The Student Association Senate continued to fill senator positions  and granted full recognition to two student organizations during Sunday’s meeting in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Tristan Martin, speaker of the Senate, led parliamentary procedure in electing David Skowronski as a new SA senator. Martin said Skowronski reminds him of himself when he first joined SA and his qualifications meet several needs within the senate.

Concerns when electing Skowronski were his age and lack of particular ideas for his position for the time being.

Skowronski is a first year and was recently appointed as the New Hall Community Council president. He said he hopes to represent students and help improve upon issues he hears about in Community Council.

Legislative Director Ian Pearson said SA has been focused on trying to increase its involvement with students around campus, particularly those living on-campus.

“I’m glad to see the senate is giving [Skowronski] a chance,” Martin said. “He’ll hopefully be able to prove himself in some way, shape or form and understand fully what SA does. In the past, we did have our representatives go to Residence Hall Association meeting and report on what the SA is doing, and I want to reconnect that.”

Along with continuing to fill open positions within the senate, NIU Toastmasters and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science [SACNAS] were granted full recognition as student organizations.  

The goal for SACNAS is to increase support and success of minorities in S.T.E.M. related education fields, according to their organization’s representatives.

“I feel as though it would be a very beneficial organization, not only for its members but for the NIU community as a whole,” SA senator Ryan Carmody said . “It takes after the model of the pre-law honor society which is there to promote the admissions process and provide information on the legal field, and that does the same thing for traditionally underrepresented groups instead.”

NIU Toastmasters was also approved by the senate, which is an international group that helps students with public speaking and gives hands-on training to improve their skill sets.

Vikas Parob, president of NIUs chapter of Toastmasters, addressed SA concerns regarding dues for the organization and said the dues go toward several things including resources students receive as members of the program. The organization was approved by SA after these issues were addressed.

The position of Director of Governmental Affairs is still open after Braden Astorga-Rollins resigned. The Senate is actively trying to fill the spot and the publicity of the job opening was a noticeable concern among SA.

SA senator Michael Kane said he searched for the job on Huskie Link and had a hard time finding the posting. He said he was concerned it would be difficult for the average student to find the application.

Martin said those problems have been addressed and the vacancy of the position means SA will have a lot more responsibilities and duties for to take care of in the meantime.