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Article VII: Policies and Procedures

Section 1: Policies of USS Meetings

  • The USS will hold bi-weekly meetings with the entire organization including all cabinet members, directors, senators, and advisors. These meetings will be free and open to current students, faculty, staff, and administrators of Virginia Tech. All guests or visitors must be approved to attend USS meetings in advance by the Senior Advisor. At least one advisor must be present at all USS meetings.
  • The president shall serve as the presiding officer of senate meetings and will be responsible for all meeting operations, such as agendas, time limits, discussion procedures, and parliamentary procedures.
  • Quorum for these meetings shall be defined as the presence of a majority (over ½) of all voting members and at least one advisor. Quorum must be obtained for any voting to take place; if a quorum is not obtained, the meeting may only occur for the purposes of reports, planning, and other similar objectives.
  • In order to maintain proper communication and decorum during meetings, the meetings will be governed and operated according to Robert’s Rules of Order.
  • No USS meetings shall be longer than ninety (90) minutes unless an extension is approved by a two-thirds (⅔) majority of the voting members present. Meetings can be extended by a maximum of 30 minutes. With the additional time, no meetings can exceed a total of one-hundred and twenty (120) minutes.
  • In the event that a senator wishes to overturn the decision of the president on a matter of parliamentary procedure, they make a motion to do so by saying, “Motion to overturn the decision of the chair.” After the motion is seconded, the USS will be in recess for a maximum of five (5) minutes while the body discusses the presidential decision in question among members. The president then calls for a vote. If a majority of the body votes in the affirmative to overturn the decision of the president, the decision is reversed and the meeting proceeds. If the decision is not overturned, the meeting proceeds without further discussion and consideration of the motion.

Section 2: Student Rights During USS Meetings

  • USS meetings shall include a period of time in the agenda whereby any current student, faculty, or staff member of Virginia Tech is permitted to bring forth any topic or issue of their choice and present it to the USS. This time shall be designated as “Public Forum.”
  • All current students, faculty, and staff members are free and entitled to speaking and discussion rights at any point in the USS meetings. Nevertheless, any such discussion will have to be strictly within the bounds of the meeting’s agenda. The presiding officer shall not entertain any dialogue that is purely meant to disrupt the work of the senate.
  • Members who choose to participate and speak up will maintain a sense of decorum and respect during debate and discussion consistent with Robert’s Rules of Order. i. Participation by current members of the student body, faculty, and staff will be governed by the presiding officer of the USS. Public participants are not expected to be familiar with parliamentary procedure. However, they are expected to defer judgment to the presiding officer in matters of procedure and respect the decision of the presiding officer at all times.
  • Members do not have the right to vote on legislation and matters of parliamentary procedure during the meetings of the USS but are entitled to the speaking rights as outlined previously.
  • Members may not be given the floor if the presiding officer feels that excessive discussion will hamper the fulfillment of the meeting’s agenda. However, if there is additional time left at the end of the session, any member will be allowed to share their perspectives on an issue that has already been discussed that day, in the Public Forum.
  • If a member is found to be deliberately disruptive to the senate proceedings, the presiding officer shall initially issue a warning to the individual. If such behavior is repeated, the presiding officer, with the advice of the cabinet, will ask the individual to vacate the meeting.

Section 3: Petitions & Requests

  • All members shall be able to bring an issue to a full senate vote by submitting a petition to any of the cabinet members bearing the signatures, official student email addresses, and dates of signature of at least five percent (5%) of the undergraduate student body and at least three senators, including a minimum of one college senator, one UCSO senator, and one at-large senator. The request will be reviewed in its entirety by the cabinet within fourteen (14) days and appropriate action will be taken afterward.
  • All proposed amendments to the USS Constitution and/or Bylaws must be discussed with the Advising Team.

Section 4: Legislative Policies and Paths

  • Any senator in the USS, regardless of committee position, may choose to write and sponsor legislation on a topic of their choosing.
  • Senators 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 appropriate university entities on the development of their legislation prior to voting of any kind.
  • Any resolution that involves the creation or revision of policy must be reviewed and approved within the CUSA prior to senate review and vote.
  • Legislation will follow the paths and additional policies outlined in the USS Bylaws.

Section 5: Elections

  • USS elections shall be governed by the following rules:
    • All senators, cabinet representatives, directors, assistant directors, committee members, and representatives to university-level governance bodies shall be elected to these positions, with the exception of ex officio positions. Though USS nominees for university standing committees shall be elected by the USS, the President of the University makes the final selection from these nominees.
    • Elections shall be held on an annual basis.
    • Elections shall be overseen by the Advising Team.
    • Elections shall be carried out via an electronic balloting system.
    • Upon conclusion of an election, the candidate that receives a majority of the votes shall be declared the winner and candidate-elect for that position.
    • All USS candidates are subject to and shall abide by the official USS election rules and regulations hereby known as the election code which is a separate document from the constitution and bylaws.
    • All terms are one-year, defined by the period of time between inaugurations. Some members of the CUSA maybe renewed annually by the Senior Advisor on the Advising Team.

Section 6: Line of Succession

  • Should the president vacate the office for any reason, the line of succession is as follows: Vice President for Issues and Policy, Vice President for Shared Governance, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, Vice President for Administration, Vice President for Finance, Vice President and Representative to the Board of Visitors.
  • Should a Vice President vacate their office for any reason, a special election will be held.

Section 7: Stipends

  • Cabinet members are eligible to receive a stipend, subject to annual determination by and provision from Virginia Tech Student Affairs.