Issue Groups

Legislative Semester students have the unique opportunity to collectively create a vision of the world as they would like it to be by authoring bills on issues of their choosing.  Students to research and write bills in “Issue Groups”.

In order to facilitate the process of selecting issues and forming groups of students with similar interests, the early weeks of the semester include many opportunities to explore problems that students see in the world around them.  On Issue Declaration Day a first come first served process allows pairs of students to "claim" issues they want to address through legislation.  Then students work together in groups of 3-4 to craft a bill that addresses a problem related to their issue.

Each group spends several weeks doing in-depth research investigating their issue and coming up with ideas for a bill to address the root causes of the problem. This research is the basis for a position paper, the text of the bill, and a co-authored Bill Sponsor Speech.  

The Rules Committee, with a representative from each class section, manages the complex process where students choose bill topics on a first come, first served basis.