JHU Student Government AssociationSenate Meeting #6September 10, 2024 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17MINUTES
- Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)
e. Absentees:i. Excused: Stone Meng, Amy Li, Tim Huang, AdithyanNeelamana, Tanisha Taneja, Tiffany Tapia Miranda,
Shruti Tyagi, Angela Xiongii. Unexcused:f. Present:
- Convening Business (20 mins)
- Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)
- Motion to start the meeting and approve the agenda passed.
- Public Input (3 min)
- Reports (10 min)
g. Cabinet Reports (4 min)
i. Executive Team - Execii. Secretary Buse Koldas asked everyone to submit theiriClicker to indicate that they are present for the meeting.Otherwise, members risk being marked absent. Presidentof the Senate Nasreen Naqvi asked everyone to send theirexcused absence requests by 3 PM on Tuesdays.iii. Treasurer Brandon Benjamin informed the senate thatallocations have been completed. SGA now has 19,006USD left in their budget.iv. Naqvi thanked everyone for their great communicationswithin the senate and expressed that she hopes it willcontinue this way.
h. Advisor Report (2 min) - Jessica Snelli. Advisor Jessica Snell had no significant updates.
i. Sophomore Class Senator Tarini Basireddy shared that KSASCurriculum Committee needs four representatives. She askedanyone interested to message her.
- Non-Legislative Business (15 min)
b. SNF Agora Survey- President Nasreen Naqvii. https://snfagora.jhu.edu/event/can-young-people-change-the-course-of-democracy/ii. The person in charge of the programming of SNF Agora asks usto fill this form out. Naqvi asked anyone interested to fill it outand go to the event if they have the chance. She asked everyoneto notify her privately so that she can reach out to them.
- Cohort Time (10 min)
- First Reading
c. October Tabling - Senator Nayshawn Ferebee
i. Black Caucus Chair Nayshawn Ferebee presented the OctoberTabling Bill. He added that this bill is quite similar to theSeptember Tabling. The purpose of these tablings is to advertisethe surveys created by the SGA, like dining, transportation,MSE construction and parking surveys. For this tabling, theyare planning to give out stickers, candy and donuts that areHalloween themed. The expense of this bill is 155 USD.
ii. KSAS Senator Jaden Garcia motioned to move this bill to theFinance Committee, which passed.
d. SGA Leadership Workshop - Senator Jazzlyn Fernandezi. Sophomore Class Senator Jazzlyn Fernandez explained that tobe more apparent in the community and educate people onleadership, we will be organizing a leadership workshop.
Benjamin, Junior Class President Oluwakemi Abiodun andProgramming Chair Tim Huang will give a workshop onbudgeting. They will give a workshop on how to be a successfulleader. The expense of this bill is 355 USD because of catering,which will serve approximately 40 people. There will also be agame at the end, which is why they need to buy prizes.
ii. Activism and Advocacy Senator Hailey Saya Tomlinsonmotioned to move this bill to the Finance Committee, whichpassed.
- Second Reading
d. JHUMA BBQ Bill - Senator Ryan Alezz & Senator Omar Gharib
i. Senior Class Senator Ryan Alezz explained what Johns HopkinsUniversity Muslim Association (JHUMA) is. He added that thisbarbeque is an annual event where they bring a lot of peoplefrom different campuses and split the cost with JHUMA.ii. Motion to vote on the bill passed. During voting, this bill wasapproved unanimously.
e. Attendance Amendment - Vice President Jackson Morris & Senator
Jaden Garcia
i. Vice President of the Senate Jackson Morris and Garciaexplained that this is a constitutional amendment, differentfrom the Rules Bill. Morris said that this is an adjustment to thenew attendance procedures. Mandatory impeachment trialstake up time, so they hope to resolve this issue differently withthis bill since it gives bylaws the authority to order these. It
gives theStudent Body President, Senate President and ChiefJustice clear roles in this process.
ii. Internal Affairs Chair and KSAS Senator Daarian Rouhani likesthe idea as it no longer wastes GBM time. He believes that it willkeep these types of situations less threatening as impeachmenttrials are stressful. He also likes that these can be resolved oneon one with the Secretary.iii. Morris asked everyone who has problems with this bill to fix it ifthey see anything they are not satisfied with, adding that when abill passes in the SGA, it takes a while for it to be edited again.iv. Abiodun finds this logical but asks what the alternative to theimpeachment trials will be, asking to get clarification on whatare we switching to.
- Morris thinks this is a fair concern. As far as he knows, no
one has been asked to leave SGA even though theyexceeded their unexcused absences. He clarified that therewould be some record of their absences from the SGA andthey would be given the chance to contest it. If they can’tcontest it, they will be gone.
- Abiodun asked what the strong disciplinary action is
halfway. She doesn’t think it is a good idea for this tosolely be left to the Secretary’s and Vice President’sdiscretion. She thinks that we should be more definitive.
- Morris invited everyone to think about this alternative. He
said that this allows bylaws to be modified, so acceptingthis bill will not completely finalize this topic. Hehighlighted that there is a strong procedure highlighted inbylaws already, yet it hasn’t been put into practice yet.Overall, he believes that passing this bill is essential.v. Naqvi thinks that impeachment trials are not a bad thing as youget that accountability since you face the whole senate. Sheagrees that it feels like hazing but according to her, it doesn’tchange the fact that it is effective. However, according to her, ifwe have six impeachment trials, then we would be losing time.She wants to find a midpoint where we don’t completely get ridof impeachment trials yet maximize time and accountability.vi. Chief Justice Luc Mazzanobile said that it’s in the constitutionor bylaws that if someone gets removed from SGA, they couldask the judiciary to evaluate the decision in 7 days. He asked ifwe would still want to keep that, wondering if we still wantappeals to be dealt with by the judiciary. Morris said that hewould be in favor of amendments to make this clearer.Mazzanobile said that the fallback from judiciary canstrengthen the fairness of the decisions of the Secretary andVice President.vii. Alezz also likes the idea as he agrees that impeachment trialscause us to lose time, yet agrees with the points madepreviously.viii. Morris said that we might need to go to guiding documents andsee how things were handled regarding attendance in the earlySGAs. Morris emphasized that SGA has one requirement: let usknow if you’ll be absent. His aim is to keep this powerful.ix. Naqvi thinks that we should make more research on the bylawsand instead of coming up with a temporary solution, we shouldfind a definitive solution. Morris believes that intermediates arenot effective. According to him, removal is the most effectivemeasure anyways.x. Motion to vote on the bill passed. During voting, this bill wasapproved by majority.xi. Morris asked everyone to think about what we can put in thebill.
f. CSE amendment bill - Chair Luci. This bill interests lowering the requirement of having seven
Committee on Student Elections (CSE) members to five as CSEis able to function with five.ii. Luc said that the Judiciary also has five members even thoughthey work throughout the year. CSE only works in electionperiod, so they would definitely be OK with five members.iii. Motion to vote on the bill passed. During voting, this bill wasapproved unanimously.
- Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)
a. Wellness day - Senator Srigouri Oruganty
- Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)
Motion to adjourn the meeting passed.Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for thebenefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetingsare always slated to extend until 9:00 PM (10:00 PM over thesummer) and SGA members are expected to remain in theSenate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whetherbefore or after the adjournment estimate.