Before the Feb. 17 Student Senate meeting, Student Government (SG) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA) members held a joint session where they hosted university leaders Chancellor Randy Woodson and Provost Warwick Arden, among other university administrators.
A bulk of the meeting agenda between SG, GSA and the university leaders was devoted to a Q&A session, in which the floor was open to questions and concerns about COVID-19 and campus life that reflected the interest of the student body. Sen. Luke Ward, a first-year studying engineering, inquired about the criteria which would lead administrators to make the call to send students living on-campus home during the spring semester.
“It’s hard to tell you that there’s a hard and fast number, or a threshold that we cross over,” Woodson responded. “When we reopened for the spring and brought students back to campus and into campus housing, it was with the strong expectation that we would not send students back home. I’m as confident as anybody can be in a global pandemic that we’re going to get through the semester.”
Dr. Julie Casani, director and medical director of Student Health Services, discussed the success of the University’s efforts at curbing the effects of the pandemic on campus.
“We are doing very well on campus; students, faculty and staff are all being tested and adhering to that,” Casani said. “We have a less than 2% positive rate on campus. This is in comparison to Hillsborough Street, which has double digits.”
Following the joint section with GSA, the regularly scheduled Senate meeting began. Two elections commissioners were appointed: Andrew Grierson, a third-year studying biology, and Cate Brewer, a second-year studying political science and economics. They were voted in with 59 affirmative votes and zero negative votes.
Additionally, four students were incorporated into vacant seats in the Senate. Taleek Harlee, a third-year studying agricultural education, and Samuel Phillips, a second-year studying agricultural business management, filled the vacant College of Agriculture and Life Sciences senator seats. Valerie Pymento, a graduate student in liberal arts studies, filled the vacant graduate and lifelong education senator seat, and Katie Phillips, a first-year studying political science and English, filled the vacant first-year senator seat.
Legislation Passed
SR 100 – The Hanvey Reprimand Act – Passed
This legislation was created in response to Sen. Tilley Anne Hanvey, a first-year studying food science, accruing 10 absences during the 100th session. With 41 affirmative votes, 16 negative votes and one abstention, this act passed.
FB 103 – COVID-19 Student Funding Regulation Act – Passed
This legislation was drafted with the intent to incentivize student organizations across campus to strictly adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and regulations set by the University. The act institutes that any student organizations and their events which have violated or are violating COVID-19 guidelines and regulations set by the University will be deemed ineligible to receive any funds from SG. This act was passed with 50 affirmative votes and six negative votes.
AB 107 – Spring Break 2021-Fall Break 2021 Appropriations Act – Passed
This act was created to appropriate sufficient funds to student organizations for the appropriations cycle that lasts from spring break 2021 until fall break 2021. This act passed unanimously with 54 affirmative votes.
SR 115 – The Modernization of the Student Body Constitution Act – Passed
This legislation was created to advocate for a revision of the Student Body Constitution in order to update and modernize it so that it can be used in the context of cultural, organizational and procedural changes of the present. With this act, the constitution may be updated to explicitly reflect the powers and responsibilities of all SG bodies. This legislation passed with 52 affirmative votes and one negative vote.
GB 127 – The Chief Justice Correction Act, SR 129 – The Student Body Officer Qualifications Correction Act – Passed
GB 127 was created in order to update the Student Body Statutes to reflect changes made in which the conduct board and the student body chief justice were removed from the student body documents. SR 129 was created to revise and define qualifications for serving as student body officers. Following a successful motion to block, these acts passed with 54 affirmative votes and one negative vote.
