STORY BY CORIE LYNN
The Student Government Association held their weekly meeting on February 28.
The meeting was dominated by business relating to allocations, but the reports given at the beginning ranged in topic.
President Schibi announced that Freshman retention for the new semester is high and that the virtual college is seeking to change its name. Currently, the “FHSU Online” is the leading choice for the new name.
Vice President Kirschbaum discussed a possible change in required courses for first-year students and an upcoming mini-conference on Open Educational Resources (OER).
Legislative Affairs Director Mountford reported that the process to make the free legal counseling that is available to FHSU students available to online students as well. President Schibi then elaborated that this change was at the suggestion of a student.
Community Relations Director Dougherty announced that the Landlord Fair is to be held on April 3.
During this fair, students will partner with local landlords to discuss issues as well as look at local properties.
Few committees gave reports during the meeting. However, Senator DeMers of the OER Task Force Committee did elaborate on Vice President Kirschbaum’s announcement of the OER mini-conference.
During the week, the OER Task Force prepared a presentation to be given at the conference. This presentation includes the results of a student survey on educational resources.
Following the reports, Dallas Dixon was installed as a new senator representing the Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics.
The latter half of the meeting was centered on allocations.
Several student organizations were in attendance that evening to hear the first reading of the allocations bill. These organizations also the chance to appeal their allocation requests during the Open Forum portion of the meeting.
A resolution for the February Student Leader of the Month was also read for the first time the evening.
During the Open Forum, the senators also discussed the state of the roads and sidewalks on the Fort Hays State campus.
This was in regards to the large amount of snow and ice that came the previous weekend.
Several senators noted that many spots around campus were still covered in ice and hoped for improvements in road treatment in the future.
Before the conclusion of the evening, the senators voted to postpone an appropriations bill by Epsilon Pi Tau until after Spring Break then passed an appropriations bill for TEECA to travel for competition.
The Student Government Association will reconvene on March 7.