ICYMI: Student Government’s final updates of 2023 – The Cauldron
Members of the Student Government Association (SGA) provided final semester updates and reflected on the fall’s successes and challenges in the last SGA meeting before winter break.
Updates included the status of SGA’s recently passed resolutions, talks on Senate Bill 83, an SGA discount card, concerns within the nursing program and more.
In the last senate meeting before winter break, SGA members shared final updates and thoughts from the fall 2023 semester. Photo Credit: Diana Schoder
Executive Board Updates
In her update, President Kayland Morris shared that she presented the three resolutions passed in the previous SGA senate meeting at the Faculty Senate meeting, which addressed on-campus Wi-Fi and support for students impacted by events in the Middle East. She shared that Faculty Senate President Anup Kumar praised the resolutions as well-written, and that she scheduled a meeting with CSU President Laura Bloomberg to continue addressing the issues.
Morris also praised SGA for its milestones in voicing student concerns and creating changes in CSU dining and safety issues, emphasizing the importance of working together to do so:
“It is important to acknowledge that the accomplishments thus far are a result of a collective effort of SGA members who actively participated in meetings with administrators and student groups. The student government is not built on the efforts of one person, but thrives through collaboration.”
Vice President Alysha Syed shared financial updates from Treasurer Aleena Babar, including the fact that organizations can now request up to $5,000 per academic year: $2,000 for traveling and $3,000 for on campus events. She also shared the budget statement of SGA itself: $42,710 left over from their internal budget and $123,596.41 left over from their allocations budget, though the numbers vary as charges are constantly being added and dropped.
The allocations budget was distributed across three hearings in the fall semester. At the first hearing, 30 organizations applied with a total of $31,383.24 requested; $28,505.33 was allocated towards these requests. At the second hearing, 32 organizations requested a total of $18,371.50, and $17,807.04 was allocated towards these requests. At the third hearing, 22 organizations applied and requested $21,914.04 and this hearing was the only one to allocate the total requested amount.
Director Updates
Director of Governmental Relations Jackson Kidwell shared that the Public Policy Committee is keeping up with S.B. 83—the contentious higher education bill that SGA previously condemned in a resolution in April 2023—and added that, “We will probably do so again should it pass the Ohio House.”
Chief of Staff Adam Royko addressed updates to the bylaws and the new proposed Senate Parliamentary position. With drafts of each complete, he is scheduling meetings with key stakeholders including students and administration to discuss the matters. Royko hopes to have both ready by the second or third senate meeting of the spring semester.
Director of Marketing and Technologies Anastasia Hunt projects the SGA website, currently being worked on by the Public Relations Committee, should be ready to go by the start of the spring semester.
Senator Updates
Senator of The Edge Joseph Nappi is working with Honors College Senator Jack Whitman on an SGA discount card that they plan to soft launch soon. Also, there is a new sign in The Edge urging gym goers to re-rack weights in response to student concerns about cleanliness at the gym.
Whitman began his updates sharing that he met with dining services at CSU, securing the promise of another soda fountain in the far side of the dining hall and discussing many future possibilities: block purchases of swipes (rather than purchasing a full meal plan to live in the dorms), increasing sanitary and hygiene products available on campus and eventually a full-service store for the campus. The final point of discussion was adding credit card processing capabilities to turnstiles to get into the dining hall, rather than waiting longer for the manual entrance.
Securing another promise from dining services, Whitman shared that a plan is in place to address the lack of available commuter seating in the Student Center.
“Although what the plan is exactly isn’t public information yet, I do think that most people will be pleased with the outcome,” Whitman explained.
Whitman also met with the university to discuss the Wi-Fi issues addressed in one of SGA’s latest resolutions, specifically maxing out on bandwidth, to which he was told that they will “look into getting more bandwidth,” and do a review of the access points on campus, as the last review was reportedly done in 2016.
Senators for the College of Health Claire Keehn and Jayden Jackson met with Dean Stephanie Brooks to address the ongoing attendance issue in the nursing program. Keehn shared that there will be work done within the college to address instances where faculty may not have followed handbook protocol for absences. They also discussed the low Nclex nursing exam passing rate, which the undergraduate nursing program is addressing with both students and faculty.
Jackson echoed the updates of Keehn, specifically in addressing the nursing program demeriting for student absences caused by illness.
Jackson discussed his senator project for next semester; his current plan is to have researchers from Black Men in White Coats, an organization aiming to increase the number of Black men in the medical field, to assist with an event.
At-Large Senator Bhanu Ravuri shared a concern from international students saying they are not able to get safety escorts at night on time. He and Whitman plan on working to resolve this together.
SGA’s first senate meeting of 2024 will be Friday, January 26 at 3:40 p.m. in Berkman Hall 201.