Agenda of the Senate Hofstra University Student Government Association (1st, October, 2026) Hofstra University Call to order Meeting Called to order at 6:46 pm EST A. Quorum Call a. Quorum set to 37 B. New Business a. Senator Pierre moves to open the gallery i. Motion Seconded ii. Motion Passed b. Swearing in the New Senator! c. Welcome DUTCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i. Dr. Elkis: Most of you have seen Dutch on social media. Dutch is the newest member at Hofstra. His big thing is to be on campus and get to know social sciences, and hopefully he will graduate with a BA. He comes from the puppy with a purpose program in which a university sponsors a dog that will be raised on campus. I am the primary raiser and we are looking for a student. There was a link through America’s vet dogs. We will see him doing a lot of socializing, walking through places, getting used to people, crowds places etc. He is 14 weeks old tomorrow. I would love it if you say hello when you see him on campus as he gets more into the service dog realm. You will see a difference in how he walks through campus. My job is to get him through the finish line so he can be paired with a veteran or first responder. He is named Dutch after our heritage at Hofstra. I hope everyone is following him on instagram. ii. Senator Pierre: How exactly will a student caretaker work? iii. Dr. Elkis: I will be the primary person and I will work with that student and that student will be sharing that role of taking him home with them
and being with them throughout the day. He has the privileges of a service dog so he can go into restaurants, stores, college campuses etc. He goes everywhere and would be living with that person. It might be a shared timeframe. iv. Senator Hassounia: When is the deadline to apply for that role? v. Dr. Elkis: We have over 100 applicants and so I would say apply ASAP. That’s why Mike told us last night. We would be looking at them sooner than later because there are a lot of applicants. d. Welcome Jessica Eads!! i. Jess: I love visiting senate and seeing the new faces. There are a lot of new and continuing faces and this is one of the biggest senates. This is one of my favorite things to do and this is an opportunity to hear from you and how you’d like our university to prepare for you. ii. Chair Vira: Can you explain the parking situation on campus? A lot of students are upset and last semester they were happier. The changes have made parking harder as a commuter. iii. Jess: First, South Campus and part of North too was getting dangerous with many cars that were looking for parking, but getting frustrated. With their frustration, many of the pedestrians walking on campus were not paying attention to their surroundings so it was truly a safety concern. The president is really trying to have more green space on campus like Weller Hall one day. The idea was that we create more of a walking space when north campus has lots of parking. There are many spaces all over north campus and change is not fun. It is less convenient. We try to add the shuttles so they frequently take you from various areas of parking to the student center. I am open to ideas of a bike chair and things like that to get commuter students to campus in a more efficient way. There aren’t enough spots on south campus. There were many near-accidents. It was scaring us and was too dangerous for pedestrians. It will take us a while and we will learn to see if the shuttle changes. I am anxious when the weather gets bad and there may be more shuttle needs. I have even brainstormed about really big golf carts that hold around 16 people. This way you can walk around campus using that direction. I think we have to all figure this out and adjust us as we go. There are two parking lots on south campus by Psafe that are currently designated as faculty lots that we may flip to commuter lots. iv. Senator Eberhardt: In light of recent events regarding Title IX, how is Hofstra planning on addressing how students are feeling endangered and what do you plan on doing to protect students?
