Department of Student Engagement

Article XIII: Executive Board

Section 1 – Attendance Policy

Executive Board members shall attend all weekly meetings of the branch and may miss up to three meetings per semester, including excused and unexcused absences. If a member misses four meetings in a semester, they will be removed from the Executive Board at the discretion of the Student Union President, pending ⅔ (two-thirds) impeachment vote from the Senate. The following conditions shall apply to this attendance policy:

  1. Excused absences shall be given at the discretion of the Student Union President. Excused absences will still count toward the three total permitted absences, but will not result in any additional actions taken. For an absence to be excused, the officers must communicate the date and reason for absence 24 hours in advance. In the case of emergency, the officers shall make every reasonable attempt to communicate with the President at their earliest convenience. The said officers are still responsible for completing the weekly report in time unless otherwise excused by the President.
  2. In the event of a university emergency (including but not limited to a snow emergency or pandemic), university holiday, or a meeting scheduled outside the regular meeting time with less than one week's notice, no one should be penalized for absence from the meetings. However, all Executive Officers are still responsible for submitting their weekly reports to validate attendance at the discretion of the Student Union President, unless they inform the President with extenuating circumstances.
  3. The Student Union President, or a designee, shall maintain an accessible attendance document within the Executive Board which lists every officer and which meetings they have missed. 
  4. The Student Union President shall notify the officer after their third absence that another absence will lead to their removal. This message shall be sent to the officer’s official brandeis.edu email address, though the sender may choose, at their discretion, to notify them through additional means.
  5. If an elected Executive Officer is removed under this provision, an election may be held at the discretion of the Secretary within fifteen academic days, in accordance with the standing procedures specified in Article IX, Section 8 of the Constitution. If the removal is with respect to the Secretary, the election shall be held by the Student Union President following the appropriate procedures.
  6. The removal of appointed officials shall be replaced at the discretion of the President. If the appointed official in question is serving in an additional elected capacity in other branches(e.g East Quad Senator and Director of Outreach), they will retain the right to serve as an elected official of their respective branch pending the possibility of an impeachment vote or dismissal by the leader of their elected branches.

Section 2 – Meeting Procedures

  1. The Executive Board shall conduct weekly meetings in accordance with following procedures:
    1. Executive Board Updates by President
    2. Union Projects, Initiatives, and Sponsorships 
    3. Branch Updates by the respective branch heads regarding branch activities: 
      1. Senate, Vice President 
      2. Treasury, Head Treasurers 
      3. Judiciary, Chief Justice 
      4. Allocations Board, Chair 
    4. Discussion Topics convened at the discretion of the Executive Board 
    5. Officer Weekly Reports 
  2. Due to the scale and complexity of branch initiatives, attendance at Executive Board meetings shall be limited to those appointed or invited by the President and those positions allowed by the Constitution. Any matters discussed in the Executive Board meetings may be held confidential at the discretion of the Student Union President. The confidentiality of any such matters may be determined by a majority vote of those present at a meeting in which the matter is discussed. The President shall reserve the right to veto such a vote. There shall be no opportunity for reversal in the instance of a Presidential veto regarding confidentiality votes.

Section 3 – Communication Responsibilities

To foster effective line of communication and collaboration among branches, the Executive Board shall be held accountable for the following reporting responsibilities:

  1. Each Executive Officer shall report before the Senate at least once every semester
  2. Before the weekly meetings, each Executive Officer and branch head shall submit weekly reports detailing who they are meeting with and updates and progress on their projects, initiatives, and/or branch activities, to be included within the weekly emails dispersed to the Student Body. This applies to both present and absent members during the meetings.

Section 4 – Other Duties

  1. All Executive Officers shall hold at least one open office hour per week and meet regularly with their respective administration and constituencies. The time and location of this office hour shall be made publicly available to the Student Body. Representatives to the Board of Trustees shall hold office hours by appointment.

Section 5

The following positions’ membership on the Executive Board shall be evaluated according to the followings:

  1. The membership of the Executive Senator on the Executive Board shall be collectively evaluated each term by the President, Vice President, and the Senate accounting for the line of communication between the Senate and Executive Board on a case-by-case basis, The Executive Senator can either attend all meetings or only in the absence of the Vice President. In the event that the Vice President is unable to attend the Executive Board meeting, the Executive Senator shall be empowered to attend the meeting on the Vice President’s behalf to serve as a liaison between the Senate and Executive Board, in accordance with Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution. 
  2. The attendance of Chief Justice of the Judiciary, Head Treasurers and Allocations Board Chairs to Executive Board meetings shall be collectively evaluated each term by the President, the branch heads themselves, and their branches on a case-by-case basis. Regardless, such officers shall maintain communication with the President on a weekly basis. 
  3. If any or all of such officers serve on the Executive Board, they shall be held accountable to abiding by the branch policies outlined in this article. Failure to do so would result in removal of the Executive Board at the discretion of the President and confirmed by the Senate, though the officer in question reserves the right to serve at their elected capacity in accordance with Section 1. If they choose not to serve on the Executive Board, the President shall deliver the branch updates on their behalf.

Section 6 – Amendments to the Article

  1. Any amendments to this article must be approved by the Student Union President before reaching the Senate floor. The President may veto any amendments to this article. The Senate may, by a ⅔ (two-thirds) vote, overturn such veto.