SLC passes resolutions to modernize governance and address vacant positions
By Vama Saini, April 8 2024—
Last week’s Students’ Legislative Council (SLC) meeting was held on Apr. 2. Several resolutions that aim at governance modernization, procedural clarity and addressing vacant positions within the Students’ Union (SU) were presented.
Amendments to the SU Bylaws were presented in SLC Resolution 81.36. This was in response to the successful referendum during the 2024 General Election that approved consolidating the SU Union Bylaw and SU Constitution into a single governance document.
The resolution also aimed to remove transitional provisions introduced by the 80th SLC. Vice President of Operations and Finance Arlington Antonio Santiago said this aligns with the governance overhaul completed last year.
“For example, going from four executives to five, with the creation of the Vice President Internal portfolio, was part of the transitionary provisions, so that’s complete,” said Santiago.
The proposed changes also added clarity to certain sections based on experiences this year. President Shahziah Jinnah Morsette emphasized the procedural clarity provided by the newly added Section 51, which provides liability protection for SU members.
“We’ve already done this in practice, but figured we add this in with the amendment. It basically says that as long as you’re acting in good faith as a representative of the SU […], then you will be protected by the SU from liabilities,” said Morsette.
SLC Resolution 81.37 was presented, which focused on enacting a procedure for appointing elected officials to vacant positions within the SLC.
“For example, in the case of veterinary medicine or nursing, those portfolios are now empty. So […] we will launch our process of accepting applications for people who are interested in this position,” said Morsette.
The resolution prescribed timelines and guidelines for candidate searches.
“For you to be eligible for this position, even though you’re being appointed and you’re not being voted in, you still need to be able to meet the minimal thresholds that any member that had to go up for election had to meet,” said Santiago.
Morsette said that a major provision in this resolution was the SLC’s role in providing feedback and giving direction to the search committee in the appointment process and ultimately approving the candidate.
“If the search committee came forward with a recommendation for a candidate, SLC will have that final vote and say on it,” said Morsette.
The third resolution presented was SLC Resolution 81.38. It proposed an SLC Meeting Procedure aimed at providing guidance on meeting conduct and expectations.
“[This resolution] bridges that gap by having something that is not too prescriptive but also not having anything at all other than referring to Robert’s rules,” said Morsette.
The procedure outlined expectations for conduct by presiding and recording officers, elected officials, guests and gallery members. It aims to provide opportunities for participation and ensure meetings align with established rules of order.
“This will help folks see and know how our meetings run, what to take back, but also how to participate and engage,” said Morsette.
Santiago said that the objective of this resolution is to enhance transparency and accessibility for all individuals interacting with the SLC.
“This is a move towards transparency and empowering anybody who may interact with SLC to make sure that they have all the information they need to meaningfully participate but also make sure that if they need support interjecting or they need something to contextualize the discussion that we’re having and how to interject,” said Santiago.
For agendas, minutes and upcoming meetings, visit the SU website.