STORY BY CORIE LYNN
The Student Government Association’s latest meeting was held on February 14th.
Being as several of the executive members were absent, the meeting was led by Legislative Affairs Director Mountford.
During the executive reports, President Schibi and LAD Mountford recounted the success of Higher Ed Day, an event that took several senators to the State Capital to meet with legislators.
Schibi also discussed that the search for a Chief Communication Officer is coming to a close, that the SGA is beginning to coordinate with Tiger Media Network for coverage of the upcoming election season, and that the Black & Gold Academy deadline is March 25th.
Community Relations Director Dougherty discussed the upcoming Big Event. There will be a push for volunteers with applications available on TigerLink.
The committees gave reports following the executives. This includes two bills to be read in an upcoming meeting of the Appropriations Committee and a bill in the Senate Affairs Committee to be read for the first time. The Student Relations & Involvement Committee is working through the logistics of the Big Event and the Allocations Committee is holding budget hearings.
During the open forum, Senator Franek discussed that a constituent had heard rumors that there were plans to expand the Wellness Center. These rumors were confirmed false during the forum, but it created a discussion amongst the senators concerning the use of the gym by students.
The senators also discussed the new website during the Open Forum. At the previous meeting, the senators’ noted where they thought it could be improved. There are no updates for the website at this time, but the executive members will send the notes to the appropriate person.
Before the close of the forum, the Senate held a revote for the members of the Elections Committee. This was because the bylaws stated that the committee is to seat five members rather than the seven elected at the previous senate meeting.
Later in the meeting, the Senate passed two bills.
The first was to grant funding to TEECA in order to buy new equipment for the organization.
The second granted funding to the Help Starts Here Learning Community for the group’s upcoming service trip to Denver.
Both groups sent representatives to answer questions prior to the vote of the bills.
The meeting adjourned after short announcements by the senators.