BY CORIE LYNN
With only a few meetings left in the semester, the Fort Hays State University Student Government Association met to pass a number of bills and learn about civic engagement.
The student senators passed three bills, two of which were moved to emergency business that evening.
The first bill was to change a line item for the Black Student Union, allowing them to redistribute funds to a Thanksgiving food distribution of local families in need.
“This is our service project that we do annually,” BSU treasurer Chris Crawford said.
Additional bills passed installed a new student senator in the SGA and a line item change for the American Institute of Graphic Arts.
At the start of the meeting, Dr. Donnette Noble, the director of Civic Learning and Engagement, and Quinn Monk, the director of Tigers in Service, spoke to the student senators on how they can be civically engaged.
Noble explained that this type of engagement is about working together to create change and to be leaders in their communities.
“Leadership is not about a role, about a position,” Noble said.
Monk then spoke on opportunities for the students to become involved in the Hays community. This includes participating in Jana’s Jewelry campaign and an upcoming food waste program.
Their main goal is to keep the students engaged with the community around them. Because of this, both work with local nonprofits in the area and are open to new ideas for services.
“If it’s a cool thing, we’ll try to figure out how to make that happen,” Noble said.
After this presentation, the SGA spent time going over executive and committee reports.
President Mark Faber used this time to further explain the Educational Opportunity fund to the student senators, stating that it is a program to help students through the funding of projects and employment positions.
Vice President Ryan Stanley followed this up by informing the senators that he has been looking into new EOF opportunities, including a recycling program. He attributed this program to the hard work of Legislative Affairs Director Kendra Clary.
According to Clary, she hopes to bring together the individuals from FHSU who worked on a recycling program in the past to create a model that will last on campus.
Other reports came from the Open Educational Resource committee, which is accepting nominations for a department innovatively utilizing Z-courses, and the Special Events committee, which needs volunteers for the Encore series that begins in December.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The Student Senate will reconvene at 7:00 p.m. on Dec. 2.