Student Senate already had five vacant seats, but that number increased to 11 after the fall semester ended.
Grant Barnes (Perkins), Madeline Haugh (Cox), Claudia Sandoval (Lyle), David Archer (Dedman I), Dillon Kruger (Cox) and Gavanne Davis (Communications Chair) won’t be returning for the spring semester, according to Student Body Secretary Katie Perkins.
Perkins said that only one senator—Archer—was asked not to return because of too many absences. The others had conflicting obligations.
Perkins also said that there are a few more senators who are not sure if they are returning. The final Student Senate roster won’t be finished until after Tuesday’s meeting, when Perkins will know for sure who is not returning.
Membership Chair Roza Essaw credited class and time conflicts as to why the senators do not return.
She said Senate tries to avoid vacancies, but “unfortunately we always end up having vacancies.”
For Haugh, her reason for leaving senate was that she “actually ended up graduating a semester early.”
As a graduate student, Barnes has a busy schedule this semester.
“Senate was an excellent experience, something that I will remember forever, but at the present time I can’t fulfill the requirements of being a senator and complete my education at the same time, so education won out,” he said.
The departure of those six meant that all the schools, except the Dedman School of Law, have at least one seat left empty. Two schools, the Annette Caldwell School of Education and the Perkins School of Theology, have no current representation in Senate.
“Obviously, that’s not an exciting situation,” Essaw said of the empty seats for Simmons and Perkins. “However… I don’t think it’s the end of the world at the same time because though we do elect senators based on school, I will tell you that a majority of the time when senators are representing their views, rarely do we have issues come from the specific schools.
“I believe that if anybody in Simmons and Perkins has a concern, they should definitely either run for the position or come up to any of the senators, and any of the senators would be willing to take that position,” she said.
Essaw sent out an application for the vacant seats during the last finals week. She said they had gotten a lot of response from that, and that her committee is planning to interview potential candidates this week.
The membership committee hopes to have all the empty seats filled by February, Essaw said. Potential senators must be recommended by the Membership Committee, approved by the Student Body Officers and then approved by Student Senate, according to Essaw. The membership chair does not see the new senators having any problems trying to get their bearings.
“We’re running the process pretty fast, and we’re trying to start at the beginning of the semester,” she said. “I don’t think that the adjustment would be as rocky as it could have been.”
“In previous years, you know, they’ve started as late as two or three weeks before school is out,” she said. “I think my committee is doing a good job in that we’re starting pretty early on. I think with proper training, they’ll adjust very quickly.”
