Officers
Here are descriptions of our elected positions.
President
The President is the chairperson for most Senate meetings. This means the President recognizes speakers and controls the flow of business on the floor. In order to fulfill this role, the President holds weekly Senate Executive Board meetings to create and discuss the upcoming agenda for the floor. The President occasionally speaks with University officials at meetings and on committees, acting as the voice of students and providing a student perspective. The Senate President delivers a few welcome speeches to new and prospective students on visitation days, open houses, and at Opening Convocation. The President is also a person that you should feel comfortable to stop and talk to, e-mail, set up an office appointment with, or even call at home. Student concerns and comments must surface to the President in order for the Senate to continue to be an effective body.
Vice-President
The Senate Vice President oversees all operational and ad-hoc committees of Senate. Committee chairs report to the Vice President, who may, in addition to the committees’ advisors, give direction and counsel to a committee or chairperson. The Vice President works closely with the President in creating the Senate agenda. The President may delegate certain tasks or responsibilities to the Vice President, and the Vice President must always be ready to assume any or all of the duties of the President in case of incident or emergency. The Vice President also serves as a non-voting member of the Finance Committee and organizes the annual Activities Block Party.
Finance Chair
The Senate Finance Chair is your resource when you have questions about your budget, when you want to change your budget, or if you have questions about how to work with your budget. The Finance Chair’s duties include but are not necessarily limited to facilitating the Student Senate Finance Hearings, conducting audits of clubs, making sure bills submitted match what was budgeted for the club, and acting as a financial resource person for clubs. The Finance Chair works closely with a Finance Committee which advises the Finance Chair in decisions on special requests, audits, etc. The audits that the Finance Chair performs with the Finance Committee help clubs stay out of the red and also help clubs stay organized in their financial proceedings. The audits in turn give the Finance Chair a better understanding of how clubs are using and organizing their money, and they alert the Finance Chair to possible financial dilemmas before they become too much for the Student Senate to handle.
Secretary
The role of the Senate Secretary includes preparing the official agenda for Senate meetings and sending it to each member of Senate at least 24 hours before the meeting. The Secretary keeps track of Senators who will be late to, or will not be able to attend, that week’s meeting. At the beginning of each general Senate meeting, the Secretary calls attendance and determines quorum. During the meeting the Secretary records minutes, which are then sent to Senate members within 48 hours. The Secretary also acts as the parliamentarian, ensuring that Robert’s Rules of Order are followed, and answering any procedural questions that may arise during the meeting. As the attendance keeper, the Secretary will inform an organization’s senator, president, and advisor if a Senator has failed to maintain proper attendance as described in Article III of the Student Senate By-Laws.
Treasurer
The Senate Treasurer keeps track of the spending of all regulated organizations’ budgets. The Treasurer receives all bills and, with the finance chair, approves and pays them. The Treasurer keeps a ledger of regulated budgets and the general Senate budget. The Treasurer assists with the Finance Hearings as a non-voting member. The Treasurer may answer any questions regarding the balance and status of regulated accounts.
Publicity Director
The job of the Senate Publicity Director is to publicize all Student Senate activities. In addition, the Publicity Director approves other posters and announcement by organizations that wish to have their announcement copied. The Publicity Director is also in charge of running Polygraphic Productions (PolyPro). PolyPro is a student run copying service that can design, create, and duplicate posters, flyers, or pamphlets.
Diversity Director
The diversity director will work with student organizations to promote all forms of diversity on campus, work with Admissions in encouraging a more diverse student body, use any appropriate measures they see fit to encourage and promote awareness of current diversity issues, organize and oversee programs which invite and encourage a more unified student body, and head the Diversity Education Committee.