The General Assembly (GA) of Case Western Reserve University’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) convened for a relatively short meeting on Feb. 21, 2012. It started with nominations and elections for vacancies in USG, most importantly the parliamentarian position. Representative Theo Smith was voted in as the new parliamentarian, replacing Matt McKee, who left the position to become speaker of the assembly. Parliamentarian Smith was inaugurated by president Divya Aggarwal later in the meeting.
In the legislative portion of the GA, USG passed Bill B. 21-17, which approved the allocation of $4861.16 in rolling funding for student organizations. They also voted to approve the Spring Elections Commission, which consists of commissioner Steve Cummins, Lauren Bootzin, Kevin Moeller, representative Brittany Rattiliff, Albert Xue, and Aggarwal.
Aggarwal reported that there is still time to submit Student Life Improvement Grant (SLIG) proposals via CollegiateLink. The deadline is Friday, Feb. 24. All undergraduate students, faculty, and staff are invited to submit proposals, and more information can be found on the USG website. Aggarwal also reminded the GA to spread the word that letters of intent for running for a position in USG next semester are due to Commissioner Cummins by March 1.
Treasurers Ellen Schloff and Colin Williams are looking for potential treasurer candidates. The treasurer positions are appointed by the USG assembly during the final GA of the spring semester. No previous USG finance-related experience is needed.
Vice president of public relations Laura Kruse was happy to announce that USG had finished filming its Spring Election commercials. These commercials will be shown on campus television and online later this week.
Finally, representative Scott McHenry of the Case School of Engineering caucus announced that his caucus will be working to improve peer advising. They will also be seeking to acquire more engineering advisors for first-year engineering students. McHenry emphasized the need for more compatible advisors because of the intensity of the program and because some first-year students are given advisors in fields completely irrelevant to engineering.