The “kickoff documents” presented to the Senate outline steps that the groups intend to take to complete their goals, assign those tasks to group members, set deadlines for the completion of tasks, and define metrics for determining the success of the group’s efforts.

“As a Senate, we’re focusing on success metrics,” said Grand Marshal Chris Mather. “What are the deliverables? What can we look back on and say, ‘That’s what we did?’”

The Senate reviewed each of the documents and held limited discussions on some of the details. Four of the five documents were signed by every senator in attendance. The fifth—a project to create a student handbook for incoming freshmen—was held off until the next meeting so that the group members could determine specifically what would be going into their guide.

As the groups work to make progress on their tasks over the coming weeks, the Senate as a whole will evaluate the progress of the groups against the plans outlined in these documents.

While the groups now have specific plans to follow, Mather pointed out that the documents are not immutable. “These are documents that are living and moving and changing,” he said.