SGA moves on pending legislation, prepares for upcoming elections
The Student Government Association met to discuss upcoming elections and three pieces of legislation on Feb. 7.
SGA will soon have Executive Senate Elections where it will elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer and Senators for the 2022-2023 academic year. To apply, candidates must collect between 50 and 200 student signatures, depending on the position, by Feb. 25 at 5 p.m.
The Executive Cabinet is seeking two senators and two house representatives to join the Elections Committee that is responsible for overseeing candidates and the debate during the upcoming elections.
The position of Governmental Affairs Chair is also open.
There will be an elections orientation on Feb. 24 where approved candidates can learn more about the election process.
Introduced Legislation
The first piece of legislation introduced encouraged the Board of Trustees and Bob Davies to reinstate the Fall 2020 Hyflex teaching modality.
The house went over recent changes to the legislation, which were altered to include accommodations for students with disabilities and students who have to care for COVID-19 positive family members. Another change encourages department chairs to take action in transitioning back to the Hyflex teaching method.
Junior Scott Thomas is an SGA representative who experienced COVID-19 isolation earlier this semester.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have accommodating professors, but I know not all students have that luxury,” Thomas said. “So (the legislation is) a way to level the playing field for everyone as much as we can.”
The house and senate voted to approve the resolution.
The Speaker of the House then introduced a resolution to expand parking accommodations for students with disabilities.
CMU currently offers no long-term independent parking accommodations for students with disabilities. The legislation encourages Parking Services to partner with Student Disability Services to create a parking accommodation that serves the varying spectrum of disabilities here at CMU.
The parking accommodation would expand the parking lots that a student's parking pass is valid in. Accessible parking lots will be identified through a consultation with Student Disability Services and will be based upon which buildings are deemed necessary to access for academic success and the proximity of parking lots to those buildings.
Eligibility requires proper documentation of disability from a licensed healthcare provider. Parking accommodations obtained would be valid for one semester.
The House voted to table the motion until the next house meeting.
It then approved a change to an old piece of legislation that recognized the first week of February as National Gun Violence Survivors Week. However, the senate tabled the resolution to a later date.
The change to the legislation acknowledges that National Gun Violence Survivors Week and Black History Month coincide. By adding it, the piece acknowledges that Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by gun violence.
“I think it's important for us as students and for Central Michigan as a University to be able to acknowledge different things that are going on in society, to be able to address them and actually make some change about them,” senior Madison Montgomery said. “Central is very inclusive and tries to be on the forefront of change so this is another way that we can do so.”
The Senate also voted to approve the following legislation:
- “A Legislative Bill to Relocate the Student Food Pantry to a Larger and More Accessible Space”
- “A Resolution to Call for Central Michigan University, the Central Michigan University Office of Residence Life and CMU Campus Dining to Take Action to Compensate the South and Towers Community Residents for Their Ongoing Hardship in Obtaining Meals”
