Student government will not meet tonight, said Speaker of the Senate Megan Ogulnick, and plans to meet next Wednesday for its first meeting of the semester.

“While some of the decision to not hold a meeting this week was in order for senators, executive board and others to get settled in, much of it was due to the bylaws,” Ogulnick said. “When to hold the first meeting is usually at the discretion of the Speaker.”

According to Section B, No. Eight of the senate bylaws, a mandate sets the release of agendas at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. For a meeting to be held tonight, an agenda would have had to be completed Monday, the first day of classes.

An agenda was not completed by that time.

“According to other members of the executive board that I have spoken with, the idea of coming back early has never really been discussed in-depth,” Ogulnick said.

However, assembling an agenda has other bylaw complications.

“Legislation still couldn’t be put on the agenda because it has to be handed in four academic days prior to the senate meeting, which, because we were on winter break, would have meant submitting it last semester,” she said.

Senator attendance was also a concern when deciding to hold a meeting for tonight.

“In addition to these concerns, we were also worried about having quorum,” Ogulnick said. “According to bylaws, we need to have 16 senators present at the call or order roll call in order to conduct business. Because it is the first week of classes, many students had conflicting schedules, which will not be a problem next week.”

Section C of the senate bylaws holds senators to three absences per semester, in which a senator would be removed from office upon a fourth absence.

Ogulnick will be responsible for appointing the chairperson of each committee during the first meeting of each semester.

She is also receiving applications for senate appointments.

Rick Kambic can be reached at 581-7945 or rwkambic@eiu.edu.