Wednesday, October 29, 2008
SR 004-09 SUUSA Constitution
SR 004-09*
Comments:
I think the constitution looks great guys! Thanks for working so hard to support us as students. However, I do have one concern. The part about lowering to two senators rather than keeping three. I believe by having three senators, you are making sure the jobs are being done. Having some experience in government and seeing many delegates leave this year because they didn't have the time to give it their full effort. By lowering the senators from three to two, I feel it could put alot of pressure on the senators. Which may even cause more to resign next year due to the amount of work put forth to get the job done. I am just voicing my concern for the student body wondering if we are going to have this problem with senate next year.
# posted by 
: 6:36 PM
Of all the changes being presented to amend the SUUSA Constitution, the proposal to minimize the number of senators is probably going to be the most misunderstood.
Let me address the comment from anonymous above. The delegates being referred to that decided to leave Student Government “this year because they didn't have the time to give it their full effort” is also misunderstood. They did not leave because Student Government put so much on their plates. Their plates were already full with school, work, and life and they did not feel they had enough time left to properly represent the students of the clubs they were assigned to. This is a concern that needs to be addressed when people are deciding to run for an office. A student’s education and well being comes before their commitment to Student Government. These delegates that left did what they thought was in the best interest of the student body. Is there a way for us to prevent this? No, life happens and people have to change their lifestyle on a day-to-day basis.
On the subject of the workload of the Senators: This idea has been proposed many times. Senators currently have the opportunity with the help of their academic college to find department representatives to help with the workload. For example, PVA is trying to implement department reps into the meetings the Senators have with their Dean. Dean Brynes, PVA, feels it more important to learn from the students how their school is getting by than through the faculty who may not always hear students’ opinions. This will actually provide a way for more students to be involved in the process of Student Government. After all, the Student Government is part of the SUUSA, aka Southern Utah University STUDENT ASSOCIATION, and all students have a right to voice their opinion. This is a way to involve more student voices than just that of the Senators.
I hope my comments have helped you to understand where this proposal comes from and why it is actually a great proposal.
Daniel Strange
SUUSA Academic VP/Chair of the Senate
# posted by 
Daniel Strange : 9:13 AM
As a PVA Senator and a member of the Constitution Committee, let me add my voice to that of Vice President Strange in support of the reduction in the number of Senators. First of all, this is how our national government is run. Two Senators are responsible for representing an entire state, regardless of population. Our Senators should be more than capable of handling their respective colleges.
PVA is in the process of establishing a Student-Dean Forum. This would consist of department representatives, preferably three from each department,the student senators, and the Dean, meeting on at least a monthly basis to discuss the happenings of the department and to touch base with the Dean. This would allow each department to have adequate representation. Senators come from various departments within their college and find it difficult to stay in touch with the opinions and views of every department within the college they represent, while balancing a full course load and maintaining a social life. Having the aforementioned department representatives would give a much more accurate and representative picture of what was happening, and how the students felt regarding what was going on in the University.
This setup is there to aid senators and relieve some of the workload, which isn't overly burdensome as is.
Speaking from personal experience as a Senator I believe the workload is more than manageable for two Senators.
Along with what has been stated, this is an attempt to make the Senate more fiscally responsible. I realize this is a term that is overused and thrown around too much, but it captures, in essence, what one of our major responsibilities is. The savings just in stipends, not to mention all of the other little things, like name tags, plaques, copies printed weekly for Senate meetings, and office supplies, would be significant.
We welcome any and all concerns and comments students have regarding this or any other change/clarification to the Constitution.
-Senator Larsen PVA
# posted by Adam Larsen : 12:17 PM
From investigation of the changes in the constitution, particularly the reduction to two senators was discussed among the department chairs of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) - which is the biggest college on SUU's campus. Each of the sic department chairs were in favor of the proposal. HSS plans on having a student department representative from each department meet with the HSS senators and the dean to better represent the college as a whole. Whether there are 2 or 3 senators still leaves departments in HSS without representation. By having department representatives each department will have an equal voice.
As Senator Larsen stated, this is also fiscally responsible by the savings costs he listed in his above comment.
Also the College of Graduate Studies discussed the option of department representatives, in place of 3 senators, and feels this would give each of the master programs a voice and allow a better communication flow between academics and student government.
# posted by SenatorHunter : 10:33 AM
I am also in favor of reducing the amount of senators. I would encourage the colleges to consider department reps that could be a voice for the students. I feel that the more voice from the students the better, then the two senators can facilitate those particular needs. The choice to reduce senators is not because of any particular slackers or those who are not doing their job. Three senators to two will consolidate the number of people to coordinate and tighten the system to promote more effective communication and quicker results. I fully support this new change.
# posted by : 9:33 AM
I'm dissapointed in the failure of student leaders and administrators to communicate in regards to a constitutional amendment, but I must admit, I was definitely guilty of lack of communication to administrators about these very issues.
But seriously, has no one from student government sat down with a member of president's council and explained the motivation and purpose of the change in policy?
How is it possible that no one from President' Council has been aware of an SUUSA Constituional amendment?
The obvious steps to fix the problem is to RE-present the amendments to President's Council and the Board of Trustees first...let them make their changes before the election, have the student leaders approve the final draft of the changes, then bring it up before the student body at the upcoming election, that way they are voting on a PREAPPROVED amendment, the Presidents council and Board of Trustees can officially approve it following the student body passage if there is an approval order mandate.
Make the Constitutional amendments available to vote on this upcoming election and make them effective for the following year, with the exception for the change in senators, which you can change the effective date, for the 2010 - 2011 school year, to avoid any confusion.
The ideas behind the amendments look great, but I have to agree with the President's Council, in that they are poorly worded, particularly amendment two. The phrase "opposite legislative body"...It's just too unclear. Be sure to have an administrator who is familiar with policy read over any constitutional changes before it's brought before the student body.
# posted by : 5:13 PM
Personally I don't think that my education senators are representing me sufficiently anyways.
I have been to senate meetings and voiced my opinion but I always seem to be over looked. If three senators aren't representing me, well why would i want it lowered to two? I'm hoping that next year DIFFERENT people get elected and with three representatives I have a better chance of someone actually listening to me!
# posted by : 2:10 PM