The following covers the meeting on Jan. 22.
CLIMATE CHECK
Senior Senator Jackson Delhagen requested that Facilities physically mark alternate routes to the construction on campus. President Joy Areola stated that routes are available online. Senator Delhagen is contacting Residential Life Coordinators in sophomore and junior residential halls to put up signage for routes.
First-year Senator John De Hoyos raised concerns about students having mold in their showers in the Harold D. Herndon and Albert Herff-Beze Residence Halls following the winter break. President Areola stated that while resident assistants do sanitation checks after students leave, they do not do checks before students return to campus. President Areola encouraged students to submit work orders and consult with their RAs.
Senior Senator Pierce Jackson asked if the William H. Bell Center would receive new equipment, specifically requesting a Smith machine. President Areola stated that the Bell Center has a rotating schedule for changing equipment and that the Bell Center isn’t set to change its equipment for another few years. Junior Senator Sabrina Cinque requested updates on City Vista gym equipment, which President Areola will look into.
OFFICER REPORTS
SGA introduced the new Associate Dean of Students, Benjamin Harris. They also introduced the new Inclusion and Belonging Chair Omar Ratrut, who took the role after former Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair Trinity Hatchett graduated.
Treasurer John Ferretti presented feedback for the funding process of student organizations. His proposed solutions included explaining why organizations are being partially funded in follow-up emails, increasing thoroughness in preliminary meetings and creating a more accessible link for the SGA funding requests. Treasurer Ferretti also proposed that SGA provide links to cheaper items to lower costs if they were found in meetings. Currently, the link for SGA funding can be found near the top of the SGA webpage and in SGA’s Linktree.
Judicial Chair Emelie Salehi presented changes to the bylaws and the constitution. SGA will vote on changing the bylaws in a month, and students can vote on changes to the constitution soon. Judicial Chair Salehi proposed the following changes:
- Changing the bylaws requiring cabinet members to attend meetings with advisors
- Changing grammar and wording in the description for the chief of staff
- Transferring the oversight of parliamentary procedures from the chief of staff to the judicial chair
- Transferring absences of SGA members to be reviewed by the chief of staff, rather than the judicial chair
- Updating the rules on meeting minutes
- Outlining the requirements for SGA members to earn cords for graduation
- Removing Article 2, Section 11, which requires SGA members to be sworn in by the dean of students
- Changing wording in Articles 3 and 4 to better reflect the current role of SGA’s president and vice president
- Adding to Article 5 to clarify senators’ duties
- Renaming the DEI chair to the inclusion and belonging chair in Article 6
- Removing part of Article 8, Section 4, as SGA no longer uses demerits
- Requiring 50% of the vote to become president or vice president and introducing a ranked voting system since the constitution’s definition of “majority” was ambiguous in Article 9, Section 2
- Adding a definition for “vacancy” in Article 9, Section 3