Leaning strongly on a four-point platform, Off-campus Senator Nicole Akey successfully presented her case for being the next Student Government Association president pro tempore at Wednesday's meeting.
SGA Senate selected Akey over At-large Senator Michelle Voss 19-7 to earn the organization's third-highest position. During her pitch to senators, Akey said, if elected, she would place a stronger emphasis on Robert's Rules of Order to new and existing SGA members.
"When compiling my platform, I asked some of the senators, and they still don't know - even after a year of being on Senate - all the rules of Robert's Rules of Order," Akey said after the meeting.
Robert's Rules of Order is a set of guidelines for deliberation and debate to ensure meetings go smoothly.
SGA Secretary Carson Lance initially chose not to reveal the final vote tally, citing Robert's Rules of Order Article VIII Section 46 which states ballot voting is utilized to maintain secrecy - thus ensuring senators offer their true sentiment when voting.
When presented with Indiana Open Door Laws, Lance disclosed the tally.
She said she would like to work with the rest of the legislative branch to possibly create a "mock" senate hearing to help familiarize senators with the process. She said such an opportunity would allow every senator to become engaged during SGA meetings.
"It would make them less nervous going into actual meetings, and it would also give them the opportunity to apply Robert's Rules of Order without having to look foolish," Akey said. "Even if they do make a mistake, it wouldn't be during an actual senate meeting."
Revamping the orientation process for new senators was the first among four points Akey stressed during her speech. She said she would also introduce legislation to correct certain areas of the SGA Elections Code. Last election, Akey served as sheriff on the Elections Board, which she said helped familiarize her with some of the code's inconsistencies.
Akey said she would also work with senators and Cardinal Impact to write more legislation and realize platform points. Off-campus Senator Henry Mortensen asked Akey how she would approach the president pro tempore job differently than her predecessors Jimmy Faroh and Kyle Ellis. In her reply, Akey emphasized a more personal working relationship with each senator, which she felt ultimately would result in more productive committee assignments.
She said she attempted to express that same sentiment when giving her speech.
"I had the issues that I wanted to address, but I wanted my speech to be personal," Akey said. "My love for SGA is so personal, and I wanted my speech to come off that way as well - not just something that had been rehearsed or some emotionless rant."
SGA President Beth Cahill said afterwards she was pleased to have the position filled, and she looks forward to working immediately with Akey.
"It'll be really helpful to have [Akey] so she can get to work on the senate orientation binder and also help on some of our platform points," Cahill said, describing how approachable Akey will be for incoming senators looking to get acquainted with SGA. "Nicole does have that approachability aspect to her. That's just Nicole, and it'll prove really helpful."
The three-legged legislative branch was solidified at Wednesday's meeting with the approval of Drew Eberhard as SGA parliamentarian. The Residence Hall Association convert is in his first month with SGA, but Cahill said Cardinal Impact is confident he can learn the organization's bylaws and constitution to help keep balance among senators.
Finally, Credentials Board Chair and Off-campus Senator Matt Whitlock announced that two of SGA's approved pieces of legislation were recently brought forward to University Senate agenda. While they were willing to review the university's policy to evaluate all instructors online, Whitlock said they were less willing to require semester evaluations of every instructor.
Currently, university policy mandates at least one instructor evaluation per school year, but Whitlock said he is confident he and former President Frank Hood and former Vice President Carrie Cozad would bring SGA's sentiment to the table at next Thursday's University Senate hearing.
"Just because they don't necessarily agree with [the passed legislation], it doesn't mean we can't bring it up at the next University Senate meeting," Whitlock said.
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