Student Senate overview of roles and operations

Every Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Student Senate meets in the University Center Board Room to vote on club funding, consider student organizations and discuss issues affecting undergraduate students, according to the Student Senate website. Student Senate is Lehigh’s elected governing body for undergraduate students. 

President Drew Smith, ‘27, said Student Senate has three primary responsibilities: recognizing student organizations, allocating funding and representing students. 

The Senate divides its work among six committees: allocations and audits, club affairs, student rights, facilities and services, student outreach and academic affairs. 

According to the website, the allocations and audits committee reviews funding requests from student organizations while the club affairs committee handles requests for organization recognition. 

The student rights committee addresses student rights issues. Facilities and services handle issues involving campus services — including dining, housing and transportation. 

Student outreach works on communicating with students and gathering student feedback. Academic affairs address academic issues. Smith said committees provide senators with information they use to consider bills before bringing them to the full Senate. 

For example, he said allocations and audits reviews information submitted by organizations requesting funding, while club affairs uses information requests and live interviews when reviewing organizations. 

Committee recommendations are then brought to the full Senate for a vote. Smith said the executive board and committee chairs are elected internally, but executive board members don’t have additional voting power. 

“Being a Senate, every vote is considered equal,” Smith said. 

Senate votes on funding and club recognition

Smith said the full Senate votes on bills concerning club recognition and funding after the relevant committee makes a recommendation. 

For club recognition, Smith said club affairs typically bring two sets of bills to the Senate each semester. The first places organizations into the trial-club process. At the end of the semester, a second set of bills determines whether those organizations receive full recognition. 

Smith said recognized clubs can request funding on a per-event basis. Sponsored organizations receive annual funding allocations, which are also approved by the full Senate. 

The Senate has a $536,00 budget for student organizations this year. 

Smith said sponsored organizations can appeal their budgets to the Allocations and Audits Committee. The Senate can also reconsider decisions through other procedures outlined in its bylaws, including votes to rescind, repeal or annual previous decisions. 

Student Outreach gathers feedback 

Senator Tasfia Ahmad, ‘27, said Student Outreach works with students through tabling events, one-on-one conversations and other campus events. She said the committee focuses on hearing what students want addressed on campus. 

“My goal is to continue working on dining and financial resources on campus,” Ahmad said. 

Ahmad said her work includes increasing student wages and finding discounts for students at local businesses. 

Beza Geberesilassie, ‘27, said student outreach also conducted a survey at FML last semester asking students what changes they wanted to see at Lehigh.

She said the committee plans to conduct additional surveys and polls about potential proposals, including free laundry. Geberesilassie said she wants students to remain involved after the initial collection of feedback. 

“I think students should have a meaningful say throughout the process, not just at the point when we initially ask for their feedback,” she said. 

Geberesilassie said facilities and services works on dining, housing, transportation and other utilities, in collaboration with the committee works with student outreach and student rights on those issues. 

Elections determine Senate membership 

Smith said, the Student Senate holds elections in both the fall and spring. 

He said the fall election is limited to first-year students who can run for and vote on first-year seats. The spring general election is open to all students except those graduating. Smith said four seats are reserved for each class among rising sophomores, juniors and seniors. The remaining seats are filled according to candidates’ vote totals. Senators serve a one-year term. 

Smith said committee chairs and executive board members are nominated and elected internally by the Senate. 

Bylaws govern Senate procedures 

Smith said the Senate’s bylaws are the rules and procedures that govern the Senate. 

He said they cover elections, responsibilities of the executive board and committees, meeting procedures, allocations, club requirements and rules governing student organizations. The bylaws can be amended through a two-thirds vote of the Senate. He said a parliamentarian monitors and enforces the bylaws during Senate proceedings. 

Geberesilassie said she’s joining the bylaws committee. She said the committee’s meetings follow parliamentary procedures and include a parliamentarian. 

She also said students can contact senators if they want to propose changes to the bylaws. 

“If there’s something in the bylaws (students) feel doesn’t serve them well, they can reach out to any senator and ask that we make amendments or new bills,” she said. 

Smith said any student is welcome to contact senators by email, Instagram or in-person. He also said have all taken headshots to make representatives identifiable on its website. 

He said the Senate publicly publishes meeting agendas and notes after meetings and he’s working on making additional Senate notes and procedures available through a shared drive. 

He also said the Senate website is where students can find recent materials.