JHU SGAThe 114th Session
← All documents

Attendance Bylaws Amendment

Attendance · 111th session · dated October 8, 2023 · updated October 10, 2023

Not filed in the master folder. The archive holds it because the documents under “Mentioned by” link to it.

Open the original in Google Docs ↗

This document is from a previous session and is kept for the record. It may have been amended or replaced since.

33

Senate of the Student Government Association of The Johns Hopkins University

{ S. Bill 23-24, X }

An Act to Amend the SGA Bylaws Concerning Member Attendance

Introduced By: Student Body Vice President Jackson Morris of the Class of 2025 KSAS Senator Jaden Garcia of the Class of 2026 First considered this 3rd day of October in the Year 2023 Next considered this 10th day of October in the Year 2023

Sponsored By: Sophomore Class President Stone Meng of the Class of 2026 KSAS Senator Gabriel Granados of the Class of 2026

Referred to the Senate by the Internal Affairs Committee which recommended its passage by a unanimous vote on this 8th day of October in the Year 2023

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Student Government Association of The Johns Hopkins University assembled that: 

SECTION 1. TITLE.  This Act may be referred to as the “SGA Bylaws Attendance Amendment” 

SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. 

  1. SGA — The term “SGA” shall refer to the Homewood Student Government Association of The Johns Hopkins University.
  2. GBM — The term “GBM” shall refer to General Body Meetings of the Senate.

SECTION 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

  1. FINDINGS
    1. The current attendance bylaws are unclear and require revision
  2. PURPOSES
    1. To amend the attendance and other relevant policies of the Student Government Association at Johns Hopkins University to fit the current structure and practices of the SGA

SECTION 4. BYLAWS AMENDMENTS The original text of the section to be amended is as such:   “4.1.2.3 MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEES 4.1.2.3.1 SORTING OF SENATORS INTO STANDING LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES OF THE SENATE … 4.1.2.3.1.2 In executing the Constitutional duty to sort Senators into committees, the President of the Senate shall solicit the wishes and availabilities of individual Senators; study their individual passions and legislative priorities; if prudent, consult with SGA colleagues; and shall thereafter proceed to sort Senators into committees at the second Senate General Body Meeting in a manner which, in the opinion of the President of the Senate, will allow individual Senators to flourish and will best serve the students and community of the Johns Hopkins University. … 4.1.2.3.1.2.2 To best serve their student organization constituent group, each Student Organization Senator must serve on either the Committee on Finance or the Committee on Student Organizations. …

“4.2.3 LEGISLATIVE PROCESS 4.2.3.4 The President of the Senate shall email all senate members requesting additions to the agenda no later than 12:00PM on the Sunday preceding the general body meeting. 4.2.3.5 The President of the Senate shall send out the agenda for the week’s general body meeting no later than 9:00AM on the Monday preceding the general body meeting.

…

“4.3.2 MEMBERSHIP PRIVILEGES 4.3.2.1 Only Members of the Senate, including Executive Board officers in an ex-officio capacity shall have speaking privileges when the meeting is in session, with the exception of speaking privileges granted by the Rules Bill for certain sections of the meeting. …

“4.3.3 ATTENDANCE 4.3.3.1 REQUIRED 4.3.3.1.1 Attendance at Senate general body meetings, committee meetings, and Class Council meetings is mandatory for all Senators. The President of the Senate shall be permitted to grant a total of 9 excused absences per senator per year, with an additional 3 excused absences for every additional committee beyond 2 committees that the senator serves on. Senators who have 2 unexcused absences shall be subject to a required meeting with the Executive Board and the Advisor followed by the impeachment vote per the Constitution. Senators who have 4 unexcused absences shall be thanked for their service and summarily dismissed from the SGA per the Constitution. 4.3.3.1.2 Attendance at another SGA event beyond the required Senate and Committee meetings can be required by the President of the Senate. 4.3.3.1.2.1 This requirement can be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. 4.3.3.1.2.2 In such cases, legitimate, previously held time conflicts shall be accommodated with an excused absence. 4.3.3.1.3 Attendance at another SGA event beyond the required Senate and Committee meetings can be required by the Vice President. 4.3.3.1.3.1 This requirement can be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. 4.3.3.1.3.2 In such cases, legitimate, previously held time conflicts shall be accommodated with an excused absence. 4.3.3.2 TAKING ATTENDANCE 4.3.3.2.1 A roll call shall be taken at the beginning of each Senate meeting and recorded in the minutes. The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping track of whether enough Senators are present when voting on legislation. 4.3.3.3 Members must stay for the entire meeting unless previously excused or in cases of emergency. 4.3.3.4 RECORDING ATTENDANCE 4.3.3.4.1 All SGA members’ attendance records shall be noted on the SGA’s website and shall be sent to the student body in a press release every semester. 4.3.3.5 DOCUMENTING AND VERIFYING ABSENCES 4.3.3.5.1 The Secretary shall document all absences – Senate, committee, and council– on a spreadsheet publicly available on the SGA website. The spreadsheet shall be updated with absences no later than one week from the date of a meeting. If no minutes for a meeting are provided to the Secretary after one week, all persons required to attend the meeting shall be counted as absent until minutes are provided. 4.3.3.6 ONE-TIME MEDICAL LEAVE AND ONE-TIME FAMILY EMERGENCY LEAVE 4.3.3.6.1 Once a school year, if an SGA member is temporarily unable to attend meetings for any reason verified by an accredited medical provider, they shall be permitted to take a medical leave of no more than two academic weeks. 4.3.3.6.2 Once a school year, if an SGA member is temporarily unable to attend meetings for any reason related to family emergency, they shall be permitted to take a family emergency leave of no more than two academic weeks. 4.3.3.6.3 Senators must do their best to communicate as soon as possible with the executive board, so that they can be applied retroactively. … 

