General Assembly

​Meetings

• Meeting time: Wednesdays in the Autumn and Spring semesters at 6:30 pm

• Location: Ohio Union Senate Chamber (Second Floor) or on Zoom at go.osu.edu/57thGA

• Open Forum for the Public:

  • Time is allotted on the agenda for an open forum for the public, typically at the beginning of each meeting.

  • Any member of the public not listed on the agenda may address the General Assembly for a maximum of 2 minutes (per the General Assembly standing rules).

About the General Assembly

• The role of the General Assembly is to draft, debate, and pass resolutions that are meant to represent the voice of students regarding pertinent issues on campus.

  • Resolutions passed by the General Assembly carry the weight of the entire undergraduate student body and are used to:

    • Direct the policy of USG (e.g. “USG supports undergraduate efforts to…”)

    • Or to ask for action on behalf of the undergraduate student body (e.g. “The undergraduate student body believes that…”)

• The General Assembly serves as the legislative branch of the Undergraduate Student Government and consists of 43 students elected by their peers to represent the interests of a specific living area (On-Campus or Off-Campus) or academic unit.

• The 6 directors of the Issues Committees (appointed by the President) also sit in, but do not have voting rights in the General Assembly.

• The General Assembly must operate in accordance with the following documents and procedures:

  • Constitution of the Undergraduate Student Government

  • Organizational Bylaws

  • Standing Rules

    • The General Assembly operates under Revised Robert's Rules, however, the Standing Rules supersede them when they contradict each other.

• The General Assembly also contains several committees that can be found in the drop-down menu to the left.

Passing a Resolution

What process does a resolution undergo before being passed in the General Assembly?

1. A member drafts a resolution, often with the help of co-sponsors, and occasionally efforts from other organizations or individuals, not it the General Assembly.

2. The resolution is submitted to the Steering Committee by the Sunday before the week the General Assembly session is set to occur.

3. The Steering Committee can either:

   1. Approve the resolution and place it on the agenda, at which point it is brought to the floor at the next General Assembly session

   2. Refer the resolution back to committee or send it back to the sponsor for further review

4. In urgent or time-sensitive cases, a member can bring a resolution directly to the floor with a two-thirds vote.

Note: This is a general outline of the procedures that must be followed in this process. For more information, please refer to the Standing Rules.

Responsibility of Senators

• The 43 elected Senators serve are elected to one-year terms in the Spring USG elections by those in either their living area or academic college.

• Senators are responsible for making themselves available to their constituents by:

  • Hosting constituency events or other methods of outreach

  • Being responsive to emails and other means of communication

  • Sponsoring or co-sponsoring legislation to benefit their constituents

Presiding Officers of the General Assembly

• Speaker of the General Assembly: George Bernard (Bernard.306@osu.edu)

  • Serves as the chair and Speaker of the General Assembly, and is head of the Legislative Branch

• Parliamentarian: Oliver Griffith (Griffith.1097@osu.edu)

  • Responsible for maintaining the rules and order of the General Assembly

• Secretary: Lily Evans (Evans.2758@osu.edu)

  • Records the minutes for each session and takes attendance