MSA reworks Senate elections

By Erica Zucco

Published Feb. 5, 2008

The Missouri Students Association Senate is taking steps toward improving participation, attendance and retention by changing the Senate election process.

The Senate Operations Committee wants to remove a regulation requiring potential senators to procure 35 signatures from students in their degree program in order to become Academic College Senators.

In 2005, changes were made to the MSA constitution that reduced the size of Senate by cutting available seats from more than 450 to 70 and created academic college elections for the 2007-2008 session.

“In March of 2007, we had 26 senators run for a total of 50 seats,” Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays said. “We didn’t have a single student from the colleges of Education, Social Work, Natural Resources or Human Environmental Services run, and with no candidates, you have no one to vote for, and a very big problem.”

Mays said Senate wants to make sure they fix that problem this time around.

“If you want to run for Senate, you should be able to without any unnecessary obstacles or mental hurdles,” Mays said.

Students are able to run for positions as Academic College Senators or for seats as Senators At-Large. fifty Academic College Senator seats are reserved in proportion with the percentages of total enrollment in each Undergraduate Degree program, and 20 to 30 more seats are available each year for Senators At-Large.

Board of Elections Commissioners Chairman Geoff Grammer said the main reason the BEC advocates the removal of the 35-signature requirement is because it will increase involvement in MSA.

“Needing to find 35 signatures to become a Senator puts a damper on involvement,” Grammer said.

Although MSA Senate has had high rates of participation throughout the past five years, the organization also has a high turnover rate. From 2002 to 2005, an average of 130 students participated in Senate and only 40 percent remained for the duration of their yearlong terms.

In 2002, MSA Senate put a regulation in place that allowed senators unlimited excused absences, and though attendance flourished at first, there was a collapse in the 2004-2005 academic year. Of the 152 students that joined Senate, 104 recorded four or more unexcused absences and were removed from the organization.

A bill was created in September 2005 that removed the excuse policy, and retention has increased from 32 percent in 2004-2005 to 48 percent in 2006-2007.

Grammer said the new election policy would increase membership. Under the new system, students interested in becoming senators would still undergo the normal requirements to join.

“After declaring interest, students attend senatorial training where we explain everything they have to do to run,” Grammer said. “The process is pretty easy.”

Grammer said he did not feel the new policies would cause an overflow of members.

“We will have enough space for people that want to do it,” Grammer said. “We’re really just trying to get more students than we have in the past.

Mays said he expects to receive legislation from the Operations Committee today recommending at least a temporary release of the 35-signature requirement. After that, Senate will immediately begin collecting information from anyone who wants to run for Senate.

Operations Committee Chairman Corey Gibson said legislation ending the 35-signature requirement should be passed within the next two weeks at the next Senate meeting, scheduled for Feb. 13.