Student Senate passed a resolution at its Tuesday meeting that updated the Senate Bylaws and Policies to reflect current practices.

The bill, written by Student Body Vice President Austin Prentice, Parliamentarian Joseph Esau and Sen. Jonathan Ishmael (Dedman I), also formally incorporated the Senate Liaison Program into the Bylaws and Policies.

Changes to the current Bylaws and Policies include:

• Senators will be penalized with one tardy for every absence.
• Friendly and formal amendments must now be submitted in writing.
• The name and acronym of the University Judicial Council (UJC) has been updated to the University Conduct Council (UCC).

Diversity Chair Jasmine Carr was concerned by a proposed change that was included in the bill. It would have taken away the Speaker’s discretion to direct legislation to a committee.

Senate removed the proposed change from the legislation before they passed the bill.

Carr argued that the provision gave committees a voice that they might not otherwise have, as committee chairs cannot vote on legislation.

Esau explained that the authors had decided to remove this provision because it had not been used in the past four years. He explained that he was not trying to take away power from anyone and that chairs could still voice their support or displeasure of legislation during their reports.