The SMU Student Senate discussed five resolutions in its meeting yesterday.
First, Student Body President Taylor Russ noted the effort of SMU to ensure its students safety by soon building more crosswalks on campus. The idea of creating a student organization dedicated to the world of fashion and its history, suggested by the Dean of Meadows Jose Bowen, was also brought up by Russ.
The first resolution to be discussed was one establishing a convention for the purpose of evaluating and amending the student body constitution. This resolution would make a mandatory annual senators’ retreat for all SMU senators in order to learn bylaws, constitution and become better acquainted and in tune with each others’ goals in order to better serve the SMU community.
Senator Kate Myer said, “The SMU Student Senate retreat was great this year and I think it was awesome to bond with our constituents. We learned about our fellow senators and the mentality of our executive counsel and what they foresee in SMU’s future.”
The second resolution was to dissolve the academic enhancement committee within
Student Senate as it has been basically inactive for the past several years.
The resolution to amend the policies and procedures regarding senatorial forum to accommodate the student organization outreach initiative was also discussed. This bit of legislation would require the SMU senators to reach out more to SMU’s student activities and organizations. This would include more structured and organized meetings with SMU’s many campus organizations.A resolution insisting the administration of SMU fund its health care and other non-academic offices was also discussed. The Senate believes that since the health center is not a student organization they should not be obligated to fund the Health Care Center as this is a private university.
In the student forum the percentage of students smoking on SMU’s campus was discussed and determined to be a high number. The senators discussed the issue of students smoking on campus. The meeting also dealt with the issue of students not being able to clearly and lucidly understand their professors. Senator Bethany Peters stated, “Understanding your professors is integral to achieving the highest level of education here at SMU, because the education begins with the professor student relationship and anything to hinder that could be detrimental to that student’s learning in that course.”
The next Student Senate meeting will be held Tuesday, Sept. 12. All student body members are encouraged to join, either to listen or voice any concerns.
