The first bylaw amendments under Student Senate’s new executive board came to the floor during Monday’s General Assembly, spurring discussion about organizational restructuring and the group’s growing social media needs.
President of the Student Body Sarah Handler presented two bylaw amendments to the General Assembly, both of which proposed the creation of new positions.
“In the process of our cabinet interviews, we realized that we needed to restructure Senate so that it better fits our needs,” Handler said. “So today, we are proposing [the creation] of two new positions. One is chief of staff and the other is director of [public relations].”
The first amendment, which was voted down by the general assembly, called for a chief of staff that would join the cabinet and be responsible for advising presidential policy, assisting the executive board with logistics and overseeing the implementation of the president’s initiatives. There was discussion concerning the possible change, and some senators were concerned as to why this position was needed.
“This has come up a couple times in Senate, but this is the first time it has been formally presented, [and] I honestly don’t really see there really being a need for adding another position added to the cabinet with how many there are here already,” Vice President of Campus Safety Cody Lonigro said during the meeting. “Help me understand why [we need it] because I really don’t know now.”
Handler said the position would be a first step in restructuring Student Senate. Helen Lagerblade, this year’s vice president of Student Affairs and proposed chief of staff, said there needs to be one person solely dedicated to the logistics of running Student Senate events and meetings.
The vote resulted in 20 for and 10 opposed, failing to meet the three-fourths majority required to pass.
The second bylaw amendment, concerning the creation of a director of public relations, was passed: 26 for, three opposed and one abstention.
The director of PR would be a position under the purview of the vice president of Student Affairs and would work with materials regarding social media and other publicity matters between Student Senate and the Bradley community.
This position is needed, according to Lagerblade, because of the increasing responsibilities of the vice president of Student Affairs.
“Coming from the person who [performed the duties of] the vice president of Student Affairs, which included all of the social media and public relations as well as Rise of the Red and Speak Up and doing resolutions and having relationships with the actual constituents, I wholeheartedly, 100 percent need this position to be made,” Lagerblade said. “It is too much for one person to be doing it all.”
Further, Lagerblade said this could not be delegated to a student senator because of confidentiality issues that come with social media control.
Other senators both questioned and supported the proposal.
“[Social media] should be a minor part of this position, but it’s become such an overbearing duty on that position that we [decided to do this],” Secretary of the Finances Hunter Vaughn said.
According to Lagerblade, these new positions are needed to ensure processes run smoothly.
