A 64 percent might not seem like a good test score, but Undergraduate Student Government Senate says it's a good attendance record.
Only 64 percent, or 16 of the 25 senators, have a solid attendance record. The other nine are on grounds for impeachment based on attendance, said Senate President Chris Gustafson.
But that's not so bad compared to last semester's 14 that could have been impeached, he added.
Senators who miss more than two unexcused or four excused meetings of the semester's eight are subject to impeachment, said Business Sen. Lindsey Tepe.
At least 13 senators must be present at meetings for them to vote, Gustafson said, but because senators aren't all missing meetings at the same time, reaching that number hasn't been a problem so far.
"People who have missed meetings are holding themselves accountable," Tepe said. "And most of them have had valid excuses for missing."
Because attendance hasn't been a huge problem, Gustafson said he has no plans to impeach the senators.
"Last year's president thought [the bylaws] were the next thing to the Bible," Gustafson said. "This year, I just want to help students. I won't let the bylaws get in the way of that."
Another thing Gustafson said he is doing to help students is to always keep the focus on students, and not on the senators - a big change from previous years said Engineering Sen. William Bryan.
"We got a bad reputation last year because people were there for the wrong reasons," Bryan said. "This year, people aren't just there to build themselves up. They want to make things better for people, not to self-promote."
Gustafson said he signed a promise to students that the Senate was truly there to help them.
"Last year's Senate didn't do a whole lot to help students in terms of anything," said Gustafson, who was a senator last year. "They thought they were important just for being senators, not for what they did as senators."
But this semester's Senate has helped students by standing up to the administration, Gustafson said.
"We've gotten rid of the notion that just because the administration is here, they inherently know what's best for the students," he said.
The Senate voted unanimously last month to oppose an administration-proposed technology fee for all
students, which USG President Ross Meyer said proves senators listen to student input.
"The main difference between this year and last year is that the Senate seeks input on issues, rather than assuming that what they think is also what students think," Meyer said. "Student input is at the forefront."
Senators get student input by asking students at their individual college-council meetings what they think of issues and then bringing that information to Senate meetings, Meyer said.
The Senate has accomplished a lot this year because of their fast-paced meetings, Bryan said.
"It's all business. We don't dilly-dally," he said. "We're rockin' and rollin' and getting things done."
Gustafson said helping students could be difficult because they are hard to inform, but he plans to change that next semester.
"The only way we're going to make students care is by doing things students care about," Gustafson said.
Reach the reporter at: Meghan.Keck@asu.edu.
