Student Senate needs guidance

Last week, Senate allocated $5,500 to Chi Alpha and Revive in order to help the clubs fund a group of Christian artist to come to campus for a free concert. The allocation was made after Senate hosted a public forum to hear students’ opinions.

An email from Senate President Katrina Hurley, time-stamped at 10:12 a.m., Monday, Sept. 28, encouraged students to bring questions and concerns forward for Senate to consider before making its decision.

The forum was scheduled that same day for 3 p.m., just two hour’s before Senate’s regular meeting where the allocation was brought to a vote.

The reasoning behind the forum was appropriate and appreciated; however, the execution of the forum was questionable.

We understand that the senators are still students and are still learning their role as responsible stewards of the public trust. However,  they are in need of guidance.

Students live busy lives, and scheduling a last minute forum is a surefire way to ensure that participation will not be optimal. At The Eagle, we had difficulty finding a reporter who had time available to cover the forum, which highlighted the fact that the student body needs adequate time and ample warning in order to make arrangements in order to attend forums like this.

According to Hurley, of the 15 senators at the time, only five voting senators were present at the forum, and one of the senators was representing one of the clubs asking for money.

Later during the scheduled meeting, five senators successfully petitioned onto Senate,  and then voted on the issue.

Based on the hasty nature of this expenditure, and actions during past Senate sessions, a question has been passed around the newsroom: Where are the Senate advisers, and  what are they doing to help the Senate leaders?

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of adviser is “to give (someone) a recommendation about what should be done.”

We do not expect Senate advisers to run Senate meetings or to control everything about Senate, but we do expect advisers to give advice and to help the students. We are starting to question if the Senate advisers are participating at all.

When we are in college, we like to think we have everything figured out; we like to think we don’t make mistakes anymore. However, this mentality is what leads us to failure. We fail to realize we need help, especially from people more experienced than us. That’s why NSCS Board Policy 3300, (the charter that gives Student Senate its mandate), requires clubs and student led organizations have advisers.

We want to know where the advisers were in this situation. Why didn’t they flag this decision? Did it occur to them to point out the fact that students and senators would be busy and wouldn’t be able to attend the forum? Did they think senators could use more time to speak to their constituents, rather than vote on the funding a few hours after the forum?

We humbly ask that Senate’s advisers start taking a more active role in the Senate’s decision making process and do what their title implies; give advice.