By Bryan Ramos | The Rider
The Student Government Association met last Friday to discuss revisions to the travel fund guidelines and the vacancy of the Financial Affairs Committee chairmanship.
Julian Verdream, former Financial Affairs Standing Committee chair and senator at large on the Brownsville campus, submitted his resignation from the SGA last Thursday after being criticized about the travel fund application process.
Senate Chair Eric Silva is taking over as interim chair of the Financial Affairs Committee to ensure the committee’s work continues. As Senate chair, Silva oversees the process of who will be selected as the new committee chair.
To serve as a committee chair, students must be SGA members and senators in the legislative branch and submit an an application for the position. Silva and other senate officers will review the applications.
“We hope to have the position filled as quickly as possible. Ideally, we’d like to have them briefed in rather quickly,” Silva said. “An email was sent out to all the students who applied for student travel funds requesting more information on their applications to get a better understanding.”
College of Business and Entrepreneurship Senator Alberto Adame presented Student Senate Bill 1, which would make changes to the travel fund policy to allow for an easier process for applicants and the SGA members who review the applications. The proposal will divide the funds into the fall and spring semesters instead of splitting the funds into four quarters, which was implemented at the beginning of this year and has caused problems for applicants.
Also discussed during the meeting were problems students have been encountering in their dealings with UTRGV.
Ernesto Farias, Academic Affairs Committee chair, said a student complained to him about an advising miscommunication that affected the student’s status.
“Because of these concerns that have been brought to us, we’ve seen that students have an issue with advising,” Farias said. “One of the things we saw is that students want to have advising more personalized.”
After speaking with University College Dean Jonikka Charlton, Farias said he understood the purpose of having general advisers instead of ones specialized in certain areas.
“Right now, we’re formulating questions to come up with a survey so we have data backing us up saying this is what students think and this is what students would like to have,” he said. “Once we have that, we will start formulating the actual resolution. We’re still working to have a better resolution.”
Farias also reported that students in Brownsville who ride the shuttle to Edinburg have been left behind and it’s starting to hurt them in the classroom. One student in Brownsville arrived for the shuttle on time only for it to fill to capacity. She was not able to get on the bus to Edinburg, and her professor counted her absent. The absence will affect her grade.
The next SGA meeting is scheduled at 2 p.m. today in Education Complex Room 1.102 in Edinburg and in Biomedical Research and Health Building Room 1.222 in Brownsville. All SGA meetings are open to students.
