The second SGA meeting of the spring semester began at 8:01 PM on February 12th in the Moore Community Room (ASAC 100). As per usual, the meeting was live-streamed on the SGA’s Facebook page, so go check it out if you want all the details.
The first item on the agenda was to discuss the Student Activities Account further. Part of the discussion involved a video call with Sharron Scott, the Dean of Administration at NVU, which ran from 8:10 PM- 8:36 PM. She went over a couple of rules involving how the university deals with finances, and then explained that she would be assisting in a historical analysis of the Student Activities Account for the next few weeks. The results will hopefully be shared by the week after winter break. The process will involve looking at the balance history over the past five years and making sure every transaction was documented properly. An important part of the analysis will be to make sure that the money is all in the right place and hasn’t been spent in places those particular funds shouldn’t be used in. If there are errors found, then the university will look to find ways to improve how financial tracking is done.
After the video call, Financial Controller Patrick Wickstrom furthered the discussion on the account based on his own meeting with Scott. He explained that the SGA would only be able to invest in endowments through the university with the money in the account. Endowments are pooled for investment purposes and are managed by an outside firm; they generate interest that depends heavily on how well the economy is running. An endowment takes 3 months to be created and requires a minimum balance of $10,000. Only 5% of the overall value can be spent each year, and it must follow the VSC board policy.
The meeting then moved on to Student Body Comments. A question was brought up to clarify the rules regarding hanging up posters around campus. Whether or not the posters are from a club related to SGA, all posters on SALC designated boards must be pre-approved by the SGA Executive Board. Another question came up wondering why tissues aren’t provided in every classroom, and Jonathan Davis said he would bring the concern up with Maintenance. A concern was then addressed regarding the lack of accommodation for food allergies in the Dining Hall and Hornet’s Nest, sharing the story of an anonymous student who struggled to get more dessert options for students with conditions like lactose intolerance and nut allergies. Davis is also working on finding a solution to this issue with Sodexo.
Mary Fafard, the Digital Content Coordinator for NVU, then came up for a presentation about social media presence and how that applies to clubs. She started by requesting that if any clubs start social media accounts or change their social media names or admins, that they share that information with SGA President Kate Henriques so she can pass it on to Fafard. She then encouraged clubs to think ahead regarding who would run their accounts so none fall to the way-side.
Fafard went over the proper format for the university’s name. For the Lyndon campus, this would be “Northern Vermont University – Lyndon” and “NVU-Lyndon.” Any other format is not acceptable–as the university’s brand is still new, it needs to be solidified in unification across all related subjects before it can be experimented with. She also recommended that posts about NVU be location-tagged on social platforms such as Instagram and that the hashtags #NVUDoNorth and #ThisIsNVU be used. Fafard also invited clubs to add the NVU and NVU-Lyndon Facebook pages as co-hosts to events to reach a larger audience. If you have any questions or suggestions, contact Mary Fafard at Mary.Fafard@NorthernVermont.edu.
Wickstrom returned to the podium for a financial update. The available funds of the SGA’s General Fund stand at $11,592.11, and the total is at $34,393.28.
The next item on the agenda involved disbanding Alpha Lambda Delta due to a lack of activity, which went through with a majority vote. Kaitlin Flannigan then came up to run as a representative for the Class of 2023. She got the position with a majority vote. Renee Chaples also ran as a representative for the Class of 2023 and got the position with a majority vote, as well.
A new club was proposed by the name of the Student Investment Club. Shane Johnston led the presentation as President of the club. The purpose would be to teach students how to invest money and learn about the workings of the stock market. The club is primarily for education, not for profit. Weekly meetings would consist of practicing investing through online simulations, hosting guest speakers with professional experience, introducing new investment topics, and later on, making actual investments with a pool of money donated by past alumni. The club would team up with Edward Jones to keep an investment account separate from their SGA budget. The club was voted in by the majority of the SGA.
In other business, the Spring Day theme this year will be “beach,” so activities and apparel will be planned based on this theme. Students and clubs are welcome to email SGA Executive Vice President Ben Mitchell for questions or suggestions.
Finally, club and committee updates were given. Residential Life reiterated that the residence halls would be closing Saturday, February 22 at 10:00 AM for Winter Break. If anyone is in need of housing for the break or transportation home, they are expected to fill out the respective forms which have been emailed out to the student body. The halls will reopen on Sunday, March 1. Cultural Ambassadors Society will be hosting a movie night on February 18 which will show “Hidden Figures.” The Twilight Players have the full cast for “Carrie” assembled and are working hard to prepare for the show. The Dance Ensemble will be hosting a Dancing with the Presidents event on Wednesday, February 19 at 8:00 PM in the Alexander Twilight Theatre, featuring The Critic’s own Editor-in-Chief!
The meeting concluded at 10:15 PM. The next meeting will take place after winter break on March 4th, at the same time and place as always. We hope to see you there!