GSS RESOLUTIONS

*****To view GSS Resolutions please click here*****

Welcome to the General Student Senate Resolution Page. 

First, an explanation of how the UMaine Senate Resolutions are organized.  To begin, resolutions are organized by the Senate which wrote them.  Senate Sessions run for an entire year, beginning in early October.  The higher number the Senate Session, the more current the resolutions are.

The resolutions from each session are numbered in a specific way.  The average resolution id string looks like this:

25S - 55 - 2 - 18 - 04

The "25S" in the above example means "The 25th Senate Resolution".  If it was a resolution from the 23rd Senate, it would be labeled "23S" to begin with.  This is to quickly let a reader know the particular era the resolution was from.

The "55" is the actual number of the resolution.  The numbers begin at 1 each new Senate session, and are labeled in order of introduction.

The "2-18-04" in the label is the date in which it was introduced to Senate.  Just that simple.

The Resolution has several parts.  What follows is a sample resolution, in its complete form.  After the heading is an explanation of what each section is for:

University of Maine Student Government, Inc.

STUDENT SENATE RESOLUTION FORM

Date Submitted:  10/21/03                                            Resolution #: 25S-12-10-21-03

An Act To:  

This section is a brief, usually one sentence explanation of what the resolution is intended to do.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE GENERAL STUDENT SENATE AS FOLLOWS:

This section is a detailed breakdown of what the resolution intends to do.  Usually it is several paragraphs going into great detail.  When policy changes are made, often the old and new policies are quoted here.

STATEMENT OF FACT:  

This section is an explanation of the reason behind the action being taken.  It is also usually a paragraph or two, making the case for why the action called for in the resolution is necessary.

SPONSOR:  This is the author of the resolution.  For example, "John Smith, LAS Senator".

CO-SPONSORS:  This is any co-authors, or vocal supporters, written similar to the sponsor line.

COMMITTEE ASSIGNED:  Each resolution is sent to a committe for review.  This is the section which identifies where it was sent.

RECOMMENDATION:  This is the vote of the committee on the resolution.  Resolutions must first pass committee to be brought up in Senate.

SENATE OPINION:  The opinion of the Senate - Either Approved, Rejected, Tabled or any number of actions.

DATE OF OPINION:  The date the Senate Opinion was made.

VOTE:  The vote of the Senate.  Different resolutions require different approval majorities.

That is the basic format of a GSS Resolution.  If you have any further questions about Resolutions, please contact the GSS President.