The Student Union Senate unanimously passed all five of the bylaw amendments that Senator Joseph Coles ’22 and Union Director of Residential Living Nancy Zhai ’22 proposed at the previous week’s meeting.

The new bylaws covered a range of issues, including endorsements of candidates for certain Union positions, Executive Board reports, Union election procedures and Student Union Judiciary office hours.

Coles also presented a new bylaw that he said would “simplify the language around club status.” The amendment separates clubs into three “tiers,” equivalent to what is known now as recognized, chartered and secured clubs. Tier 1 clubs would now be referred to as “unchartered,” removing the term “recognized club” from the lexicon entirely. If passed, Coles said clubs would be notified of the terminology change over the summer.

Coles also informed the Senate that the Club Support Committee voted to fully recognize the Biochemistry Club and the Students Demand Action Club, both of which started as probationary clubs last semester.

Student Union President-elect Krupa Sourirajan ’23 then went over the proposed Union budget for the next fiscal year. The budget, totalling $53,000, is $8,000 less than the budget from the 2021 fiscal year. It covers the operating costs of all the Union branches, as well as supplies for events and projects. The Senate will be allocated $21,000 of the budget. The Senate typically spends $7,500 each semester on the Midnight Buffet, one of various events that they host.

The Sip Chip budget was set at $1,000, down from $5,000 last year since the Union will be working more with the Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center.

The money allocated for Union projects rose $1,000, for a total of $16,500, to replace the Lyft subsidy which was cut out in the proposed budget. Part of the money added to the projects’ budget is to cover expenses from last year, when the Union set aside $8,000 to reimburse students for travel expenses during the accelerated move-out due to the pandemic. 

The Senate voted to approve the budget, with 13 in favor, three opposed and eight either absent or abstaining.

The last Senate meeting of the academic year is scheduled for next Sunday, May 2.