The Student Government Association judicial council decided that officers can now serve office hours away from the office.

SGA Chief Justice Stuart Kenderes said the council decided to count meetings, SGA forums and other SGA-related activities as office hours.

He said time spent out of the office can now count for required office hours as long as a week’s notice and a written description is provided for the out-of-office activity.

Kenderes said the decision allows SGA officers to maximize student engagement with more creative and constructive uses of their time.

“President Smiley’s probably getting more accomplished out of the office approaching students than sitting in the office,” Kenderes said.

SGA President Kevin Smiley said he spends about half of his office hours away from the office talking to students or at meetings and forums.

All members of the executive branch, as well as the speaker of the senate and the secretary of the senate, are required to serve office hours, according to the SGA constitution.

Each of them has different office hour requirements.

Two officers haven’t met their required hours since the start of the fall semester.

Angelika Masero, director of public relations, is recorded as meeting her required 10 hours a week one time this semester.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Smiley said. “She hasn’t missed a deadline yet.”

Masero said she works outside the office often to meet SGA project deadlines because the organization’s computers lack programs, such as Adobe InDesign, that she uses to create posters and other materials.

She said she’ll start documenting her time served out of the office weekly.

Aaron Pawley, SGA director of Academic and Student Affairs, also didn’t meet his office hours one week.

He said he had swine flu, or the H1N1 virus, during the week of Oct. 12 and was excused from his office hour duties. He made up those missed hours in later weeks.

Other officers have served more than the minimum required by the constitution.

Administrative Vice President Justin Thurman is more than 30 hours over the minimal requirement set by the constitution.

He said managing the SGA’s $110,000 budget takes up a lot of his time.

Kenderes said the judicial council requires that the majority of office hours be served in the office.

They were concerned that officers might take advantage of the new decision by spending all of their hours outside the office, he said.

Smiley said the out-and-abouts allow officers to be more available to students than sitting in a basement, but if they need help, students can always find someone in the office.

“We’ve never turned a student away because there was no one there to help,” Smiley said.