BY CORIE LYNN
The first Student Government Association meeting of the semester centered on changes to be made to the organization’s governing documents. The greatest change planned for these documents is the organization of the judicial branch.
SGA President DeMers first addressed the changes to the document in his report that evening, informing the senators that they were working to put a framework in place for the judicial branch.
The discussion continued during the open forum of the meeting. It was then that Vice President Musgrove explained that the governing document at present left decisions regarding offenses to the SGA Vice President. They hoped that changes to the document would create a system of sending offenses to the chief justice for decision.
After this discussion, Senator Becker informed the senate that he thought the creation of the judicial branch was too rushed and that this change to need more depth of planning than he believed it was given.
In addition to the creation of the judicial branch, the SGA is hoping to change how fee reviews are addressed in the organization’s governing documents. They plan to create a bill that would decrease fees or keep them the same should an organization send them late to the SGA for review.
While the information on these changes made up the bulk of his report, DeMers also informed the Student Senate that he attended a KBOR meeting to discuss plans to change the student health insurance policy to provide students with lower premiums.
With the conclusion of his report, he stated that the Academic Council was editing the Student Success Days policy as well as thanking the Faculty Senate President for attending the night’s meeting.
The executive reports continued with Musgrove stating that the SGA master calendar is to be finalized within the week and that the General Education Committee hopes to implement the new general education requirements in the Fall of 2021.
Treasurer Applegate reported that he spent his week answering questions about the spring allocations process and assisting student organizations with their budgets.
Legislative Affairs Director Wisely followed with her report, during which she gave her progress on Higher Education Day planning and March to the Pole.
The final report, from Community Relations Director Dougherty, explained the Feb. 6 Town Hall will take a different format, splitting senators and students up by college to invite more conversation between the two groups.
In addition to this, Dougherty reported that the Big Event this Spring, because it will be the largest to date, will be planned by a committee that includes members outside of the SGA, such as Tigers in Service and Student Engagement.
Following the executive reports, the committees gave their reports. The Appropriations Committee has three requests, voted on a new Vice-Chair and will have two bills up for first and second this coming week.
The Senate Affairs Committee also voted on a new Vice-Chair and began planning for the coming semester. This includes hoping to fill eight of the 14 vacant Student Senate seats this semester.
The Legislative and Political Action Committee received a new Chair and also planned for the coming semester.
The Allocations Committee concluded the reports by stating that the next allocations workshop is scheduled for Feb. 4 at 5 p.m.
The end of the night’s meeting saw the first reading of four new bills and one resolution. The Senate then voted on one bill to fund Sigma Alpha’s trip to St. Louis for a leadership seminar and three waivers to fund Tiger Tots, the Women’s Leadership Project and the Opportunity Through Education LLC. All four passed.
With an announcement that the Black Student Union will hold a semi-formal on March 6, the meeting adjourned.
The Student Government Association will reconvene on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.