The Student Senate passed emergency proposals and discussed the upcoming senator and speaker elections Wednesday evening in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Two proposals were brought up as emergency legislation and the first proposal called for support for the outreach program.

The outreach program is an initiative aimed at the recruitment of future senators for the Spring 2016 semester.

The proposal asked for the release of $249 from the Student Government budget in order to buy coffee and donuts for the outreach event set to take place Thursday, Nov. 5.

Maralea Negron, the Student Senate Speaker, said, “Food works best and we need to give back to the student body.”

The second proposal brought into discussion also asked for the release of $190 for pizza and bowling for the next Prowlin’ with the Prez series “Pizza with the Prez.”

Courtney Sage, student vice president for academic affairs, said, “the greatest thing about these events is that we’re giving students facetime with President Glassman and that is the key thing to remember.”

Both proposals were unanimously passed.

Student body president Shirmeen Ahmad discussed the election process for the 22 senators required to run for election.

Ahmad said the senators are required to run for election for next semester because they were appointed first and according to the Student Senate bylaws, a senator can not be appointed consecutively.

Senators were instructed to pick up an election packet and are required to obtain 50 student signatures with valid E-numbers by Nov. 11.

The senators with the most signatures will be put on the ballot by a first come first serve basis Ahmad said.

Elections will take place Nov. 16-17 and the first 30 students with the most votes get a spot on senate Ahmad said.

The unofficial results will be said Nov. 18 and after a period of grievance the official results will be announced Dec. 2 at the Student Senate meeting.

Negron also reminded senators that if they run and get a seat for next semester then they do not have to run again for another year.

Since there are five Student Senate seats open, Negron also encouraged senators to take part in the outreach program and explained how the recruitment process will be handled.

“Anyone can run in these elections. People can still join even if they weren’t appointed,” Negron said.

The outreach program will take place Nov. 2-5 and the Student Senate will be encouraging students to run for election as well as answer any questions students may have about the Student Senate.

Senators will also be handing out marketing and treats on Nov. 4-5.

The Student Senate also welcomed students from Charleston High School to their meeting as part of the go local to schools campaign.

The go local campaign is an initiative to boost enrollment by recruiting seniors from local high schools.

Riley Eubanks, Charleston High School student body president, spoke on behalf of the high school student council and said they would like to see how student council operates at a collegiate level.

“We’re really excited to see what you guys are up to and we love student counsel,” Eubanks said.

Senator Gabriella Ramirez was also picked as Senator Star for her successful efforts and will receive a gift card from the Union Bookstore.

Senator Stars is an initiative to award senators for their hard work and dedication to the Student Senate.

Analicia Haynes can be reached at 581-2812 or achaynes@eiu.edu