The first SGA meeting of the Fall 2020 semester took place on August 26th at 8:05 pm. It was held in person in the Moore Community Room (ASAC 100) and virtually over Zoom. The recording is available on the SGA’s Facebook page if you would like to view the whole meeting.
Being the beginning of the academic year, President Kate Henriques started the meeting by briefly explaining Robert’s Rules, the guidelines by which the SGA go by. As a piece of advice, if you plan to attend meetings in the future, the SGA will have paper copies of the basics of Robert’s Rules you can use as a reference if you’re unfamiliar with the rules.
Student Body Comments were then opened to the floor. Henriques shared two questions that she received via email: why is there no Lyndon merchandise offered on the online bookstore following the on-campus store’s closure, and would graduates from the previous year receive a commemorative diploma in the mail since they didn’t get a proper graduation ceremony due to COVID-19? A question came up about whether attendance at SGA meetings would still be held to the same rate in the midst of COVID regulations, or whether the requirements would be relaxed at all. Another question was posed about how the campus should deal with the geese that have made themselves at home on the grounds since they’ve left the walkway along the Library Pond up to Vail covered in droppings. All of these questions will be explored and hopefully answered in due time. Kate then explained the important details about the SGA and how it works. The rules are listed out on their website: https://www.lyndonsga.com/ if you’d like to learn more.
Mike Secreti, the Assistant Director of Student Life, then took the floor for a presentation on a list of forms each club should complete for any events they plan to hold. The first is the Event Planning Worksheet, which goes over the basics of the event. The next is the Advertising Form, which will give the SGA the chance to approve your event ads before they’re put in circulation. Posters are required to have the SGA logo in the corner, so don’t forget to include it. Finally, the Event Evaluation needs to be completed after the event. It will record the names and emails of everyone in attendance so it will be easy to conduct contact tracing, should anyone involved test positive for COVID-19. All forms are available on the SGA’s website.
At the financial update, Henriques listed important due dates for budgeting. Budget applications are due September 2nd. From there, presentations in front of the Budget Committee will be held between September 3rd-8th, with specifics to be determined. Finally, the budgets will be finalized and presented on September 9th.
In other business, the voting period for the SGA elections will be held from August 28th to September 3rd, with results being revealed on September 4th. This includes voting on amendments to the SGA Constitution. Prior to the campus’ closure last semester, the Exec Board got together and made some changes to the Constitution. These included spelling and grammar fixes, swapping instances of the word “college” for “university” to match NVU-Lyndon’s branding rules, and a multitude of critical changes. I recommend you check into the livestream for a definitive list of the changes, as it would take too long to go over all of them here.
Club and committee updates were held next. Clubs each summarized their purpose and goals for the year. Ski & Ride hopes to do the annual chili cook-off and educate people around campus, and Outing Club has intentions to hold a couple of trips, like camping and biking, over the course of the semester. Dance Ensemble is focusing on get-togethers and debating on whether a recital would be possible within COVID-19 regulations. Kingdom Crescendos is having a similar issue, so they’re focusing on getting acquainted with one another this semester. Model UN is working on building its Executive Board back up since most of the previous board graduated last year. NVUnity will be holding its Executive Board elections soon and have a couple of events in the pipeline. Rugby is in a tough spot since sports are tough to pull off in a COVID-19 world and most of the members/Executive Board graduated. WWLR is cleaning up the radio station and preparing to train new members on how to run the booth. Twilight Players is in a tough spot and is trying to pick the pieces back up, but they have plans to bring themselves back, which includes collaborating with NVU-Johnson on a project. Elected Rep Renee Chaples shared her success in her goal to get the Visual Arts students free access to the Adobe Creative Suite for their personal devices (check your email if you’re in a Visual Arts degree program), then announced her plan to run for Admin Vice President of the SGA. Finally, Elected Rep Katie Flannigan announced her campaign for President of the SGA.
The meeting concluded at 9:08 pm. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 9th, at 8 pm in the Moore Community Room and via Zoom. However you choose to participate, we hope to see you there!