The Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SGA) held elections to fill vacant seats in their senate Monday night.
Each applicant for the positions of Building A senator, Watson Hall senator, commuter and freshman senators, were required to have attended a regular session and committee meeting in order to be eligible to run for a position.
In total, ten new senators were sworn in on Monday night. Marissa Mahoney, Logan Tupper, Jake Beretta, David Miller and Nicole Damato were elected as commuter senators. They were joined by Mark Downey, Sarah Corinne Zeni, Nicole Dunlop and Alexa Sorch who will serve as freshman senators. Kenny Gordon was elected to serve as the Watson Hall Senator and, despite two candidates applying, the position of Building A Senator was left vacant.
Dr. Amir Mohammadi, vice president of finance and administrative affairs and advancement services provost, gave a presentation on the current issues surrounding parking on campus. With nearly ten thousand students and staff at SRU and parking spots to accommodate less than half of them.
“The problem is that the parkers of today end up paying to help the parkers of tomorrow,” Mohammadi said. “That is why we need short term, mid-term and long term solutions to this problem.” Mohammadi and his team are currently exploring options such as raising the price of parking passes and possibly constructing a parking garage in the future. No action is expected to take place in the coming months as they are still in the early stages of addressing the issue.
Dr. Brad Wilson presented on the topic of Student Learning Outcomes. The associate provost of transformational experiences outlined what his department has been working on over the past six months.
“I’m here to really reference why student learning outcomes are important and why students should pay attention to them when they’re listed on the syllabus,” Wilson said. “The goal of the programs around Slippery Rock is to help students get prepared to enter the working world; these student learning outcomes serve as a great baseline for measuring our success in achieving that goal.”
Theatre professor Deanna Brookens outlined plans for the Kaleidoscope Arts Fest at the end of April. She hopes to approach SGA and other university organizations for funding to bring in the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy group. Brookens hopes this event will showcase the fine arts around campus and help students relax the week before finals in the spring.
SGA President Rachel Lawler reminded students that the Health Center offers free flu shots 24/7 at their office in Rhoades Hall. Student and academic Affairs vp Scott Vogelgesang encouraged students to fill out the new and improved student life survey so their opinions about what’s going on around campus could be heard. Emails containing a link to the survey were sent out on Monday morning.
Christina Leonard of the Student Nonprofit Alliance spoke during Vice President of Campus Outreach Dallas Kline’s report. She brought attention to their Hunger Initiative, their efforts coordinating relief efforts for hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and their upcoming cardboard village event in the quad.
Vice President of Internal Affairs Lexi Foster announced that campaigning for Homecoming King and Queen would begin this week. Social Justice Committee Chair Victoria Davis announced plans for a letter writing campaign to assist in transgender and non-binary SRU students being represented justly on programs such as CORE and D2L. Davis’ sentiments were seconded by an attending trans student who expressed their admiration towards the strides made to make SRU more inclusive in recent years and hope that it would continue in the future.
The minutes for the September 18 meeting were approved.
The SRU Ultimate Frisbee Club and the SRU Pro-Bono Physical Therapy Club were approved as official university-sanctioned clubs.
Capital budget applications totaling $47,268 were approved. They included new choir risers for the Slippery Rock University Choir ($11, 067), two sousaphones for SRU Marching Pride ($17, 673), a new base amplifier for the Jazz Ensemble ($1,230) and two tubas for the Symphonic Wind Ensemble Club ($17,298). A $871 request by the Art Society for maintenance was tabled because no representative from the organization was in attendance.
The next formal SGA Meeting will take place on Monday, Oct. 16 in the Smith Student Center Theater.
