While most students were buying books and sharpening pencils during the first week back from winter break, Student Senate was voting on a new constitution, which included some big changes.
“We changed [the Constitution] because it was no longer a complete reflection of what Bradley Student Senate did,” said Vice President for Internal Affairs Russell Howland. “The old constitution was sufficient, but the Department of Internal Affairs felt some revision and updates were in order.”
Senate’s new constitution primarily impacts senate internally. One change includes the title for student roles within senate. For example, the vice-president is now the “speaker of the assembly,” and the chairpersons of various committees have been renamed “vice-presidents.”
Other internal changes include various reassignments and added duties to some positions. These include the secretary of assembly’s responsibility to post the minutes publicly on the Student Senate website and the secretary of finance’s duty to make financial records public.
Howland said these internal changes were made by the whole Senate to “reflect current practices [of the Senate].”
Externally, the Constitution addresses membership. Student Senate now has 54 student member positions at resting capacity, compared to the 46 dictated by the previous constitution.
Positions eliminated by the new Constitution include the five student organization seats that served a semester term and a Main Street Commons senator.
The revised Constitution also creates seats for more student involvement. Among these include a Parliamentarian to oversee the upholding of the constitution, seven new senators from the residential halls, two additional Student Apartment Complex senators and five senators at large.
“[We changed] the number of seats on Student Senate to expand each student’s representation on Senate [and bring in new senators] so our organization can become a more effective voice for the Student Body,” Howland said. “This has already been a successful effort, as seven new students have joined the Senate since its passage.”
