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UCF Student Government senators vote on Internal Bill 58-09 on Thursday in the Charge on Chamber. The Senate passed the bill 49-1, removing the undeclared-major seat from the Student Body Statutes.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Keyla Franklin<\/p>\n
The Student Government Senate voted 49-1 Thursday to remove the requirement for a Senate seat representing undeclared majors.<\/p>\n
Internal Bill 58-09<\/a>, introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Ryan Kaufman and Internal Legislative Assistant Abby Matthews, removed the undeclared major seat from the Student Body Statutes.<\/p>\n Sen. Evan Grosso, chair of the Senate’s Elections and Appointments Committee, said in an email that the proposal came as the committee worked on its annual reapportionment legislation, which determines how many seats each college receives in the next election cycle.<\/p>\n Grosso said the seat was impractical because an undeclared student serving in the Senate would have to resign or seek reappointment after choosing a major.<\/p>\n “For this reason, the practicality of an undeclared major seat, even if it should be filled, is not ideal,” Grosso, junior biomedical sciences and mathematics major, said.<\/p>\n At the bill’s second reading on Oct. 8, Sen. Victoria Alba supported the change and spoke about her experience as an undeclared student.<\/p>\n “I actually came into UCF as an undeclared major myself, and, by the middle of fall semester, I had declared a major,” Alba, sophomore pre-management major,\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Alba said a senator elected to represent undeclared students might have to resign before completing a term. She suggested reaching out\u00a0to undeclared students to help connect them with university resources.<\/p>\n Sen. Caleb Berrios questioned how undeclared students would be represented without a senator dedicated to their needs. He said more than 500 UCF students were undeclared majors.<\/p>\n