BY CORIE LYNN
Of the many services offered to students at FHSU, its free legal counseling is one that is underutilized.
How to make students more aware and willing to use this service was a topic of discussion at the Student Government Association’s weekly meeting on Thursday, Oct. 31.
The meeting began with a report from President DeMers.
He first reminded the Student Senate that the Student Success Days policy, formerly known as the Dead Week Policy, is going before the Faculty Senate for a vote on Nov. 1.
During his week, he also attended a campus Open Educational Resource meeting to discuss the $12 course fee that will potentially be attached to OER course.
DeMers also announced that the new allocations tool is almost ready. A student organization will test the function before it becomes available to all organizations. The SGA is also planning to make a video and host workshops to teach organizations how to use the tool.
Vice President Musgrove gave his report following DeMers. During this time, he announced that the General Education Committee added American Sign Language as an option for the required general education course.
In her report, Legislative Affairs Director Wisley informed the Senate the services available through FHSU’s free legal counseling now include name changes for transgender and nonbinary individuals.
Community Relations Director Dougherty gave the final executive report. According to her, she spent her week debriefing following last week’s Town Hall and will hold meetings regarding the concerns students brought to the event.
Dougherty also stated that the Condom Campaign was held earlier in the day, which included free STI testing in the Student Health Center.
In her report, she also informed the Senate that the SGA will make a promotional snow day video and that plans for the Landlord Fair in February are underway.
Following the executive reports, the SGA committees gave their reports.
Few met during the week, but the Appropriations and Senate Affairs Committees both have bills up for second reading. The Senate Affairs Committee is also preparing for its review of the executive staff.
The Allocations Committee announced that it had its first meeting. The chair of the committee restated that a student organization is testing the new allocations tool to ensure that it works. The committee also discussed their timeline.
With the conclusion of the committee reports, a new senator was installed.
During the Open Forum, President DeMers informed the Senate that he plans on emailing facility planning director Dana Cunningham about the potential for installing a sidewalk between the President’s house and Stroup Hall.
In the past, this sidewalk was not seen as feasible because of the cost. DeMers, however, is considering options for the sidewalk such as it being made of donated bricks or paying it through the Public Safety Fund.
In the Open Forum, the Senators discussed how they could better encourage students to use the university’s free legal counseling.
The hope is that the expansion of services offered through will increase utilization, but they would also like to make the thought of meeting with a lawyer less intimidating to students.
Following the Open Forum, the Senate read three bills for the first time and voted on five bills.
The first bill passed that evening was to install Efe Osaghae as a student senator.
The Senate then passed three bills to appropriate funds to three students attending the National Criminology Conference, at which they will each present their undergraduate research.
The final bill the Senate passed was to appropriate funds to the Gender and Sexuality Alliance in order for them to buy a button maker, a bill that the Senate had tabled at a previous meeting.
The senators then gave their final announcements, including Finding Common Ground on Nov. 20 and an encouragement to have students apply to SGA.
With the conclusion of the meeting, the Senate adjourned. The Student Senate will reconvene on Thursday, Nov. 7.