Time management, teamwork and being unbiased.
These were the three features the newly voted-in Ball State Student Government Association (SGA) Elections Commissioner, Chaney Scott, described herself as.
Her presentation proved to be enough, Chaney was voted in 27-1 with one abstention.
“So in the role as commissioner, I would basically be in charge of appointing an election board committee where I would have a secretary, a treasurer, a debate coordinator and a sheriff to ensure that there would be a fair election, and I would also work hand in hand with our advisors in that board in order to be a resource for the candidates,” Chaney said.
There was one guest today for SGA. The speaker was Aubrey Driscoll, the associate director for prevention and wellness, from the counseling center.
Driscoll talked about many opportunities the Counseling Center has. Some of those include relaxation rooms and group therapy. They also support the Welltrack app – this app is free to download, and you can have a free account by signing up with your Ball State email.
“The Welltrack app contains a lot of psycho-educational information or uncommon mental health concerns,” Driscoll said. “There are some interactive tools and features that a lot of students find to be helpful. There [are] soft journals, mood trackers, and there are some experiential components. So, there are a lot of different kinds of pieces and tips and tricks that students can find helpful. They can turn to it in the middle of the night, on off-days, and when they're struggling.”
The At-Large Caucus put in a budget request for their upcoming trivia event that will be held on Dec. 6 from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. in Teachers College 121. The amount requested was $127.
The budget requested passed 27-0 with one abstention.
Senate Amendment three was over a more transparent and efficient way that tells the committee’s responsibilities.
The amendment was passed with a vote of 27-0 with one abstention.
Senate Amendment four would bring more controversy among senators. This amendment would change the requirements for senator applications. This specific requirement was for the At-Large Caucus. It would change the requirement for 50 student signatures and would make it no longer needed.
“Last year when I was first trying to get this amendment pushed – and we eventually did get it passed – it is all about quality over quantity,” Sen. Cody York said. “Just because we have 14 senators does not mean we have 14 good senators. I would rather have three, four, five good senators than 14 meh senators. With the 50 signature requirement, those students have to prove that they are willing to go out into the Ball State community, and they are willing to put in that work to make the student lives better and more equitable.”
Although some were opposed to the change, others welcomed the new amendment.
“Getting rid of this requirement does basically not allow for any vetting to happen,” Sen. Trent McKenzie said. “They still have to go before us [senate] and present as an individual and then we would have to approve them, so we can do our due diligence in question and listen to what they are passionate about. That is our vetting process.”
Despite there being two sides to this argument, the amendment passed 19-7 with one abstention.
During Caucus reports, At-Large talked more about their trivia night, Collegiate is getting prepared for the college loyalty campaign, and On-Campus is hosting an event at Studebaker West Wednesday night. The Organizational Caucus talked about future plans, and York announced it would be his last SGA meeting.
For Committee reports, the Academic Affairs “Hit-the-Book Bash” was pushed to next semester, and instead, they are going to hand out flyers for tutors.
Contact Elijah Poe with comments at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ElijahPoe4.
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