The University of Kansas Student Senate : About

Executive Branch

The Student Body President at the University of Kansas plays many roles throughout his or her term which can be distilled down into three main levels—Student Senate, University Community and External. All three roles are crucial to help students maintain a say in decisions which affect their years at the University of Kansas.

Within Student Senate, the Student Body President has a limited but important role. Largely, the President’s formal power within the Senate is that of the veto. In addition, he or she makes a large amount of board and committee appointments. The Student Body President also frequently brings ideas, proposals and recommendations before the Student Senate for consideration.

At the University level, the Student Body President is responsible for communicating with various administrators and representatives within University Governance to voice student concerns on various issues. Many decisions are made at this level which affect students’ day-to-day lives but receive very little publicity until they are implemented, making student input during the process crucial. Some of the administrators the president works with include the Chancellor, Provost, Vice Provosts, Deans and elected representatives serving on various other University Governance bodies.

Additionally, the Student Body President, along with the Student Legislative Awareness Board, represents students to the Board of Regents, the Lawrence City Commission, the Kansas Legislature and other pertinent elected boards and officials.

In short, the Student Body President must communicate the needs of the student body to all that make policies that affect students – while also pursuing his or her own ideas and initiatives.

Student Senators can are welcome to stop by the President’s office to say hi or set up a meeting to discuss their own concerns regarding policies that affect students.

Student Body President
Libby Johnson
sbp@ku.edu

The Student Senate Chief of Staff is responsible for many facets of Senate. A large majority of the Chief of Staff’s time is spent working with the Senate and the Executive Staff, assisting student groups with the Senate process and helping the Student Body President and Vice President accomplish the legislative agenda.

The Chief of Staff serves as the chair of the Student Executive Committee (StudEx). StudEx is responsible for setting the agenda of Senate meetings, acting as a compromise committee for the Student Senate Standing Committees, replacing Student Senators, watching attendance of University Boards and Committees and other matters pertinent to the functions of Senate.

In full Student Senate meetings, the Chief of Staff acts as the official Parliamentarian. The Chief of Staff will provide guidance to the body in regards to Parliamentary procedure and formal rules of order. The Chief of Staff will also have a vast knowledge of the Student Senate Rules and Regulations and be able to answer questions that arise.

Chief of Staff
Hannah Bolton
senatecos@ku.edu

The Development Director leads the Student Legislative Awareness Board (SLAB). I am a liaison for the Executive staff, Student Executive Committee, and the Student Senate to the Board of Regents, Kansas Legislator and United States Congress. I relay pertinent information from these sources back to KU and the student body.

I will act as a lobbyist working on behalf of KU students and their needs. Increasing civic and political involvement among students is extremely important for my position as well. SLAB will work effectively to increase voter registration and student turnout in November’s election. The board will also work in a nonpartisan fashion to recruit campaign volunteers as November approaches. Please consider joining SLAB to contribute and have your voice heard. Always feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns or just to chat politics.

Development Director
Kris Velasco
krisvelasco@ku.edu

The Executive Secretary’s role has four main parts: minutes, legislation, office organization, and attendance (including clickers).

The most important part of the Executive Secretary’s job is the minutes. This is the history of Student Senate and will eventually all the minutes will be housed in the University archives. The Executive Secretary is responsible for the minutes from the Student Executive Committee and Student Senate meetings. After the minutes have been typed, Student Senate records are sent to all interested parties.

Another important task is legislation. After legislation is submitted, the Executive Secretary gives copies of the draft to Student Body Vice President Davis and she will refer them to committees. A copy will then be given to executive members and committee chairs. Committees meet on Wednesday following the legislation deadline, which is the report sheet after their meeting. The Executive Secretary will then mark the amendments and make copies for the full Senate. Once Senate has approved the legislation, the Executive Secretary will type the legislation action sheet that will be signed by Student Body President Mason Heilman. After the legislation is signed by the President, the Executive Secretary will give copies of the final bills to executive members and all interested parties.

The Executive Secretary is also responsible for helping uphold an orderly Senate office. The Executive Secretary will keep a calendar available in the senate office depicting senate events and update the bulletin board with other Senate activities.

The Executive Secretary also is in charge of handling all of the attendance. I am responsible for monitoring the senator’s committee attendance, office hour attendance, and their attendance at the Senate meetings. When necessary, the Executive Secretary will notify senators of suspension or removal from Student Senate. In general, the Executive Secretary is the keeper of records. If members of Student Senate have any questions about past years’ legislation, records, minutes, or issues, the Executive Secretary is the person to contact!

Executive Secretary
Alek Joyce
senateexecsec@ku.edu

The Government Relations Director’s job has three main functions: increasing political education, promoting civic engagement and representing Student Senate to local government. The education and engagement portions of the job involve lots of collaboration with campus activist and living organizations, community organizations and the Legislative Director. The “CAD” works with the Dole Institute of Politics and other groups to coordinate Civic Engagement Week, which includes speakers as well as interactive activities on campus promoting civic engagement. She also promotes opportunities for KU students to become involved with community and city boards and committees. Other modes of political education charged to the CAD in coordination with the Legislative Director include student voter registration, get-out-the-vote drives and non partisan voter guides.

The “representation” portion of the CAD job involves reporting to the Student Body President, Student Executive Committee and Student Senate about issues in the Kansas State Legislature, Douglas County Commission and Lawrence City Commission which may affect students. The CAD attends every City Commission meeting and some county commission meetings, and speaks at both on behalf of Student Senate. She also works with a variety of people involved in running Lawrence, from the Mayor to employees at utility companies, to ensure that KU students have a strong voice and their interests represented in the community. Finally, the CAD works with the Legislative Director to run the Student Legislative Awareness Board, which assists with education, engagement and representation at all levels of government.

