Freshman Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators will begin holding weekly office hours this semester on Monday in an effort to increase student involvement with Senate activities.
Citing a lack of communication between representatives and those they represent, the senators will now meet every Monday night in the campus center. They hope to make participation in student government more accessible for the Class of 2012.
While the TCU Constitution requires all senators to make themselves available to the student body for at least two hours a week, many members of the TCU's legislative body feel that student participation at those designated times has been minimal at best.
"We've tried two things: sitting in the Senate office and sitting in the dorms, actually going to where people live," freshman Senator Joel Greenberg said. "It would be nice to be able to have more open communication with our constituents than just asking for votes."
The senators hope that the campus center's central location and relaxed atmosphere will encourage freshmen to seek out their representatives, opening a dialogue between senators and students.
All seven freshman senators will attend the new weekly meetings, which will take place from 10 p.m. to midnight in room 208 of the campus center.
"If a student brings the freshman senators a pressing issue, we have a week to work on it and if necessary take it to the entire Senate in the form of discussion or a resolution," Greenberg said. The Senate meets as a body on Sunday nights.
Freshman Senator Elliott McCarthy said that moving office hours out from behind closed doors would make Senate members more approachable.
"I personally think that office hours should be very public and open to walk-ins and people just coming up to us and saying how they feel," McCarthy said.
Along with setting up a communication channel between senators and students, Greenberg said that he would like the meetings to promote a dialogue between members of the Freshman Class Council and the Senate. The senators held a preliminary planning meeting last Monday and invited members of the Freshman Class Council to attend the weekly office hours.
"Having them in the room gives them a chance to tell us what they're already planning or what their struggles are," Greenberg said.
If not many students show up, he added, the freshman senators can use the time to confer with each other on projects and other Senate business.
