The Undergraduate Senate of the Student Government Association of the University of Massachusetts Amherst held their first meeting back from winter break on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge of the Student Union.
The 1928th Regular Meeting began with the Committee of the Whole, shuffling the typical routine of Senate meetings as a trial for a new meeting format.
During Committee of the Whole, President Colin Humphries announced that Hadiya Ahmad, who was in this position last year, will be standing in as acting Secretary of Public Relations until applications and interviews are carried out and a permanent Secretary of Public Relations is hired. Ahmad was then sworn in.
Benjamin Farrell of the Student Legal Services Office (SLSO) addressed the Senate about SLSO’s role within the SGA and stated that although they review and provide feedback to bylaws, they only “give counsel” and advice and cannot approve or deny amendments. He reassured that decisions are to be made by the SGA and are only reviewed by SLSO.
Bella Rabin, Chair of the Academic Oversight Committee, is in the process of planning and promoting an Academic Resources Fair and announced that she is looking for Senators to sign up to table at the event. Rabin announced that there is a need for Senator volunteers for a review committee for distinguished teacher awards as well.
Chair of the Ways and Means Committee Maia Shteyman gave a presentation with information regarding the Student Activities Trust Fund (SATF), to ensure understanding of the Student Activities Fee (SAF) fee that students pay with their tuition and the fund itself. The SATF is used to, “financially support twelve Agencies, over three hundred and fifty Registered Student Organizations (RSO’S), the Student Government Association (SGA), and other projects, such as student union renovations,” according to the written motion announced later in the meeting. Shteyman wanted to ensure that the Senate had a full understanding of these budgets, regardless of their experience or time served.
This presentation provided background before the Senate voted on recommending increasing the SATF fee, which is currently $266 a year ($133) per semester, which will in turn increase cost to students. The recommendation proposed was that the Student Activities Fee be increased by $9.97 (7.5%) per semester, or $19.94 per year starting the fiscal year 2026.
“We can’t talk about an SAF increase without acknowledging that it leads to a tuition increase,” Shteyman said. “We are here to represent our constituents.”
Shteyman explained numerous inherited financial issues that increasing the SAF could assist with, including expenses revenue, agencies being underfunded, projected deficit and an increase of RSO’s.
Many questions from the Senate were then discussed regarding these issues. “Sounds like we generated a lot of interest in this issue, which is amazing,” Shteyman said.
S.59, S. 60 and S.61 were then passed, appointing Isabella Klink, Ruo Wu and Malie Geery to the position of Associate Justices.
S.62, the motion recommending the SAF increase was then passed.
S.67 was also passed, adding a motion not previously on the agenda, to fund UMass Club Golf $27,330.75 in emergency funding, to the agenda.
S.68, to allocate $14,000 to the Korean Students Association from the DIA Fund to hold their annual Streets of Seoul event was approved.
S.63, to appoint Abigail Fechisso and Sudhip Nashi to the vacant class of 2028 Senate seats, S.64 to appoint Brian Beltrami, Ella Bahmann, Marcus Lefort, Liam Black and Joshua Gatto to the vacant Class of 2027 Senate seats, S.65 to appoint Hai Tran, Jacob Holahan, Jonathan Shi and Keira Cook to the vacant Class of 2026 Senate seats and S.66 to appoint Thanh Le, Charles Walker-Hoover, Elizabeth Kim, Fernanda Arreola and Ashley Chamu to the vacant Class of 2025 Senate seats were all passed.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:40 p.m.
Abby Joyce can be reached at [email protected]
