At its virtual meeting March 24, Ball State’s Student Government Association (SGA) passed an amendment standardizing committee and caucus elections that was introduced March 17.
RELATED: Ball State SGA voted on resolution, president pro tempore
The amendment proposed to enforce specific regulations for each committee and caucus leadership election, designating the time and manner of which elections will occur.
The amendment passed 37-0 with five abstentions.
Elections for committee and caucus leadership will now be conducted via a hand-raise vote at the beginning of each semester. Positions of chairs, whips and secretaries will be voted in for a full semester term.
Senator Chiara Biddle proposed an amendment to the amendment that states committee and caucus members can hold elections in the middle of the semester if they collectively agree their chair is unfit for office.
Biddle’s amendment passed 37-3 with two abstentions.
Also at the meeting, senators introduced two new pieces of legislation.
One amendment proposes additional requirements for senators to earn graduation cords. The SGA bylaws do not currently enforce any requirements for cord eligibility, and the amendment suggests three semesters of senate service be required to earn graduation cords.
Senators also introduced a senate order recognizing Student Voluntary Services for their efforts in fundraising for Angel Tree gifts for the Delaware County Department of Child Services in November and December 2020.
SGA will vote on both the amendment and senate order at its meeting next week, March 31.
During executive reports, Chief Administrator Gina Esposito said SGA has finished its first round of interviews for the student trustee position. Applications for the student trustee position, which must be filled by a full-time student for a term of two years on Ball State’s Board of Trustees, closed March 1. Esposito said she hopes to have a list of recommendations to the Indiana Governor’s Office by the first week of April.
“We have really seen amazing applications across the board here for individuals who obviously want to sreve this position for our university,” she said.
Vice President Jordyn Blythe said during her executive report that she looks forward to meeting with Marsha McGriff from the Office of Inclusive Excellence with SGA Secretary of Diversity Temple Day to discuss ways to improve Ball State’s culture.
“On Monday [March 22], I moderated a roundtable with the Women’s and Gender Studies program talking about anti-racism and inclusion…” Blythe said. “It was pretty small, but it was a really good intimate discussion with a few students.”
During committee reports, the Community and Environment Affairs committee announced new leadership — Monet Lindstrand as chair and Olive Flick as whip.
The Academic Affairs committee announced its Hit the Books Bash, an annual event before finals week that features different colleges and offers merchandise to students.
Finally, Parliamentarian Chase Braden reminded senators to turn in any amendments, resolutions and senate orders they are working on by April 5 if they want their legislation to go through the traditional two-week review process of a Q&A followed by a vote the week after.
SGA will host a hybrid in-person and Zoom meeting next Wednesday, March 31.
Contact Grace McCormick with comments at grmccormick@bsu.edu or on Twitter @graceMc564.
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