The Student Government Association (SGA) met in the Chamberlain Student Center’s Eynon Ballroom on Feb. 24 in preparation for the upcoming SGA elections.

“Next Senate we will not be having a normal Senate, we will be having a ‘meet the candidates’ presentation,” Assistant Vice President of Governmental Relations Kevin McCarthy said. “We will have a lot of great food and you’ll hear from the different candidates.”

An info session is available to students regarding the elections on Friday, Feb. 28, in room 127 in the student center. 

The meeting kicked off with an announcement from Director of the Wellness Center, Scott Woodside, urging students to participate in the “Healthy Minds Study,” a campus-wide survey the student body received through email on Tuesday. The survey is anonymous and expects students to be honest about drug and alcohol use. 

“It’s about 20 minutes, maybe 25 minutes tops,” Woodside said. “Because of this we are incentivizing it with multiple $500 Amazon gift cards and Barnes & Noble $100 gift cards.”

The SGA voted in favor of providing the Financial Management Association club $3,400 from the club’s special projects fund. The money is for an on-campus financial modeling boot camp, which has a goal attendance of 50 to 80 students.

“They requested $10,00 from SGA, however, the Student Financial Control Board decided to award them $3,400 as it’s not going to benefit all students,” Chief Financial Officer Fiona Hughes said. 

Alternate Student Trustee Kyle Perez told senators about an opportunity to fulfill SGA service hours through the Fan in the Stands event in supporting our Special Olympic Athletes.

“You guys are eligible to get up to two hours of service for coming out,” Perez said. “Check it out on Proflink.”

Assistant Vice President of Facilities and Operations Robert Emmanuel gave an update on the progress of his Pop-up Park Initiative.

“The Pop-up Parks were approved and we sent the purchase order out today,” Emmanuel said.

The Pop-up Parks, announced last semester, went through various issues with vendors which delayed it until now: “Let’s celebrate a little bit of a win here, and be happy the Pop-up Parks have gotten through.”

Assistant Vice President of University Advancement Jenna Day raised attention to Rowan Gives Day on March 5 in the Chamberlain Student Center pit, which now offers Venmo as a method for donation. Day highlighted some of the ways students can get involved with philanthropy.

“PROFunder is a bunch of projects that some really amazing Rowan Students have,” Day said. “It’s like a GoFundMe, so you can donate to them and help your fellow colleagues.”

The third annual Stuff the Bus has been rebranded into Can the Van, which students can attend on Thursday, March 26. Day concluded by reminding Senators of the Senior Class Gift, allowing seniors to donate to the incoming freshman class. It currently has $1,365 of its $4,000 goal. 

Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Jason Brooks announced updates to the townhouse parking garage, reporting that commuters can park in spots available on the third floor of the Townhouse Garage if they have a commuter permit.

“Your ID card can get you into the garage and through the welcome gate now, I think, that’s what they tell me at least,” Brooks said.

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