The 98th Session of NC State Student Senate came to a close with the final meeting on Wednesday, March 28, where Senators voted on 17 pieces of legislation.
The Traditions Department of Student Government, a department historically located in the Executive branch, was dissolved, a censure bill failed against Lilly Neal, a third-year studying psychology and the Board of Elections chair, and the 98th Session’s Sine Die resolution formally ended the session.
83GB – Personnel Committee Membership Act
This resolution amends the Student Body Statutes to include the Board of Elections chair in the Personnel Committee. It was approved unanimously.
80GB – Traditions Department Update Act
This act would entirely eliminate the Traditions Department from Student Government. The department has been responsible for The Brick mobile app, Tradition Keeper Medal Ceremony and Tradition Keeper program, all of which will be run by the Alumni Association Student Ambassador Program in August 2019.
Traditions is also responsible for Campout, an annual event to celebrate the beginning of basketball season. This event has seen decreased attendance and greatly increased costs per student in years since 2014, and was deemed financially unsustainable.
With 46 votes in support, one against and three abstentions, the resolution passed and will go to former Student Body President Jess Errico, a fifth-year studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, for her signature or veto.
98SR – Grierson Board of Elections Confirmation Act
This Senate resolution appoints Andrew Grierson, a first-year in exploratory studies, to the Board of Elections to serve until Fall 2019 Commencement.
With 45 votes in support, zero against and three abstentions, the resolution passed, and Errico swore in Grierson.
BOE Chair Neal has been the subject of recent scrutiny over her handling of the 99th session election. This resolution would censure, or officially punish, Neal. This would not affect her status as chair.
Neal has been charged with neglect of duty, defined in the Student Body Statutes as “cases in which an official willfully failed to execute a specific duty to the best of their ability.” This comes in the wake of delayed posting of elections results, not posting Board of Elections meeting minutes in a timely manner and prematurely telling the subject of a violation hearing the likely results of that hearing.
Senate went into closed session for the entirety of this discussion, lasting over an hour.
With seven votes in support, 33 against and 10 abstentions, the resolution failed.
This resolution reinstates what is known as the Committee on Public Affairs. This committee existed before the 94th Session passed a resolution to merge the committee with Government Operations to form the Government Relations and Oversight committee (GRO).
This led to GRO working on both internal oversight and external advocacy, and the resolution argues that this combination makes it difficult for GRO to handle both roles.
As a result of this bill, GRO will retain internal oversight power, while Public Relations will regain an advocacy focus, like communicating with the Raleigh City Council, Wake County Board of Commissioners, UNC Association of Student Governments and UNC Board of Governors.
With 41 votes in support, zero against and three abstentions, the resolution passed and will go to Errico for her signature or veto.
The following two resolutions were considered in block.
88GB – Sustainability Statutes Act
The former adds a reprimanding power to Student Government to address senators with excessive absences. The latter adds a sentence in the Student Body Statutes to require the Director of Sustainability to register Student Government as a Sustainable Student Organization.
With 38 votes in support, zero against and four abstentions, the resolutions passed and will go to Errico for her signature or veto.
This resolution aims to urge NC State to adopt strict anti-smoking policies. The document defines smoking as including all lighted tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and vapes.. It advocates for the university to prohibit smoking in any university building, including residential facilities, and all university land. Current policy prohibits smoking in all buildings except in designated “smoking permitted” rooms.
The resolution would also be sent to Chairs of Faculty and Staff Senates, Director of Facilities and Student Health Services.
This resolution was the subject of heavy debate. The primary arguments against the bill were that it hinders individuals’ liberties and that addiction is a complicated subject; smokers cannot simply quit smoking on a whim. Senators in support of the bill discussed the health risks to smokers as well as those affected by second-hand smoke.
With 20 votes in support, 17 against and five abstentions, the resolution passed and will go to Errico for her signature or veto.
