*Correction: An earlier version of this article indicated that Senator Beacham talked directly to SG President Grantham about the hiring bill. Beacham communicated to Grantham through the attorney general, not directly, about the possible signing of the bill.
Constitutions and Statutes
This summer, SG has faced difficulty hiring executive branch positions and extended the deadline multiple times.
Though all cabinet positions have been filled, the Constitutions and Statutes committee addressed the issue with the “Competitive Hiring and Transparent Policies Act.” The bill will be sent to the Senate, July 6, and states SG must “properly” advertise positions.
The current wording of Title III, which regulates the executive branch, said advertisements must run “at least once during the candidate search period.” Senator Thomas Beaucham believes this language is too vague.
Beaucham said the process of hiring executive cabinet members should be transparent. The advertising of the executive cabinet positions is the responsibility of the SG President.
“In the past we would see presidents do the bare minimum.” said Beaucham. “We’ve seen multiple extensions to the [current] candidate search period and the reason was that there wasn’t enough student involvement. There wasn’t enough student involvement because there wasn’t enough advertising.”
Beaucham spoke with the attorney general who communicated SG President Caleb Grantham about the possible signing of the bill.
Budget and Allocations
President Grantham requested an additional $9,800 to add hours to the Project Manager, Student Advocate and Chief of Staff positions for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
The Project Manager and Student Advocate positions are funded for 15 hours this school year, but were funded for 20 last year. The Chief of Staff position went from 25 to 30 hours per week.
Grantham said he made the decision based on estimates of how many hours former cabinet members worked per week. He also wanted his executives to spend more time in the office to focus on SG-related tasks.
“That’s not going to cut it,” said Grantham. “They need to be here more often.”
Grantham said the total funding for the positions is five hours less than last year because he merged the Chief of Marketing and the Director of Communication positions together.
The 2016-17 budget reduced $4,573 from the wages category. The request will be sent to the Senate.
UNF graduate student Janice Anglin, received $500 in travel requests to attend the 2016 Florida Food and Nutrition Symposium in Tampa. She is accepting an “Outstanding Dietetic Student Award” at the conference.
The pre-Physicians Assistants Club received $1,900 to allow four members to attend a conference in Fort Lauderdale.
University and Student Affairs
Members of the University and Student Affairs discussed May’s Osprey Voice results—SG’s monthly initiative to gage student morale.
The 122 surveyed students were asked to rate SG events they attended (or didn’t) from best to worst. Students answered why they didn’t attend their lowest rated events: more advertising should be conducted, they didn’t live on campus, or wanted there to be free food.
Chairwoman Ania Cajuste accepted a student suggestion to start posting Senate meetings on social media for better student participation.
Government Oversight
The Government Oversight Committee forwarded four appointed SG members to the senate for confirmation: Sabina Sorrentino (Elections Commissioner), Mark Ogbugo (Senate), Farouk Smith (Senate) and Emily Kazdin (Senate).
—
For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact editor@unfspinnaker.com.
