Nov. 4’s SA senate meeting included discussion of a bill to clarify the origin of emails from SA leadership, the passage of a resolution showing support for UR Student, and committee plans.
Clarification bill
Senator senior Tayfun Sahin said he is working on a bill to clarify how student government sends emails to the student body. This bill, Sahin said, will make clear that an email sent by the SA President does not represent the opinions of the Senate. It will also discourage the Speaker of the Senate from signing emails drafted by the SA President. Sahin plans on presenting the bill at next week’s Senate meeting.
Academic Affairs Committee
Senator sophomore and Academic Affairs Committee Chair Ian Krager discussed the creation of a project proposal form for the Academic Affairs Committee. The project proposal form, Krager said, should allow students with a position in SA to suggest changes or initiatives to be undertaken by the committee. Krager said he is also looking into creating a second form for use by students outside of SA.
Campus Services Committee
Campus Services Committee Chair junior Alexander Pavlicin reported on a plan to implement a program for students to buy textbooks more easily. Under this plan, Pavlicin said, students would opt to receive a package containing their textbooks upon enrolling in a course, rather than gather their textbooks during the first week of the semester. This plan, which would involve cooperation from the University bookstore, was the subject of a presentation last spring.
Student Life Committee
Senator sophomore and Student Life Committee Chair Lea Thome reported on the potential creation of a mental health ambassador position within the Mental Health Task Force.
In response to student complaints about inefficiency and long wait times for appointments, Senator junior Justyna Gorka mentioned the possibility of introducing undergraduate representation to the University Counseling Center. Gorka said that similar measures have been discussed before, but were never implemented, so she will be investigating what caused these measures to drop off and how this plan could be implemented. Gorka said that these undergraduate ambassadors would not provide counseling services, but they would perform other tasks, like checking up on students to ensure they come regularly to their appointments.
Senator sophomore Yaa Baker said that the possibility has been brought up of ambassadors acting as mentors to students going through difficult experiences similar to ones that ambassadors have had before, though she said that it was an “optimistic” idea, possibly difficult to implement.
International Student Affairs Committee
International Student Affairs Committee Chair Gorka announced that a series of events on the international student experience will be held during International Week (Nov. 18 through Nov. 22). The events will include outside speakers and give general information on the experiences of international students during and after college, and let international students share their own experiences. Gorka said that the committee will also be surveying international students about job searching.
Walk for Light
SA President senior Jamal Holtz announced that the annual Walk for Light event will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21. Students and faculty will walk around campus identifying places that should be better lit.
UR Student
The resolution in support of the UR Student project was passed. Though Krager made it clear that SA members do not actually have control over UR Student’s implementation, the resolution emphasizes SA’s commitment to working with project leaders to roll out UR Student to the campus community.