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Jess: Two things. The legislation changed in January. We updated our policies immediately. There was a newsbreak earlier this week that made it appear there was new legislation but that's not the case. It impacts our LGBTQ community and pregnant women. It does not change some of the traditional Title IX situations. Two, we updated our policy immediately. We met with SGA today and Nene is meeting with Brit tomorrow. We are going to work on creating some additional stuff on our website so there are regular words instead of lawyer words so it is easier to understand. There would be bullet points to help people understand when things change. There would be recommendations from Nene and the rest of SGA for layering the website. In terms of keeping students safe on campus, nothing has changed. We have Title IX education and training throughout the semester. It is the most important thing for us. We are trying to make students aware as well as giving privacy “innocent until proven guilty”. It is not an easy process. We can make it better. In the future, I hope that if a student makes a report there would be a tracker that says a report was filed and you would be able to see the status of the report. There would be steps and conclusions and we can do a better job of showing. That kind of concept of a road from when a title IX case is called and where your case is on that timeline. I think that would create more transparency without telling you, because of privacy. This would at least show what stage it is in. That’s where I am envisioning this going and Brit and I have had conversations on this. Senator Verdone: What’s the reason for the tables in front of Adam and Weed hall? Jess: That’s exactly the reason. In that area we want to create more of a sidewalk and grow grass and do a curb cut but we needed a permit to do that but we couldn't do that fast enough. Odds are it would happen during one of the fall breaks or January break. The goal is that you will have outdoor spaces where you'd be able to mingle, eat, and so on. Chair Bokhari: Are there any updates for the commuter lounge renovation of Bits & Bytes? Jess: We had hoped to have renovated Bits and Bytes this summer but we learned that 25 years ago when it was last renovated, we did not have proper permits so we had to go back to the permits so we had to go back to the state. Then we realized we had the permits but didn't realize that until late August. During winter break, we will do the foundational break and during the spring we will do renovation of the new space. I just reminded facilities that before they order any furniture we and SGA will be able to see it. It will have the napping pods, the phone booth, etc. There are some
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private and public spaces. It is a commuter lounge and Bits and Bytes. That will be ready for you in the fall. Sorry it was delayed but it will be ready for next Fall. Chair Dzaveluri: Would a transgender Title IX situation be handled as any other harassment issue and would Hofstra address the discrimination as it happened? Also, many schools spoke about the Cornell rape case, why has Hofstra not issued a statement? Jess: I hope we are showing support but have we issued a formal notice, that is tricky because there are things that happen all the time and you have to choose when to make a statement or not. I am horrified about what has happened, but maybe internally we can show our support. I would be happy to write something. This is appalling. There is a lot to say. Why don't you meet with Brit and then we can discuss what we can do. As for your second question, we need to work on this website including what has happened and what has changed. It is a really awful thing to go backwards in time. Sadly this was not progress and I would say to make your voices heard and vote. We will work within the rules and not do anything against the law, but over my dead body will someone not be given the respect they deserve on campus. Chair Chauhan: I have three questions. Is there a way to make the international students office more supportive and collaborative with students, because a lot of us feel unsupported due to the lack of explanations or support? What’s the plan to update ABP- will we be moving Dunkin over? Also, what is the timeline for Dining Dollars to work on vending machines? Jess: We can certainly do webinars at different times a day and you sit with Shannon Watson, she is always willing to listen to ways that we can better this community. We really do have our hands tied. The CPT, OPT, there are so many threats to international students that we are trying to tackle. We are trying to sign on to something as an institution not in favor of OPT and some of the rules. The CPT stuff we are struggling with. This is changing people’s entire trajectory. We are forced to obey the law. We are trying to create changes to our degree requirements that would allow more flexibility. However, this takes time but dont think its not on the table, to the point of putting an internship requirement on every student and degree. Shannon is trying to stay up with these changes. It’s a small office. If there is more of a delivery of the office she is reporting is at the bad time, someone can talk with her. She can really build something beneficial. We will do it. If it were up to me the vending machines would all take your ID cards but it is two companies under one umbrella. The
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vending company and compass are sister companies and we would have to rewrite both contracts. We are working on this. That is one of the items we are working on and it is always on my list. It is a big fight but I am working on it. The ABP space has a very big kitchen as compared to Dunkin. If we take Dunkin to the ABP place there would be more space and food etc. There have been lots of talks with the franchise. Dunkin on the Quad would then be in discussion. There is something called Saxbys that is on a lot of campuses. It is an internship through the business school. You would work at the coffee shop. It is student-run. It comes with a burden that students would be unhappy when workers don't show up when it is midterms, for instance. We have been exploring this and it would be one of the top items for me. I think it is a great opportunity for students to learn. We are open to ideas. This is all brainstorming at this point. Senator Arscott: Are there any plans to renovate the student center theater? Jess: It was depressing this weekend. Normally we get 300 something