On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. in the Board of Trustees Room, the Stockton Student Senate held a meeting to discuss concerns from the student body.

Student Senate President Andrea Sandoval opened the meeting, stating “I would like to welcome everyone to the first full Student Senate public meeting. This past Wednesday, our Student Affairs Committee Juan Diego was sworn in as a Board of Trustees student alternative. I would also like to address the Argo article that was published yesterday. I would like to thank Elizabeth Myers, The Argo’s Editor in Chief, for taking the time to interview me last week.”

She went on to note that the executive board members involved in the controversies outlined in the article have graduated. “We have a new group of senators this year. My responsibility as president is to regain the trust and support of the student body,” said Sandoval. While Sandoval was correct in stating that the main instigators of last year’s conflicts have since graduated, it is important to note that 12 of the 19 current Senators held some kind of position within the Senate last year, meaning that only 7 members of the 2023-2024 Student Senate are truly “new.”

Afterward, Vice President Garret Testut announced that the Student Senate is looking for a new chief of staff, a role that he described as “vital to the success of the Senate.” “The chief of staff will be responsible for recording meeting minutes and votes during meetings. Anyone interested can reach out to the Senate,” said Testut. The Senate is also currently looking to fill 13 empty seats, elections for which will be held on OspreyHub from Tuesday, October 3, to Thursday, October 5. Voting opens at noon on October 3 and will close at noon on October 5.

Student Affairs Chairperson Tiana Rosario then addressed the increasingly prevalent email scams circulating on Stockton’s servers, stating that “Juan and I have been working with Scott Huston, Vice President for information technology services to address the fraudulent emails that have been sent to students, presenting themselves as job offers and will eventually lead to students being scammed out of their time and money. To help protect students from these threats, we have made flyers that will be on various social media platforms, informing students of the threat. Scott and his team are also working to block these emails from reaching students. My committee has been working with Brian Pluchino, Director of Residential Operations and Retention to resolve the ongoing issue with the Atlantic City fire alarms. Residential life is still finding ways to make the alarm system less sensitive.”

Finance Chair Kaden Ryan took the floor to update those in attendance on the current state of the Senate’s supplemental budget for student clubs and organizations. “The supplemental account balance remains at $109,130.30. Myself and my committee are willing to meet with any clubs in regards to fundraising,” Ryan said.

President Sandoval then opened the floor to public comments. The first to speak were students Christian Cabrera and Julius Logan who voiced a concern regarding the accessibility of the University’s I-wing basketball court. According to Cabrera and Logan, the court used to be open until 11:00 p.m. and now closes earlier, at around 5:00 p.m. Sandoval responded that the Senate’s Student Affairs Chairperson, Tiana Rosario, will work on reaching out to the appropriate people to see what can be done.

The next student to speak asked the Senate why Stockton University doesn’t have a football team on campus. In response, Sandoval and Senator Juan Diego Chaparro Villarreal both mentioned that football teams are expensive and are therefore beyond the University’s severe budgeting limits, which he referenced earlier in his address.

The final topic brought before the Student Senate came from Parth Thakkar of Student Development, who answered questions about the upcoming WoodStockton concert. “Both the genre of music and artist are chosen based on surveys that are open to students. The genre choice is open now and open to all students,” said Thakkar.

Stockton’s Student Senate will hold its next open meeting on October 24 in Kesselman Hall on the A.C. campus and on November 28 in the Board of Trustees on the Galloway campus. The full transcript of the meeting minutes can be found on Osprey Hub.