Student senators cut for violating attendance policy

By Brynn Twait

The following article has been corrected from a previous version.

The Illinois Student Senate is in need of new members to fill several vacancies due to a strengthened attendance policy that took effect last semester.

There are 13 vacancies right now, including one in business administration, one in electrical engineering, seven in the Graduate College and one in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College of Education, the College of Medicine and the College of Veterinary Medicine all have no representation currently, since each is represented by one senator and each has a vacancy.

Most of the 13 vacancies are attributed to violating the attendance policy, meaning the senators were let go due to poor attendance.

Nolan Drea, ISS vice president internal and senior in Business, said one reason for the vacancies is that people do not realize how much of a time commitment being a student senator can be.

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“A lot of people think that it is just a matter of showing up to a meeting once a week,” he said. “I spend about 30 to 40 hours a week working on senate business. It’s kind of like a full-time job.”

Student senators have certain obligations, which include weekly student senate meetings, monthly Urbana-Champaign Senate meetings, weekly committee meetings and weekly office hours. If senators miss five of these obligations without an excuse, they are considered to have resigned, and Drea will contact them.

Sam Barghi, student senator and junior in LAS, was a co-author of the resolution that strengthened the attendance policy. He said the policy has had a positive effect, since senate meetings have started on time this semester, and there have been no meetings where the senate did not meet quorum.

“We’ve been meeting it (quorum) and exceeding it,” Barghi said. “The goal is to have everyone at every commitment, but we are going in the right direction.”

He said while the many vacancies are not a good thing, it is good to let go senators who are not participating.

“It is taking people out that are not involved and replacing them with people who are involved,” Barghi said.

David Pileski, student senator and sophomore in DGS, said it is necessary to fill the vacancies as soon as possible.

“In my opinion, we’re not adequately representing the student body,” Pileski said.

Drea said the process to fill these vacancies has broken down.

The Senate is to confer with the Committee on Appointments on filling positions, before which the senate should check on who was the runner-up for a certain position. At this point, anyone in a college where there is a vacancy can put their name in to be considered.

Certain positions, however, undergo a special process. Senators from the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine have a unique appointment process that does not fall under the purview of the Committee on Appointments or the Student Election Commission. It is up to the discretion of the Deans of the Colleges of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine to determine their senator. The senate has no jurisdiction in that selection.

Pileski said being a student senator is worthwhile.

“Minus the long meetings, it is very rewarding to be able to have an impact on policies and make a difference,” he said.