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Proposal:
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The University Senate currently utilizes electronic clickers for the purpose of voting in order to be able to see the outcome of a vote in an almost instantaneous manner. This transition to electronic clickers occurred a few years ago as the technology became available and accessible. However, as a result, there is no way of observing how Senators vote. The lack of voting records not only prevents members of the campus community from being able to see how their representatives voted on legislation affecting the campus, but also decreases the ability for constituencies to be able to be informed voters during the next election cycle and inquire as to the reasons behind their decisions and votes.
The votes of Senators in full University Senate meetings should be made available to the public on the Senate website within a week of the previous Senate meeting. A "Voting Record" page should be added to either the "Senate Meetings" or "Senators" tabs on the website.
There is currently no way of tracking how Senators voted on legislation that is considered by the University Senate. This would be very helpful in providing information on which to base future Senate election votes. This would also allow constituencies the opportunity to be able to discuss a Senator's decision with him or her, so as to better understand why he or she supported or opposed legislation. Tracking and recording votes of Senators through the technology that is already utilized by the Senate would also make the shared governance body more transparent in its decision-making. |
