The Student Government Association (SGA) met last Thursday in the Ceddia Union Building Multi-Purpose Room. Eleven members were absent due to COVID-19 contact tracing, said Riley Brown, SGA president.  

Those absent had not tested positive for COVID-19, but had been in contact with someone who had, said Madison Cole, the co-chair of external relations.  

With only 15 members present, SGA passed no motions. 

SGA gained a new member, Ethan Rosenberry, a first-year student as the senator for the Class of 2025. Imani Cameron, vice president of internal affairs, administered his oath of office. 

Senators discussed ideas and upcoming business for campus groups during their reports. 

Chase Slenker, the vice president of the budget and finance committee, reminded members that student groups must re-register as an SGA recognized club by Oct. 8. Groups need to submit the number of active members and re-register so SGA can track which organizations are active, Slenker said. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several student groups died out or became inactive. If a group does not re-register, they will be unfunded and no longer SGA recognized, he said. 

Student groups that do not re-register their clubs through SGA by Oct. 8 will have their budgets frozen, Slenker said. 

The group would have to speak with the Budget and Finance Committee in order to get re-instated at that point. 

“We can use that as a weed-out tool so to speak; not to punish, but to make sure we can bring them back in, [and] get their information and help support them to grow,” Slenker said. 

Chase Carpenter, the college of business senator, brought up the idea of an “organizational checklist” for academic campus groups. This could be another way to track requirements and activity of academic campus groups within the different colleges. 

At the recent Dean of Students Advisory Committee meeting, this checklist was discussed, according to Carpenter. If used, it would help ensure that college of business student groups are meeting their specific requirements. 

He pitched it to the senate to possibly be used for other academic clubs in their respective colleges, Carpenter said in an email after the meeting. 

“This has nothing to do with having the senate judge clubs, it is more so for the individual colleges (education, business, engineering, etc.) to ensure that their clubs are offering the best experience to their members,” Carpenter said. 

Another senator brought up that several students had voiced concerns over safety on campus. 

Hunter Cramer, the college of arts and science senator, reported several students had come to him expressing unease with COVID-19 on campus. While a cold is going around, Cramer said, some students felt uneasy in their classrooms because of the similarities in the symptoms to those of COVID-19.

“Some of them felt unsafe, like they might have had to leave their class or have actually left their class because of the amount of symptoms going around,” he said. 

The next SGA meeting is on Oct. 7 at the Multi-Cultural Student Association office in Horton Hall. 

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