Amendment will be voted on by the student body on Monday
“Grants shall be used for on-campus and off-campus events.”
This is the new Student Government Association amendment that will be voted on by the student body on Nov. 25. The added component to this part of the SGA constitution is, “on-campus and off-campus.”
These are but a handful of words, yet they are vital for many looking to fund events beyond St. Bonaventure campus, according to Hamaad Khan, a senior psychology major who is a senator-at-large in the SGA.
“Many clubs go to museums, conferences or other places that require not only travel but lodging and entrance fees,” said Khan. “We realized that clubs do not have the ability to apply for grants that involve off-campus events.”
“The current constitutional amendment proposal up for review by the student body was driven by a shown desire from clubs to have access to grant money they can use to travel off campus,” said Grace Ferris, a senior political science and international studies double major who is a senator-at-large. “In the current wording of the constitution in Section 3.2, clubs may only use grant money for on-campus events.”
After recognizing this problem, the Budget Committee members figured out that they could try to extend grants to apply to off-campus events as well, according to Khan.
“The idea was brought to the Executive Board, and once the proper methods were clarified, Grace Ferris and I proposed this amendment,” said Khan.
Lara McCormick, a senior political science and international studies double major who serves as the current president of SGA, said the proposed amendment was read at an SGA meeting and discussed at this point. It was read a second time, discussed and then voted on by the SGA in the meeting after that.
“If the amendment passes, it will go into effect,” said McCormick. “We hope to start off-campus grants for clubs for next semester.”
Ferris said that she hoped students would vote in large numbers to support this change to legislation.
Khan said this amendment was important for students due to it easing the cost of trips for professional development or club growth that require travel off campus to different events and new places.
“Hopefully this amendment will be in effect by the end of the semester so that grant requests for the following semester can be processed under it,” said Khan.
Lara McCormick said any concerns students may have can be emailed to sga@sbu.edu.
Khan presented the option of students attend SGA meetings if they have a point they would like to raise. SGA meetings that are open to the public are held every other Thursday at 11:30 a.m., and timings for the next meeting can be confirmed with the SGA Executive Board secretary, Kate Montemalo.
Ferris said a student class representative or a senator-at-large would be a great resource to voice any concerns or comments about this amendment to.
“Once the student body has voted to pass the amendment, it can be made official,” said Ferris. “The Student Government Association has always, and will continue to, work for the constituency which they represent in order to implement policy changes that benefit the student body.”
By Landon Allison, Associate Editor
allisolj17@bonaventure.edu
