Twenty-two voting members in the Student Association’s general assembly were absent from Monday’s meeting, leaving a little more than half of the general assembly to approve a new member to the Board of Elections and Membership Committee.

Out of the 48 voting assembly members, 26 attended the meeting, just one more than was needed to meet quorum. Quorum is the number of members needed to conduct business such as voting. The last voting member of the general assembly needed to meet quorum arrived at Maxwell Auditorium at 7:40 p.m., 10 minutes after the meeting’s scheduled start.

“I know this is untimely for this to happen during a game, but this needs to never happen again,” SA President Allie Curtis told the assembly, referring to the men’s home basketball game against Notre Dame.

Attendance is a recurring issue each spring as some representatives skip meetings for basketball games, Curtis said after the meeting, adding that absent representatives will be reprimanded.

Following the meeting’s shaky start, Adrianna Kam, a sophomore selective studies major, was approved as a member of the Board of Elections and Membership Committee. Kam expressed interest in developing the internal workings of SA, such as helping retain members after they enter the organization.

Kam said she wants to emphasize that SA is a student government and “not a social group” to new members who might feel out of place entering the organization.

“We want to really make sure you stay in there the whole time,” Kam said in regard to retaining members voted to represent the individual colleges. Kam said she hopes to work more with the Public Relations committee and other members of the Board of Elections and Membership Committee to develop methods of retaining members.

Parliamentarian Ben Jones introduced changes to parliamentary procedure, or rules that dictate how SA meetings are conducted, to the assembly. SA eliminated the use of “pros” and “cons” to express support or opposition during an election or to a bill. Instead of being limited to the two phrases, members can express their opinion within a two-minute time frame.

“You can stand up and say what you feel needs to be said,” Jones said, reminding meeting attendees that assembly members also speak on behalf of their constituents, or the students enrolled in the college they represent.

Additionally, Jones introduced a bill to the general assembly that would restructure elections within SA. If passed, the bill would limit the number of voting rounds to two for most elections, and allow the voting representatives to compare candidates.

Currently, SA members vote for candidates individually, without being able to compare them to the remaining candidates, said PR co-chairperson Colin Crowley after the meeting. Crowley co-authored the bill.

Curtis, SA president, said Jones’ focus on reforming parliamentary procedure within the organization aligns with the 57th Session’s push to improve efficiency at SA meetings.

“We’ve been all about reform this semester,” she said.

Additional business discussed:

• The assembly approved approximately $1,348 in programming funding for three separate student organizations. About $151,440 in special programming money remains for spring 2013.
• SA President Curtis will be meeting with the Board of Trustees, Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Thomas Wolfe, and overseers of the Schine Student Center renovations on separate occasions later this week.
• Two mandatory fiscal trainings for student organizations that intend on applying for funding through SA remain. The remaining training sessions will occur Friday and Saturday.
• Curtis and Belen Crisp, who created SA’s Department of Public Safety advisory board last semester, will be meeting with DPS on Tuesday to discuss a fight that occurred early Sunday morning outside Schine following a student-sponsored dance party hosted in the building, Curtis said after the meeting.

Published on February 5, 2013 at 1:21 am

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong