Climate Check:

President Danny Nguyen opened climate check with an announcement that it was Charles Robles’, food service director, last day on campus. President Nguyen relayed a message to SGA on Robles’ behalf thanking the senators and announcing that the new ice cream machine would be installed in Mabee dining hall on April 6.Vice President Donya Ahmadi reported her personal experience in the Coates Library bathroom in which a rat ran over her foot and she saw dead rats caught in sticky traps. President Nguyen recommended emailing Ernesto Gonzalez, associate director of facilities services, and submitting a work order to have the traps removed.

Sophomore Senator Allison Waters provided an update on the safety concerns regarding the baseball field she reported the week before. According to an email Senator Waters received from Seth Asbury, associate athletic director for facilities and event management, in the short term the athletic department will be putting up signage to warn students about potential fly balls; in the long term, the department will look at additional netting.

Advisor Jamie Thompson stated that a group of faculty who will evaluate the student feedback evaluation process were interested in receiving student input. Advisor Thompson asked senators to provide feedback.
Officer Reports:

President Nguyen reported that the search for a vice president of student affairs and a vice president for inclusive excellence were underway. He also stated that students will be receiving more email updates regarding the transition to Chartwells soon.

Junior Senator Danae Barkocy asked whether Mabee Dining Hall will be open this summer. President Nguyen and Advisor Thompson confirmed that there will be food available on campus during the summer.

President Nguyen asked if constituents were reporting issues with the housing selection process. LRC Dario Leal stated that there were some complaints about the process being unfair – specifically concerning selection times – but noted that is the case every year. President Nguyen advised emailing Bret Biance, director of residential life, to ask for an explanation on the rationale behind how times were determined.

President Nguyen announced that a transition dinner would replace the last SGA meeting of the semester on April 26.

USO Funding:

SGA has divided budget presentations from university sponsored organizations (USOs) over three meetings. After the presentations, SGA will deliberate and vote on funding on April 19.

Trinity University Student Ambassadors (TUSA)

Sydney Rhodes, Aliya Jackson and Elyshia Danaher presented a budget request on behalf of TUSA, requesting $26,890 for the 2023-2024 school year. The proposed budget includes increased compensation, which will allow them to increase wages for their co-directors and compensate their entire executive staff. One concern about their budget, raised by junior Senator Kyle Rubovits, regarded several line items where TUSA requested the same amount of funding despite marking them as having zero expenditure. Danaher explained that those line items represent events that did not happen this year or were sponsored by alumni relations due to TUSA onboarding new advisors this year. Now that the onboarding process is complete, TUSA will be hosting and paying for these events in the upcoming school year.

Trinitonian

Sarah Fisher, Rachel Oliver and Shivani Selladurai presented on behalf of the Trinitonian, requesting $62,570 for the 2023-2024 school year. The proposed budget included increased wages for the staff, and Selladurai explained the unique wage breakdown since Trinitonian staff is paid per assignment rather than at an hourly rate. The senate noted a few issues with the budget proposal that led to a request for the Trinitonian to resubmit their budget as well as a meeting with Melissa McMullen, head of the campus board of publications. These issues included a total requested amount from the student activity fee not reflective of the increased wage line item, an incorrect number reported in the printing cost line item and a misunderstanding of how budgetary rollover functions for Campus Publications.