” 

The section will read, after amendment, as such:  “4.1.2.3 MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEES 4.1.2.3.1 SORTING OF SENATORS INTO STANDING LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES OF THE SENATE … 4.1.2.3.1.2 In executing the Constitutional duty to sort Senators into committees, the President of the Senate shall solicit the wishes and availabilities of individual Senators; study their individual passions and legislative priorities; if prudent, consult with SGA colleagues; and shall thereafter proceed to sort Senators into committees at the second Senate General Body Meeting in a manner which, in the opinion of the President of the Senate, will allow individual Senators to flourish and will best serve the students and community of the Johns Hopkins University. … 4.1.2.3.1.2.2 To best serve their student organization constituent group, each Student Organization Senator must serve on either the Committee on Finance or the Committee on Student Organizations. 4.1.2.3.1.2.2.1 At the discretion of the President of Senate, this requirement can be waived if the Student Organization Senator cannot attend either committee’s meeting times. To accommodate, the RSO Senator is expected to be active with the virtual tasks provided and in greater communication with the Chair of their respective committee. … “4.3.3 ATTENDANCE 4.3.3.1 REQUIRED 4.3.3.1.1 Attendance at Senate General Body Meetings and Committee meetings is mandatory for all legislative Senators. 4.3.3.1.2 Attendance at Senate General Body Meetings, Executive Cabinet meetings, and advisor meetings is mandatory for the Student Body President, Student Body Vice President, Student Body Secretary, Student Body Treasurer, and Student Body Chair of Programming. 4.3.3.1.2.1 The Student Body Treasurer is required to attend Finance Committee meetings. 4.3.3.1.3 Attendance at Executive Cabinet meetings is required for all Cabinet members. 4.3.3.1.4 Attendance at Class Programming Council meetings is required for all members of a respective Class Programming Council, with the exception that attendance shall be optional for members of the Class Council who are also legislative Senators. 4.3.3.1.5 Attendance by at least one Johns Hopkins University staff member who serves as the advisor to SGA at-large at GBMs is mandatory. The SGA reserves the right to petition the Dean of Students to appoint a new SGA advisor upon absences by the designated advisor. 4.3.3.1.6 At the discretion of the Student Body President or the President of the Senate, meetings with administrators on behalf of SGA that conflict with other SGA meetings may be recognized ahead of the meeting such that the member is not given an absence. 4.3.3.2 EXCUSED ABSENCES 4.3.3.2.1 The President of the Senate shall be permitted to grant a total of 8 excused absences to a member of SGA per academic semester (where the meetings that occur at the end of Spring are counted in the Fall semester of SGA), with an additional 4 excused absences for every additional committee beyond 1 committee that the member of SGA serves on. 4.3.3.2.1.1 All unexcused absences will be counted in totaling the number of excused absences a member of SGA has been granted. 4.3.3.2.1.2 If a member of SGA reaches half of the maximum number of excused absences, they will be informed of their attendance status by the Student Body Secretary. 4.3.3.2.1.3 If a member of SGA exceeds the maximum number of excused absences, they will be thanked for their service and summarily dismissed from SGA. Senators who have 2 unexcused absences shall be subject to a required meeting with the Executive Board and the Advisor followed by the impeachment vote per the Constitution. Senators who have 4 unexcused absences shall be thanked for their service and summarily dismissed from SGA per the Constitution. 4.3.3.1.2 Attendance at another SGA event beyond the required Senate and Committee meetings can be required by the President of the Senate and Student Body President. 4.3.3.1.2.1 This requirement can be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. 4.3.3.1.2.2 In such cases, legitimate, previously held time conflicts shall be accommodated with an excused absence. 4.3.3.2 TAKING ATTENDANCE 4.3.3.2.1 Roll call shall be taken no later than 5 minutes after the start of each Senate GBM and be recorded in the minutes. This roll call shall be counted for half of the attendance of each GBM. 4.3.3.2.2 Roll call shall be taken at the end of each Senate GBM and be recorded in the minutes. This roll call shall be counted for half of the attendance of each GBM. 4.3.3.2.3 Members must stay for the entire meeting unless previously excused or in cases of emergency. 4.3.3.2.3.1 For the duration of the 111th Senate of SGA only, members who have communicated scheduling conflicts to the President of the Senate before the start time of the GBM shall be excused to leave at 9:00 p.m. with full attendance. 4.3.3.4 RECORDING ATTENDANCE 4.3.3.4.1 All SGA members’ attendance records shall be noted on the SGA’s website and shall be sent to the student body in a press release every semester. 4.3.3.4.2. The general body meeting attendances shall be recorded by the Student Body Secretary, who have the authority to delegate the task to another member of the Senate (e.g. Vice President of the Senate) if necessary. 4.3.3.4.3. The Student Body Secretary shall have the authority to set a deadline for when all SGA group leaders must submit their groups’ attendances. 4.3.3.5 DOCUMENTING AND VERIFYING ABSENCES 4.3.3.5.1 The Secretary shall document all absences – Senate, committee, and council– on a spreadsheet publicly available on the SGA website. The spreadsheet shall be updated with absences no later than one week from the date of a meeting. If no minutes for a meeting are provided to the Secretary after one week, all persons required to attend the meeting shall be counted as absent until minutes are provided. 4.3.3.6 ONE-TIME MEDICAL LEAVE AND ONE-TIME FAMILY EMERGENCY LEAVE 4.3.3.6.1 Once a school year, if an SGA member is temporarily unable to attend meetings for any reason verified by an accredited medical provider, they shall be permitted to take a medical leave of no more than two academic weeks. 4.3.3.6.1.1 During the duration of a medical leave, the SGA member shall not accumulate excused or unexcused absences. 4.3.3.6.2 Once a school year, if an SGA member is temporarily unable to attend meetings for any reason related to a family emergency, they shall be permitted to take a family emergency leave of no more than two academic weeks. 4.3.3.6.2.1 During the duration of a family emergency leave, the SGA member shall not accumulate excused or unexcused absences. 4.3.3.6.3 Senators must do their best to communicate as soon as possible with the executive branch, so that they can be applied retroactively.

