About the Senate

Senate revamp

Starting in Spring of 2026, Senators will be democratically elected. The idea to create Senate Elections began as early as Spring of 2023 with a call to survey the student body on how they wished Senators were chosen. Through the results, it became clear that students wanted direct elections, specifically by college/program or by special interest, for academically proportional Senate seats.

By switching to proportional representation, the Senate becomes truly representative of the student body. There is no unfair overrepresentation of academic colleges. Under this new system, there comes more power for the Senate and, therefore, SGA as a whole.

In addition to these changes, SGA wanted to still recognize that students have needs and interests outside of academics and wanted to give them a way to directly advocate for them. So, it was decided that every Senator would represent those interests through a “Community Constituency.” This Constituency is intended to diversify, and therefore improve, the Senate by allowing for direct representation of groups such as student organizations, Greek life, and Cultural or Spiritual life centers. The addition of a Community Constituency also supports the survey’s question 3, which showed that while 45.93% of students wanted constituencies based off of academic college/program, a close 33.28% wanted them to be based off of student interests such as student organizations and cultural centers. Learn more about the constituencies on the Application Page.

Purpose & Powers

The Senate acts as the voice of the student body within SGA and its interactions with Northeastern’s Administration. Its decisions can dictate what SGA advocates for, how it functions, and they can be released to indicate the opinion of the student body on an issue. The Senate is where a large deal of SGA’s power comes from and resides; it serves as our direct connection to the will of the students.

Through the Senate, undergraduate students are able to represent the wants and opinions of their constituents: other students. Senators directly contribute to the discussions happening within SGA, and therefore with Northeastern’s Administration, by debating and voting on legislation. Passed legislation then becomes a mandate for the executive branch of SGA and catalyzes initiatives, projects, and/or discussions with Administration. Senators are also encouraged to write legislation to bring their constituents’ issues to the forefront of discussion in the Senate and, if passed, the rest of the SGA and Administration.

Additionally, the Senate has the powers and/or responsibility to:

Approve SGA’s budget
Override an Executive veto
Impeach elected members of SGA
Approve the solicitation of donations and any other resources from students by or for any outside organization
Retain all other powers vested in the Association not specifically reserved by the Constitution and Bylaws