Attendance Policy

Attendance is mandatory for every meeting, every week, for every Senator. While Senate Leadership recoginizes various reasons for absences, every Senator is expected to attend every meeting. If you cannot attend in person, you may attend online via Microsoft Teams. If you may not attend online either, you may appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf and excuse your absence, no matter what reason you have for not being there. However, we expect a few occasions will occur where individuals are not able to attend throughout the year.

For this reason, the following rules apply:

• 2 unexcused absences will be permitted before a Senator is deactivated
• Absences are excused only when a proxy is authorized
• Only voting Senators may serve as valid proxies for any Senator
• Proxies may be designated through the proxy form or through the Vice Speaker
• Proxies may not be designated after 5 PM on Monday
• For emergencies or unusual circumstances only, Committee Chairs may proxy for a Senator if the request is made before 4:30 PM on Tuesday. There are 4 Standing Committee Chairs, which means that there are 4 proxy slots for emergencies, so this option is not gauranteed.

An “excused” absence is one in which you communicate with the Vice Speaker at least 24 hours in advance to let them know of your absence and set up a proxy. An “unexcused” absence is one in which you do not communicate with any members of Senate leadership and/or do not set up a proxy, and you are absent from the Senate meeting.

Deactivation constitutes a temporary suspension of a senator’s voting privileges. If you are in need of accommodations in order to remain in compliance with the attendance policy, please feel free to reach out to a member of the Senate Leadership. We are here to help and want to see you all succeed!

For Session 32, instead of 2 unexcused absences for the entire session, unexcused absences reset each Quarter. Meaning that Senators may accrue 2 unexcused absences per Academic Quarter without deactivation. However, if a Senator is deactivated, they must seek reactivation before their voting privileges are reinstated.

View the full Attendance Policy

Proxies

You can arrange for another active senator (a Senator friend or your Committee Chair) to fill in your spot and vote for you if you know you cannot attend a meeting. Before filling out the proxy form, please let the Vice Speaker know that somebody will proxy for you by 5:00 PM on Monday. If you cannot find someone to proxy for you, the Vice Speaker can help you find. Just email them in advance at asuwssvc@uw.edu!