Ball State’s Student Government Association (SGA) introduced an amendment Wednesday that would create an appeals process for lost representation of protected, or guaranteed, seats. 

This amendment would affect the On-Campus Caucus, which consists of resident hall representatives, and the Organizational Caucus, which consists of student organization representatives. 

The amendment was written by Sen. Brenna Large, chair of the At-Large Caucus. Large said this amendment does not include non-guaranteed seats and will only apply to seats that are protected.

Large said her goal for this amendment is to allow organizations that previously lost their representation to regain their representation when new representatives come in before the next academic year. 

“It allows those organizations to maintain [representatives] or have a chance to maintain [representatives] one more time during the school year,” Large said.

Large said this amendment was encouraged by and originated from the executive board.

The Appeals Process for Lost Representation Amendment will be voted on at the next meeting, March 16.

SGA voted on the amendment that proposed a permanent partnership with Dining Services. The amendment would maintain the Dining Advisory Board that SGA Vice President Chiara Biddle formed in the 2021-22 school year. The board will serve as a direct line of communication between the student body and dining services.

Sen. Sarah Owens proposed an amendment to the original Dining Partnership Amendment. Owens’ amendment proposed the SGA vice president serve on the Dining Advisory Board and meet regularly with the director of Dining Services. The amendment passed with a two-thirds majority.

The full Dining Partnership Amendment passed 29-1.

RELATED: Ball State SGA votes on two new senators

Sen. Brian Truell represented the At-Large Caucus to request a budget for the caucus’ trivia night March 24. The caucus requested $450 for prizes, catering and miscellaneous needs. The request passed 30-0.

Along with the Appeals Process for Lost Representation of Protected Seats Amendment, two other amendments were introduced — one that would create a Recruitment and Retention Committee as an independent committee on the Senate, and one that would fully remove language about the SGA Archivist from governing documents. The Archivist was in charge of old SGA documents that went into the Archives, but is no longer a position. These amendments will be voted on in the next meeting March 16.

Chief Administrator Nita Burton resigned, meaning the executive board will be sharing the chief administrator’s responsibilities.  Tina Nguyen, SGA president, said Burton wants to spend her senior year focusing on her education.

Four senators were voted into SGA: Andy Hopkins, Sabrina Fullenkamp, Mia Ochoa and Scott Collins. Both Hopkins and Fullenkamp were previously SGA senators.  

Hopkins served on the At-Large Caucus, but forfeited his seat when he applied for the Collegiate Caucus as the Science/Humanities Chair Feb. 16. Because he didn’t get the position, he had to reapply for the At-Large Caucus.

Fullenkamp was previously on the On-Campus Caucus, but lost her seat because she left her hall council. Fullenkamp then applied to the At-Large Caucus.

Hopkins was voted in 26-1 with one abstention, and Fullenkamp was voted in 27-1.

Ochoa applied for the Collegiate Caucus as the representative for the College of Health. She was voted in 29-0.

Collins applied for the Off-Campus Caucus. He was voted in 29-1.

At the March 16 SGA meeting, President Pro-Tempore nominees for the 2022-23 school year will be named.

Contact Krystiana Brosher with comments at krystiana.brosher@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Krystiana_21. Contact Hannah Amos with comments at hannah.amos@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Hannah_Amos_394. 

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