Ball State’s Student Government Association (SGA) hosted its weekly senate meeting Feb. 19. Starting off the meeting, they welcomed Director of Study Abroad Ashley Coker and Director of International Student Success Shane Lanning from Rinker Center for Global Affairs.
They spoke about programs they offer, the culture exchange and how to study abroad.
Lanning shared how one of the hardest things international students struggle with is a sense of belonging.
To combat this problem, the Rinker Center for Global Affairs created a new program called “Benny Buddies.” This program pairs international students with domestic students, planning events throughout the year that they can then attend for free.
RELATED: Benny Buddies aims to connect international students with peers at Ball State
Most Wednesdays, the Rinker Center also hosts the culture exchange. During this time, they host many events exposing students to other countries.
“They do a game from those countries, and we do cooking nights where we provide the groceries and allow those students to cook for you all,” Lanning said.
After Lanning finished, he passed it on to Coker who focused on studying abroad. She shared the different types of study they offer, such as how students can go for a couple weeks or a semester long.
Two of the upcoming trips students have the chance to go on are a trip to Seoul, South Korea in the fall of 2025 and San Juan, Puerto Rico in the spring of 2026. Applications for Seoul are open now and the Puerto Rico application opens up in June.
To find out more about the different programs, students can go to Ball State’s study abroad website.
Coker ended the presentation by sharing how this experience can change students by traveling somewhere new.
“It is impactful that it changes students, it can really determine your path,” she said.
Following the presentation, executive reports followed starting with President Noah Poole. He updated the senate on their platform points, specifically initiatives taken to enhance disability accommodations throughout the university
He shared how he is in the works of a pilot program that would have QR codes that students could scan and report outages that may affect accessibility.
Treasurer Casey Rockel shared the February expenses that were cleared. The expenses consisted of $200 for the Health Promotion and Advocacy shirt display, bus charges of $287.50 for the Dance Marathon and two orders for name tags that were respectively $36 and $22.50.
With no new or unfinished business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting open to the public is on Feb. 26 at 3:15 p.m. at the L.A Pittenger Student Center.
Contact Shelby Anderson via email at sanderson9@bsu.edu.
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