Editing Student Senate


== ...as per Brian Camozzi ==



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Student Senate serves two primary purposes.  First, it is the student body's legislative body for student affairs, most notably the distribution of [[Clubs and organizations|club]] budgetary money and disbursement of the Senate Discretionary Fund.  Second, it is the students' primary advocate for student interests to the [[faculty]], [[staff]] and [[administration]], and to that end passes a lot of resolutions and conducts a lot of committee work making recommendations for reform.

Student Senate periodically tries to take over other organizations, including [[Union Board]].  Late in 2006 and early in 2007, they also attempted to censure [[TKS]], but free speech prevailed. Senate is also turning into an aristocracy  by requiring that the President serve three terms on Senate and that the four paid officers must be on campus for their entire term.

Senate meets every Thursday at 7 p.m. in [[SMC]] A110.

==Senators==
Senators are elected early in Fall Term to serve for the school year.  Each year the Executive Board [[Gerrymandering|draws election districts]] from which senators are elected.

See also [[List of Current and Former Student Senators#District Senators|List of current and former District Senators]]

==Executive Board==
The Executive Board, comprising the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer (and since 2006 the four committee chairs), steers the activities of Senate and draws election districts.  The Executive Board meets once a week, but nobody knows when, and no minutes are published.

The four executive officers are the four members of the [[Student Life Committee]] (SLC), which distributes the [[Student Activity Fee Fund]] (approx. $300,000 for 2006-07).

The Student Life Committee voted to pay the four executive officers a stipend of approximately 10 hours per week ($6.50/hr) during the summer of 2006 and was not discussed by the general student senate.  The stipend is identical to those paid to student leaders of organizations like [[Union Board]], [[Catch]] and [[TKS]]. Those stipends have been in place for many years.  

===Current Executive board===
* President - [[Brad Middleton]]
* Vice President - [[Erica Jaffe]]
* Treasurer - [[Brian Normile]]
* Communications Officer - [[Elaine Wilson]]
* Technology Chair - [[Michael Leon]]
* Safety and Services Chair - [[Kelli Refer]]
* Dining Services Chair - [[Bryan Lund]]
* Residential Quality of Life Chair - [[Mo Harris]]

See also [[List of Current and Former Student Senators#Executive Board|List of current and former Executive Board members]]

==Committees==
There are five standing Student Senate committees: Dining Services, [[Finance Committee|Finance]], Residential Quality of Life, Safety and Services, and Technology.  They each meet once a week throughout the week to discuss campus issues and write resolutions.

Committee Meeting Times:
<properties>
Communications=Tuesdays (as needed) at 9pm in the Gizmo
Dining Services=TBA for 07-08 Year
Finance=TBA for 07-08 Year
Residential Quality of Life= Monday at 10PM in Post Lobby
Safety and Services=TBA for 07-08 Year
Technology=Tuesdays (Every other week alternating between 2nd Period and 4PM, starting 2nd Period 10/02/07)
</properties>

==Student Senate Update==
At least once per week the Communications Officer sends a Student Senate Update e-mail to the entire campus, containing the minutes of the previous meeting.  These minutes are meant to be word-for-word, but as a single person collects them by typing them as quickly as possible as things are said, they are generally not completely verbatim.  The only way to get the [[The Knox Experience|full experience]] is to [[Hell|attend the meeting]].

==Club Budget Process==
The [[Finance Committee]] administrates the [[Clubs and organizations|club]] budget process.  At the beginning of [[Spring Term]], representatives of all [[Clubs and organizations|clubs]] must attend a meeting that explains the process.  Soon after all [[Clubs and organizations|clubs]] may bring draft budgets to members of the Finance Committee, who can provide assistance.  All [[Clubs and organizations|clubs]] submit final drafts, and then the committee apportions funds based on the total quantity of money available from the [[Student Activity Fee]].

==Controversies==

===Budget Process 2006===
The budget decisions in 2006 caused a huge uproar because several [[Clubs and organizations|clubs]] received less money then was usual when they failed to follow the detailed budget rules correctly.  Notable [[Clubs and organizations|clubs]] that protested their assignments at the 18 May 2006 Senate meeting included [[Caxton Club]], [[Martial Arts Club]], [[Badminton Club]], [[Cricket Club]], and [[Common Ground]].

The problems with the 2006 process led to major reforms and simplifications in the budget process during the [[2006-2007]] school year.  Many say the subsequent budget process has gone much more smoothly, but for others, concerns remain regarding a variety of changes such as the new cap on the budget a [[Clubs and organizations|club]] can request for a year and a (much lower) cap on additional funds/budget requests for a new club's first year.

===Executive Board By-Laws Rewrite 2007===
Shortly after election of the new [[Executive Board]] for the [[2007-2008]] school year, President-elect [[Brad Middleton]], [[AJ Ross]], and possibly others began rewriting the [[Text of the Student Senate Constitution and By-Laws#By-Laws|Senate By-Laws]] in secret.  They were presented to the Executive Board for approval at its last meeting of the [[2006-2007]] school year on May 23.  Prior to that point, most of the Executive Board knew nothing of the proposed By-Laws changes, although they had been leaked to other sources.

