The Illinois Student Senate is planning on taking action against senators who cannot follow the attendance policy as stated in the guidelines.

Speaker of the Senate Sam LeRoy, senior in Business, has been reviewing the attendance policy and will be looking into senators who have violated the policy.

The attendance policy says that if a senator misses four consecutive unexcused meetings or six total unexcused meetings, then the senator may be reviewed and asked to leave the senate.

“We’re preventing students from across campus from having their voices heard,” said Rahul Raju, senior in Engineering.

The senate already received one resignation from a senator who could not dedicate the time to the senate.

“I really respect them for having the courage to make that decision and step away from a leadership role to make way for someone who will better serve their constituents,” LeRoy said.

At the meeting, an establishment of the Illinois Student Government Ignite Prize for Socially Conscious Entrepreneurship was adopted.

An amendment was also added, giving the ISG more participation in the competition. The student body president, or someone that may be appointed by the president, will advise the judges and hand out the prize money to the winner.

“(I’m) a little nervous about the prospect of someone else advising the judges,” said Senator Andrianna Kurzenberger, senior in LAS.

Kurzenberger said she has faith in ISG President Raneem Shamseldin, but wants to make sure that if someone is appointed, they have the ability to speak on behalf of the senate.

Also on the list was a resolution being adopted on making the clerk position in the senate a paid position. The senate raised the pay to $10 an hour. The clerk would be considered a University employee and would need to follow guidelines set for University employees.

The creation of an electoral reform commission was also adopted.

Raju raised some concern on whether or not this is a role the judiciary system is meant to take on.

This resolution allows the judiciary system to look into the student elections and review if there are any issues affecting these elections.

In regards to proposed resolutions was an event that would bring awareness to students on weight gain and weight loss in their freshman year at college.

Natalie O’Callaghan, junior in Education, said this would be a great way for the senate to get involved and interact with the students they are representing.

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