With bylaw changes for the Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Governmental Relations position, overnight travel requests, and several different clubs petitioning to be chartered, the Rowan University Student Government Association (SGA) held its last meeting of the semester.
On Monday, Dec. 2, multiple changes were made to the currently vacant AVP of Governmental Relations position. These changes clarify the responsibilities of the role and what the role is capable of. These changes also make some responsibilities proactive in things like reporting and communication.
AVP of Student Advocacy and Community Belonging Yuval Saar explained these changes while presenting them to the Senate.
“A lot of this is to clarify certain things that we felt either were already happening or should be done. So the main thing of governmental relations is that they collaborate with the town of Glassboro. So in the past, they have met with the mayor, and they also meet with off-campus services and resources,” said Saar.
Some of the bylaw changes included a state house advocacy trip at the beginning of the fall semester, working more closely with the AVP of Health, Wellness, and Safety, and chairing the SGA Governmental Relations Committee.
Engineers Without Borders presented an overnight travel request for a trip to Reno, Nevada. They were voting on $8,782. This was met with zero questioning and discussion and was approved by the Senate.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) presented a travel request for their annual trip to Montreal for “EPREUVE DU NORD.” This is a conference where SAE races cars that they built. Since it is in another country, they were requesting $12,238.
During the questioning period, junior class senator Dylan Volinski asked what they would do in the off-chance of a storm holding them back from coming home. The president of SAE, Alexander Garfield, answered honestly, using a previous experience to paint a picture for the Senate.
“So, unfortunately, actually, a very large snowstorm had made it quite impossible to drive back because we tried, and it was snowing very badly, where you have to lose a big other option that’s buying a hotel. And our reach for that is that we have enough money in our regular budget, as well as our national budget, to account for any hotel cost accounting numbers, and you have enough in there to support that, as well as any extra response shows that we brought in to offset the cost that we usually use that budget on for supplies,” said Garfield.
In the end, SAE was approved and will be going to Canada again.
Three clubs were petitioning for a charter at the Senate: the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), Rowan Sales Academy, and Sigma Alpha Iota.
During the questioning for NSLS, the senator for The Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Pepe Haupthoff, felt unclear on what the goal of the club was.
“My question would be, besides having the goal of developing personality in terms of leadership, what is your main goal from your club that you want to get students to at the end?” said Haupthoff.
NSLS vice president Alan Ramierez elaborated that the Rowan chapter of the honor society aimed to enhance the community at Rowan through volunteering.
“Although the goal is very general, the idea is we want to cover and encourage things like this and active community interaction like the aforementioned fundraising events and some charity events as well, by allowing specifically members and participants to lead the events, and not just have it be something that’s ranked by overall, like national organizations such as the national office,” said Ramierez.
In the end, all three clubs were chartered.
SGA Senate will resume meetings next semester, starting on Feb. 2, 2026.
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