Following last week’s town halls about the Alternative Review Process (ARP), the ASSU Undergraduate Senate created a judicial review committee to study the sexual assault and harassment policy. According to Administration and Rules Committee Chair Lauren Miller ’15, the Senate will likely not have a decision on the ARP until the end of this fall quarter.
“I don’t want to say [what our timeline is] because we haven’t started yet,” she said. “But [approval from the Undergraduate Senate] will be the part that happens at the beginning of winter quarter.”
The newly formed committee will gather information and student feedback about the ARP to present to the Senate. The Senate will then author a bill regarding the ARP that will eventually be sent to the Faculty Senate, where the final decision on the ARP will be made.
Senators Daniela Olivos ’15, Brandon Hightower ’15, Garima Sharma ’15, Kimberly Bacon ’15 and Viraj Binda ’15 joined Miller in volunteering to serve on the committee.
“It is hard for all 14 of us to be super knowledgeable about the proposed judicial change, so [the committee] is supposed to be a way for a few of us to get really involved and help inform the rest of the Senate and make better decisions as a result,” Miller said. She says she expects the faculty senate to come to a decision on the ARP before spring quarter.
Additionally, Senator Janhavi Vartak ’15 was absent at this week’s meeting, which was her third absence of the quarter. According to Article II of the Senate’s bylaws, a bill for her expulsion must be drawn.
Miller said that the bill will be put on previous notice next week and will be proposed to the Senate the following week, though the Senate does not have to vote on the bill. Miller said she could not predict the result if the Senate did decide to vote.
“I’m not sure what each individual senator is going to do, but we are obviously going to have a serious conversation with the person who has been missing meetings,” Miller said. “We want to help them and make sure they can give their full contribution to the Senate.”
Ashley Harris ’15 was automatically expelled from the Senate earlier this year for taking a medical leave of absence. Because Harris has not been replaced, the Senate only has 14 members. Bacon reminded senators of the attendance policy at the end of the meeting, and told them that any excused absences need to be cleared by the chair or the deputy chair 24 hours before the meeting.
“Especially since we only have 14 people, it is really important that we have enough people to vote and have quorum and have meetings,” Bacon said.
Executive Cabinet candidates Kaela Farrise ’14, Norian Watson ’13 and Michelle Pan ’15 were present to answer questions from senators about their roles in the cabinet before the Senate approved their appointments. Although Anjney Midha ’15, the fourth cabinet member, was unable to attend, the Senate unanimously approved the bill.
Senators also approved $9,335.14 in funding bills for student organizations, of which $4,900 was for the Stanford Transhumanist Association.