people and we had 160. The student center theatre is on the list as one of the next renovations. We did the plaza rooms this year and it is now bright and cheery. Senator Gillani: If the new commuter lounge is being added in Memorial Hall, will the commuter lounge take that away too? Jess: No. The commuter lounge isn’t going to be in there. It is going to be next to Bits and bytes. That wing used to be a center for university advising. That whole wing will be a commuter lounge. Senator Pierre: Why can’t the Title IX tracker be implemented? Jess: It is not that it took the Cornell incident. No one has hummed on it when I have been talking about it. I think it would work with any of our conduct issues. When a student submits something. I bring things up and students don't jump on it, it's like it thought about something and no one wants it. It's a very simple thing. It takes ITS and takes prep work but I think this is something we need to do. We need a lot of feedback on the design. We really need a section of SGA to be dedicated to working on Brit for this. Senator Painuli: All the academic buildings have lights on during the night when they are closed and inaccessible, can we turn them off? Jess: I agree. I am shocked because we are changing the temperature in every building. In the beginning when we played with temperatures in the resident halls, we were so on top of it that we were adjusting temperatures but not lights. This needs to be a top for our facilities chair. The lights are
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motion censored so they go off on their own. Odds are, it needs a new switch so we just need to add it to the list. Novia: We have a monthly meeting with the facilities department. It is censored but we also have overnight cleaning crews that it is them. We will bring it up. I can’t say they are all sensors but we can look at the timeframe. We can adjust that. Senator Painuli: I think students fear passive harms, where students who have Title IX claims have RA positions, E-board leadership, and even faculty members. What can Hofstra do to reassure them? Jess: I will say that no one who has been found responsible is on an E-board or an RA position. There are ways you can be found responsible for lower situations where the two parties have a mutual agreement where they say this is where they want to end. Oftentimes that is between the two individuals. Likely, it was public before then, but there has been a road in between with someone who has helped to mediate. You can’t always trust what you read. I know for a fact if they have been found responsible they are not in those roles. Brit can tell you in detail. People think they have been found responsible and they are not. This does not address people not feeling safe, however. So much of that is people’s perspective on the situation. That is not fair on either of the parties. Senator Eberhardt: Regarding Hofstra’s Title IX board, what is the policy on the basis of? Also, if someone is found responsible, they aren’t allowed to have leadership. However, sometimes the investigation could be wrong and find someone who is guilty as not guilty, so will that person still be given a position? Jess: We have to obey the federal law, so I believe it is gender at birth and that is not okay. You have to follow the procedures and make sure everyone is treated in the same way. You have to obey the policy and you just have to believe in it. When it is wrong, there are certainly times when there isn't enough evidence, we have to follow our policy. The policy is the most important thing about being consistent and treating everyone the same way. I think it is unfair and I understand and we hope our policy is fair. People make mistakes and don’t feel comfortable to follow up. Senator Chacon: I would like to talk about the changes in admissions. In regards to the career communities, we were told not to call the “communications school” that, we call it whatever the career community is called. I think it makes it very confusing especially when communities don’t apply, such as the “Law, Community, and Education”. Also, I think the Pride Guides weren’t able to connect with families as much by not being able to show or speak to families about the inside locations. I would
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also like to add that downloading guidebooks was probably difficult for families to handle at first. There was concern with pride guides not with faculty in the open house. We should have more students involved. Jess: You are allowed to say the Herbert school of communications. The idea is that students don’t know marketing is not in the comms school and it is not in the business school. The career community is for high school students to ask them what careers and interests they have. The idea is to make students aware of the programs. The career communities have the same umbrellas. It is about making students aware of what we have to offer. It is going to the student level where they are willing to consume education before they come to us. We have always led people from point A to point B. We never let you explore. Many colleges let you explore without someone watching you. We were trying to make it a real open house so you can have the same experience at different timings. It is a different stage of the search process but we needed to change. We missed something last year and we needed to fix it. There was a guidebook before the event. There were tons of engagement and many of them did like the engagement. Definitely a printed map in the back. The issue of the agenda is it was blocks of time. That is why it really does belong on an app of some kind. We chose a guidebook because it works for NSL. We want all experiences to be different, so students and faculty will have different roles consistently. Melanie: One recommendation I made was a guide book. Next time they need to list the names of the actual spaces. That is one thing I would like to see changes. Jess: We have to give families different experiences when they come so they come back each time. Senator Israel Jr.: Are the classrooms downstairs in the memorial hall going to be renovated? Is the commuter lounge going to be renovated? Would it be possible to make some of those rooms noise cancellation? Would it be possible that there would be a foot thing to open bathroom doors? Would it be possible to renovate some of the classrooms? It is kind of depressing. Memorial hall, some of the older buildings, Davison, Mason etc. Jess: The intention is for them to stay the same but I can add them to the list. The senate last year renovated that. That is a lounge, not necessarily a commuter lounge. We are looking for a serious commuter lounge, close to Bits and Bytes. There will be study spaces, napping pods, zoom rooms. That will really be a commuter lounge. Yes they are and some will be ADA. I think we should put the foot things on the list. It’s those buildings
