SGA Senate Meeting Minutes April 1, 2022

April 1, 2022

Sixth Session

I. Call to Order, Roll Call (2 minutes); Time: 04:30 p.m.

Present

President Oriana White
Vice President Megan Granados
Chief of Staff Aneri Patel
CHESS Senator (H) Emily Feliciano
CES Senator (H) Savannah Yamat
CON Senator (H) Mason Cook
Honors College Senator (H) David Bolton
Honors College Senator (W) Saige Addison
Faculty Advisor Dr. Richard Rupp

Absent

CES Senator (W) Mya Methner

II. Approval of the Agenda (2 minutes)

A. Motion: Senator Feliciano

B. Second: Senator Bolton

C. Measure: Pass

IV. Executive Board (2 minutes per)

A. Oriana White, President

1. Cancellation of SGA Payments

a) April Fools Joke

2. Shaq Meet and Greet

a) Email President White if you are interested in meeting Shaq

b) No guests will be allowed to meet him as there is only a 15 minute window

3. Fight Song

a) Is in the works and will be played at the commencement

4. Working Commencement

a) May 14th @10:30am; ceremony at 12pm

b) SGA has worked commencement in the past (for fun or just to attend)

(1) No outreach hours as the session will have ended

c) Email President White or put in groupchat if yuo would like to volunteer

B. Megan Granados, Vice President

1. March Outreach Hourse Overview

a) March hours were reduced from 8 hours to 6 hours

b) Please meet with your Deans!

2. House of Representatives

a) Had Club Carnival on both campses

b) House of Representatives met on Wednesday

c) SGA’s Declassified PNW Survival Guide

3. Prayer Room a) Idea generated from the Multicultural Room

b) Prayer room is ready to go starting today

c) Room: SULB 344C d) Email will be going out announcing it

C. Aneri Patel, Chief of Staff 1. Executive Report

a) Club Carnival

b) Petition

c) SGA Changes

(1) Senator Gyekye & Senator Winders are no longer a part of SGA

D. Mya Methner, President Pro-Tempore

1. None

E. Mason Cook, Chief Financial Officer

1. None

F. Dr. Richard Rupp, Faculty Advisor

1. None

V. Event Overview (10 minutes per)

A. Student Concerns Table

1. Went well overall (had less students than Westville)

2. Students don’t like the preferred parking and certain pricings in the Cafe

3. To improve: have more people work it, have more energy by standing up and approaching them

B. Club Carnival

1. Went great

2. Feedback: have one in the fall and in the spring as well, move to DSAC in Westville, have more advertising, have more decor, put the org names on the flyers, break it up into sections, and have popcorn on both campuses

