Student Government Association officials hope stricter guidelines will crack down on poor student senate attendance.

SGA justices announced Tuesday that they clarified the organization’s attendance policy.

The old attendance policy gave vague attendance requirements, said Wade Pierce, speaker of the senate.

With the new policy, senators are allowed three excused absences with prior notice given to Pierce and one unexcused absence per semester.

Senator Theodore Harden, a graduate student from Otisville, N.Y., was removed from SGA Tuesday for excessive unexcused absences.

SGA chief justice Stuart Kenderes said Lexington sophomore Vashae Swope, an SGA senator, was also called before the judicial council for excessive unexcused absences.

He said the council voted for Swope to remain a senator because they felt she has potential that could benefit SGA.

The judicial council first started discussing the attendance issue in mid-October after some justices attended senate meetings and observed low attendance and senators leaving meetings early, Kenderes said.

“The senate can’t function if people aren’t showing up,” he said.

Fort Knox sophomore Austin Wingate, an SGA senator, said the public relations committee is suffering because of poor attendance.

Since the resignation of the public relations committee’s only other regularly attending member, Wingate said he’s often the only member at the meetings.

“If they don’t show up to the meetings, then progress cannot be achieved,” he said.

Kenderes said committee meetings are important because legislation comes from those meetings.

Pierce said it’s important for senators to regularly attend meetings because the senate can’t vote on legislation without a simple majority.

Senate attendance hasn’t yet fallen below a simple majority — one more than half of the senate — but there have been times when senators leave meetings early. By the end of those meetings, the senate almost risked not meeting quorum, the minimal amount of senators needed to vote on legislation, Pierce said.

After their observations, the justices looked to the SGA constitution and bylaws for an answer to the attendance problem, but neither specified how many absences were excessive for senators, Kenderes said.

He said senator inactivity and excessive absences won’t be tolerated like they were in the past.

In the past, some senators weren’t removed for fear that the senate would be unable to replace vacant positions, Kenderes said.

“Now we have plenty of interest, and we’re not afraid to remove senators,” he said. “They might have to learn the hard way.”