The final SGA meeting of the ’20-’21 academic year took place on May 5th at 8:02 pm in the Moore Community Room (ASAC 100) and virtually via Zoom. The meeting, as usual, was also live-streamed on the SGA’s Facebook if you’d like to view the full meeting.
Student Body Comments
Senior Adrianne Hutchin brought up the issue that robes and hoods were not arriving when promised, and that the staff at the bookstore was unprofessional when they were contacted about the problem. Out-of-state students were likely not to get their regalia in time for graduation due to the delay, and one student added that he ended up canceling his order for that reason.
Reports & Presentations
For financial updates, the available funds are $47,995.08 and the total amount is $65,233.49.
The first presentation was by Provost Nolan Atkins and Patrick Wickstrom, answering questions about the Working and Learning Steering Committee. The committee was established to help connect students to work experiences in the community and lower the cost of getting your degree in the form of a paid internship. If you have any questions about this, feel free to contact the SGA via email.
Discussion & Action Items
There are no new updates for the Student Activity Account discussions on the flags or game tables. Despite the academic year concluding soon, the project will continue to be discussed over the summer.
Continuing the discussion on the Adirondack chairs, a vote was held to decide between three companies to make the chairs. The winner was a local manufacturer in the state who charges $1000 for four units.
Returning to the discussion on the club bulletin boards, Maintenance gave the okay to purchase real bulletin boards to hang on the walls in the ASAC hallway. With a majority vote, the SGA also approved the idea.
Finally, the pavilion idea came back into discussion. Jonathan Davis is actively working with Mike Stevens in Maintenance to scout out a location for the space on campus, and they have established a budget of $50,000. Students pointed out that it would be a great addition for the student body and the community since the campus is often rented out during the summer for conferences.
The next item was a funding request by SAAC. They were looking for $2,500 to fund t-shirts and snacks for an event called “Strike Out The Stigma” for mental health awareness. The event is scheduled for May 11th at 1pm, and since it takes place during finals week, it would be a good study break for stressed-out students. They were looking to order 275 shirts at $9 each, which would add up to $2,475, leaving $25 for the snack portion of the budget. It was noted that SAAC had not attended most of the year’s SGA meetings up to the request. When brought up for discussion, concerns were raised about the number of shirts being ordered, since it was deemed unlikely that anywhere close to 275 students would be on campus by that point of the semester. Frustration was also expressed about the lack of research done on SAAC’s part for the event. The event had only been marketed through word of mouth. After an intense series of votes, the motion was passed to give SAAC $725 for t-shirts and snacks for their event.
Finally, AMS presented a constitution change to the SGA. Members of the executive board will still be required to participate in 2/3rds of the meeting and 5 AMS events, but the change will require additional participation in 3 other general school events, such as those put on by other clubs.
Other Business
At the latest VSCSA meeting, Ryan Cooney was voted to remain in his role as student trustee.
Club & Committee Updates
The 10% Committee funded a swing for the campus grounds that is located between Wheelock and HAC. Several clubs had their executive board elections and announced their new members.
The meeting concluded at 10:11 pm.
I’d like to take this moment to thank you guys for reading my reports for the past 3 years, and I hope you have a wonderful summer and beyond.