SGA follows up on new meal plan changes and hears club funding requests at Feb. 14 meeting

The proposed meal plan changes from the Feb. 7 Student Government Association (SGA) meeting were discussed at this week's meeting, along with three student organization funding requests.

The meeting included guest speakers Associate Vice President of Student Life Bruce Skinner and Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Success Debbie Below. Skinner and Below came to speak more in-depth about the upcoming meal plan changes.

The first major point involved a few misconceptions surrounding the plan, of which Below spoke about the changes to both meals and flex.

Though much was kept the same as last week, the numbers and plans offered were presented to SGA senators and executive body.

The two most expensive options would be a meal-heavy plan and a flex-heavy plan. The meal-heavy plan would contain 304 meals with $80 flex, and the flex-heavy plan would contain 75 meals and $1,061 flex. This change would allow students more flexibility when choosing their meal plan.

Many students voiced their opinion on the Facebook group, Living at Southeast, and many of those students were upset by the shift away from meal plans. Skinner initially presented the change to SGA and he said it was understandable for students to be upset about the news without a proper explanation.

“That is my failure, because one of the things I wanted to do was get student government first … then some other groups, and quite honestly, the narrative was set in a way that was very responsive,” Skinner said.

Skinner then moved to the second major point of the sample size taken for a survey on the current meal plan. In the previous presentation, a Chartwells representative said 22 resident assistants were surveyed. Skinner stated there was some miscommunication about the sample taken for the survey.

“We did sample 22 RAs. We didn’t sample them; we actually went out [to the RAs]. It would be a convenience sample for those who like statistics, and we specifically looked at RAs for a couple reasons,” Skinner said. “One of which was, I actually believe that RAs might find the most sophisticated use of their meal plans and use them more than their peers, because they are upper-class students and know how to use them.”

The plans for the changes are still in the works, and student input is encouraged.

At 2 p.m. on Feb. 15, 2022, Skinner and Below held a meeting for students to voice their opinions. There will be more chances for input as the semester continues.

Students who wish to voice their opinion are encouraged to reach out to Skinner and Below through their email.

After the meal plan discussion, the night moved on to three funding requests from different student organizations.

The first funding request was from the Horn Club. Music Education junior and president of Horn Club Helena Kasper presented her case to the board. She asked for $1,600 for 11 students to attend the Southeast Horn Workshop in North Carolina. Kasper said while music students receive a great education here, the workshop would offer a more in-depth and specialized program for club members.

The second request was for Sigma Phi Epsilon. Chapter President of Sigma Phi Epsilon Tom Barron presented a request for $500 for the five members of the executive board to attend the 2022 Carlson Leadership Conference. This amount would cover the group's registration fee. Barron said the conference allows chapter leaders to discuss and learn about new ways to aid their fellow members.

The last request came from the University Dancers United. BFA Dance major and senior Emma Knowleton and BFA Dance major and senior Ashely Stephen presented their request for the organization. The club asked for $1,800 for 20 members to attend the American College Dance Association Conference from March 5 to 7.

All proposals presented at the meeting were passed. For more information or to keep up the Southeast Arrow, visit our website or follow us on Facebook.