JHU SGAThe 114th Session
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Town Hall Act

Bill / Other · 113th session · created January 31, 2026 · updated February 3, 2026

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

Section 1. Title This bill may be referred to as the “Office Hours Town Hall Act”.

Section 2. Definitions

  1. SGA — The term “SGA” shall refer to the Student Government Association of The Johns Hopkins University.
  2. JHU, Hopkins — The terms “JHU” and “Hopkins” shall refer to the Johns Hopkins University.
  3. Student — An undergraduate student in the Homewood Divisions of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences or the G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.
  4. Town Hall Hours — A set weekly recurring time when a member of the SGA is available in a consistent predefined space to answer questions or to otherwise assist students for a minimum of thirty (30) minutes.
  5. Social Media — Any social media network where the SGA maintains a presence in an official capacity.
  6. Executive Town Hall Hours — Town Hall hours run by the Executive Branch of the SGA
  7. Senator Town Hall Hours — Town Hall hours by Senators to complement those run by the Executive Branch.
  8. SGA-Supported Town Hall Program — Town Hall hours or a casework program/initiative that a member of the SGA maintains and is endorsed by the SGA.

Section 3. Findings and Purposes

  1. The purpose of this legislation is to establish recommendations, guidelines, and to encourage the implementation of SGA-supported programs aimed at increasing communication with and usefulness to the student body.

Section 4. Town Hall Hours

4.1.2.6 TOWN HALL HOURS 4.1.2.6.1 Each standing committee of the Student Government Association, excluding the Finance Committee, must hold two Town Halls per semester. Committee Chairs must inform the executive board at least two weeks before the proposed town hall date and time and provide a video conference link to the executive board for communication. 4.1.2.6.2 Town Halls must have the following criteria: 4.1.2.6.2.1 They must be held in a public place which students can access in reserved or nonreserved spaces. All Town Halls must have a virtual option to make Town Halls accessible to all students. 4.1.2.6.2.2 The appropriate signage, developed by the Executive Branch, must be posted indicating that this is an SGA Town Hall. This may be a slide displayed on a screen, a flyer, or some other visible indication. 4.1.2.6.3 Attendance to the townhall will follow the same attendance procedures as other committee meetings and will fall under the discretion committee chair. 4.1.2.6.4 The Director of Communications must post the information about the town hall (date, time, zoom link, and place) 1 week before the town hall and repost it 24 hours before 4.1.2.6.5 During the GBM immediately following the townhall, one SGA representative who was at the townhall must present on what was discussed. 4.1.2.6.6 All SGA-Supported Office Hour Town Hall Programs must be published on the website, with Primary Office Hours Town Halls and a link to all Secondary Office Hours Town Halls featured highlighted on the main page. 4.1.2.6.6.1 The details of these events must be kept up to date. 4.1.2.6.7 A Social Media post should be created promoting All SGA-Supported Office Hour Town Hall Programs. Primary Office Hours should be highlighted, while Secondary Office Hours may be given less prominence or be omitted. 4.1.2.6.8 It is the responsibility of the Executive and Communications and Marketing Commission to ensure these requirements are fulfilled. 4.1.2.6.9 All members of the SGA Senate or Executive are encouraged to provide services to constituents outside of Town Halls.

Section 4. Executive Town Hall Hours

  1. The Executive Branch should hold at least one hour of Executive Town Hall Hours every week of the semester.
  2. Executive Town Hall Hours supersede all others; no other office hours may be held while Executive Town Hall Hours are in session.
  3. Executive Town Hall Hours may be staffed and located at the discretion of the Executive Branch within reason.

Section 5. Secondary Individual Office Hours

  1. All members of the SGA Senate or Executive may host office hours in addition to the Executive Town Hall Hours.
  2. Town Hall hours may be hosted either in a public place, like the BLC café or the BSC, or in a reserved space, such as BSC rooms.
  3. Senators must commit to hosting Town Hall hours for the next month by the first day of the last week of every month by informing the Executive Branch.
  4. Senator Town Hall Hours hosts must maintain, and publish regularly to the Executive Branch, a record of at least:
    1. Every Town Hall hour session start/end time (to determine if late or early end)
    2. How many students attended
  5. If any other records that could be considered invasive or sensitive are made, the Senator Town Hall Hours host must inform students of such invasive or sensitive records during their Town Hall hours.
  6. No Senator Town Hall Hours may overlap with existing Senator Town Hall Hours or any Executive Town Hall Hours (including ones added after the creation of new Executive Town Hall Hours).
  7. Any Senator can co-host any other Senators’ Town Hall Hours but may not host in another location at the same time. In such a situation Senators are expected to work together, and an inability to do so is grounds for preventing a Senator from hosting Senator Town Hall Hours, as determined by the Executive Branch.
  8. The Executive Branch, at their discretion, may require reasonable training before a Senator may register Senator Town Hall Hours.

Section 6. Casework services

  1. All members of the SGA Senate or Executive are encouraged to provide services to constituents outside of Town Halls. , including but not limited to helping clubs get started, getting funding, relaying questions, completing administrative processes, information about student government related news, or suggestions on how to get involved.
    1. Such shall be considered official SGA services.

Section 7. Publication

Section 8. Incentives.

  1. The SGA may provide funding for incentives for attending and interacting with Primary Office Hours.
  2. Incentives may include, but are in no way limited to, entry in raffle or spinning a wheel to win a prize, badges, or stickers.

Nothing in this legislation shall be construed as requiring members of the SGA to establish the SGA-Supported Office Hour Programs described herein if they would prefer not to, or requiring that they fulfill the requirements listed so long as they are considered unofficial or non-SGA supported. Only if all requirements are fulfilled shall a program be considered SGA-supported and be eligible for SGA-Supported Office Hour Program benefits.

Section 9. 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, or 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.