The Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SGA) held their public meeting Monday night and approved six new initiative requests, in addition to a capital budget application by Athletic Training for $10,092.
The funds will be used to replace outdated modality units for electrotherapy and thermal therapy. The application included a five-year plan for the future regarding replacing more outdated equipment, something that the SGA hopes to see from future capital budget requests.
“This money comes from a separate reserve fund that we established last spring,” Vice President of Finance Riley Keffer said. “They (Athletic Training) had a five-year plan included in their request, which is what we’re looking for from organizations who make capital budget requests in the future.”
The Pre-Physicians Assistant Club was granted $330 for vehicle rentals for a trip they made to West Virginia, volunteering for Remote Area Medical. The club treated actual patients in need on their trip, and were grateful for SGA stepping up and helping fund the endeavor.
“As the president of the Pre-PA Club, I can’t say enough how much of a privilege this was to volunteer for Remote Area Medical,” Amber Davidson, President of the Pre-PA Club said. “I’d also like to thank SGA for being so supportive of our trips to help those in need.”
SRU Competitive Cheerleading is a newly-formed organization that requested $8,150 to rent out the gym and fund four competitions that they intend on competing in this year. Finance VP Keffer amended the request to $6,750 for gym rental and funding for two of the four requested competitions.
The SRU Art Society was approved for $871 to maintain the SGA Student Art Gallery. The gallery is open to students who do not have their art displayed professionally and is located in room 204 of the University Union. The Music Therapy and Recreational Therapy Clubs partnered to host a drumming session with speaker Jim Donovan. The initiative request of $650 was approved to pay for Donovan’s speaker fees.
The French Club’s request of $167.45 for gas, admission and food for a trip to a museum in Pittsburgh to learn more about the French and Indian War. Because the French Club was attending an event during the meeting, SGA Senator Spencer Vinnoe presented on behalf of the organization.
SGA advisor Wendy Leitera issued a request to remit 2.5% of net sales commission made off vending machines to AFSCME, a union that the SGA has a long-standing agreement with. The request was approved, sending between $1,000 and $1,200 annually to AFSCME.
SGA President Rachel Lawler reminded those in attendance about Thursday’s Blood Drive in the Student Center Ballroom from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs Scott Vogelgesang announced the completion of the Student Life Survey. There were 630 respondents and the results will be announced at the next Student and Academic Affairs committee meeting.
Dallas Kline, Vice President of Campus Outreach, announced that the SGA sponsored movie of the week would be Annabelle: Creation in the spirit of Halloween. Kline also recognized the Black Action Society as the club of the week. Black Action Society President Kennedy Moore gave a report on some of the steps the club has taken to spread understanding of African American culture across SRU’s campus.
“We just want to thank SGA for commending us on our events we host and continuing to support of efforts towards educating students,” Moore said. “Our events are geared towards helping students understand cultural practices like Kwanza and experience how we celebrate our heritage.”
The next meeting for the Black Action Society will take place on Nov. 2 at 5:15 pm in room 321 of the Student Center.
Social Justice Chair Victoria Davis offered an update on their efforts to get Ellucian to make changes to their banner system in order to prevent transgender and non-binary students from being outed to their classmates. Davis is currently working with SRU’s IT department to find an interim solution for students who might be negatively affected by the delays in update releases from Ellucian.
The next public meeting for the Slippery Rock SGA will be held on Monday, Nov. 26.
