JHU SGAThe 114th Session
← All documents

SGA Attendance Guidelines (113th Session)

Attendance · 113th session · created July 19, 2024 · updated November 14, 2025

Filed in Drive as “2025-2026 Attendance Guidelines”

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.

Attendance Guidelines Summary

Exec Secretary Sumi will be fully responsible for tracking attendance and has authority to delegate tasks to other members of the SGA.

  • Pres of the Senate Srigouri will assist with GBM attendance
  • Vice Pres of the Senate Tanisha will assist with Committee attendance
  • Exec Vice Pres Tara will assist with any overarching attendance issues

The attendance rules are in full effect upon becoming a member of the SGA, and all disciplinary actions will be enforced and carried out fairly and accordingly.

Here are some key points for attendance. For a detailed list, visit the bottom of this document, or check out the Constitution and Bylaws:

Mandatory Attendance: Senators: Must attend Senate General Body Meetings (GBMs) and Committee meetings. Student Body Officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Chair of Programming must attend Senate GBMs, Executive Cabinet meetings, and advisor meetings. Absences: Excused Absences: an absence that is communicated to both The President of the Senate (PoS) and Secretary via outlook emails and approved by PoS 4 hours prior to the meeting or event Unexcused Absences: any absences that does not meet the Excused Absences criteria; count toward the total of excused absences Limits: PoS can grant up to 8 excused absences per semester, with 4 additional for each extra committee This is subject to change to 6 excused absences per semester with 2 additional for each extra committee Removal: 2 Unexcused Absences: Subject to automatic impeachment per semester. 4 Unexcused Absences: Automatic removal from SGA per semester. Additional Requirements: PoS and Student Body President can require attendance at other SGA events; can be overturned by a two-thirds Senate vote. Full Meeting: Members must stay for the entire meeting unless previously excused or in emergencies. *Committee Attendance: the GBM portion of the committee meetings are required; additional meeting times are based on committee chair needs* - not officially implemented Documenting and Verifying Absences: Public Spreadsheet: Secretary documents all absences on a publicly available spreadsheet. One Week Update: Spreadsheet updated within one week of a meeting. Medical and Family Emergency Leave: If you have long-term absences, please talk to Vice President Tara for assistance. Medical Leave: One-time, two-week leave per school year verified by a medical provider; no absences accumulated. Family Emergency Leave: One-time, two-week leave per school year for family emergencies; no absences accumulated. Communication: Senators should inform the executive board as soon as possible. Attendance Incentives: Recognition: Student Body President and Senate President can recognize duties with attendance incentives. Announcement: Incentives announced publicly to the Senate. Specific Incentive: De-escalation of one unexcused absence to an excused one or removal of one excused absence. Unexcused Absences: Members must first address unexcused absences before removing excused ones. Duration: Defined by the President and Senate President. Overturning Incentives: Can be overturned by a two-thirds Senate vote.

Excerpts from the Constitution:

Section Four: Attendance

  1. Attendance at Senate and Committee meetings is required of senators, and excused absences shall be granted at the discretion of the chair of the meeting for extenuating circumstances.
    1. If a member of the SGA misses 2 unexcused meetings per semester, they are automatically subject to impeachment.
    2. If the member misses a total of 4 unexcused meetings per semester, they are automatically removed from the SGA.
  2. Attendance at another SGA event beyond the required Senate and Committee meetings can be required by the President of the Senate, but this requirement can be overturned by a ⅔ vote of the Senate. Further, in such cases, legitimate, previously held time conflicts shall be accommodated with an excused absence.

Excerpts from the Bylaws:

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.

4.3.3.3 TAKING ATTENDANCE

4.3.3.3.1 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.

4.3.3.3.2 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.

4.3.3.3.3 Members must stay for the entire meeting unless previously excused or in cases of emergency.

4.3.3.3.3.1 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.

4.3.3.5 RECORDING ATTENDANCE

4.3.3.5.1 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.

4.3.3.5.2 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.

4.3.3.5.3 The Student Body Secretary shall have the authority to set a deadline for when all SGA group leaders must submit their groups’ attendances.

4.3.3.6 DOCUMENTING AND VERIFYING ABSENCES 4.3.3.6.1 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.

4.3.3.7 ONE-TIME MEDICAL LEAVE AND ONE-TIME FAMILY EMERGENCY LEAVE

4.3.3.7.1 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.

4.3.3.7.1.1 During the duration of a medical leave, the SGA member shall not accumulate excused or unexcused absences.

4.3.3.7.2 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.

4.3.3.7.2.1 During the duration of a family emergency leave, the SGA member shall not accumulate excused or unexcused absences.

4.3.3.7.3 Senators must do their best to communicate as soon as possible with the executive board, 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.