Normally, business items to be brought before the Senate are reviewed by the Senate Executive Committee before becoming a Senate agenda item. Business items may also be introduced at the Senate from the floor. This page is a guide to preparing documents for the Executive Committee or the Senate.

Resolutions

Prepare resolutions with your resolved clauses first, followed by a rationale. Laudatory resolutions may still include Whereas clauses. Be advised that according to Robert's Rules, the resolved clauses are discussed and potentially amended, first. The Senate will have to also vote to include the rationale in the document they are considering. This aspect of Robert's Rules encourages you to write strong resolved clauses that may not be dependent on a rationale.

If resolutions have passed through other committees, the names of those committees and the legislative history of the resolution should be provided in a cover sheet to the actual resolution itself. If the resolution is from a committee other than a Senate committee, a list of committee members is also desired.

New Curricular Programs or Program revisions

New curricular programs and program revisions must go through the Educational Policies committee. New curricular program proposals should provide a clear rationale for the creation of the program, details of the curriculum, and impact on the department or departments in terms of faculty workload, fiscal resources and current curriculum.

Revisions of programs should provide a cover sheet to the actual curricular changes describing the rationale for the changes and any impacts as described above. Also, the old program and new program should be compared to clarify the change(s).

More information about curricular revision can be found in the Curriculum Guide. All curricular forms are on the Curriculum Guide website.

Policies

If the policy is a revision of an existing policy, the proposed version should come to the Senate showing the proposed changes with strikeouts for deletions and italics for additions. A cover sheet should include the following: rationale for the changes, summary of the changes, any known history of the policy, and the outcome of reviews by other committees.

If it is a new policy, the cover sheet should explain the rationale for the policy, how it was developed, and what other bodies were consulted for feedback.

Special Written Reports

Written reports to the Senate should have an executive summary as a cover sheet to the report, noting the significant items or findings of the report.

Other items

Items that are not resolutions, policies or related to programs should clearly state what is being asked of the Senate and should include any items cited above that are pertinent to the document.