The main concerns in Thursday’s final Student Governing Association meeting of the semester involved the realignment of the judicial boards for Jardine Apartments and the residence halls.
Senator Cody Kennedy, junior in education, summarized Bill 2, which would create two judicial boards, one for the residence halls and one for Jardine. Each board would only hear cases from their respective residences.
“I think this would make things a lot easier on the judicial process, in making sure that things are effective and working the way that things should be,” Kennedy said.
The residence hall board would include three to five chief justices and two members from each residence hall. The Jardine board would have at least two chief justices with three members from each neighborhood.
The bill passed 53-0-1.
“In the past, there was one board per hall so there’d be like six cases per year so each board would only see a case. There was no experience. There was no continued process or consistency,” said SGA attorney general Ryan Reed, senior in political science. “These changes are meant to create a board that will be more consistent and successful.”
During the meeting, Theodore Stavropoulos, senior in management and technology director, gave an update about the upcoming developments in K-State technology.
According to a recent survey, students’ biggest technology complaint was a lack of WiFi connectivity. Stavropoulos is currently working with K-State IT Services to improve connectivity. He said IT staff will be adding a “File a Complaint” section to K-State Online so that students can report dead zones that need to be fixed.
As a part of student body president Eli Schooley’s campaign, K-State’s Division of Communications and Marketing is developing a mobile app for K-State Online, Isis and Webmail. The application will be launched during freshman orientations this summer.
A student panel will be held on May 9 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the K-State Student Union to hear suggestions on features for the application. The student technology committee is also taking applications.
In other technology advancements, two mobile charging stations have been added to Hale Library, and two additional stations have been purchased for placement in the K-State Student Union. Bluemont Hall 101 will see renovations this summer to include outlets at each station, similar to Town Hall in the Leadership Studies building, according to Stavropoulos.
K-State’s email service will also be changing this summer from Zimbra to Windows 365. The transition will take place in July and August. Students’ email address will remain the same, but they are urged to back up important data just in case. Windows 365 will allow email forwarding and includes a calendar application.
Reed was unanimously voted in as the attorney general, while Brian Vanorsby, senior in history, was unanimously voted in to fill the open spot on the Student Review Board. Both were sworn in Thursday night by Schooley. Emily Beneda, freshman in food science and industry, was unanimously approved as parliamentarian but was not present at the meeting. She will be sworn in next fall.
SGA also approved commendations for the founding members of the Theta Eta chapter of Iota Phi Theta fraternity, the ninth and final member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. K-State is the first school in the Midwest to have all nine NPHC organizations.
Commendations were also given to Jenny Barriga, junior in chemistry, as recipient of a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, as well as to Kyle Snow, senior in chemical engineering, and Brianne Pierce, junior in microbiology, for earning honorable mention. Barriga is the 69th K-State student to receive this honor. The award recognizes outstanding scholars in the field of science, math and engineering and had over 1,100 applicants this year.