Students are welcome to call, email or stop by the Community Affairs Director’s office with any questions, suggestions or concerns regarding any local issue from off-campus lighting to City Commission elections. Additionally, she or the Legislative Director can be contacted about political involvement via the Student Legislative Awareness Board.

Government Relations Director
Brandon Wiederholt
wiederholt@ku.edu

According to Student Senate Rules and Regulations the job of the Assistant Treasurer is to “manage the various accounts of Student Senate”. This means that the Assistant Treasurer is responsible for aiding the Treasurer in paying bills, processing purchase orders, negotiating contracts with many organizations that Student Senate does business with.

In this time of budget cuts and shortages, it is especially important for the Assistant Treasurer to help Senate maintain a sense of fiscal responsibility by keeping detailed records of financial transactions, educating all student groups on proper funding procedures, and creating accurate reports so that all students and Senators are aware of the financial standings of groups on campus.

Assistant Treasurer
Carlye Yanker
senateassttreas@ku.edu

The Treasurer oversees all funding procedures for student groups, new and old. This is one of the most critical functions of Student Senate, and a way that Senators can directly connect with groups on campus. The Treasurer collaborates mainly with the Finance Committee during this process. The Committee either approves or fails legislation based on several criteria, among them being overall cohesiveness of the group, past usage of monies, and future potential for growth. The Treasurer serves as a financial information resource for senators and committee members during the funding process. One of the main goals of the Treasurer’s office this year is to create an environment where senators, students, and groups feel comfortable and welcome to come in the office to seek answers to any questions they may have regarding the Student Senate processes or finances.

The Treasurer also manages and oversees student fees. Every student pays required campus fees every semester. Through the fee review process which is overseen by the Campus Fee Advisory Board, those fees are examined every year to determine the correct levels for each fee unit. This process includes thoroughly investigating all aspects of student fees, from dispersal and use of the funds to forecasting trends in student fees to better prepare future Fee Advisory Boards. Finally, the Treasurer sits on nine boards of Student Senate. These Boards range from the Transit Commission to the Student Health Advisory Board. Most meet about once a month, and have both faculty and student members.

Treasurer
David Cohen
djcohen@ku.edu

This year the role of the Outreach Director has diverted from years past. My job specifically involves the roles of the Communications Director and the Technology and Advertising Director, a position we chose to dismiss and add its responsibilities to that of the Communications Director.

So what is my job exactly? What you will probably be most interested in is my role with the Outreach program. As Communications Director, I am responsible for providing opportunities to Senators to represent their constituents. Furthermore, I am responsible for ensuring all Senators meet the minimum outreach requirements which involves achieving 100 outreach points per semester. My job also entails updating the Student Senate website.

In a few weeks, we will be running a new student senate website which we believe will be a major improvement to the current outdated website. My job will be to update the new website and make it a webpage that is attractive to not only student senators but other students as well. Another major part of my job involves the work I do with advertising for student groups. Any time a student group wants to advertise with the UDK, on the buses, or with the KJHK, it is my job to inform the group of everything they need to do to advertise their event.

Outreach Director
Brandon Woodard
senateoutreach@ku.edu

First, the Student Body Vice President serves as President of the Student Senate. The Vice President ensures that the Senate functions smoothly. This includes overseeing the Executive Staff’s roles so that we operate consistently and efficiently.

Also, the Vice President is involved in the legislative process from a piece of legislation’s beginning until its end. The Vice President is responsible for assigned a piece of legislation to its respective standing committee or ad hoc committee. Then, she places approved legislation on the agenda for full Senate meetings.

Further, the Student Body Vice President, as the presiding officer of the Student Senate, chairs its meetings. She is charged with enforcing proper use of Parliamentary Procedure and fair debate over the legislation.

The Student Body Vice President also is responsible for training Senators each year over their roles, responsibilities, and general acquaintance with the structure of Student Senate and its larger university governance structure.

Additionally, the Student Body Vice President works with the Communications Director to oversee outreach, including Student Senate list serves, organization visits, determining meeting locations, and setting the Senate meeting agenda. The Vice President also serves on a variety of boards and committees as the student representative, including the Coca-Cola University Program Support Subcommittee.

The Vice President is afforded a great deal of flexibility in her job. This means that the Vice President can work with the Executive Staff on accomplishing goals for the university.

Ultimately, if there is an issue you would like to see Senate address or even if you just need help with Parliamentary Procedure, see the Vice President.

Student Body Vice President
Gabe Bliss
sbvp@ku.edu

The Graduate Affairs Director is responsible for representing graduate students in the

Student Senate Executive Branch. I advocate for graduate students on a variety of Senate

and University committees and serve as the chair of the Graduate Student Advisory Board (GSAB), a group of interested graduate students from many departments that regularly meet in order to exchange information and discuss issues pertinent to the graduate student community. I also work with the graduate student senators and Graduate Student Organizations (GSOs) to pass legislation through Senate that enhances the academic and professional development of all students at KU.

The Graduate Affairs Director position was created in 2010 after the Graduate and

Professional Association at KU decided to integrate itself into the Student Senate structure. Through this reorganization, student leaders sought to strengthen the relationships between undergraduate and graduate students that could benefit the university’s academic and social climate. This year I plan on working with groups across the university as we continue to develop these relationships and advocate for the needs and interests of all graduate students. In order to achieve these goals, I will draw on my own experiences as a graduate student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, where I am a third-year Ph.D. student and a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). I welcome all graduate students to contact me if they have questions or concerns that they would like to address to the Student Senate.

Graduate Affairs Director

Jake Rapp

gsab@ku.edu