BY CORIE LYNN
Thursday’s Student Government Association meeting saw several guests in attendance.
Jason Williby, president and CEO of the FHSU Foundation, began the meeting by speaking to the student senators about the roles of the Foundation and the FHSU Alumni Association.
Williby explained that the Foundation handles the financial side of involvement at FHSU while the Alumni Association handles general involvement.
“We want all students to have both,” he said.
Both organizations contact students as they graduate, but the Foundation assists in financing current students through the Student Emergency Assistance Fund.
“We want to raise money for that fund,” Williby said.
He also encouraged students to get involved through the Foundation and Alumni Association events such as the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success ribbon-cutting and the alumni Oktoberfest booth.
Also present at the meeting were the new student justices, Spencer Manning, Emily Maldonado, Yesenia Maldonado and Madison Shapland.
These four students were sworn in during the meeting and will serve on the student court alongside three faculty justices.
Much of the meeting was spent giving updates and announcements.
One such announcement was the results of the fall SGA elections. These elections, which took place earlier in the week, brought in students Ella Burrows, Morgan Barba, Mickey Mason, Hattie Lukert, Cayden Sanders and Emma Day to represent the Freshman and Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science students.
According to SGA President Mark Faber, this is the largest group of Freshman/KAMS senators elected in several years, representing a class of 874 students.
Faber had additional reports including that the University’s $400 dollar COVID-19 vaccine incentive will be extended to Oct. 31. In doing so, the University hopes that vaccine rates for students and staff will increase.
He also reported that in the weeks following homecoming, the process of bringing FHSU street signs to downtown Hays will begin. Students will have the opportunity to be a part of this process by submitting their own designs for consideration.
“We are going to open up the design competition,” Faber said.
Additional announcements included Treasurer David Schulte explaining the line item changes in a bill read later in the evening and Community Relations Director Chloe Stanley sharing ideas for student involvement.
The open forum was brief but addressed the questions of the number of guests allowed at fall commencement and whether the University’s student employees receive overtime.
According to Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Teresa Clounch, as of that day, she was unaware of any limit to the number of guests allowed at commencement.
In response to the question of when and if student employees receive overtime payment, Clounch explained that these employees were permitted to work 20 hours a week.
“I’m not aware of students getting paid overtime for that [additional] work,” she said.
As the meeting drew to a close, the student senators gave announcements including the beginning of activities for the Young Democrats and College Republicans groups on campus.
Vice President Stanley also reminded the group that homecoming will occur the weekend of Oct. 1 and that free legal counseling will be available to students starting Tuesday.