Daniella Tebib
Contributing writer
dtebib@murraystate.edu
On Sept. 12, the Murray State Student Government Association passed their first pieces of legislation for the 2018-2019 academic year.
The new pieces of legislation passed include a resolution for a Parking Advisory Board and a Constitutional Amendment change.
Parking Advisory Board
The resolution to create a Parking Advisory Board passed with a unanimous vote from the senate.
The purpose of the Parking Advisory Board is, “For the Student Senate of the Student Government Association at Murray State University to act in accordance with the Faculty Senate and Staff Congress in supporting the idea of Shared Governance for Murray State University Parking Services,” according to Resolution 82-18-R2.
Once established, the board will serve as representation for students, faculty and staff on the decision-making process for future parking issues.
“It has been expressed that individuals on campus do not feel their voices are being heard concerning parking changes, which exhibits a lack of Shared Governance on campus,” according to the resolution.
However because the new board will act as an advisory board, it is unlikely to have the power to rescind any previous decisions.
SGA President J.T. Payne said the board will deal mainly with zoning changes because other changes to parking already have student representation.
“We are hoping to have a shared government resolution that shows Staff Congress, Faculty Senate, and Student Government Association all support the formation of a parking advisory board to where any zone changes that are being made will go through that council, and advice from that council is given prior to those changes happening,” said Payne.
The senate was eager to pass this resolution as students will now have a voice on campus regarding future parking issues.
“I think the board will be very beneficial for students, as it will give them broad representation,” said Maggie Moore, Senator at Large.
Once created, the board will be comprised of both students and faculty. Members of the parking board will designated by the University.
“I encourage our student representatives to be pulled from the judicial board because the student judicial board is who handles all of the parking appeals and parking complaints,” Payne said. “To me, naturally, that would be a good group to pull from since they already have that experience and knowledge, and they’re already representing students with the issue of parking.”
Constitutional Amendment
The resolution to change a constitutional amendment passed with a unanimous vote from the senate.
The Constitutional Amendment SGA is seeking to change will affect Article III Section 3. The resolution will allow SGA to change committee names to better address their needs and goals.
For a Constitutional Amendment to be changed, the changes must be confirmed by the senate with a three-fourths vote. After it is voted upon by the senate, the student body will be offered to vote on it via MyGate. If the student body approves, the changes will then be recommended to the Board of Regents who will have the final say.
Since this resolution has been passed by the senate, students will be able to vote on it via MyGate on Sept. 17 and 18.
Payne said some of the current SGA committees provide a good example for the necessity of this amendment change.
“For instance, 50 years ago, we probably would not have had a diversity committee,” Payne said. “But diversity, in recent years has become a priority to the university so we added a diversity committee. Same, with 50 years ago, we definitely would not have had a Multimedia and Public Relations chair because we didn’t have social media – but now we do. Since it’s outlined in the constitution, it really discourages those things from being changed.”
The current committees are Multimedia, Public Relations, Diversity and Inclusion, Governmental Relations, Election Ways and Means and University Affairs. If the resolution is approved by the Board of Regents, the Public Relations committee will be consolidated with the Multimedia committee and a committee dedicated to enrollment will be added.