STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION AGENDA



STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION MINUTESOctober 6,2020ROLL CALL: Melanie Voss and Ariana Torres were absent.APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM: No Minutes for approvalPRESIDENT'S REPORT: Samuel TsongalisI would first like to say hello and welcome! For those of you who may not know me, my name is Sam Tsongalis and I have the distinct pleasure of serving as the SGA President for the 2020-2021 academic year. I cannot express how excited I am to be here and to be working with not only an amazing executive council, but also the entire senate.The last time that this specific group of students met was in March of 2020. Then, it was a different group of students, but the ideals remain the same. We are the elected representation for the students of Westfield State University, and we are responsible for making sure that the student voice is not only heard, but respected.Over the last eight months, our lives have changed. We have had to relocate our prime methods of learning, to tiny computer screens, in scattered locations across who knows where, with environments that I am sure were less than ideal compared to a classroom. Even today, I speak to you through what is this Zoom call.With an academic year like no other, deserves a Student Government like no other. Over the coming months, we will take on everything that comes the student’s way, and then some. We will work to improve the relationship between the students and the administration, and we will not come up empty handed, again. This is a special moment in our school's history, and we must rise to the occasion.Tonight, we are joined by several members of Student Affairs and I would just like to turn it over to them for a few minutes to say hello and welcome you all back. Please join me in welcoming Student Affairs.Gloria Lopez, Vice President of Student Affairs: Hi everybody I want to welcome you all. I am so excited to see you all and especially to be able to see some of you on campus. This is an incredibly unique year for all of us and excited to partner with you in new ways to help move the community forward and continue to do some great work that will have an incredible impact on our community. I want to welcome you all and congratulate you all for being part of the senate. Thank you.Chief Tony Casciano, Director of Public Safety: Welcome back, Nice to see some smiling faces. It is definitely different but glad to see some people walking around. Hopefully, next semester we will be back to some type of normal. Tomorrow we have our Coffee with the Cops on the green. Welcome back and if you need anything I am down in public safety. Take care.Shannon Broderick, Associate Dean of Student Affairs: Hi everyone, we are located upstairs in suite 209 in Ely. We have seen that you guys have been taking campus life seriously despite being anxious and still being able to connect with one another in a safe way. Now I am going to turn it over to a new face.Maggie Balch, Dean of Students: Hello, I am thrilled to be here, and have heard how fantastic the SGA was. Congratulations and I look forward to an awesome year. My room is on the second floor of Ely if you ever need anything. I look out my window and am so proud with how the campus community is carrying themselves. I look forward to working with all of you.Thank you, Student Affairs.Now I would like to welcome our SGA advisors.Barbara Hand: I have worked in the Student Government for many years and it is so great to see so many faces. This exec team has worked really hard to even just figure out how tonight was going to work, get things in motion, and other things we will look forward to throughout the semesters.Ryan Meersman: Welcome, and congratulations. I work out of the Continuing Ed office, and I am physically in Parenzo 115 Mondays and Tuesdays.I move to accept the results of the Fall 2020 Elections for the remainder of the 2020-2021 Academic Year. Motion carries.I move to appoint Barbara Hand and Ryan Meersman as the SGA Advisors for the remainder of the 2020-2021 Academic Year. Motion carries.This past Friday, October 2, All University Committee met during the common meeting time via Zoom. There we referred 22 class proposals to University Curriculum Committee.In the last ten minutes of the meeting, it was noted by Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost, Dr. Bob Kersting, due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the idea of canceling spring break was on the table. The reasons for this are due to students possibly leaving to go somewhere and bringing back the virus back with them, and because some of our sister institutions and the Umass system have taken up similar policies. To be clear, this was not an official proposal by any means, it was just a conversation.When the idea was mentioned, my mind began swirling into a few different directions, but I quickly became fixed on the point of the academic burnout that would surely follow. The academic burnout that would follow from