ 5th year and financial aid not extended
■ Suggestion: Box on special registration→ major and divisional advisor can sign up to 21 (hard cap)
■ Limit on new students→ generally ok, pushback on second semester limit
■ 17 not a multiple of 3→ hard to hit that limit
■ Impact on people without AP credit→ people from disadvantaged areas and would not be able to finish some requirements, CUC- Do we want students who don’t come from the best high schools to be taking this many classes?
■ Concern with freshmen overloading: how does this play in with the idea of allowing freshmen to drop all the way up to the last day of the semester? Pres: CUC is not happy with this system of dropping anyways
■ Case by case basis: students will be able to tell if they are able to handle a certain number of hours
■ One 3-credit hour course may not be equivalent to another
■ Would not change structure of existing classes
■ Colleges to send survey results
■ Does not affect current students at Rice
■ If we were to reevaluate petition system→ a few said they would reconsider
■ Haven’t really been given a clear reason as to why this is happening
★ Appointment of all Directors (including External Affairs and Elections)
○ Appointment: All approved
★ Approval of Election Timeline
○ EVP, Sammy the Owl, Junior/ Soph rep for Honor Council positions not filled
○ Petitions available online on SA website
○ Petitions due by March 30th
○ April 16th→ Election Results Announced
★ Senior Committee Legislation
○ Currently operating under Future Alumni Committee
○ Amendment makes own standing committee
○ NSR’s? → TBD at a later point
○ Voting in 2 weeks
★ Executive VP Legislation
○ Purpose to work on projects related to Executive Team and President
○ James Carter
○ Difference between External Affairs vs ExVP→ similar language
★ Announcements
■ Retreat Save the Date!!! (Saturday April 9th, 9-3 PM)
■ Apply for committee Chair/ Homecoming Chair positions due Friday
■ Blanket Tax Applications
★ Adjournment: 9:01 PM