The UW Oshkosh Student Association assembly discussed why it will not vote on legislation and more university COVID concerns in their first meeting of the semester.

“Going into this new semester, with all the room attendance policies and limitations, we couldn’t accurately project and guarantee the level of participation the assembly needed to meet quorum,” OSA office manager Tyler Klaver said. “So that affected voting and passing legislation through the body.”

To meet quorum requirements, the OSA assembly needs representatives from at least 51% of active student organizations. With the new virtual meetings and lowered attendance, it may be difficult for the assembly to regularly meet quorum.

“Last spring when the campus shut down, the max number of participants who participated virtually was maybe 22 or 23, and we were able to continue because what happened was unprecedented,” Klaver said. “We kind of relaxed the attendance policy, but this semester we can’t do that.”

Klaver said because of the risk and the inability to guarantee quorum to meet, the OSA can’t have legislation waiting in for the assembly’s approval.

OSA Senate will continue to meet and vote on legislation.

Missy Burgess, OSA co-adviser, addressed an assembly member’s concerns about the university shutting down after the Oshkosh Area School District made the decision to transition to all-virtual learning starting Sept. 24.

“On the emergency operation committee, we look at the data every day to determine what we should do,” Burgess said. “They meet with public health on a regular basis, and at this point — it’s always out there — but I can tell you that there are other measures they would look to first.”

Burgess said it seems less likely that the spread of COVID on campus is related to going to in-person classes.

“While Oshkosh Area School District decisions definitely impact campus, and campus staff have kids at home, the two aren’t married together,” Burgess said.

“Doing whatever we can to stay safe — I think that’s what’s going to allow us to stay open,” Burgess said.