WTAMU’s Student Senate works to fill vacancies

Krystina Martinez • January 31, 2012

As of Jan. 26, the WTAMU Student Government has 22 vacancies in its senate. According to the Student Government Constitution, the Senate must have at least 51 percent or two-thirds of their seats filled to meet quorum. On their first meeting on Jan. 23, the Senate barely made quorum with 25 senators seated.

According to Cheryle Dill, administrative assistant of Student Affairs, these vacancies are typical.

“We’ve had more or fewer [vacancies in the past] and [the Senate has] still been able to function,” she said. In the past, senators have resigned due to conflicts with school or work.

Kay Hagar, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, explained that being a senator can be demanding.“It’s very hard to predict because [Senate] is a commitment,” she said. “[But the vacancies] are not a showstopper.”

With 22 vacancies to fill, the Senate has to work quickly.

“Not having a full quorum puts a strain on the senators in it,” Student Body President Brandy Roberts said. “Students aren’t diversely represented.”

Vacancies can be filled when a student who meets all the qualifications shows up to a meeting and are voted in by other senators. However, some may wonder why Student Government isn’t holding open elections.

“Election participation is low,” Dill said.

Although students can now vote via Internet, Hagar pointed out that despite the convenience, there is also a lot of work that goes into open elections.

“It’s not simple to do open elections,” she said. “You can’t keep hitting people up for stuff. It’s not that [students] don’t care, it just takes time.”

However, Roberts stated that Student Government is doing several activities to reach out to students.

“We will have open forums where senators will engage with students about student concerns,” she said. “We’ll also have a question-and-answer in the JBK with Dr. Patrick O’Brien.”

Both Hagar and Dill are confident that the vacancies will not hurt the Senate.

“If the [issue] matters to the students, they can bring it to the senators,” Dill said.