There were two primary changes: The less controversial change added agreement by unanimous consent to the By-Laws.  The second major change radically altered the procedural structure by which Student Senate considers resolutions.  Whereas previously the Senate considered motions brought to the floor on the floor and only referred them to committee on occasions when the issues required significant development, the changes require that all resolutions be referred to committee unless the Chair (typically the President) or a 2/3 majority of Senate (the same threshold used for amending the constitution) decide to refer it directly to the floor.  In committee, a resolution must gain the support of the committee chair (and in result the Executive Board) as well as the administration before it may be debated on the Senate floor.

The Executive Board approved the changes unanimously, and according to Senate President Brad Middleton they will be introduced as law in the first Senate meeting of the 2007-2008 year.

As the changes came to light, many objections were raised among various members of the student body, including an article in the [[Discourse]] section of ''[[TKS]]'' by [[Brian Camozzi]], to whom the plans had been leaked the Monday before the meeting.

The objections were twofold: first, the Executive Board had fundamentally altered the procedures by which Senate does business without allowing Senate to vote on the matter.  The Executive Board justified itself using Article 4 Section 1 Clause 3 of the Student Senate Constitution, which states "The Executive Board shall have the power to act for the full Senate at times when the Senate is not in session."  The Executive Board apparently interpreted this as carte blanche, while others feel that it is an abuse of the caretaker powers assigned to Senate.  The question of further use of this privilege appeared in the Discourse article, including concerns that the Executive Board could nullify acts of Senate after Senate had adjourned, or act in regard to resolutions it considered particular desirable or undesirable, crippling or approving them between Thursdays and then reporting the results as a fait accompli.

The second objection concerned the actual new resolution procedures.  The changes have been interpreted to mean that the Executive Board and the [[administration]] now have the power to kill resolutions they do not like, irrespective of the opinions of the Senate.  Multiple members of the Executive Board have suggested that they can be trusted not to abuse this power, but some question may be raised as to the honesty of that, considering the method by which the changes were approved; also, regardless of whether or not it is consciously abused, the style of power such an amendment allows may well put the student body's definition of abuse, which would center on maintaining its democratic right to control its Senate, at odds with the Executive Board's, which will apparently focus more on cultivating a relationship with the administration and deciding bills in small committees and among the Board than respecting the sense of Senate and the student body as a whole.

Although not specified in the amendment, Senate President Brad Middleton suggested that the motion to move a resolution directly to the floor would occur during the Additions and Revisions to the Agenda portion of the meeting - but, as the motion would likely be interpreted narrowly, might not allow members of the Senate to have details on a resolution before a vote to consider is taken, likely eliminating all but the most extraordinary chance of a bill being successfully taken from committee.  Notably, the US Congress has a similar rule to take from committee, only requiring a simple majority - a feat even they rarely achieve.

==Demographics==
''Note: These are estimations only.''

There are a total of 57 senators on Student Senate (including the Executive Board):
*38 (67%) are male (44% of campus).
*19 (33%) are female (56% of campus).
*32 (56%) are Greek-affiliated (~35% of campus)
*23 (40%, 61% of total males) are Greek-affiliated males
*9 (16%, 47% of total females) are Greek-affiliated females
*1 (2%) is an international student (7% of campus)
*10 (18%) are students of color (15% of campus)
*13 (23%) are [[Class of 2007]]
*14 (25%) are [[Class of 2008]]
*14 (25%) are [[Class of 2009]]
*16 (28%) are [[Class of 2010]]

Of the Executive Board:
*7 (88%) are male
*1 (13%) is female
*6 (75%) are Greek-affiliated
*0 are [[International Students|international students]]
*0 are students of color
*1 (13%) is [[Class of 2007]]
*4 (50%) are [[Class of 2008]]
*3 (38%) are [[Class of 2009]]

===Greek representation===
Of all Senate:
*15 (26%) are [[Tau Kappa Epsilon]]
*5 (9%) are [[Kappa Kappa Gamma]]
*4 (7%) are [[Delta Delta Delta]]
*3 (5%) are [[Phi Gamma Delta]]
*3 (5%) are [[Sigma Chi]]
*2 (4%) are [[Beta Theta Pi]]
*2 (4%) are [[Sigma Nu]]
*0 are [[Pi Beta Phi]]
*25 (43%) are unaffiliated

Of the Executive Board:
*3 (38%) are [[Tau Kappa Epsilon]]
*1 (13%) are each of [[Delta Delta Delta]], [[Phi Gamma Delta]], and [[Beta Theta Pi]]
*2 (25%) are unaffiliated

==See also==
*[[List of Current and Former Student Senators]]
*[[Text of Student Senate Constitution and Bylaws]]
*[http://deptorg.knox.edu/studentsenate/index.html Student Senate official website]

[[Category:Student Government]]
[[Category:Student Senate]]