SGA OKs bill for student advisory councils

Sol Garcia | THE RIDER

The Student Government Association passed a bill yesterday to facilitate outreach with colleges and their respective deans or representatives.

The Collegiate Advancement Student Advisory Council Bill will establish student advisory councils per college or campus who will meet with students, deans or college representatives. 

“This will facilitate that pathway of communication with the student body by bringing student leaders together, and also with the dean and a senator from SGA,” said José Pablo Rojas, an author of the bill and First Year Internship director. 

The Food Price and Variety Resolution was then presented to the SGA during the virtual meeting. 

The resolution reads, “Let it be resolved that the [SGA] at [UTRGV] approves the increase in accessibility of goods found on campus stores at a lower cost to establish affordable pricing for food and provide new, alternative healthy options due to the increased demand during the pandemic and the foreseeable future.”

The resolution will be sent to the Campus Life and Community Affairs Committee for review and approval. If the committee approves it, the resolution will be sent back to the Senate for a vote. 

Constitutional Amendment Bill Two, which addresses eligibility requirements regarding students with double majors and minors, was introduced to the SGA. 

The bill would allow students classified as double majors in two different colleges to apply for a senator position in either college, but not both. Students who are minoring in a different college than their major would not be eligible for a senator position of that college. Additionally, students who are double minoring in the same college that is different from their major college would be eligible for a senator position of the same college. 

The Internal Affairs Committee will review this bill. If the committee approves it, the bill will be sent back to the Senate for a vote. If the Senate approves it, the bill will be sent for a final vote to the student body in SGA elections. 

 “This is what it takes for a constitutional amendment to be done,” said Senate Chair Yahia Al-Qudah. 

In other business, the SGA appointed two new members. 

Mariana Tamez, an accounting freshman, was appointed as a campus representative, and Patricia Hernandez Howard, an environmental sciences sophomore, was appointed as a senator for the College of Liberal Arts. 

In response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s lifting of the mask mandate, the SGA conducted a survey to “try to get a very brief, informal view of how students felt regarding the statewide [rescission] of the mask mandate,” said Carlo Flores, vice president for the Brownsville campus. 

The survey was filled out by 1,234 students, and the results were presented to university administration, Flores said. 

“The results were primarily against rescinding the mask mandate, and there were a lot of concerns … from students saying if there is not a mask mandate for the fall semester, that they would reconsider attending UTRGV,” he said. 

Flores said UTRGV administration will make a decision on a mask requirement for the Fall 2021 semester based on science. 

“They will be making decisions informed on the science, so, what the science recommends is what UTRGV has and will continue doing for the foreseeable future,” he said. 

The next SGA meeting will be at 6 p.m. March 26 via Zoom.