Senate heard pieces of legislation dealing with the Elections Board, Senate Oversight Committee and rules and regulations of the Senate, during Thursday night’s Senate session. 

The meeting began with two members of the Elections Board discussing a recent Board ruling declaring a graduate student ineligible to run for a Graduate School Senate seat. The members of the Board said the ruling was issued because the student did not have the necessary Graduate School GPA to run for the seat. 

The members added that the wording for one of the clauses used to help the Board reach its decision is somewhat confusing, but said that the Board hopes to clarify the clause in the future. 

While the Elections Board members were present – and later when a resolution concerning the Board was discussed – some senators raised concerns about the Board’s ruling, saying the SGA Constitution deals with a student’s undergraduate GPA, not their graduate GPA. 

During the meeting, a resolution was introduced “urging the Elections Board to follow the wording of the Constitution regarding Senate eligibility requirements,” which specifically notes the sections of the SGA Code of Laws and Constitution where eligibility requirements can be found. 

Ultimately, the resolution was committed to the Rules Committee.

In addition to the Elections Board, a bill was put forth by Senator Robert Pendley which focuses on increasing the powers of the Senate Oversight Committee. Pendley, a law student at the University and a member of the Oversight Committee, said the Oversight Committee received several complaints about other SGA members but lacked the ability to take action. 

“[The bill] was necessary in order for us to add another oversight component to this,” Pendley said. 

Pendley also said the bill, should it pass, will allow the committee to hold hearings and depositions.

The bill must first be reviewed and discharged by the Rules Committee before a vote can occur.

Finally one of the other notable pieces of legislation discussed during the meeting was the McCaskey-Cervino Rules and Regulations Bill. The bill was introduced last week and committed to the Rules Committee. 

This week, the bill was discharged from the committee and passed by the Senate, creating a new governing document for the Senate.

Order of Events:

1.) Senate heard from members of the Elections Board, dealing mostly with the recent ruling of the board declaring a graduate student ineligible to run for a Graduate School seat.

2.) R-23 calling for the SGA to follow its constitutional grants of power reintroduced, passed.

3.) R-26 partnering the SGA with Beat Auburn Beat Hunger reintroduced, passed.

4.) B-08 creating a separate governing document for the Senate composed of portions of the SGA Code of Laws reintroduced, passed.

5.) R-32 calling for the SGA mission statement and the Capstone Creed to be read during each Senate meeting introduced, passed.

6.) A-11 “expanding the Academic Affairs cabinet role to include marketing the University Scholars program” introduced, committed to the Academic Affairs Committee.

7.) R-29 calling for printers to be placed in residence halls and maintained by UA Residential Life and Printing Services introduced, passed. 

8.) R-30 calling for improved communication between the SGA and the Elections Board introduced, passed.

9.) R-31 urging the Elections Board to follow the wording of the SGA Constitution and Code of Laws as they pertain to Senate eligibility requirements introduced, committed to the Rules Committee.

10.) B-09 which deals with increasing “efficiency, accountability and oversight of all Student Government Association projects, entities and actions” introduced, sent to the Rules Committee.