SGA discusses inclement weather revision legislation Feb. 11
By Teresa Homsi | Published 02/12/19 4:18am
Savannah Glasscock
Members of the Academic Affairs committee discuss matters at the Student Government Association meeting in the Bovee University Center on Monday, Feb. 11.
The Central Michigan University Student Government Association addressed the university's weather policy and procedure at the Feb. 11 meeting, and also introduced a guest speaker from the Faculty Association Union.
In a joint House and Senate meeting, SGA House Clerk Kalli Walz read through "A Resolution to Encourage the Central Michigan University Administration to Review and Revise the Current Inclement Weather Policy and Procedure."
Student Government Association meets at 7 p.m. Mondays in the Bovee University Center Auditorium. Meetings are free to attend, but students must bring their CMU Global ID cards to check in prior to entering.
This SGA legislation comes in response to the delayed campus closure on Jan. 28 that was announced past 9 a.m. the morning of a school cancelation.
"It has since been expressed by academic senators, students, faculty, and media that this was not an efficient way to decide, notify, or communicate to students of the decision to close campus and that the current policy should be revised," the legislation states.
Written by Vice President Lyndi Rose and sponsored by the CMU Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, the resolution requests a more detailed and transparent plan for inclement weather policy. The policy revision is also heavily backed by earth and atmospheric sciences faculty John Allen.
Suggested revisions include "consulting with CMU's meteorology department on campus closings, adding a wind-chill policy and increasing and improving communication with the public on the decision-making process."
"We don't have an in-depth policy," Rose said. "Jake (Hendricks) looked up all of the policies of surrounding schools and they're like four pages long. We've got three sentences (at CMU)."
After members shared their thoughts and support for the legislation, the call for an inclement weather policy revision was tabled for next week's meeting by the House and Senate.
"It's my job as a student representative to hold the university accountable, (and inclement weather is) a legitimate safety concerns for the community," Rose said. "We aren't going to drop it just because it happened two weeks ago."
In addition to the weather revision legislation, Faculty Association Union president Anthony Feig took to the stage as a representative to explain what the FA Union does for the student body.
"(I spoke to show) we're here and sort of what we do," Feig said. "There's a whole world happening at CMU that not all of us can see everything that's going on, so I'm giving you all information and spreading the word."
The Faculty Association Union helps deals with matters such as the possibility of a fall break and provides the Faculty Association Union scholarship fund, which awards $1,000 scholarships for full-time undergraduate students with a 2.5 or higher cumulative GPA.
As part of the "Stamp Out Aggression" campaign, SGA will continue to table for the next three weeks, gathering signatures for the pledge against sexual aggression.
The goal for the month of February is to reach 500 signatures, but according to Senate Leader Caroline Murray, SGA has currently collected more than 400 signatures.
"There is a Title IX advisory board that Lyndi actually serves on, and we'll bring ideas and feedback that you all have to the table, so that way we can provide the president with any Title IX related or sexual misconduct related changes to the university," said Mary Martinez, Deputy Director of OCRIE.
Also, SGA will begin holding elections for President, Vice President, Treasurer and Senate positions for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Winners will be announced on April 1, and the elections will take place Mar. 24-28 on Orgsync.