the absence of a spring break would not come immediately in March but should be expected in late April to early May when it comes time for finals.On the other hand, I do understand where the school is coming from. The COVID-19 Pandemic, as we all know, is not a force to be reckoned with by any means. The possibility of a student going somewhere over spring break, and possibly bringing back the virus, unfortunately is not too far-fetched.Nevertheless, to change the Academic Calendar on the students once more is not ideal and warrants further conversation. To remind everyone again, this was not a formal proposal, but simply just a conversation.On Monday, October 5, Vice President Kersting and I continued our conversation in person with a meeting talking about the pros and cons about the spring break discussion that was had at the tail end of All University Committee the Friday Prior. Vice President Kersting also made it a point to note that nothing is off the table and that he is seeking the opinion of SGA to help make the decision.From here we ultimately decided that there are three clear options to be considered right now.To leave spring break as is.To have two four-day weekends in March. The dates to be specified, but they would not be back to back.We cancel spring break with no time off.It should be acknowledged, yes there are more than just these three options, but it has also been made aware to me that because it is now October, a decision must be made sooner rather than later because it takes time to make these changes.When the policy is written, it will be going through proper governance committees and we are looking for strong senators to serve on All University Committee. We are looking for two additional students and then Academic Policy Committee we are looking for three students. Although I cannot say when this policy is going to come up because it has not been written, I can say that it is essential that the student voice is heard and voted for.This all being said, I would like to note one last thing, because this is such a big profile issue, Vice President Kirsting will be here next week to receive feedback and input on this issue.If anyone needs to reach me, please email me at president.sga@westfield.ma.eduThank you everyone, and I yield for questions.Audrey Therriault: I'm not sure of how we are doing Roberts rules with Zoom. is it wrong for me to put something on chat then wait to speak out loud I want to make sure I'm not going about things the wrong way but it's so different I'm just not sure.Samuel Tsongalis: If anyone does have comments, questions or concerns, instead of using the chat we are going to ask that you please go onto the speakers list because in regular Senate we wouldn't have a chat option, so we just want to make sure it does get housed into the minutes instead of getting best into the zoom.Items not listed on AgendaBOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT: Thalita NevesHi everybody! My name is Thalita and I am on my second term as Student Trustee. Just wanted to welcome you all to another year of Student Government and I know things are not normal right now, so I wanted to thank you all for taking the time to commit to SGA this year.The Board of Trustees are going to have their monthly meeting next Tuesday, October 13th from 8:30AM-4PM so if you want to know what’s going on at the university or you just want to see my face, tune in to WSU’s YouTube channel and subscribe. We will be talking finances, Efficiency Committee, Covid-19, and the Presidential Search so if you are looking for updates on those things, be sure to tune in.The Presidential Search Committee will be meeting next Wednesday October 14th on YouTube as well. If anybody has anything, they want to see in the next President of WSU make sure to reach out to me and I’ll be sure to voice those suggestions at committee meetings.All University Committee:Student Advisory Council: VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT-STUDENT LIFE: Aaron Lessing Hey guys, my name is Aaron Lessing and I am the Vice President of Student Life for this academic year. I am a sophomore Political Science major and a commuter student.I am currently looking for senators to sit on the Student Affairs Committee, our first meeting will be on Friday, October 16th at 1 pm. Please get in contact with me if you are interested on sitting on the committee.If you need to get in contact with me with any issues you may have regarding, food, res or commuter life, parking, etc. please text me or email me at vpstudentlife.sga@westfield.ma.edu.Student Affairs Committee: No reportDiversity/Inclusion Committee: No report Food Services Committee: No reportParking Control Board: No reportStudent Athletic Advisory Board: No report Substance Advisory Committee: No reportVeteran Affairs Report: No reportParking Appeals Board: No report VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT-ACADEMIC LIFE: Lyric Lamagdelaine Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a great first week back here at Westfield. I also hope that the first