On April 18, SGA passed two bills updating their bylaws that regulate committees. One bill changes the quorum required for the Budget Advisory Committee, and the other changes the composition of the Appointments Advisory Committee.
This school year, both committees have had issues with meeting quorum, which is the number of senators in attendance required to host a government meeting. These bills were authored by Student-at-Large Robin Levisky, who is part of the Rules and Organization Committee. Levisky hopes the bills remedy the quorum issue.
BAC Quorum Bill
This bill changes the quorum of BAC, the committee that provides funding to clubs, to require one senator present for every five senators currently serving with SGA, rounding down.
For the fall semester, which will begin with 14 senators as of now, the quorum for BAC will be two members. If more senators are interviewed by AAC and confirmed by the senate next semester, the quorum will be raised accordingly.
This bill also removed the requirement for the Senator of Clubs, Orgs and FSL to be present to meet quorum for BAC.
Senator of the Arts Micah Vacco believed this was an important change. “Being able to do it [meet] without the Senator of Clubs, Orgs and Greek life is really helpful because they can’t always be there — things happen and so being able to continue to operate and function is really important,” Vacco said.
The quorum for BAC this semester was greater than 50% of the senate membership, making it difficult to meet quorum. “Our goal here is to make it easier for BAC to conduct business and give clubs funding,” Levisky said.
Appointments Advisory Committee
In spring 2023, the composition of AAC was changed from a normal committee that senators could join to a membership consisting of only the executive board.
“I’ve heard from some members on AAC — Carson [Speaker Pro Tempore Carson Hodges] [, Zach [Chief Justice Zach Terradez] and folks that have come to RaOC [Rules & Organization Committee] — that that change didn’t really work out,” Levisky said.
This bill changed AAC back to the traditional committee composition and added two justice board members.
The AAC is in charge of interviewing candidates for unfilled SGA positions. Upon approval in AAC, the candidate is sent to the Senate for them to make the final decision.
The student body president will still serve as the chair and the student body vice president as the vice chair of AAC.
Senator of Engineering Mason Sowanick believed this would put AAC back into a smoother flow. “AAC is badly backed up with everything they got going on, and it seems like it comes down to too few people to try and make too many decisions and do too many jobs,” he said.
Senator-at-Large Jaylee Hepner mentioned every committee has been having issues with attendance this past school year. “If this is what the committee is asking for, we should give them what they need to be successful,” she said.
In other news:
- SGA passed a bill contributing $2,000 ($2,180 with 9% GAR tax) for a roller rink at Mountain Lion Mania on May 3. They are sponsoring this event in partnership with UCCS Lead and Student Life, who will both contribute $2,000.
- Matt Stefureak was confirmed as a justice. Stefureak is a sports management major, works as an RA and is committed to upholding viewpoint neutrality as a justice.
Photo via The Scribe archives.