The undergraduate student senate held its second-to-last session of the spring semester on Tuesday, March 31. During this meeting, two bills were advanced, as well as a new code of conduct and amendments to the SGA constitution.
New amendments, bylaws
A significant change made to the SGA bylaws during this session was the redefining of the chief of staff position. The title of executive advisor, currently held by Mansi Bhimani, will be changed to chief of staff, which will be replaced with the new title ‘executive director of programming and finances.’ Newly selected student body president-elect Caroline Marcus, who serves the current administration as chief of staff, spoke about this title change.
“With the chief of staff title, it truly is a lot of what (Bhimani) does,” Marcus said, “working on the projects, the initiatives that we all pitched during our campaign, stuff like that is what (Bhimani) does, and so that’s kind of where that title should go.”
Current Student Body President Chase Darwin added to this explanation.
“(Marcus) spent a majority of her time working on our events, as you all know, and also going through and making sure our finances add up,” Darwin said. “So, with that, the only thing we’re really taking out of this position in these proposed amendments is special projects, because all of that will fall onto what (Bhimani’s) role is now as the chief of staff.”
First readings
During this session, a new SGA code of conduct was introduced, read and advanced. This document will allow for all SGA members to follow a set of guidelines with the intention of maintaining conduct and integrity. The advancement of this code of conduct passed with a vote of 100-0-0.
In addition to the code of conduct, two new bills were also introduced.
Sponsored and introduced by Sen. Piper Behan, Bill 26-3 is the College of Nursing Student Government Association Representation Bill.
“Basically, the whole synopsis is the College of Nursing has a Dean’s Advisory Council, and they currently have students that sit on that council,” Behan said. “And so what this bill is doing is making a solidified seat on the College of Nursing Dean’s Advisory Council for whoever is currently serving as the nursing senator, so that there’s more representation and communication between the College of Nursing and SGA.”
This bill advanced with a vote of 100-0-0.
The second and final bill introduced during this session was Bill 26-4, introduced and sponsored by Sen. Ani Bhushan. The purpose of this bill is to increase the safety of the Metro-Kingston Pike parking lot, one of UT’s non-commuter parking lots.
“I have been in contact with facilities, UTPD, as well as emergency management teams who have gone out there and identified broken lights in the east end of the lot,” Bhushan said.
The university has made an agreement to fix the parking lot lighting and install a blue light in the area.
This bill passed with a vote of 100-0-0, concluding the session.
