The SGA Senate voted on several bills to adjust the comfort of the campus experience. The Senate also expressed excitement over Black History Month festivities and swore in a new member.
Upcoming meetings will discuss a change to student seating at basketball games, Tiger meal swipes and a planned Mental Health Summit in April of 2019.
Amending elections
Ian McCord, Chief Justice of the SGA, presented various edits of the current regulations regarding the Election Commission.
Some changes were clerical, such as grammar mistakes and updating language to more accurately represent the intentions of the regulations.
However, the bill put forth by McCord also adjusts the power of the Election Commission to protect the students. The bill gives the Commission the power to issue sanctions on campaigns that break the rules. These sanctions can be appealed and reversed if the secondary commission finds the appeal justified.
Furthermore, the bill removes a clause allowing the Commission to sanction a campaign that "dismissed another campaign's character."
"It's hard to argue that anyone should decide what a dismissal is, so we're just not having that issue," McCord said.
Prior to this bill, the council also had the opportunity to remove votes from a candidate in subjective circumstances. This bill removes that power entirely to avoid any possible corruption within the Election Commission.
"So, hypothetically, if the Election Commission is biased towards a certain candidate, they could disqualify someone and then delete their votes, so that their favorite won," McCord said. "I want to delete that."
The Election bill passed with a unanimous vote.
Trustee voting
Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick presented a bill to allow the Student Trustee a vote within the SGA, since the Trustee was a non-voting member of the Senate.
The Student Trustee would be required to bring university updates to the SGA Senate meetings and would have a vote.
A discussion ensued among Senate members as to the wording of the bill and the role of the Student Trustee in student government.
"What this was supposed to do was say that we wanted the Student Trustee to have a vote on the Board of Trustees," said Catherine Blackwood, the Speaker of the Senate. "This is saying that we want the Student Trustee to vote in the Senate."
Because of the unintended meaning, the Senate passed a motion to send the bill back to committee.
Greener campus
Landon Shelby put forth a bill to install a second recycling station within 50 yards of the University Center. The first recycling station is located on the North end of Mynders Hall and provides students with specific recycling bins.
"I was thinking that it would be better to have a second one located closer to the UC since that's where most of the students congregate," Shelby said.
Different from the bins next to trash cans, this station would be devoted to paper, plastic, aluminum, and cardboard. The station would be funded by the Green Feed.
The recycling bill passed unanimously.
Mental health help
Margo Huber and Karen Vuong presented a proposal to require mental health offerings to be listed on all course syllabi.
The UofM offers counseling services to students free of charge. This bill aims to promote the Counseling Center in the same way the Disability Resources for Students center is promoted.
All courses would be required to include location, website and phone number to all course syllabi.
David Dixon, a representative for the Counseling Center, attended the meeting to field any questions regarding the services provided.
The bill passed unanimously to provide students with resources to treat stress, depression and mental illness.
Ian McCord, the Chief Justice for the Student Government Association, speaks at a meeting on Thursday night. SGA plans to make several changes around campus, including a mental-health addition to the syllabi.
