By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
A slew of new business items were presented at the Student Government Association meeting on Thursday, in addition to news of a proposed housing cost increase.
President Ella Burrows reported on the proposed 3.5% housing cost increase, which she learned of in the biweekly President’s Roundtable meeting. The proposal will be presented to the Kansas Board of Regents next month.
“This did go through the (Residential Hall Association), so if you’re opposed to this I would definitely suggest making contact with your RHA representative or asking the representative from Residential Life about this at the Open Forum on November 1st,” Burrows said.
Three of the new business items introduced at the meeting were moved to emergency business, and all three were passed. The first, Bill 23/F/155, moves the 2024-25 Educational Opportunity Fund request deadline to Dec. 1. President Ella Burrows explained during her report that money from the EOF funds student projects and scholarships, and it can also fund payments for student employees.
More specifically, it provides salaries for students employed in “campus student service programs,” according to the bill.
“For example, in the past (the American Democracy Project) has been funded through the Educational Opportunity Fund,” Burrows said.
The deadline change will only apply to the current fiscal year.
Another new bill regarding the EOF was introduced, proposing students Nathaniel Egan, Jackson Sinsel, Dinah Newman and Trevyne Brown be appointed to the Educational Opportunity Fund Committee. Action will be taken on this bill next week.
Senators also passed a bill to ratify Austin Drake as a new senator. According to Treasurer Jackson Sinsel, the bill was moved to emergency business so Drake can be nominated to the Allocations Committee at next week’s meeting.
Drake will represent the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, which has only had one senator this year. A bill ratifying Haley Channell, who will also represent the CHBS, was read for the first time.
The last bill moved to emergency business and passed approves a budget line item change for the American Institute of Graphic Arts.
In other news, Burrows and Vice President Emma Day both spoke about the most recent Traffic Committee meeting they attended, where they heard 48 appeals for parking tickets.
According to Burrows, most of the tickets were given out simply because students are unaware of where they can and cannot park. To help this, she plans to post parking information on social media.
More information about parking zones can be found on Tiger Media Network.
There is also the hope that parking lines can be repainted and the parking map redone. When asked if student organizations could volunteer to help repaint the lines, Day said she has spoken to Vice President for Student Affairs Joey Linn about this idea.
“He said he’s not opposed to the idea and he can bring it up in a meeting,” she said.
SGA is scheduled to meet next at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Black and Gold Room. Location is subject to change.