Quizzes, tests and projects during the week preceding finals may be prohibited if the University Council approves the Student Government Association’s Senate Resolution 20-11.

The resolution, approved with a 25-1-1 vote at SGA’s senate meeting Tuesday night, would create “a Preparation Week for the students of the University of Georgia” that prevents professors from assigning major tests, projects and quizzes during the week.

Matthew Martin, a Franklin College senator and main proponent of the resolution, said the idea behind “Preparation Week” is to prevent activities that hinder students from adequately preparing for final exams.

“Students should not be expected to have multiple quizzes and projects the week before final exams. You’re overloaded with too much work to do, and on top of that, you have to prepare for your finals,” said Martin, a sophomore genetics major from Dothan, Ala.

“We’re trying to make it so that teachers can’t assign work that week.”

Martin said several of the University’s peer institutions have similar policies concerning the week before exams. Although some of those institutions give students an entire week off from school, he said the resolution does not give students any days off or alter the academic calendar.

He said the resolution, if passed by University Council and approved by the administration, would apply to extracurricular activities as well.

When asked about reading day and students not utilizing it, Martin responded, “We definitely looked into this as a committee and our reaction was that we couldn’t base our decision on the worst students at the University. The worst students will be downtown on reading day and the best students will be studying.”

The earliest this resolution could take effect would be in the 2009-2010 academic year “because of the way University Council’s calendar is set up,” Martin said. “Students will have to wait a minimum of two years before this resolution can be put into effect.”

After the senate approved the resolution, Chief Justice Katie McCabe presented the Judicial Rules and Procedures for the Supreme Court, a document outlining the Supreme Court’s duties and procedures the senate will debate at its next meeting.

“Everything that’s included in this document is included for a reason,” McCabe said. “It’s what’s best for the organization and ultimately what’s best for the student body. Through these guidelines, we feel that this document is a building block for the accountability of this organization.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the Internal Affairs Committee and the senate members present approved the appointment of Jackson Sprayberry, a freshman from Rossville, and Ryan Russell, a sophomore from Flintstone, as senators representing the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.