The Student Association held their weekly meeting of the Senate on Tuesday evening making it the sixth meeting of the Spring semester.  The number of senators required to begin the meeting were met and following the approval of the agenda and minutes, the meeting was well under way.

The National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE), were the first and only guests to the Senate for the evening. NABSE is a community service driven organization, working to bring awareness to inequalities of education. Their first project will be shipping school supplies to underprivileged children in Haiti and will be tabling every Tuesday in the Marano Campus Center to raise money and collect supplies. They are also looking to hold educational programs that shed light on the mission of their club, but NABSE do not currently have the funds to support the programs they wish to hold. They presented their budget to the Senate asking for funds to help with funds the organization needs. Two senators will be writing a budget and bill, which will be voted on at a later time and date.

Following the guest to the Senate, the meeting moved swiftly to executive reports. Emily Nassir, SA President was the first to deliver her executive report in which she shared updates on current projects she has been working on. Nassir said that the website for SA is currently being worked on and she will have more updates as there is more progression in the making and launching of the new SA website. SA has paid for the student discount app which will be renewed shortly and will give students access to partnered businesses in town, who provide discounts to students at their place of operation. Nassir also revealed new ideas that she wishes to begin working on such as, getting more involved in opening week on campus in the fall, as well as homecoming held in October.

Shelby Gallaro, SA Vice President was next to deliver her executive report. Gallaro shared with Senate her current project. She is working in a new Pay policy for senators which could potentially go into effect in the fall. This new pay system would allow senators to directly earn money as opposed to the current system which is done through dock pay. Following Gallaro’s report, SA Director of Finance, Matthew Peters took the floor to deliver his executive report. Peters stated that all of the requested budgets for next semester have been submitted by the clubs and organizations on campus. SA will begin to look through the requested budgets and will be working on them starting the beginning of next week. There were no new updates on OzFest, but Peters assured that he will be updating the Senate as new information comes in and planning progresses.

In Hall Council reports, senators shared success of programs their halls held this past week as well as plans for new programs in the future. Cayuga Hall had a great turnout for their movie themed laker night. Funnelle hosted a recycling event “Going Green for Green”, in which they collected many recyclables which will be used to help future programs in their hall. Johnson is currently working on their event with all four lakeside dorms, where students will be able to participate in intramural sports as a friendly competition between all the halls. Johnson will be bringing new updates as planning for the event advances.  

There were no special orders for the evening, so the meeting moved to the first and only general order for the evening. Rules and judiciary proposed a bill that would amend the vacancy protocol in the constitution that SA is required to follow. The bill to amend the vacancy protocol passed by general consent.

Following the only general order for the evening, the meeting was adjourned. SA meets every Tuesday in Lanigan 106 at 6pm. If students, organizations or clubs have any questions, concerns or proposals, they are encouraged to attend these meetings, as they are all open to the public.

By: Tomas Rodriguez

As the pandemic forced students to leave their residence halls coinciding with spring break, approximately 2,500 returned to campus in order to either check-out or retrieve personal belongings. They were allowed to do so stretching between May 8 and the 18.

University Police, along with Facilities and Residence Life and Housing outlined a plan that would help students move out safely by breaking down timeframes. The days were divided into two time slots –9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The number of students on campus averaged 250 per day.

Students had to choose from various options, which Residence Life and Housing then had to approve.

“We take the same precautions that we have since mid-March, including wearing face coverings when in close contact with other persons and disinfecting our patrol vehicles and equipment regularly,” University Police Interim Chief Kevin Velzy said. “As far as a college policy, we will continue to follow the guidelines of the CDC, and our government leaders.”

If the university was to outline a social distancing and face covering policy, students who did not comply would face disciplinary consequences.

“This is an interesting time for the entire world. We are all learning day by day how to adjust and move forward with caution based on the data we have, the research that is going on, and making the best decisions we can for the good of all,” Velzy said. “We hope that everyone, especially our students, are having a safe and productive summer, and we hope to have everyone back on campus as soon as practicable.”

An official statement from President Stanley as to what the final decision for the Fall will look like is expected to come in the following weeks.