Senate approves 2023-2024 budget of $75K

Photo description: CUNE students Aaron Fosse and Nicole Rodriguez attend a Student Senate meeting
Photo credit: Kayla Korb
Nora Betts
Sower Staff

Student Senate members at Tuesday’s meeting approved the Senate’s 2023-2024 budget of $75,000, which is made up of the projected budgets for all official campus clubs.

The Senate also adopted a new constitution and set of bylaws. The Senate’s Constitution Committee reduced its original 13-page document into a two-page constitution and a six-page set of bylaws for the sake of clarity, according to President Julia Witt.

“Our goal this year was to make it more reflective of who we are as a Student Senate and also just to shorten it because it was way too long and complex,” Witt said.

The shortened constitution provides foundational information on the Senate, said Witt. “This basically tells us who the Senate is and what the officership is. It’s, like, down to the basics.”

The new bylaws specify that anyone present at a Senate meeting is a voting member, not just elected representatives of clubs or residence halls. The bylaws also update the officers’ committee responsibilities, so the roles remain consistent over the years. Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, the president will lead the Special Concerns Committee, the vice president will lead Community Service, the treasurer will lead Physical Campus, and the secretary will lead Public Relations.

Witt said that the constitution and bylaws could be altered in the future to better serve the needs of the Senate. “If things change year to year, there’s always room to make amendments and revise the bylaws and the constitution,” she said.

Next week’s Senate meeting will include an open forum with Chartwells’ Director of Dining Services Patrick O’Brien, said Secretary Maddy Peters.