SGA Board of Trustees report details post-COVID finances, expanded health resources
Syracuse University’s SGA shared details from its Board of Trustees report Monday, including its post-COVID financial transition and expanding health resources. It will also work to establish an SGA Affinity Group to increase alumni donations Lola Jeanne Carpio | Contributing Photographer
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Syracuse University’s Student Government Association shared details from its final Board of Trustees report regarding its financial transition post-COVID-19 pandemic and university health resources at its Monday meeting.
SGA President German Nolivos and Undergraduate Representative to the Board Anna Mirer presented the report, which was split into four main issues: Registered Student Organization funding, health resources, dining services and on-campus culture.
Starting with RSO funding, Nolivos said the pandemic pushed SGA into a difficult financial transition. While students were quarantined, the student fee was still collected even though RSOs couldn’t host events, giving SGA a temporary surplus that “quickly ran out,” Nolivos said.
“We want to be transparent with (the Board) and communicate what challenges we have been facing and how we’re moving forward to address these concerns,” Nolivos said.
Nolivos said he wants to make the process easier for RSOs to raise money without having to request it from SGA. The association also hopes to establish an SGA Affinity Group with the Office of Alumni Engagement to increase donations from alumni, he said.
Mirer said SGA spent the most time on the report’s health resources section. She said SGA will continue its plans to install contraceptive vending machines around campus, though the machines have yet to be purchased. She said that while the association is responsible for the provision of menstrual products on campus, SGA’s budget no longer allows for the expense.
“We need to find another outlet to pay for this, whether it’s all over campus or just in key campus locations,” Mirer said. “We want to highlight this as a priority to the Board of Trustees, so that they can collaborate with us to find solutions to this issue.”
SGA was joined by SU’s Community Standards with Director Joshua Rich, who gave a presentation on the office’s STOP Bias initiative.
The program educates students on topics like implicit and explicit biases through orientation programs and newsletters. It also includes a form for students to report bias instances and discrimination.
“We want to make sure that when there is an issue on our campus, that students have a place to report,” Rich said. “(That) they have a place to go to for resources and support, and they know that this university takes seriously its dedication to making a campus that’s welcoming to all.”
This presentation is part of a series at SGA meetings, where university officials are invited to talk about their departments and share information about upcoming projects. These presentations include representatives from SU’s Department of Public Safety, Office of Academic Affairs and campus dining services.
Three bills were also voted on at the meeting, with the first being a funding request from SGA’s Community and Government Affairs committee.
CGA is running an initiative called “SU Votes Local,” which will help students register to vote in New York state through tabling efforts. The $55 funding request for candy for tabling events passed.
“Think of all the good you can do like performing your civic duty here where you are for the next four years,” Kennedy King, Chair of the CGA committee, said.
The second was another funding request first introduced at SGA’s meeting on Oct. 7, but its sponsors had to present again due to unspecified catering issues. The International Student Success office is hosting an event to help international students better understand how hiring works in the United States. The organization needed the funding to provide snacks for the event.
The funding request increased from $72.46 to $81.85 and also passed.
SGA Comptroller Alexis Leach also presented SGA’s Special Programming Allocation motion. Six RSOs had funding approved, with 10 partially approved and 10 denied. Overall, the spending total came to $19,585 and the bill was approved.
SGA has $68,000 left in special programming allocations, which Leach said is “really good,” as the association ran out of funds within the first two months of last semester.
