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Article IX: Legislative Definitions & Paths

Section 1: Types and Definitions

  1. Proposed changes to the Constitution shall be considered an “Act.” Resolutions that go through the shared governance system shall be based on the commission name, academic year, and sequential letter.
    1. Example: “CUSA 2024-25A" stands for the first resolution from CUSA during the 2024-25 term.
  2. Proposed changes to the Bylaws shall be considered a “Bill.”
  3. Proposed legislation that represents an official non-policy action of the Senate and undergraduate student body shall be considered a “Resolution for Student Experience.”
  4. Proposed legislation that addresses university policy shall be considered a “Resolution for Policy.” Resolutions that go through the shared governance system shall be based on the commission name, academic year, and sequential letter.
    1. Example: “CUSA 2024-25A" stands for the first resolution from CUSA during the 2024-25 term.
  5. Proposed legislation to allocate or reallocate funding internally shall be considered a “Resolution for Funding Request.”
  6. Proposed legislation that issues a referendum containing an official expression of opinion of the undergraduate student body to be voted on by the undergraduate student body shall be considered a “Resolution for Undergraduate Student Body Referendum.

Section 2: Legislation Coding System

  1. All legislation shall be advanced in the form of a resolution.
    1. Prior to first readings, all resolutions shall be given an identifying code based on the legislation type, sequential number of that type, and academic year.
      1. Example: “Resolution 2024-25–25A” stands for the first Bill of the USS during the 2024-25 term.
    2. Acts will be written as resolution proposals and designated by the commission name, academic year, and sequential letter.
    3. Bills will be written as resolutions and designated by “B.”
    4. Resolutions will be designated by “R.”
      1. Resolutions of Student Experience will be designated by “RSE”.
      2. Resolutions for Policy will be designated by the commission name, academic year, and sequential letter.
      3. Resolutions for Undergraduate Student Body Referendum will be designated by “RUSBR.”
    5. Funding Requests will be designated by “FR.”
  2. Resolutions must follow the provided templates for each resolution type.
  3. After a resolution has been voted on, a “PASSED” or “FAILED” designation shall be included in the filing system.
  4. All vote counts must be accurately documented in the minutes.

Section 3: Authors and Sponsors

  1. Any voting member of the senate and cabinet may author or sponsor legislation.
    1. An author is the individual(s) responsible for drafting the legislation, seeking out sponsor(s), and shall be the point of contact for the legislation.
      1. No more than five authors may be listed per resolution
    2. A sponsor is an individual that supports the initiative or discussion of the piece of legislation by having their name associated with the legislation.
      1. All resolutions must have at least three (3) Senator sponsors unless otherwise noted.
    3. Any USS representative may author Acts or Bills. Any Act or Bill, must be sponsored by at least three (3) Senators.
    4. Any USS representative may author or sponsor Resolutions for Funding Requests pertaining to the annual budget following the process outlined in Article X of the USS Bylaws.
      1. All Resolutions for Funding Request must have at least one (1) Senator sponsor.
    5. Senators and Cabinet members are required to meet with university officials and other relevant stakeholders in order to acquire full information about their chosen topic and to work closely with university entities relevant to their legislation prior to voting of any kind.

Section 4: Legislative Advocacy

  1. All students at Virginia Tech are welcome to propose initiatives to the Undergraduate Student Senate.
  2. Senate members including senators, Directors, Cabinet members, and advisors are responsible for promoting the voices of students by making themselves available to hear and uplift topics of interest or concern.
    1. After an initiative is brought to the attention of USS representative, it is their responsibility to ensure that the topic is further researched and/or discussed by relaying information to the associated Cabinet members, Directors, advisors, or committee(s).
    2. It is the responsibility of the Vice President for Issues and Policy and the President to ensure that action is taken to expand knowledge, communicate concern, increase awareness, and/or negotiate plans moving forward for each topic with the associated students, professors, staff, administration, and offices of the university.

Section 5: Legislative Paths

  1. The steps involved in writing legislation are provided in the USS Legislative Procedural Document. Amendments to the Legislative Procedural Document are considered Bills and require two readings and a majority affirmative vote within the Undergraduate Student Senate. Changes to titles of USS members or committees not accompanied by a significant role change may be made without following the amendment procedures.

Section 6: Legislative Record

  1. There shall be one (1) electronic archive of all introduced legislation.
    1. This record shall be organized in chronological order and divided into passed and failed legislation.
    2. The legislative record shall be maintained by the Vice President for Administration and the Deputy Advisor.
  2. At the end of the academic year, the file shall be titled “Legislative Record of the Undergraduate Student Senate of Virginia Tech for the Academic Year XXXX-XXXX.”