Authority. These codes are established under the power and authority of the Associated Students (AS) Bylaws and the AS Senate
Purpose. The purpose of these codes is to provide procedures to the functional areas of the AS Senate.
II. Attendance
Each AS Senator or AS Elected Executive Officer shall have no more than three (3) unexcused absences in their term between June 1st and Dec. 31st from an AS Senate meetings, AS retreats and trainings or any committee or board on which they serve. Each AS Senator or AS Elected Official shall have no more than three (3) unexcused absences in their term between January 1st and May. 31st from the AS Senate meetings, AS retreats and training or any committee or board on which they serve.
The AS Senate, and all AS committee and boards, shall keep minutes that reflect unexcused absences of each voting member.
More than the number of unexcused absences referenced in Article II should be considered neglect of office and may result in removal proceedings as outlined in the AS Bylaws Article XI, Section 3.
More than the number of unexcused absences referenced in Article II should be considered neglect of office and may result in removal proceedings as outlined in the AS Bylaws Article XI, Section 3.
Excused absences will only be allowed for family emergencies, severe illness and/or academic requirements, including limited to: required field trips or mandatory campus program attendance.
Excused absences will also be allowed for any officer that is fulfilling duties and responsibilities as delegated by the AS Bylaws and Codes or AS Senate. Examples may include but are not limited to: univers ties committees liaison meetings, or concerned student meetings.
Missing more than 1⁄2 of any AS Senate meetings or AS committees or boards will be recorded as an unexcused absence.
Arriving to an AS Senate meeting or AS committee or board more than 3 minutes after it has been called to order will be recorded as a tardy.
III. Legislation
There shall be four (4) forms of legislation that can be passed by the AS Senate
Government Resolution: A government resolution shall express the opinion or position of the students of Sonoma State University on any and all issues that are outside the direct control of the corporation, including but not limited to academic issues, university wide issues, CSU, local, state, and federal issues.
Government resolutions shall first be heard as a discussion item at a Senate meeting and may not be placed on agenda as an action item or voted on until a subsequent meeting for which it was an original discussion item.
Corporate Resolution: A corporate resolution shall express the will or intent of the corporate board of directors with regards to those things under their specific management as the corporate Board of Directors, i cluding corporate budgets, policies, procedures program governing documents.
Letter of position. A letter of position officially endorses an opinion submitted by a member of the Senate.
Any opinion expressed by an officer without the official endorsement shall not be considered the official position of the Associated Students, except as specifically articulated in the Bylaws of the organization.
A letter of position should only be considered by the Senate for approval if it is deemed by the originating body on why a full government resolution is not needed. Such rationale shall be submitted to the Senate for consideration along with the Letter of Position.
Roster of Legislative Positions. The roster of legislative positions will record the official position of support or oppose on all legislative action being considered by local, state and federal governments.
Action Plans. All forms of legislation shall include an action plan that will indicate how the legislation will be distributed, followed up on, reported to, and which officers are responsible for all each item of the plan.
IV. Senate Meetings
The AS Senate shall hold regular meetings at least twice per month basis during the fall and spring semesters.
All items to be either discussed or to take action upon, shall be submitted in final format no later than 48 hours prior to the deadline to post the agenda for the meeting the item is to be discussed or acted upon.
