Following elections, every student Senator will be assigned 2-3 homerooms of the same graduation year, including their own homeroom. After the Senate calls a homeroom visit Senators will be expected to visit each of their assigned homerooms over the course of the next three homeroom periods.
The following will be placed at the end of homeroom announcements beginning on the Thursday after the Senate calls a homeroom visit. This announcement will run for the following three homeroom periods:
“Student Senators will be visiting homerooms for the next two weeks. Expect a Senator from your graduation year to come into our homeroom to present Senate-related information and solicit feedback.”
Calling a homeroom visit A committee may call a homeroom visit when specific feedback or information is required from the general student population. A homeroom visit may also be called to notify students after a bill or resolution has been passed or as need arises.
The committee that calls the visit must write a set of guidelines that will be distributed to all Senators before the visits begin. These guidelines will structure discussion and ensure uniformity in information related by Senators and in type of student response. Senators are encouraged to take notes based on these guidelines or otherwise record information received in their assigned homerooms. Guidelines must be submitted to either the Policy or Executive committee for approval prior to distribution.
Discussion of homeroom visits Homeroom visit discussion must be inserted into the agenda of the first Senate meeting after homeroom visits have been completed. This discussion will be limited to fifteen minutes but may be extended upon a suspension of the rules. One the discussion is completed, Senators are expected to submit any notes taken in their assigned homerooms to the chair of the committee that called the visit.
Rationale: Student Senators represent their entire class, so they should be required to meet with a constituent group of classmates at certain times. This will spread awareness of Senate’s actions while providing the Senate with useful information about student opinions.
Having specific guidelines will make Senators more comfortable speaking to homerooms and will ensure that collected information is relevant to issues at hand. Taking notes makes it easier to present this information to the Senate. Approval by the Policy or Executive Committee makes certain that the guidelines are sufficiently specific and pertinent.
Including time to discuss homeroom visits during Senate meeting allows information to be related and effectively used. Limiting discussion prevents an excess of repetitive or irrelevant information. Giving any notes to the correct committee chair ensure that all information recoded by Senators, whether or not it was discussed by the Senate as a whole, is received by those who requested it.
Announcements in homerooms alert students and teachers to the visits before hand. This will reduce Senator disruption of homeroom periods and will encourage Senators to visit homerooms on the assigned dates.