Student Assembly

Special Rules of Order’
Cornell University Student Assembly
As Amended on May 5, 2016


Proxy Voting
Proxy votes shall be cast exclusively as follows:
1. Only excused voting members shall be permitted to cast proxy votes.
2. Proxies will be restricted to aye or nay votes on Old Business resolutions (including later amendments) on the agenda of the meeting in question. A resolution shall be considered Old Business if the resolution has previously been discussed or a formal presentation has been given during a regular meeting of the Student Assembly.
3. Proxies shall be in writing, signed, explicitly worded, and tendered solely to the Chair, who shall read all proxies aloud immediately prior to the vote in question. If proxies are not read prior to the vote in question, they will not be valid.
4. Any SA voting member in attendance may question the validity of a proxy. In such cases, the validity of the proxy shall be determined by a majority vote of the SA members present vote without amendment or debate.
5. Proxies shall not count as part of a quorum.
Speaking Privileges
Speaking privileges will be open to the Cornell student body. The chair may choose to limit speaking privileges or add procedures for granting speaking privileges only if deemed necessary for the efficient operation of the SA. With the consent of any SA member, a non-student shall be granted speaking privileges.
Agenda
The agenda of the SA’s regularly scheduled meetings will be compiled by the Executive Vice President. Any member of the Cornell community may request that an item be included on the agenda. The agenda to date will be made public at least 24 hours prior to the commencement of the SA meeting. By a 2/3 vote of members present, items may be added to the agenda at any time after the agenda has been made public.
Minutes
The minutes of the SA meeting and summaries of its committee’s meetings will be available to all members of the Cornell community, except for those pertaining to portions conducted in executive session.
Committees
#A. Committee Guidelines
1. All committee meetings, except the Elections Committee, are open to members of the Cornell community unless the committee enters executive session.
2. All policy determinations by a committee are subject to the approval of the SA, and therefore must be proposed to and accepted by the SA before the new policy is put into effect.
3. Should a committee act unilaterally without prior SA support, the SA may disapprove of a committee’s action by a two-thirds vote of those SA voting members present.
4. Faculty and/or employee representatives may serve on SA committees. Non-student members of SA committees may be either voting or ex-officio members, according to the wishes of the SA. All members shall serve one-year terms and may reapply for additional terms.
5. Committee membership will be specified in the bylaw pertaining to the specific committee and therefore membership apportionment may be changed as would any SA bylaw and charge.
6. Committee members may be recalled for reasons other than attendance by a two-thirds majority vote of committee members present.
B. Committee Appointment of Voting SA Members to SA Committees
1. Uncontested positions — Voting SA members seeking unoccupied, uncontested committee positions for which voting SA members are required shall be granted the positions upon notification to the SA voting body present and the VP Internal Operations.
2. Contested Positions - SA voting members’ committee positions sought by more SA voting members than required shall be filled according to a ballot vote, one vote for each vacant position, by a plurality vote of SA voting members present.
C. Liaison Appointments
1. Liaison positions, as defined by Article III Section 9 of the Student Assembly Charter, will follow a similar procedure to the Appointment of Voting SA Members with consideration for undergraduates who are not voting members of the Student Assembly.
2. Appointments of undergraduates to administrator search committees shall also follow the committee appointments structure consideration for undergraduates who are not voting members of the Student Assembly when appropriate.
3. In the event that the President of the Student Assembly is notified of the need of a liaison for another University committee within 14 days, the President, EVP, and IOPS shall be empowered to appoint a liaison.
D. Ad-Hoc Committee Procedures
1. The Student Assembly shall be empowered to create an ad-hoc committee for the length of their term. If the ad-hoc committee requests to continue into the next term, they must seek approval from the newly seated assembly.
2. Resolutions that establish an ad-hoc committee must include the following:
a. Desired Structure
i. Leadership
1. At least one chair must be a voting SA Member
2. All ad-hoc committees will be overseen by the Executive Vice President
ii. Membership
b. Charge of the Committee:
i. Mission
ii. Goals
iii. Timeline
3. All ah-hoc committees are responsible for reporting the findings or accomplishments of their committee at least once per semester