Constitution and Statutes Committee Agenda
Monday, February 15th, 2016
John E. Sapp Conference Room 7:15 PM – 8:00 PM
Chair: Senate President Pro-Tempore Dallas Burke
I.
Call to Order

Meeting called to order at 7:24 PM
Roll Call – Vice-Chair Justin Dato
II.

Quorum has been established with 9 voting members; Dato, Cajuste, Smith, Butler,
Platts, Johnson, Wong, Lee, Awan.
III.
Student Remarks
IV.
Approval of Minutes – February 8th, 2016

V.
Senator Platts: Motion to approve the minutes from Feb 8, 2016. Second. Moved.
Approval of Agenda


Senator Butler: Motion to strike point 1 under new business striking senator Lorenzo
from the Agenda. Second. No Opposition. Moved.
Senator Platts: Motion to approve the agenda as amended. Second. Moved.
VI.
Guest Speaker
VII.
Remarks of the Chair – sgaspt@unf.edu

I just wanted to get a good idea for who wants these meetings to be business casual. Since
we have a limited amount of meetings left before spring break, I wanted to perfect the
Policy and Procedures before then. Since this is our first absentee appeal for this
committee we’ll be asking her questions, discuss, and then vote.
VIII.
Unfinished Business
IX.
New Business
1. Absence Point Appeal Hearing – Senator Lorenzo
2. Absence Point Appeal Hearing – Senator Cajuste

Senator Cajuste: I was elected spring. For the first one, I didn’t know the absentee appeal
for was for everyday problems. The night of November 9th, I had a family emergency
where I also failed two of my classes and I am also doing term forgiveness. For the last
one, I had a U-Haul that I rented and was about to be towed.

Shore: How many points are you asking to be removed?

Senator Cajuste: I’m just asking for the family emergency absentee points to be removed.
For the pending points, I was not able to make the emergency meeting since there was a
time constraint from how far I live.

Senator Platts: Did you notify that you were going to be absent on the Nov 9th meeting as
well as the Feb 8th meeting? No and yes.

Butler: Have you attempted to volunteer? I have tried. A lot of the events take place when
I work. I work on and off campus so It’s difficult.

Butler: What about over the weekend for Lend-A-Wing and Ogier Gardens? I did not
think about doing that.

Senator Adamson: Why haven’t you filled out paperwork or volunteered and gotten those
absentee points removed? I did volunteer at movie nights and club fest. I also had a
family emergency for the second one. The last one, I was moving that day and I a U-Haul
that was about to be towed. It’s hard to volunteer due to my course load of 6 classes.

Senator Butler: If we only decide to take off two points, would Senator Cajuste be able to
remove 2 points by volunteering at current events? If you only struck two points off
tonight, she’d still have 4 points due to pending points. You can move her forward and
she can volunteer at homecoming events.

Senator Awan: For the meeting on June 15th, why haven’t you volunteered at any event to
relieve that one? I just had barely enough time last semester.

Senator Platts: Is there too much on your plate? Last semester, yes. This semester is much
easier for me. I should be fine.

Senator Awan: Do you happen to have the form for relieving absentee points? That one is
not in effect yet.

Senator Butler: Were you present when Pro-Tempore Burke spoke about a time in which
an Emergency Meeting would work? No because I left half way during the February 1st.

Senator Awan: Motion to remove 3 absentee points from Senator Cajuste for the points
from November 8th and February 1st. Second. Dies. 4-0-5.
i. I just feel 3 points is fair since she had a medical reason and she had to leave in
February since she had certain circumstances. For the one from June 15th, it’s less
excusable. Removing 3 points would give her time to volunteer and not go
through impeachment.
ii. Senator Butler: I agree with November but not with February 1st. There was a lot
of time for you to submit and absentee form. I would like to discuss the pending
absence as well.
iii. Senator Awan: The reason why I said February 1st is because I know she can still
submit an Absentee Form for the pending absence.
iv. Senator Adamson: Considering that there is still time, we don’t have to be too
generous with removing points since she still has time to avoid impeachment.

Senator Butler: Motion to remove 2 absentee points from November 8th. Second. Moved.
9-0-0.
i. Sentator Butler: I think these absentee points are fair to be removed.
ii. Senator Adamson: Can you state your reason for the November 9th meeting?
There was a medical emergency.

Senator Butler: Is senator butler still able to fill out an absentee form? Yes. She has until
tomorrow, 2/15/16.
3. SR-16S-2935 – Vitalization of the Senate Policies and Procedures
 Week 1: Presentation, Questions, Digestion
o Pro Tempore Burke: Chapter 2 section B, these are the basic duties of senators.
At the very bottom, it says that senators are expected to volunteer when they are
available. Chapter 3 page 3, I think it’s important to understand that they are able
to meet with others to work on initiatives. Under senate president duties, I think
it’s important to send out the senate and committee schedules the semester prior
so we can adjust our schedules timely. For point G, I think it’s important to have
the senate packet within this. Page 6, J and K are crossed out since we no longer
have proxy voting. For the new J and K, pro-tempore is responsible for putting
voting on the record and he/she is also responsibility is to change the O:// Drive
as well. The senate secretary is only responsible for the minutes. Page 12, duties
of the chair on point I, J and K it’s important for us to talk about their duties and
responsibilities. They are all specifically outlined within these points. Page 17,
this section outlines the compliance for committee meetings which states when
we need to notify senators and the general public about these meetings. Page 18,
this is the beginning of the senator packet. This defines what belongs in the
senator packet. Under chapter 7, I defined bills, resolutions etc. and a lot of it is
straight from title 4 therefore it matches our statute. Page 30, a senator is able to
remove 1 absence point from their record for two hours. One hour seemed too
easy. At point D, page 30, I outlined the entire process to remove an absentee
point just so they know what to do. I refrained from using the word director so
coordinators can also sign off since directors aren’t always present at the event.
The point with meeting with the event coordinator beforehand is to set up a time
when you are going to be at the event. Maybe we should include a box so that
multiple shifts can be entered in due to possible multiple shifts.
o Senator Adamson: So what if they didn’t get the approval of the senate president
and pro tempore beforehand and they still volunteered, would it be negated? For
the new process, as long as you meet with us beforehand, it’ll be okay. It doesn’t
have to be 2 days ahead of time.
o Advisor Shore: What happens when they don’t show up to the event or leave
early? If they don’t follow through with volunteering, then they can’t be
penalized further. They wouldn’t even reach the point where they submitted the
redemption form, so there is no way of forging over absence points unless they
earn it.
o Senator Lee: For the redemption form process, I noticed that there is not time
constraint to fill out the top and bottom form. Would this be a hindrance? Well,
they do have to come back for confirmation from the event supervisor. This
confirmation serves as a discount double check on the work that the senator
actually performed.
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X.
Announcements

XI.
Senator Awan: Come out to the basketball games.
Final Roll Call – Vice-Chair

XII.
Senator Lee: Why is there no longer a time constraint? The ability for a senator
to work 2 hours in order to remove a single absence points requires the freedom
to fill out the form whenever possible, as long as it is before the volunteer work
is performed.
Senator Butler: Motion to amend SR-16S-2935 such that number 15 is stricken
out with replaced with 10 on page 22. Second. Moved.
Senator Platts: Motion to table SR-16S-2935. Motion rescinded.
Senator Platts: Motion to postpone SR-16S-2935 to February 29th. Second.
Moved.
Quorum has been reestablish with 10 voting members; Dato, Cajuste, Smith, Butler,
Platts, Johnson, Adamson, Wong, Lee, Awan.
Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 PM.
Minutes taken by Justin Dato, C&S Vice Chair