Student Senate met Feb. 2, with 10 student government officials were elected, seven of which were senators. Olivia Hille was elected as the Board of Elections Commissioner and Marlee Charlton and Abigail Garman were elected as the Deputy Chief Justice and Chief Justice, respectively. 

Two pieces of legislation were passed, including the Supporting Students During COVID-19 Act, or Resolution 77. 

According to the resolution, NC State reported 1,626 cases of COVID-19 between Jan. 5 and Jan. 12 from both students and faculty. There are also approximately 1,221 students and employees isolating or in quarantine. Resolution 77 aims to recommend that the University require instructors to be more lenient towards students who test positive for COVID-19 and make their classes more accessible to them with recordings or alternative class materials.

Brodie Smith, a second-year studying political science, said he wrote the bill after hearing from a friend who missed out on classes due to a lack of recordings. 

“I think it should be mandatory that [instructors] record them because we don’t control if we test positive for COVID,” Smith said. “But they do control if we don’t get the education that we pay thousands of dollars for.”

The resolution brought on mixed debate, with some arguing students may not want to be recorded due to safety concerns or other preferences. An amendment was suggested to account for this. The senate was able to vote on the amendment, and it was passed with an overwhelming majority, as was Resolution 77 itself.

Legislation Passed

BB 75: Budgeting Unbudgeted Funds for Appropriations and SG 100 Act 

A bill to budget $20,000 from the $300,000 cash reserve for the purpose of providing additional funding for the Spring 2022 appropriations cycle and $10,000 from the cash reserve for the SG 100 celebration. Passed with a vote of 35-1.

R 77: Supporting Students During COVID-19 Act

The Student Government recommends that the University requires all instructors to record their class sessions or provide alternative materials allowing for students to understand the material discussed when privacy or safety concerns are present.The Student Government also recommends that the University encourage instructors to be more forgiving when students test positive for COVID-19 or have symptoms and do not come to class for those reasons. Passed unanimously.