SGA passes interfaith prayer room resolution

Sol Garcia | THE RIDER

The Student Government Association approved a resolution that calls for an interfaith prayer and meditation room on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses during its virtual meeting last Friday. 

The resolution reads, “Let it be resolved that The Student Government at [UTRGV] approves the initiative as … an effort to support … interfaith students and student organizations on campus to help alleviate any religious duties that they may have and provide a stress free, safe space for anyone to practice their spiritual beliefs.” 

During the meeting, Jonikka Charlton, associate provost of Student Academic Success and dean of the University College, spoke to the Senate about a UTRGV survey sent at the end of last semester. In the survey, students were able to describe their fall semester and answer how the institution could improve students’ online experience, Charlton said. 

About 4.5% of students answered the survey, and according to the quantitative results, many students wanted more asynchronous classes, she said. The open-ended questions showed this concern was partially due to internet-related issues.  

“Some people were like, ‘Well, asynchronous is at least better, because then I don’t have to worry about Zoom not working, or Wi-Fi at a particular time of day,’” Charlton said. 

The survey’s results were shared with UTRGV faculty, and she discussed them with some departments. 

“Each of the main faculty development sessions that are happening this fall— they’ve all been asked to think about how the survey results help them to frame what it is that they’re doing,” Charlton said. 

After the guest speaker concluded, Carlo Flores, vice president for the Brownsville campus, introduced a bill that would change the eligibility requirements for new and current SGA members. 

  According to the bill, the SGA’s governing documents have “become outdated.” 

“SGA has seen several departures from the association as a result of these antiquated requirements set by previous members in 2015,” the bill states.

In an email sent to The Rider, Senate Chair Yahia Al-Qudah said, the Eligibility Requirement Bill would include changing the minimum credit hours to six hours for undergraduate students at the time of application and during terms of office. For graduate students, the hour minimum was changed to three credit hours. Exceptions to this rule depend on how close to graduation undergraduate and graduate members may be during the last semester of their current term. 

The Internal Affairs Committee will review this bill, and if passed, the bill will be sent to the Senate for voting procedure. If the Senate passes it, the student body will be next to vote on the bill, Flores said. 

“Ultimately, if the Senate approves it, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be changed to the Constitution,” he said. “The student body has to vote on these changes as well.” 

The Internal Affairs Committee is also finalizing the Food Variety and Cost Resolution, which would address students’ concerns about food options and pricing, as previously reported by The Rider. 

“They will send [the resolution] back to me, so I can present it to the Senate,”Al-Qudah said.

During the petitions of students, Jose Lozano, senator for the College of Fine Arts, said safety signs related to COVID-19 need replacement in the School of Art.  

“I’m talking about the signs that say, ‘Do not sit here,’” Lozano said. “There is also a classroom that got remodeled over the break, so it doesn’t have any of these safety signs.” 

The senator worries other safety signs at UTRGV also need to be replaced. 

“This may be happening in other buildings throughout both campuses,” he said. “Students may get too comfortable, and as we all know, the pandemic is still going on.”

Lozano has contacted UTRGV officials about the issue and hopes it is resolved soon. 

The First Year Internship cohort was also introduced during the Zoom meeting. The cohort, which consists of freshman or first-year students, will learn about the SGA this semester.  

“The First Year Internship program is basically catered to first-year students, so they can be able to be immersed into university policy and become the future advocates, future leaders of our organization,” Jose Rojas, director of the FYI program, said. 

Students interested in applying for an SGA position can visit VLink for more information. 

The next SGA meeting will be at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 via Zoom.