3. Have good engagement because of food and music

4. Feedback: move the SGA office by the Dean of Students in Westville

VI. Current Items (10 minutes per)

A. Cram Jam/Paws to DeStress

1. Food and drinks have been finalized, total is $213 before tax

2. Westville Paws to DeStress is confirmed

3. Hammond Paws to DeStress have not heard back from

4. English Class? What is their role in this event?

B. Outdoor Extravaganza

1. Got a food estimate

2. Contacting balloon agency

3. Need wristbands

4. $50 can be transferred to the social work club

5. emailed housing for a fire pit

C. SGA Declassified PNW Survival Guide

1. Add questions and answers to the document

a) Outreach hours

2. Want to have the guide done by the end of the semester

VII. Added Business/Concerns (5 minutes per)

A. Petition of New Laws

Senator Yamat: Understands the benefit but not practical
Seantor Feliciano: There are not enough people to fill seats so positions are always available. Looking for a reason this petition is here
Dr. Rupp: There is a petition but no call to action
Senator Yamat: There is no reason for the petition, it’s not formal and does not have a basis. For bullet 4, there is no rule that says students cannot go to Dean of Students regarding their concerns
Senator Cook: Regarding point 1, students can already meet with their representatives/senators. Additionally, the signatures should be looked over and verified
Senator Feliciano: What is SGA’s course of action?
President White: Students have a right to ask questions about their governing documents, not sure what the next steps are
Vice President Granados: Has Senator Addison heard about any concerns at the student concerns table?
Senator Addison: Has not heard any specific concerns but students just want more events on both campuses
Dr. Rupp: Students who have concerns have not attended any meetings
Senator Yamat: Why don’t we email the people who signed and ask them to come to a forum to discuss this
Senator Addison: No comment yet
Senator Feliciano: This is a little blindsiding and confusing
President White: Petition is not complete, does not have all the information on the top of it. There are signatures of people who have already graduated. Does not think the petition has credible signatures, students may have signed something they were not informed of. Have to reach out to the students who have signed and ask if they knew what they signed for. The information is still there so how do we improve
Vice President Granados: The bylaws committee made a decision to remove seats and it was approved by the Senate. The seats are equal, though. The Board of Trustees states that Westville is a branch campus so it should be equitable. Due to budget cuts, Senate seats that are usually not filled were cut to allow for more event funding.
Chief of Staff Patel: elections were advertised through email and on both campuses, thus they were fair and did not cater to one particular campus
Senator Feliciano: The petition talks about fair and equal. Maybe students feel like they don’t have opportunities? However, students are given opportunities,, they just are not taking them
Dr. Rupp: Will be consulting with the Dean of Students about the credibility of the signatures. Have to verify the signatures as if they are not credible, it would be a serious violation of university ethics
Senator Cook: SGA is made of elected members and no one has oversight over us. Concerns should be brought to SGA
Senator Feliciano: In point 5, it would not be feasible to release all meeting details with Deans. Seems like overkill. Maybe students felt mistreated, clarification is needed
Senator Cook: There is no objective way to look at it
Senator Feliciano: People take things differently and perhaps students signed without knowing what the petition was about.
President White: Some students don’t have a valid email, signatures are written by the same people, and some students are graduated
Senator Yamat: A suggestion would be to have an open forum or zoom meeting regarding this matter for both campuses
Senator Bolton: This petition sounds questionable, sounds like Westville wants to start something
Senator Cook: If students have concerns, where are they? SGA meetings are open to all students to attend
Senator Feliciano: No one ran in the elections either, what happens to those seats
President White: open seats will have call outs during the summer
Senator Cook: Suggests that Senate wait and look over it at the next meeting
Senator Feliciano & Bolton: Discuss it at the next meeting
President White: Session ends on May 5th so have to discuss to it before then
Chief of Staff Patek: Discuss it at the next meeting and then have a forum the week after that
President White: SGA tends to have more presence during zoom meetings
Senator Cook: if signatures are proven invalid, it would be a possible ethics violation.
Vice President Granados: Dean of Students should verify. SGA can host a students concerns forum and see if students come
Senator Bolton: if the signatures are invalid, would the students be given another change to mend the petition?
Senator Feliciano: We don’t want to treat anyone unfairly. Is there anything we are doing that’s not keeping people?
Senator Yamat: Can still host a forum if the petition is invalid
Vice President Granados: We represent the whole student body so it is important to hear people’s concerns and suggestions. We can’t make everyone happy but can do things that will benefit the majority
Senator Feliciano: Feels as if the petition is about being a part of SGA or how a person was treated in SGA (someone who was in SGA or cannot be in SGA). Students should and are given opportunities. Doesn’t feel like the petition is about the students, but wants an open conversation about this. Do people have an equal opportunity?
President White: Everyone is provided with equal opportunities, SGA has never turned students away. May have had conflict with students in the past, but Seante makes the final decisions.
Senator Feliciano: We can make it clear that we are fair and accountable. Suggest we wait until the next meeting until signatures can be verified.

○ Senators Cook, Yamat, and Bolton agree

○ Westville senators Methner and Addison may have opinions on this matter.

○ Feels as if someone in the past SGA may have wrote this

Vote on: Adding a point regarding this petition to next meeting’s agenda
Motion: Senator Bolton
Second: Senator Cook
Measure: Pass

M.C. M.M. S.Y. E.F. S.A. D.B.

Vote Y A Y Y A Y

Point will be added to next meeting’s agenda

VIII. Open Comments from the Student Senate (5 minutes per)

A. None

IX. Open Comments from Student Body (5 minutes per)

A. McKenzie Dinga: will be taking over the Chief of Staff position in May

1. Excited to be at the meeting and meet everyone

2. Didn’t know that student body could attend the SGA meetings

a) Feels like concerned students who signed the sheet would have reached out/come to meetings/emailed about this

X. Meeting Adjourned (1 minute); Time: 5:43pm

A. Motion: Senator Feliciano

B. Second: Senator Cook

C. Measure: Pass