Boston University’s Student Government met Monday night to propose changes to the Student Election Commission rules and to make plans for student group outreach this semester.
Vice President of Student Affairs Eva Jungreis read the president’s address in President SaraAnn Kurkul’s absence. In her statement, Kurkul reaffirmed her commitment to further involving student government in student affairs.
“I am hoping to tap into other groups that student government has lost touch with, like athletics,” Kurkul wrote.
SEC Heads Vincent D’Amato and Ria Wang, both freshmen in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, took the floor to propose specific changes to the SEC rules for the upcoming e-board election. Among the recommendations were proposals to register campaign staffers and to cap donations to slate campaigns.
Under the proposals, all campaign staffers would be required to be registered in a document with the SEC, meaning a staffer’s membership in a campaign is visible to others.
For the first time, outside donations to student campaigns will be allowed, though they will be limited to $200. No limit has been set on non-monetary donations. Until this year, slate budgets were limited to an automatic allocation of $500 from the SG budget.
During the meeting, D’Amato said the decision to limit outside donations was proposed to ensure that no slate has advantages over others.
“I just felt that it was something to include that’s fair, instead of having to go through [what happens] if one slate runs out of money,” D’Amato said.
Wang said after the meeting that she thinks $200 is a high enough cap on additional donations to the slates, especially since there is no limit on non-monetary donations.
“$200 is plenty for them to purchase things,” she said.
Senators will vote on the proposals at next week’s meeting.
As part of the student group outreach initiative, Senate Chair Octavio Vidal requested that each senator contact three to four student groups in the coming week. Vidal also presented an overview for new senators on submitting legislation proposals and funding requests.
“We’re just giving [the students] an invitation to come to senate with any proposals and initiatives they may want, and it’s up to [the senators] to sort of help them with that process,” Vidal said.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Andrew Chiao said he thinks many student groups are unclear on how Senate’s funding proposals can benefit them.
“I think it depends on how effectively senators can convey our goals to these clubs, and articulate how we can be a resource for them,” the senator said.
Student government meetings are held Monday nights at 8 p.m. in the Questrom School of Business, room HAR 222. Meetings are open to the public.
Shaun Robinson contributed to the reporting of this article.
Great job Lillian