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Senate Rules
Structure
of the meetings of the Student Senate
Article 1. The
Format of the Agenda
The Agenda of the Senate should always
include the following sections:
I. The call to order
II. Two traditional minutes of silence
III. Roll call attendance
IV. Remarks from the Chair
V. The Consent Calendar
VI. Reports from committees and the
Executive Cabinet
VII. Special Business
VIII. Old Business
IX. New Business
X. General announcements
Meetings of the Senate shall be held
at such times and in such places as determined by the
Chair, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
The Administrative Assistant shall publish the schedule
of Senate meetings, and any revisions or supplements
made thereto, and a copy shall be provided to each Senator.
The Chair may require, when necessary,
that any Senator, with their consent, perform the duties
of the chair for a specified period of time if the President
Pro Tempore is either not available or has a conflict
of interest in the matter at hand.
The Chairperson shall enforce the rules
of the Senate and preserve order and decorum during
Senate meetings. The Chairperson may clear Senate meetings
of the public in the case of disturbances, disorderly
conduct, etc.
Senate meeting agendas shall be prepared
by the Executive Vice President and be distributed by
the Administrative Assistant at the time of the meeting.
Article 2. Journal of the Senate
The Administrative Assistant shall record,
maintain, and distribute the journal of the Senate,
the official record of the proceedings and acts of the
Senate. It should be clear and concise, and arranged
in chronological order.
The journal shall include a record of
attendance from each Senate meeting, as well as the
yeas and nays by each Senator from any roll call vote.
Every Senator has the right to see the
journal and the approved journal, being public record,
may be seen by anyone.
Though a Senator may not vote or change
their vote after the vote is properly taken, a Senator
may, with the consent of the Senate, have a statement
concerning the vote printed in the journal.
Article 3. Reports
Each meeting, the Committees and Cabinet
members should provide a concise report to the Senate
concerning their recent activity and anything of relevance
to the Senate.
Upon the conclusion of a report, the
Chair should prompt the Senate to begin Questioning
the reporter. The rules for Questioning are defined
in the Rules of Conduct.
When there are no remaining questions,
the Chair may end Questioning without hearing a motion,
as Debate is not in order.
Article 4. Quorum
A Quorum of Senators must be present
for any decision to be reached and for its acts to be
valid.
A Quorum of the Senate is a majority
of the Senators as prescribed in the ASG Bylaws, whether
or not one or more vacancies have occurred by reason
of infirmary, resignation, or otherwise.
When a Senator desires to call attention
to the fact that a Quorum is not present, that Senator
should rise and address the Chairperson and without
waiting to be recognized say, “I suggest an absence
of a Quorum.” The Chairperson may then instruct
the President Pro Temp to call the attendance or may
assume the responsibility of declaring a quorum present,
or not present, without a call of the roll. The question
of no quorum is decided by the Chairperson as any other
point of order, and is subject to appeal in the same
manner.
In the absence of a Quorum, only two
motions are in order: a call of the Senate to compel
the attendance of absent members and the motion to adjourn,
although motions incidental to a call may be received.
All business conducted without a Quorum is considered
null.
Rules of Conduct in the Student
Senate
Article 1. Making Motions:
There can be no discourse in the Senate
unless there is a question before the Senate. All discussion
must relate to some definite matter that is under consideration
by the Senate. Debate and questions must be confined
to the question before the Senate and may not extend
to other questions before the Senate.
When a question comes under consideration
in the Senate, it shall be considered either a Bill
or a Recommendation. A Recommendation can only come
from a Senate Committee or an office of the Executive
Cabinet. Its purpose is for work that is done by a Committee
or Office to be approved by the Senate. Recommendations
of a minor nature (such as Student Organization recognition)
need not be debated and may be passed after questioning.
Recommendations of a substantial nature (such as the
Budget or Student Organization Funding) should be debated
as if they were Bills. A Recommendation shall be handled
under either the Consent Calendar or Special Business
of the day at the discretion of the Executive Vice President.
