Senate

Goals of Student Senate

  • Represent the student body to the faculty and administration of Cornell College
  • Communicate student opinion on institutional policy to the faculty, administration, and trustees
  • Approve new student organizations and clubs
  • Allocate the student activity fee

Structure of Senate

Student Senate is composed of an executive branch (called the Executive Council) and a legislative branch (called the General Assembly).  The General Assembly meets on the first three Tuesdays of the block to discuss student concerns, faculty legislation, requests for funding, and discuss constitutions of student organizations.

The Executive Council

The Executive Council is composed of the President, Vice President, Chair of Academic Affairs, Chair of Appropriations, Chair of Organizations, and Chair of Student Life.  The body's primary goals are:

  • Oversee the work of the standing committees
  • Provide recommendations to Student Senate based on long terms goals
  • Ensure that Senate's work is transparent to students

Standing Committees

Standing committees are organized to represent students in the major facets of life at Cornell.  The five standing committees are Academic Affairs, Appropriations, Elections, Organizations, and Student Life.  The Appropriations and Organizations committees work directly with student organizations to ensure that they understand the funding process and have an up-to-date constitution  The Student Life and Academic Affairs committees serve on faculty committees to express student concerns.  The Elections Committee oversees student elections, in accordance with Student Senate by-laws.

For more information or to get involved on Senate's standing committees, please contact the respective chair listed below.

  • Academic Affairs: Ben Garcia,  Bgarcia19@cornellcollege.edu
  • Appropriations:  Rubi Araiza Camba, raraizacamba20@cornellcollege.edu
  • Elections: MaryJo Schmidt, Mschmidt20@cornellcollege.edu 
  • Organizations: Lizzie Mombello,  Lmombello19@cornellcollege.edu
  • Student Life: Martin Rosenfeld, Mrosenfeld20@cornellcollege.edu 

General Assembly

The General Assembly is composed of sixteen class representatives, four from each class.  General Assembly members serve as the voice of their class and seek to represent their interests in the weekly Senate meetings. 

Class Committees

Each class has four representatives that meet weekly as a class committee.  These class committees work to receive feedback from their class and to discuss class specific concerns. The class president, listed below, will contact each class to inform them when and where these meetings will take place to encourage more student feedback and involvement.

For more information, please contact your class President below:

  • Freshman Class President: Clara Maganelles, cmaganelles22@cornellcollege.edu
  • Sophomore Class President: Maddie Huntzinger, mhuntzinger21@cornellcollege.edu
  • Junior Class President: 
  • Senior Class President: Vaughn Zittle, vzittle19@cornellcollege.edu

Additional Resources

Have more questions? Can't find what you're looking for?

  • Contact your class representatives
  • Contact an Executive Council member
  • Check out the Student Senate Constitution and By-Laws