The University of Rhode Island Student Senate passed three bills Wednesday surrounding the approval of the amendments to its constitution, while extending a controversial judiciary proposal aimed at removing executive leadership from office.
Former Faculty Senate President Evan Preisser attended the meeting to share a presentation about the accomplishments of the senate during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Key accomplishments included the implementation of a “second-grade option” for a student’s first 30 credits if a student earns a grade of C-minus or lower, alongside a new rule that students can’t take a course more than four times. Pressier also mentioned the creation of the President’s List, an idea that came from the Student Senate.
Presisser also shared the importance of the Student Senate to the voice of the university.
“Whether or not your fellowship is recognized, they rely on you to represent them,” Pressier said. “You’re doing good work, I know how important this job is.”
Student senators shared several concerns, including campus parking. Pressier mentioned URI will construct a car garage in the near future. However, there are long term concerns about the destruction of grass fields and the cost of the project.
Senators also recommended adding a mandatory reading day for midterm exams. Pressier noted that the academic calendar runs late into the fall that classes are held on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
The meeting concluded with committee and executive branch reports. Senators are working on parking issues, and collected qualitative data on concerns about student Dining Dollars.
Students spent a total of $146,000 in dining dollars on merchandising. In median store items, such as ice cream and ramen, $2.7 million were spent. The senate continues to work closing with dining staff to review the data.
While the senate passed two bills aimed at finalizing its constitution over the next four weeks, they suspended the debate on a controversial judiciary proposal. The proposed bill would create a process to remove the president and vice president from office if they fail to carry out their executive duties. The debate will continue next week.
The Student Senate will meet next on Wednesday in Room 300 in the Memorial Union at 6:30 p.m. for a presentation by University President Marc Parlange and Vice President of Student Affairs Ellen Reynolds.