4.3.3.7 ATTENDANCE INCENTIVES 4.3.3.7.1 The Student Body President and President of the Senate shall be empowered to recognize the performance of certain duties on behalf of SGA with attendance incentives 4.3.3.7.1.2 Any event after 10/1/2023 that is eligible for receiving attendance incentives shall be announced publicly to the Senate. 4.3.3.7.1.3 Events that satisfy attendance incentives prior to 10/1/2023 may be retroactively recognized. 4.3.3.7.2 The specific attendance incentive shall be the following: 4.3.3.7.2.1 The attendance incentive shall be the de-escalation of no more than 1 unexcused absence to the same number of excused absences, or the removal of no more than 1 excused absence. 4.3.3.7.2.1.1 If the member of SGA has 0.5 or more unexcused absences, they cannot use an attendance incentive to remove excused absences until they have had all of their unexcused absences de-escalated. 4.3.3.7.2.2 The Student Body President and President of the Senate shall be able to define the duration of attendance or performance of duties required to receive an attendance incentive. 4.3.3.7.2.3 The installment of an attendance incentive may be overturned by a ⅔ majority vote of the senate. … 

SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY.  Should any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance be held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

The Bill hereby ???? by a vote of XX to YY with ZZ abstentions.

Upon passage, we have hereunto set our hands and caused the seal of the Senate to be affixed to this bill indicating the Senate’s assent and thus officially designated the bill’s adoption as law.

Signatures of Enactment:

__________________________________ Ryan Chou Johns Hopkins Student Body President

__________________________________ Dalhart Dobbs III President of the Senate Executive Vice President of the Johns Hopkins SGA

__________________________________ Amy Li Executive Secretary of the Johns Hopkins SGA

__________________________________ Jenny Chen Executive Treasurer of the Johns Hopkins SGA

Signatures of Ceremony:

__________________________________ Jackson Morris Introducer of the Bill

__________________________________ XY Co-Sponsor of the Bill

__________________________________ XY Co-Sponsor of the Bill