The Student Association revealed how much student organizations will be budgeted for the spring semester and filled several leadership positions at its meeting on Monday night.

The meeting took place in Maxwell Auditorium and began with the assembly passing budget recommendations made by the Finance Board. The Finance Board had deliberated and recommended how much funding to give student organizations that had requested funding from SA beforehand.

Representatives from various organizations that had applied for funding were in attendance to hear the assembly’s decision. The funding bills were grouped in three categories based on the Finance Board’s recommendation: requests that were fully funded, requests that were partially funded and requests that were not funded.

The assembly approved all three categories, with no complaints from the audience. Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo told those in attendance that if they wanted to appeal the funding decision for their group, they could do so until Thursday afternoon.

The assembly also confirmed the two public relations co-chairs who President Allie Curtis had appointed: Alicia Collins and Brittany Legasey.  Curtis said Collins would be a voting member of cabinet, and chose her because Legasey had a scheduling conflict with cabinet meetings.

“They both have strong sets of skills in public relations, but with different strengths,” Curtis said.

Collins, a senior political science major, said her strongest skills are in graphics and social media work.

Legasey, a senior history, political science and international relations major, said she has worked with media outlets as well as former U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle’s political campaign. She said she had a lot of experience in what makes a good press release, and said it’s important for SA to have a strong social media presence.

The Public Relations Committee had been without a chair since previous director Cara Johnson stepped down earlier this semester.

The assembly also elected Paulina Colon, a freshman representative for the College of Arts and Sciences, to be a representative of the University Senate and to the Board of Elections and Membership. 

Colon spoke about why she wanted to be a part of the senate and which committees she’d like to work with.

Colon, a political science major, also told the assembly she would work to recruit more representatives, specifically targeting underrepresented colleges.

“VPA and ESF barely have any representatives on assembly, and I think that’s an issue,” Colon said.

Other business discussed:

SA’s second Impact Week kicked off on Monday with an event where students could donate money toward a local charity for the chance to pie Curtis and other SA members. There was also an event at the Samaritan Center, where volunteers served dinner to more than 200 people.

“They really appreciated having us there since it’s one of their busiest times of the year,” said Nia Boles, chair of the Student Engagement Committee.

Boles said people interested in signing up for other Impact Week events could still contact her.

Published on October 29, 2013 at 2:57 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27