DeKALB – The Student Government Association elected a new senator and director of organization development Friday in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.

ELECTION OF DIRECTOR OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

Aaron Shaffer, a sophomore business administration major, ran for the office of director of organization development.

Shaffer explained his Army ROTC experience prepared him for this role.

“Every day at ROTC, I learned about teamwork, discipline and being a part of something bigger than myself,” he said.

Shaffer explained his focus on offering support, improving communication and planning with student organizations.

“I want newly recognized student organizations to understand the process and procedures of receiving funding. I want to increase transparency between university policy changes and directly affected students and student organizations,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer was elected in a 9-0 vote.

ELECTION OF SENATOR

Luke Galloway, a transfer junior political science major, explained his desire to address loneliness on campus in his run for the SGA senate.

“I want to support creating speed-friending events, essentially lower-stakes speed dating, which will incentivize people to socialize. I want to support using social media, which will create a more pro-social environment on campus,” he said.

Additionally, Galloway described himself as an advocate for immigrant student rights at NIU. He addressed the lack of representation for the Undocumented Student Resource Center in the SGA senate.

“It’s been seven years since our Immigrant and Undocumented Student Center had a voice in the SGA senate,” he said.

Galloway explained he would advocate for the center’s visibility and raise its interests with the senate.

“This is for the students who, because of their status in this country, have stayed strong and resilient. If you can’t promise them safety, at least work with me to promise them solidarity,” he said.

Galloway was elected in an 8-0 vote.

FUNDING TIER CAP REVISIONS

Senate Bill SB57006 amends SB57004, proposed Sept. 26, revising the Finance Policy section of the SGA bylaws.

SGA allocates money to various SGA-recognized student organizations based on a tier system. However, the amounts described were corrected, with revisions of $5,000 and $1,000 for Tiers 2 and 4, respectively.

The bill passed in a 10-0 vote.

MANDATORY BUDGET ATTENDANCE FOR STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

The SGA Finance Committee plans to require all student organizations to complete a budget training session to register for the next fiscal year.

The inspiration for the bill followed the example of other schools, such as DePaul.

The bill passed in a 9-0 vote.

EVENT SUPPORT FUND

The Event Support Fund allows student organizations to request up to $1,000 in funding from SGA per on-campus event.

Deputy Speaker Eddie Guerrero, substituting as senate speaker for the absent Nathan Gonzalez, explained that revisions are to bring SGA policy in line with the Campus Security Fund used by the university.

“This bill replaces the campus security fund to match current policy. Unlike the old one, the provisions are more straightforward and clear,” Guerrero said.

The next SGA meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.