SGA discusses changes to bylaws for AY 2025-26

Dylan Pichnarcik / THE GATEPOST

By Dylan Pichnarcik News Editor Vice President César Matos proposed changes to SGA’s bylaws at a meeting on April 23. The changes included adding snap elections and reclassifying the club representative positions in the Senate. Matos said the purpose of snap elections is only to fill vacant seats on SGA. Snap elections can be called at any time, pending approval from the Senate by vote. Currently, SGA has 30 vacant seats, made up of 27 open senate seats, a vice president, a secretary, and a publicist. According to Matos, any member of SGA, excluding the student trustee, can call a snap election. He said after a snap election is called, the Senate will serve as the official Election Committee in charge of counting ballots. In response to Matos’ proposal, President Evelyn Campbell asked if snap elections would include a week for nominations. Currently, traditional SGA elections include a week when any fee-paying undergraduate student can be nominated for a position on SGA. Matos said instead of a week of nominations, a snap election would be proposed once SGA is notified of students who are interested in running. He said the meeting where the snap election was called would also serve as a campaign night for students who are running for election. Campbell advocated for the proposal to be tabled and edited to include a week of nominations, and “only the highest point of SGA can call a snap election.” “You’re giving almost an unfair advantage to the rest of the campus community if you call elections and already have people in place or know” of students who will be running for the vacant seats, Campbell said. She said adding a week of nominations encourages more students to run for vacant positions and market themselves as candidates. Student Trustee Jeremy McDonald agreed that the proposal should be tabled and said the student trustee should also be able to propose a snap election. According to Matos, the student trustee is a “non-political actor” who does not directly interact with the Senate. The student trustee is an ex officio member of SGA, according to Advisor Rachel Spezia, meaning they cannot offer motions or vote on any matter presented to the Senate. Spezia asked Matos why he was proposing snap elections instead of adding set fall elections to SGA’s bylaws. She said elections called by student leaders can become “insular” and raised a concern that “[SGA is] not keeping the elections open to the greater community, and it’s based on the student leadership that’s at the table.” A motion was made by Outreach and Events Coordinator Alix Ayoub to table the proposal until the next senate meeting, which passed unanimously. Matos’ second proposed change to the bylaws outlined what a club representative is and the ramifications if a student organization fails to send a representative to required meetings called by SGA. According to Matos, a club representative will be an ex officio member of the Senate and will not have the power to make motions or vote on any Senate matters. He said club representatives will be able to participate in discussions during senate meetings and will receive communications and updates from SGA. Matos said failure to attend club representative meetings for one semester will result in the organization’s funds being frozen until the first club representative meeting of the following semester. Failure to attend club representative meetings for two consecutive semesters will result in the organization’s constitution being dissolved. In response to the proposal, McDonald said the bylaw should be edited to say club representatives should receive all relevant communications from SGA rather than all communications from SGA. McDonald said SGA communicates with many people on campus, and some of those communications are not relevant to club representatives. He said he does not want to violate the SGA Constitution by excluding club representatives from communications, even if they do not concern the club representative. A motion was made to approve the changes to the club representative position by Treasurer Khoa Bùi and passed unanimously. During the meeting, Robert Totino, vice president of Finance, Technology, and Administration, presented proposed capital projects to SGA for consideration. SGA is one of three groups on campus that make recommendations for upcoming capital projects. The other groups include some members of the University’s executive staff and the Budget and Planning Committee, which is comprised of members of the faculty, staff, and budget managers for specific campus departments. Currently, there are 18 projects proposed by different departments on campus. The estimated cost for the FY26 proposed projects is $1,235,000. Members of SGA were asked to rank each of the 18 projects from highest to lowest priority. Campbell encouraged members of SGA to focus on site improvements to campus. These improvements were requested by the Department of Facilities in conjunction with SGA. She said site improvements include improving outdoor lighting on campus for safety reasons. The idea for improved lighting came from the previous year’s safety walk. The estimated cost for the site improvements is $10,000, according to the project’s proposal. During her report, Campbell said members of the administration were pleased with the changes made to the format of the Administrative Forum. The Administrative Forum was held on April 8 during the final club representative meeting of the semester. Campbell said administrators enjoyed hearing from more than just SGA regarding student concerns. During his report, McDonald said the All University Committee passed a log that lowered the number of credits required for graduation to 30. McDonald also announced that the Academic Policy Committee has tabled a proposal that excuses student-athletes from class on game days. He said he has been advocating for this policy as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.