THE UNIFIED STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
OF
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
MEASURE OF THE SENATE
The Internal Elections Reform Amendment
To reform and clearly define the internal elections process
______ - ______ - ______
to be filed by the Secretary of the Senate
Signed by the President of the Unified Student Government Association
Chiefly Sponsored By: Michael F. Fasullo, Chair of the Residence Life and Dining Committee
Co-Sponsored By:
Alyssa Mathews, Chair of the Justice Committee
Michael Flowers, Chair of the Events Planning Committee
Kathleen Meradith, Chair of the Facilities and Transportation Committee
Ingrid Heider, Community Co-Chair
Mary Dimmagio, Senator
Nicholas Kimble, Senator
The Internal Elections Reform Amendment
To reform and clearly define the internal elections process
Whereas,
The USGA Internal Elections process procedure is not defined in the USGA
Articles of Governance, and
Whereas,
Efficiency of the internal elections process could be improved if questions posed
to candidates are submitted in advance, and
Whereas,
USGA members have not been allowed to ask points of clarifications to
candidates, and
Whereas,
By not being able to ask points of clarifications to the candidates, USGA
members often come away from the process with unanswered questions, and
Whereas,
The process USGA has followed for at least the past two years has not been a
process where Senators interviewed candidates one at a time, and
Whereas,
The process of taking notes on candidates will be made easier for Senators, if
USGA is to follow a process that makes interviewing candidates one at a time the
appropriate procedure, and
Whereas,
By interviewing candidates one at a time, individual candidate’s will be
guaranteed a speedier interview, and
Whereas,
In the past, candidates have been allowed to be present in the room while other
candidates are responding to questions, and
Whereas,
By disallowing candidates to be in the room while other candidates are
responding to questions, candidate responses will not be influenced by other
responses, and
Whereas,
It is currently the Speaker of the Senate’s duty to decide when to hold internal
elections, and
Whereas,
It is the duty of USGA to represent the voice of the Loyola University Chicago
undergraduate student body, and
Whereas,
When there are four vacant Senate seats, approximately one-tenth of the Loyola
University Chicago undergraduate student body is not being formally represented
in USGA, and
Whereas,
More students and more diversely involved students could show up to Internal
Elections if the Speaker of the Senate tables about internal elections in the week
prior to an internal election being held, and
Whereas,
Standing Senate committee chairs have knowledge of what best works for their
committees, and
Whereas,
The work that USGA does could be done in a more impactful and efficient
manner, if the Speaker of the Senate’s standing Senate committee appointments
are to be formally approved by two-thirds of standing Senate committee chairs.
Therefore,
Be it resolved, that the USGA makes the following additions to Article 8, §1 of
the USGA Articles of Governance:
(D)
(E)
(F)
(G)
(C)
The Speaker shall set a date for an internal election upon
notification that there are four vacant Senate seats.
i.
The Speaker shall have seven days from the time notified to
determine a date for an internal election and inform the
Secretary of the Senate of the date.
The Speaker shall determine a date for an internal election in the
spring term if there are vacant seats at the start of the spring term.
The Speaker shall table about internal elections at least once in the
week prior to the Senate meeting in which an internal election is to
be held.
The Speaker shall appoint newly elected Senators from Fall
Elections and an internal election to standing Senate committees.
i.
The Speaker’s appointments shall be approved by a formal,
affirmative vote by a two-thirds of standing Senate
committee chairs.
After Spring Elections and immediately after the election of the
Speaker, Senators shall be assigned to standing committees
proportionally by a system determined by the Speaker and
approved by the Senate.
and,
Therefore,
Be it further resolved, that the USGA makes the following changes to Article 9,
§2. of the USGA Articles of Governance:
(C)
(D)
After Fall Elections, newly elected Senators shall be assigned to
standing committees by the Speaker.
i. The Speaker’s appointments shall be approved by a formal,
affirmative vote by a two-thirds of standing committee
Chairs.
After an internal election, newly elected Senators shall be assigned
to standing committees by the Speaker.
i. The Speaker’s appointments shall be approved by a formal,
affirmative vote by a two-thirds of standing committee
Chairs.
and,
Therefore,
Be it further resolved, that the USGA makes the following additions to Article 13
of the USGA Articles of Governance:
§8. Internal Elections Procedure
(A)
Senators shall submit the questions they wish to ask the
candidates to the Secretary of the Senate at least 48 hours in
advance of the Senate meeting in which an internal election is
to be held.
(B) The Secretary of the Senate shall then submit the first seven
submitted questions to the Speaker of the Senate.
(C)
Once the internal elections process has begun, candidates shall
be directed to leave the room in which Senate is being held.
i. Candidates shall be interviewed one at a time.
ii. Only one candidate can be on the Senate floor at a time.
iii. Candidates shall be called in to be interviewed by
alphabetical order.
iv. A candidate who has already been interviewed may sit
in the audience section while other candidates are being
interviewed.
v. Candidates who have yet to be interviewed shall not be
in the room in which Senate is being held while other
candidate are being interviewed.
(D)
Candidates shall introduce themselves in no more than two
minutes.
(E)
The Chairperson of the Senate shall read the seven questions to
each candidate immediately after candidates have introduced
themselves.
(F) Immediately after each candidate has answered the submitted
questions, the Senate then may have the opportunity to ask no
more than two points of clarification to each candidate. These
questions must pertain to what a candidate has said during the
internal elections process.
(G) After candidate have introduced themselves and have been
given the opportunity to answer all questions, each candidate
shall leave the Senate floor and may sit in the audience section
or choose to immediately leave.
(H) After all candidates have had the opportunity to introduce
themselves and answer all questions, the Senate shall move to
close the meeting.
(I)
(J)
Next, the Chairperson of the Senate shall determine how the
Senate will discuss the candidates.
Once all candidates have been discussed, the Senate shall vote
on them by ballot.
and,
Therefore,
Be it further resolved, that the USGA makes section eight of Article 13
become section nine, as shown below:
§9. Additional Rules & Authority: Any circumstances pertaining to parliamentary
authority that may arise during a Senate session that contain matters not included
in the bylaws of the USGA Articles of Governance shall be determined by the
chairperson of the Senate, the Attorney General and the Chief Justice.
(A)
The Senate possesses the power to overrule the decision of the
chairperson, Attorney General and Chief Justice by an
affirmative vote of 2/3 majority of present members.
and,
Therefore,
Be it further resolved, that the USGA changes the name of Article 22 of the
Articles of Governance to read:
Article 22: Spring & Fall Elections
and,
Therefore,
Be it finally resolved, that the USGA moves to delete section 13 of Article 22 of
the Articles of Governance.