month or so of your courses went well online. In case you do not know me yet, my name is Lyric Lamagdelaine. I am a junior Political Science and Criminal Justice double major with a Theatre minor. I am very excited to say that I will be serving as your 2020-2021 Vice President of Academic Life. I am so happy to be back here with all of you and to have an excellent year together.Spring 2021 advising, and course registration is right around the corner. This Friday, October 9, the Spring 2021 course schedule will go live on MyWestfield under the Registrar's page. This can be located under the URL: westfield.ma.edu/office/registrar. Make sure you check it out and begin thinking about what courses you may want to enroll in.Honors and Banacos students must meet with their major advisers between the dates of October 9 through October 19. Honors students must sign up for their honors courses by October 20. The course sign-up sheets are available in the Virtual Honors Center on PLATO under Advising Resources. Thursday, October 22, Honors students will register for their remaining non-honors courses. The exact dates of advising and registration for non-Honors and Banacos students has not been officially released yet, but I will keep you all updated as the semester progresses, and more dates are confirmed.If you need to reach me feel free to contact me through my email, vpacademiclife.sga@westfield.ma.edu. Thank you and have a great rest of your weekAcademic Policies Committee: No reportCurriculum Committee: No reportEnrollment Management Committee: No report International Programs Committee: No reportAcademic Technology and Information Services Committee: No reportVICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT-FINANCE: Kelson BurkeI would just like to do a quick introduction. My name is Kelson Burke. I am a Junior with a major in Accounting and a minor in Political Science and I will be the Vice-President of Finance again for this Academic Year.I will be sending a doodle poll out to all senators currently on SGA for Food Committee. If you do not wish to join Food Committee then you may ignore the email I will be sending out. If you do wish to join Food Committee then please have the doodle poll filled out by Friday, October 9. If you have any questions regarding the committee, please let me know by sending me an email at vpfinance.sga@westfield.ma.eduI will also be chairing the Finance Committee. I will need one representative from each class, not necessarily the Class Councils, to join me on the Finance Committee where we will be going over any Finance Proposals that clubs may request. If you are interested in joining or have any questions about the committee, please shoot me an email also at vpfinance.sga@westfield.ma.eduFinance Committee: No reportFoundation Report: No reportVICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT-PROGRAMMING: Cameron KelleherThe first Cab meeting will be next Wednesday, October 14. Come check that out. Helping us get some creative ideas out there about how we can program for students and put on things that allows you to connect outside of your dorm rooms and stuff like that outside. For the last month and a half or so I have had the opportunity to serve on the University Efficiency Committee. The first task was filling in the 7.5 million in the gap in the budget for this year. We ended up completing that pretty quick moving on to our next couple of tasks which is just going through different departments in the University and certain inefficiencies and redundancies. Trying to pick those out just make the University operate more efficiently unfortunately I'm going to have to be stepping down from this position right now this cannot fit into my schedule, so we're looking for another Student Representative to sit on that committee. Campus Activities Board:LEGISLATIVE SECRETARTY: Elizabeth FerraraJust try to keep the camera on if possible, I know this is all strange but we love to see your faces. Be sure to email me if you are going to miss a meeting. Try to be at all meetings.Neighborhood Advisory Board: No reportCommunity Relations/Fundraising: No reportEXECUTIVE SECRETARY REPORT: Kimberly FishPARLIAMENTARIAN REPORT: Rules and Regulations Committee: No reportConstitutional Review Committee: No reportADVISORY COMMITTEES:Advisory Committee on Facilities Planning: No reportAdvisory Committee on Academic Planning: No reportAdvisory Committee on Budget Planning: No reportAdvisory Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: No report COMMUTER COUNCIL AND CLASS COUNCIL REPORTS:Commuter Council: No reportSenior Class: No reportJunior Class: No reportSophomore Class: No reportFirst Year Class: No reportUNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: (Requires majority vote to be opened)ANNOUNCEMENTS: ROLL CALL: Melanie Voss and Ariana Torres were absent.ADJOURNMENT: 6:05 pmPlease also note that for accurate record keeping purposes, SGA meetings are recorded and kept on file by the SGA Executive Secretary. ................
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