Senate changes analyzed

Speaker Mays presented an analysis of the Senate's restructure.

By Kyle Daly

Published Jan. 25, 2008

Missouri Students Association Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays presented a report Tuesday night to the Senate Operations Committee outlining the history and progress of the 2005 MSA Senate restructuring plan, which reduced the number of seats available in the Senate.

"The theory behind the plan is that a smaller, more representative group of students is more likely to stay informed and involved," Mays said.

The plan, which was approved in November 2005 by a campus-wide vote, cut the number of available Senate seats from more than 450 to 70, and created a new system of elections in which elected students would represent their academic schools and colleges.

Former MSA Student Affairs Committee Chairwoman Michelle Compton helped write the plan when she was a student at MU. Compton said though she thinks the new plan is "fantastic," she expects it to take about three years to stabilize.

"We want it to be something that is more representative of students," Compton said. "But it's going to take awhile."

According to Mays' report, the MSA Senate has suffered from a high turnover rate during the past five years. From 2002 to 2005, fewer than 40 percent of Senate members remained for the duration of their one-year term.

The report also explains that one of the major reasons for the drop in attendance was the implementation of an excuse policy in 2002 which allowed senators to miss an unlimited number of meetings as long as they gave prior notice to the Senate speaker or clerks.

"Nothing undermines the credibility of a group like saying we don't really care if you show up, and that's basically what that (the excuse policy) said," Mays said.

In the 2004-05 school year, 104 of the 152 senators were removed for recording four or more unexcused absences. Only eight out of the 20 meetings held that year met the 40 percent quorum they needed in order to vote on legislation. The meetings that did not meet quorum were still held. A bill to remove the excuse policy was passed in September 2005.

Mays' report provides data measuring Senate attendance rates against a steady median. In fall 2007, the first semester of the plan's implementation, attendance rates were at an all-time high. For most of the semester, attendance remained between the 80 and 100 percent median, something that the four previous fall semesters had failed to accomplish.

"If we maintain our current rate of retention, then within two years we could have record-high retention, and also record-high attendance," Mays said.

The main reason for the creation of the MSA Senate restructuring plan was not to have high attendance and retention, Mays said.

"Our number one issue was, of course, having more balanced representation," Mays said. "We've achieved that to a greater extent than we have ever before."

Before the 2007-08 school year, students elected to the Senate represented their living units. Senators represented a fraternity or sorority, a residential hall or an off-campus residence.

"It did not create an accurate picture of the campus at large," Mays said. "It resulted in double representation, or more often than not, no representation at all."

The Senate restructuring plan proposed that students represent their academic colleges instead of their living units. Seats were to be divided proportionally based on the percentage of students within each college. The report proposed that 50 of the seats be reserved for representatives from each academic college and the rest remain open to at-large representatives. Also, elections were to be held in the spring, and senators were to begin serving the following fall.

Mays said that even though the plan promises more accurate representation, problems remain.

"A few colleges did not have any representation at all," Mays said. "Education, Social Work, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences were not represented because they didn't have anybody run in those elections."

Problems have also arisen with the creation of springtime elections. According to the report, spring elections have brought a new challenge of retaining senators until the first meeting. Of the 26 senators elected last year, only 17 attended at least one meeting last fall.

After Mays' presentation of the report, the Senate Operations Committee recognized the challenges.

Senate Operations Committee member Marissa Sharkey responded to the lack of participation.

"I feel like Senate this year is suffering because almost every bill that we've written has been written by you (Mays) and someone," Sharkey said. "But I remember last year when this table was full and we were fighting for chairs."

Further discussions on improving retention, attendance and representation will be held at future cabinet meetings.