A Bill is an original piece of legislation
put before the Senate. A Bill should be handled under
New Business at the first meeting in which it is presented
to the Senate and under Old Business at all subsequent
meetings. Traditionally, the Senate will only debate
Bills that fall under Old Business. This allows the
Senators to come in contact with their constituents
before debating. The exception to this are Bills that
change either the Bylaws or ASG Constitution, which
must be debated twice, as Old Business and as New.
All Bills should be given a title of
the form: Senate Resolution, Semester, Year, and . Abbreviated,
it would be written (for example): SR020503, which would
indicate that this is the third Senate Resolution to
be presented to the Senate in the second semester of
the 04-05 academic year.
Note that it is possible for a Committee
to introduce original legislation to the Senate, which
would be considered a Bill as normal. Only when doing
duties specifically outlined by the Bylaws or Constitution
should Committee work be treated as Recommendations.
For all Elections, the candidate will
be given two minutes to introduce themselves to the
Senate. This should be done with none of the other candidates
present. The Chair will then instruct the Senate to
begin Questioning. However, Debate will not begin until
all candidates have spoken. Traditionally, Elections
are debated under the rules of Executive Session.
When a question is under debate and
an amendment is proposed, the amendment then becomes
the question under consideration. While an amendment
is pending, debate must be confined to the amendment,
unless it is of such a nature that its decision practically
decides the main question.
After an amendment has been seconded,
the author may decide whether the amendment will be
considered friendly or unfriendly to the bill. A friendly
amendment will be considered passed without any debate
or vote. An unfriendly amendment will be debated and
voted on under the normal rules for debate.
Article 2: Methods of Controlling
the Floor
All discussion in the Senate shall
be governed by one of the following methods:
Questioning
After any Report or Main Motion that
has been brought to the Senate’s attention,
the Chair should announce that a time for questions
is in order. During Questioning, Senators are free
to ask a question of an author or a reporter.
Only one question by each Senator
is in order each time he or she obtains the floor.
However, each senator is entitled to ask “follow-up”
questions. To ask one or more follow-ups, a Senator
must ask permission of the Chair by asking, “May
I reserve my right to a follow-up?” This request
should be asked before the Senator has begun. Assuming
permission is granted, the Senator may ask as many
questions as the Chair has entitled him or her.
No Subsidiary Motion is in order during
Questioning except for a Motion to enter Debate or
to Call the Question.
Questioning ends when a Motion to
enter Debate, or a Motion to Call the Question carries.
Debate
During Debate, a Senator is permitted
to speak freely on a question for no longer than two
minutes. All debate must be relevant to the question
before the Senate. A Senator who has the floor may
yield it to another Senator at the expense of his/her
own time.
Senators may be permitted by the chair
to speak again to clear up a matter of fact, or merely
to explain some material part of their speech, but
may not introduce new arguments. When a Senator has
exhausted his/her right to speak, they may still make
any motion having a higher precedence than the motion
under Debate.
When an amendment is offered, or any
other motion made, the amendment or other motion then
becomes the question under consideration. Regarding
the right to speak, such a motion is treated as a
new question.
The author of a Bill or Recommendation
shall be yielded as much time as considered fit by
the Chair.
Debate ends when a Motion to Enter
Executive Session, to Move into Committee of the Whole,
to Postpone or to Table, or to Call the Question carries.
Committee of the Whole
The purpose of the Committee of the
Whole is to permit more free and informal discussion
of a matter than is allowed in Debate.
The Administrative Assistant should
not enter the proceedings of the Committee of the
Whole into the Journal of the Senate, but should maintain
a separate record of the Committee.
The Quorum of the Committee of the
Whole is the same as the Senate. In the case of an
absence of Quorum, the Committee must immediately
rise.
A motion to enter into Committee of
the Whole may only be made during Debate.
The procedures in the Committee shall
be equivalent to those of debate, except:
(a) Motions to limit debate, to rise
at a certain time, to reconsider, to postpone, to
table, or to adjourn are not in order.
(b) Any senator may speak as often as the Chairperson
recognizes him/her.
(c) Roll call votes may not be taken.
(d) Seconds to motions are not required.