67FB – 99th Session Budget Act
This resolution outlines the budget for the following Senate session. Updates were made since the budget town hall, including increased stipends for the Student Senate president, student body vice president, student body treasurer and student chief justice to match the $4,500 the student body president receives.
There were several mathematical errors on the document, which led to some discussion. Former Student Body Treasurer Molly Mueller, a fourth-year studying political science, clarified some concerns and the document was adjusted to be more accurate.
With 40 votes in support, zero against and one abstention, the resolution passed and will go to Errico for her signature or veto.
This resolution amends Chapter 6 of the Student Body Statutes, which governs election processes. There are many minor wording adjustments and several larger adjustments.
One of these would change the Special Review Committee, which oversees the Board of Elections, to be officially formed ten days before an election cycle. This committee has the power to override decisions made by the Board of Elections at its discretion.
This committee would be changed to only include members of Student Government rather than the University Activities Board president and Inter Residence Council president.
It also allows for some flexibility in campaign spending. Candidates would be able to speak with the Board of Elections and discuss situations that might justify different spending limits.
With 41 votes in support, zero against and one abstention, the resolution passed and will go to Errico for her signature or veto.
86GB – Wolfpack Students Governance Act
Following the official inclusion of the Wolfpack Students Facebook group in the Student Body Statutes, this resolution gives control of the group to the student body president. The president would then be able to move control to an external group or delete the group entirely.
During the discussion, Errico said that if this passed, she would move control of the Facebook group to a temporary email and delete the password associated with it. This would effectively remove any possibility of oversight for Wolfpack Students.*
This was met with concern from senators. This led to a suggestion to move the bill back to GRO so it could be edited accordingly.
This suggestion was put to a vote, which passed, and the legislation was moved back to the Government Relations and Oversight committee.
Student Government currently holds an unspent $27,000 in personnel lines. These lines are effectively stockpiles of funding that different committees like Finance and Student Body Officers can use. If not used by the end of the 98th session, this money would go into mandated reserves, a sort of emergency fund that sees minimal use. This legislation would move the money to go toward the executive branch.
Errico said that if the money were moved, she would use it to create a pilot program for a new cultural competency training module. The module would be similar to AlcoholEDU, with mandatory completion by first-year students.
With 41 votes in support, zero against and 2 abstentions, the resolution passed and will go to Errico for her signature or veto.
The following four resolutions were considered in block.
92FB – NC Women’s Center Sexual Assault Awareness Month Act
93FB – Rowing Club at NC State Act
94FB – Women’s Soccer Club at NC State Act
95FB – The Bangladeshi Student Sports Club Act
All four bills deal with allocating money from the finance disbursement line to various organizations.
Finance Bill 92 sought to allocate $3,000 toward the Women’s Center to host events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Of that, $1,000 will go toward paying a speaker fee for an event and $2,000 will go toward a fund in support of students who have experienced interpersonal violence.
Finance Bill 93 would give $650 to the NC State Rowing Club for the purpose of subsidizing travel and event costs.
Finance Bill 94 similarly would give $510 to the Women’s Soccer Club for travel and event costs.
Finance Bill 95 would provide $800 to the Bangladeshi Student Sports club to cover various expenses.
With 42 votes in support, zero against and zero abstentions, the resolution passed and will go to Errico for her signature or veto.
85SR – 98th Session Sine Die Act
This resolution acts as the final closing of the 98th Senate session. It highlights all initiatives, projects and actions taken by student body officers, committees and committee chairs. Additionally, it outlines that future Senate members use this as a guide for future actions.
This received unanimous support during an initial vote, until a clause not previously noticed by any senator was brought to light. Said clause was deemed superfluous and was removed. Following this, the resolution received 43 votes in support, one against and zero abstentions.
Because this is a Senate resolution, it does not require Errico’s signature to proceed. After a period of open comment and a final roll call, the 98th Session officially came to a close.
*Editor’s note: Errico’s comments about her intended actions with Wolfpack Students have been corrected.
