Students will be given the opportunity to discuss “that grand finale of renting”, off-campus housing at the second meeting of the Student Association’s Tenant Union.

The Tenant Union was one of several issues discussed by the SA at its meeting Sunday night in the student center. The Tenant Union meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday in room 405 of the Holmes Student Center.

According to SA Community Affairs Adviser Eric Grice, the meeting will be a group discussion of the process “leading up to that grand finale of renting” off-campus housing.

Topics will include what to look for in housing, lease agreements, parking control, pest control, apartment condition, safety and security and tenant/landlord obligations.

The SA also announced it will hold a public hearing regarding student funding for extra security for social events, particularly for dances held by fraternities and sororities.

The hearing will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Heritage Room of the student center. Present SA bylaws prohibit the use of student fees by individual fraternities and sororities.

Finally, because of heated debate at the last SA senate meeting, the senate decided Sunday night to approve the formation of a new Committee On Student Affairs.

The committee was proposed by and will be chaired by Senate Speaker Harry Kontos. The committee was passed with a change in SA bylaws that defined the process for creating task forces and hearings.

COSA will play a key role in the formation of task forces. It will recommend the formation of task forces “to focus on issues involving the SA senate regarding its relationship to the NIU campus.”

After passing COSA, the SA executive board would then determine the composition and mission statement of the task forces. All task forces must then be approved by the SA senate.

COSA also would “help in maintaining a constructive atmosphere among senators by addressing any relevant issues that inhibit the efficiency of the senate,” as well as teach senators about Roberts Rules of Order.

According to Kontos, in the past, proposals for task forces were given to the SA president and “if he didn’t like it he could veto it.”

COSA will meet at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and will be open to all students. One of the first issues Kontos hopes to tackle is whether or not senators are devoting enough time to their duties. Kontos believes current requirements are too low.

“We’re not having a problem with it this year, but just to protect in the future so senators know from the get-go how much time they will be required to volunteer to committees and projects,” he said.

Topics will include what to look for in housing, lease agreements, parking control, pest control, apartment condition, safety and security and tenant/landlord obligations.