(e) The Chairperson may choose not to yield the floor
to a Senator if the Chair feels that he/she is trying
to obstruct the proceedings of the Senate. This decision
may be appealed.
A motion must carry to move out of
Committee of the Whole to Debate for any final action
to be taken on a question.
Executive Session
For the discussion of any business
that may require secrecy, and is allowed by the Ohio
Sunshine laws, the Senate may, by a two-thirds majority
vote, order the doors of the Senate closed and expel
all non-Senators from the body. Only those permitted
by the Senate may be present. (This often includes
the chair).
A motion to enter into Executive Session
may only be made during Debate.
When the Senate meets in Executive
Session, confidentiality of information is essential;
anyone who reveals the proceedings or acts of an executive
session is subject to discipline by the Senate. No
record may be kept of proceedings in Executive Session.
Procedures in Executive Session are
equivalent to those in Committee of the Whole.
The Quorum of an Executive Session
is the same as the Senate. In the case of an absence
of Quorum, the Executive Session immediately ends.
Decision may be made on a question
during Executive Session.
Article 3. Types of Motions:
The following motions may be made in
the Senate:
Main Motions
Bills/Resolutions
Recommendations from Committees
To take a previous Bill/Resolution from the Table
An Amendment to the ASG Constitution
An Amendment to the ASG Bylaws
Subsidiary Motions
To Table
To Limit/Extend the limits of Debate
To Amend
To Postpone Definitely or Indefinitely
To Enter/Leave Debate, Committee of the Whole or Executive
Session
Calling the Question
Incidental Motions
To Suspend the Standing Rules
To Appeal a decision of the Chair*
Motions regarding Nominations
Motions regarding Voting*
All Requests*
A Point of Order*
Privileged Motions
To Take a Recess
To Call for the Orders
To Adjourn
A Point of Privilege*
A Motion marked by an asterisk (*) may
be made while another person is speaking.
Requests, which are not actually motions, are treated
as Incidental Motions for purposes of obtaining the
floor.
Article 4. Further Rules of
the Consideration of Legislation
Legislation introduced in the Senate
must be typewritten, bear the name of every author and
sponsor, and be submitted in hard copy and via E-mail
to the Executive Vice President at least two full days
before it is considered. The title of a piece of legislation
shall include a distinct reference to the subject or
matter to which it relates and also, if it proposes
the amendment or repeal of previous legislation, to
the language proposed to be amended or repealed.
Legislation must be sponsored by at
least one Senator in order to be considered. The author
of the legislation is, by nature a sponsor. A sponsor
shall be any Senator who supports the Legislation, but
is not included among the authors.
Article 5. Voting
Votes may be taken via voice, by show
of hands, by rising, or by roll call. The Chairperson
may determine the initial method of voting on each question.
All final votes on Main Motions must be taken by roll
call unless Unanimous Consent is granted.
A Senator who doubts the accuracy of
a voice vote may appeal the Chair’s decision by
asking for Division. Such a request must be made as
soon as the vote is taken or announced by the Chair.
The request does not require a second and cannot be
debated or amended. As soon as Division is called for,
the Chair shall instruct the President Pro Tempore to
begin a roll call vote.
When there appears to be no opposition
to a pending question, the formality of voting can be
avoided by a Senator requesting the adoption of the
question by unanimous consent. The Chair begins a voice
vote, and, if there is no opposition, the motion passes.
A single objection by any Senator defeats the request
for unanimous consent. The Chair shall instruct the
President to begin a roll call vote.
No Senator may vote or change their
vote after the vote is properly taken, nor may a Senator
vote on a question which was Debated in their absence.
Regarding the Standing Rules
The Standing Rules of the Student Senate
may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of
the Quorum of the Senate. Such a change will take effect
at the beginning of the next semester in which the Senate
meets.
Robert’s Rules of Order shall
be the Senate’s Official Authority on parliamentary
procedure in all cases not provided for in the foregoing
rules, or in the ASG Constitution or Bylaws.
Advice on parliamentary procedure will
be communicated and interpreted by the Parliamentarian
to the Student Senate.
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