At the weekly student senate meeting on Wednesday, second-year public health student and President Pro Tempore Ross Lordo put forward a referendum to amend the Student Government constitution to introduce a speaker of the student senate.
This new position would be another executive position elected by the student body. The addition would also revise the roles of the student body president and vice president.
The new role would take over some of what the vice president does now as far as handling senate matters. This would allow the vice president to work more actively with the president, administration and student initiatives and programs.
“Right now the vice president has a lot going on with internal problems and affairs, but this role would really allow the vice president to focus more externally and really [work] for students more, as opposed to what the current structure of the vice president’s office is,” Lordo said.
Increasing the number of executive office positions from three to four would free up time for the vice president to focus on the student body.
“I think in turn it would also allow us to be more transparent," Lordo said. "Somebody else to focus more on speaking out and speaking with different organizations more constantly as opposed to just during campaigning season, which seems to be kind of a little bit how it’s been in the past, so I think this is something that would really move us forward."
The senate encountered this idea at the SEC exchange this past summer. Other schools that utilize this system, including LSU, have been able to accomplish more with their vice president and president working side by side.
The new position would not go to students for approval until the next voting cycle in the spring semester of 2017. This referendum would set the foundation for how Student Government would be run in the future.
UPDATE: The debate on the referendum to implement the role of the speaker of the student senate position continued at the Feb. 3 weekly senate meeting. President Pro Tempore Ross Lordo, one of the candidates for Student Vice President, continued to argue for the referendum he introduced more than three months ago. An amendment was proposed to have the executive officer position, if put in place, selected by the student senators rather than voted on by the student body. The referendum was again tabled at the meeting's conclusion.
Emily Barber, Mary Ramsey and Madeleine Vath contributed to reporting for this article.