Sol Garcia | THE RIDER
On Monday, the Student Government Association passed an emergency override power amendment to the funding guidelines for Fiscal Years 2019-2020 and 2020-21.
The Student Travel Funds and the Special Events Funds guidelines for the 2020-2021 fiscal year had already been reviewed and passed by the senate. However, once a new fiscal year begins, the previous year’s funds are no longer available.
Because of this, the Financial Affairs Committee decided it would be best to move the application deadline forward so the funds could still be used, Senate Chair Yahia Al-Qudah said during the Zoom meeting.
“The Financial Affairs Committee wants to make sure that students have the opportunity to get as much funding as possible,” Al-Qudah said.
He introduced a clause that includes a special power given to the Financial Affairs Committee, called “Emergency Override Power.” This would allow the application deadline to move forward without always requiring amendments to the guidelines, he said.
The emergency power, “which is only to be used during a valid emergency situation, may override any of the Financial Affairs’ Guideline rules and regulations,” according to the guidelines.
The power would require a two-thirds vote from the Financial Affairs Committee, review and approval from the Internal Affairs Committee, and each single override must be voted on. All decisions made with the power must comply with university policies and be disclosed to the senate at its earliest meeting. Valid emergency situations include any unusual circumstances (local, state, national disaster, etc.) as provided by the Financial Affairs Committee and approved by the Internal Affairs Committee, the guidelines state.
“We just thought this is a much better alternative to having to pass guidelines every, you know, couple months, because … of the dynamic nature of this whole situation in the COVID timeline,” said Rafael Prieto, senator for the College of Sciences who helped design the power. “Changes need to be made, and … adjustments just to better suit the needs of students as … things proceed.”
The senators then approved the emergency override power amendment to the Student Travel Funds and the Special Event Funds for the current and previous fiscal school years.
The senators reviewed the First Year Intern guidelines next.
The FYI is a semesterlong leadership program for entering freshmen or first-year college students to learn from an SGA mentor about the association. Interns must maintain a 2.5 GPA and be full-time students, according to the FYI guidelines.
Requirements for interns include: attending any and all meetings stipulated by the FYI director, bringing their FYI binders to each meeting, reading materials prior to meetings, meeting with their mentor once a week for a minimum of 30 minutes and completing a final project at the end of the semester, as stated by the guidelines.
During the president’s report, the executive team discussed safety measures on campus, including removing the Starbucks self-serve coffee vending machine station on the Brownsville campus for the year, reducing the number of vending machines and accommodating social distancing in the shuttle and VOLT systems.
The executive team also mentioned some student concerns submitted to the Community Affairs Committee, which include the removal of the José de Escandón statue by the STAC building on the Edinburg campus, recognition of female athletes, and no Border Patrol on campus.
José de Escandón, who was born in Soto la Marina, Santander, Spain, is known as the colonizer and first governor of the colony of Nuevo Santander in South Texas, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
The SGA also discussed its vacant positions. It is estimated all vacant positions, about 10, should be filled by the fall semester. About five of these positions are in the judicial branch, while another five are in the executive or legislative branches, said Carlo Flores, SGA vice president for Brownsville.
“I don’t foresee any issue in meeting such a deadline [Aug. 24], at least for the [applicants] that are eligible … and there is capacity for them,” he said.
