New referendum process gives a new voice to Undergraduate Student Senate
The move will allow the senate to express statements of the undergraduate student body based on a majority vote of at least a third of undergraduate students.
The Undergraduate Student Senate (USS) passed a bill in its Oct. 1 meeting that creates a new type of resolution, giving undergraduate students the opportunity to request an undergraduate student body-wide referendum on a topic they choose.
USS Bill 2024-25A enables a new policy process called a Resolution for Undergraduate Student Body Referendum” (RUSBR). In a referendum, representatives can refer an issue to a direct vote of the represented.
“The main motivation for writing this bill was providing a space for the undergraduate student body to make their voice heard,” said Alexander Efird, USS vice president for issues and policy and author of the bill.
Efird said he offered the bill to overcome challenges USS senators had previously encountered when attempting to issue what could be considered a statement of the undergraduate student body.
"Other schools allow their student bodies to participate in referendums where each student can vote on a chosen topic or issue,” Efird said. “We wanted to provide that opportunity to our undergraduate students.”
The newly passed rule will amend Article VII Section 3 of the USS Constitution to allow senators or cabinet members to bring an issue to a full senate vote by submitting a petition to the senate that includes
- Signatures, official student email addresses, and dates of signature of at least 1,000 members of the undergraduate student body
- Signatures of at least three senators, including at least one college senator, one University Chartered Student Organization senator, and one at-large senator
- A request for a referendum of undergraduate students regarding a single issue
After a referendum is drafted and reviewed to present the issue clearly and within guidelines of the USS constitution, it must receive a majority vote within the senate to advance to a vote before the undergraduate student body.
Undergraduate students will then vote on the referendum during a 48-hour period that university offices are open. If the referendum receives votes equaling at least 33 percent of enrolled undergraduates and if the majority of votes cast are in favor of the referendum issue, it will be considered passed.
Senate bylaws previously defined a Resolution for Student Experience (RSE) that enabled the senate to issue position statements on the undergraduate student experience without directly changing university policy.
“While we still have RSEs,” said Efird, “we've added RUSBRs to our process to clearly define what will be considered a statement on behalf of the undergraduate student body.”
Undergraduate students can learn more about the senate or become more involved by visiting the Undergraduate Student Senate website.
