Senate also passed its 100th resolution of the 2015-16 academic year Wednesday.
Ohio University Student Senate tabled a resolution that would require a rule change Wednesday after lengthy debate and low attendance caused concerns for President Gabby Bacha and other members.
Senators argued about the resolution, which would create a judicial panel for the body, for more than 30 minutes before a decision was made to table it.
According to the resolution, the judicial panel would include nine justices and would replace senate’s Conduct and Discipline Committee and the Rules and Procedures Committee. The justices would also serve as senate's Board of Elections and decide on the impeachment and appeal of executives or senators.
“If you want this (resolution) on the idea that you want the panel to be unbiased, then you have to make sure it’s unbiased,” Rachel Marison, senate’s assistant chief of staff, said. “By not having anything in (the resolution) that states if you know the person that you cannot sit on the panel, it goes against the idea of it not being biased.”
Bacha said she could see pros and cons of forming a judicial panel, but shared a previous senate experience where a judicial panel might have been beneficial.
“I was on (Conduct and Discipline) a couple years ago and there were a couple instances where we really hurried through trials through people and didn’t do as much investigating as we should have,” Bacha said. “Looking back, it could have been conducted a lot better and a lot of bias factored into some decisions.”
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Senate members compared the disciplinary procedures of several universities, including the University of Akron and The Ohio State University, before deciding to propose a judicial panel model, Hannah Clouser, senate treasurer, said.
Other senate members were concerned that an external body of justices wouldn’t be as informed as current Conduct and Discipline committee members, who all serve as part of senate’s general body.
“If anything, I think (the justices) would know the rules of senate more than most of the senators would,” Clouser said. “They should know the rules like the back of their hand essentially. That’s their job.”
The motion to table the resolution failed by a single vote at first. However, when one member exited the meeting, a second motion to table the resolution was made, and the motion passed.
Also at Wednesday night’s meeting, senate passed its 100th resolution for the 2015-16 academic year. The resolution appointed Paige Wilson, a current senate intern, as East Green Senator.
Mb076912@ohio.edu
@mayganbeeler
