The Student Government Association (SGA) of Fitchburg State meets on a weekly basis in an effort to “empower the student body and represent their issues and concerns.” Although these meetings are open to all students, attendance outside of the committee members is seldom seen. The Point believes that coverage over these events is necessary to keep the student body further informed on any developments and decisions occurring within these meetings that could very well impact student life on and off of campus.
November 7 Meeting
Executive Reports
Allison Turner Student Trustee was hopeful that everyone had a great weekend and fun celebrating Homecoming. Trustee Turner thanked everyone who volunteered during homecoming. The next board of trustees meeting is scheduled for November 14th at 8:15 – They will be constructing their report to the board and urging anyone to let them know if there are any issues or topics they would like to be brought to the attention of the board of Trustees.
Turner Trustee said that they will be attending a special board meeting to address the presidential search committee and will provide an update on the outcome of the meeting at the next SGA meeting.
Treasurer Schekina Pericles reported that as of right now The Financial Committee has a budget of $24,418 and Travel has a budget of $25,672. Yesterday the financial committee met with the criminal Justice club regarding potentially allocating another $1,000 to the club for travel expenses, however no representatives of the club were able to attend this meeting.
Secretary Dirtion offered a reminder for SGa members to make sure they attend their office hours.
President Kervins Blanc expressed his appreciation for the hard work of the homecoming volunteers and SGA members.
There were no guest speakers at today’s meeting.
Committee Reports
Senator Zachary Carlson has contacted the director of capital planning JD Head In order to set up a time for them to meet and will update the gallery once he has an update on the status of the vending machines.He has been corresponding back and forth with Brooke Morgan The Environmental Health Safety and Risk Manager and she believes it would be useful for Senator Carlson to serve on the Sustainability Committee. They are not yet sure if that is a possibility and are looking into it.
Senator Campbell Greely spoke with new Director of Disability Services, Emily Stark who told him DSO will be hosting a final exam sign up event on Tuesday November 28 from 3:00-4:00 pm in Hammond 314. This month’s edition of the DSO Dispatch was published on November 3. The newsletter was sent to DSO students through email and was featured on their social media accounts.
Senator Keegan Barrows had no new business to report but urged students to remember to meet with their advisors to prepare for the upcoming Spring semester.
Senator Joshua Cronin shared that the PR committee and Advocacy committee will be working together to create PR for a new QR code created that will be linked to a google forms questionnaire that will have two questions on it. The first question will be “What are some concerns that students have on campus?” and the second question will ask if students would like to join the advocacy meetings.
In the upcoming months Senator Cronin will be working with the Advocacy Committee to hold a meeting where students can voice their concerns, as well as share ideas on how to solve any issues. They are hoping for November 15 to be their first meeting.
Senator Emily Maestri will be meeting with the Director of Dining Services Jeff McVoy. Senator Maestri urged anyone who may have any concerns to let her know by tomorrow morning so she can pass them along. A member of the gallery inquired if they would be asking Director McVoy why they close so early at Holmes and she agreed to bring it to his attention.
Senator Matthew Messina spoke with Matthew Lechter last Wednesday and will continue meeting on a bi-weekly basis. They asked what happened to Hurlihey and was told that the University’s enrollment has been lower, especially dorm wise, which is true with state universities across the country. There are plans to renovate kitchens across the entire campus over the summer. The rooms are currently 85% filled amongst the rooms they are currently using and they are happy with that number.
Senator Matthew Gill shared that last week they met with Matthew Lechter who is the new head of parking services, along with Senator Cronin. They discussed the parking issues surrounding homecoming and the closure of Ross lot. They were assured that there would be enough parking for everyone despite the closure and that there would be an extra shuttle available during the closure. They also discussed analyzing the staff parking lot next to Herlihy Hall and in the future,students may be able to park there at specific times but he is still looking into it. They went over the idea of PR that can be posted around campus and on social media if the parking lot is going to be closed again.
Senator Cronin met with Chief Cloutier of FSU’s Police Department and the Chief has expressed an interest in collaboration with the SGA UPD that includes a CRASE training, which stands for (Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events.) This program helps student learn how to stay safe on campus during active shooting events and at all other times. This would likely be a 2-3 hour program on the weekend – they will be going over more details at their upcoming meetings. The Vanessa T. Marcott foundation will be coming and holding a self defense workshop in the next few months. The specific date that they will be on campus will be February 6 from 5-7pm at the rec center.
Senator Gill has their first meeting with commute affairs tomorrow and then pans to meet with them every other week going forward.
Senator Samantha Chandler will be meeting with an older student on campus to discuss what we can do to meet the needs of older populations and finding community on belonging on campus.
Senator Elliot Olynciw-Olkuski discussed an upcoming event that the library plans to host. They addressed the recent sexual assault which took place in the library, since then the library has been working hard to take back the library and make it feel safe. They are currently working with some of the students who organized the protest on campus and the Fitchburg Anti-violence group to organize an exhibit of all the signs used during the protest. The current working title of the exhibit is “Signs of the Times: Student Protest Signs Against Sexual Assault.” It will be in the main floor lobby and will run from November 13 – December 1. There will also be a listening session in the hammond main floor lounge on November 14 from 3:30-4:30 pm. The goal for that is to have students speak about their experiences with the library and campus in general and to hopefully get some ideas on how to improve the library and campus.
Old Business
A member of SGA inquired about Lacrosse and whether they are getting their money as they have been getting a lot of questions from the club.
They will be submitting another budget to FinComm Next week and will hopefully have an answer at that point.
New Business
Treasurer Pericles put forth a motion to allot the Criminal Justice club $1,000. The request for this money is due to travel expenses, which they had already received funds for. However, the cost of their flights went up significantly before they were able to book them, which required them to request more money. There was some concern regarding the time sensitivity of this issue.
A vote among the committee resulted in 10 votes in favor of the motion to allot the Criminal Justice Club $1,000 dollars and the motion was passed.
New Member Inductions
Melena Mahoney introduced themselves as a sophomore in Comm Media – Film and Video. When asked by a current SGA member what student advocacy means to them, they said “We should have an active part as a student body in making our own decisions. I was motivated with what happened in the library, I had a lot of opinions and ideas to contribute.”
Makayla Harris Introduced themselves as a sophomore majoring in Nursing. When asked what advocacy means to them, they said “Listening to other people and using your voice to voice their concerns and opinions.” They hope to get leadership experience out of SGA and to be more active on campus.
Melena and Makayla were both sworn in and inducted into the SGA followed by an applause.
Closing Comments
A member of the SGA explained that a lot of posters that they have been getting can not be approved either because of typos or other reasons. They would like to get a PDF version before the posters are printed so materials are not wasted if they are denied. Club presidents will need to be emailed regarding this.
The African Student Association is hosting a Pajama Palooza this Thursday at 9:00 pm.
There was no SGA senator of the week this week.