that look alike. We should add that to the list. There is a classroom renovation committee every year. We do have a list in priority order. xxxiii. Senator Tayib: Lots of students complained about transparency dining. In my experience at Orientation, the halal meats and regular meats were separate and I accidentally ate something not halal. How can we keep other students from experiencing this? xxxiv. Jess: We just recently met with compass about listing ingredients so students know for religious reasons and also for nutrients. The franchises are much easier but things like “Eats around the world” makes it more difficult because it’s food on the fly. When we have speciality items, it can be listed like your placards and sit on the counter. We are working on it. xxxv. Senator Mamatqadirova: I have a few questions. Monroe Lecture Hall and Roosevelt have really ugly and poorly temperatured rooms. I wanted to talk about shuttle access. Is there a way to have it go to Walmart, TJ Maxx, and more locations that are better for students? I also want there to be easier access to campus jobs, for example Handshake rarely has updates or responses of whether students don’t get the job or do. It would be nice to have social media posts about it. Also, a lot of international students are worried about the post-college experience. Is there a way to have counselors or advisors to support them with their post-grad plan? xxxvi. Jess: I think it would be a good idea to have a group talk with student employment. They are trying to reimagine student employment. We put it on handshake so we are updating things when students get hired. It is communication with student employment and the career center. I think it might be better if we create a sub-committee with student employment. I think we need some students to help articulate the problems so we can fix it. Shannon Paul and her office is working with the career center to find international students. We made a point of identifying companies that would hire international students at the last career fair. I think you should go introduce yourself because Shanon is willing. e. Welcome Novia Ramsey!! i. Novia: I am the Executive Director of Residence Life and I am happy to be here. I am here to hear anything that you have to share with me, any issues you have been aware of. ii. Chief Justice Warner: Why are the elevators in Constitution always breaking down? iii. Novia: We have had an issue with elevators. The elevators are old and I have been in contact with facilities and the contract is now coming to an end. They are trying to bid with new vendors so the hope is it will be signed soon and we will have new elevators. It is ridiculous that students
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have to walk up, and that administrators have to get them fixed and it goes down after two days. We are dependent on our partner with facilities. It needed a part and it took a long time for that part to come in. It was because the elevators are old. Senator Valenzuela: There are no visuals for c-square, can there be pictures of the inside of the rooms and the general buildings, so that when room selection happens, people have a proper understanding of what they’re getting into? Novia: When they are selecting the room, can they see the size? We are working on that when students go through the housing process. It now shows you by area what you can anticipate in your room. We are trying to get you to see the layout and also the dimensions. It is a work in progress. We are trying to have the floor plans on the website so students aren’t surprised when they move into the rooms. We would love to do what we did in the Netherlands. Prior to two years ago, you couldn't tell which building, but now you can tell. The Netherlands has that brick wall that allows us to put that graphic. Colonial square doesn't have that. With the university’s campaign to change signs. Once you’re in that square we need to figure out how to label each building. We are trying to figure out the best way to achieve that goal. Senator Eberhardt: One issue many students brought up was that the process of becoming an RA should be more difficult. I think the main concern was that there should be better training or a background check to ensure they are appropriate. Novia: For those of you who are RAs, do let me know if it was easy for you to become an RA and if you were lacking in training. An interview process does not always catch everything. I think we do a phenomenal job at training our RAs. Some may say we over-train them. I always say to them that I need you to listen. I think we do a good job at training our staff. There are always areas of growth. We have to outreach to both Title IX and conduct before. If they have a red flag on their files, then they say we should not hire them. The information that might be there as it relates to someone on our staff with Title IX, yes they do get due process. Nothing gets shared with me. I get emails from Brit that persons need to be removed until the investigation is completed. We are not privy to the details but the RAs here have heard me say that you are in a fish bowl. I will hold you to the task. If someone is doing something that is detrimental to our community, you need to tell me. I can’t do anything if people don’t follow up.
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Senator Rhodes: Can there be more transparency in the process of why people get waitlisted without an interview? Novia: Sure We had almost 150 applications and 25-30 spots. At the end of it all we did not give that individual outreach to those that did not get chosen. That is something we hope to change but the only way we can change it. We want to give everyone the opportunity to put their best foot forward. If we only have 30 spots open, how can we cut down the people that go through the process? We have amazing applicants and so they have to take the diamonds. We do need to do a better job at following up with candidates so they don’t feel they are not worth it. It is going to get harder next year. Senator Smook: There are no shades for blinds, so the sun wakes students up really early. Also, the microfridges are also weird and smelly and Bill of Rights has no T.V. remotes. Novia: As for remotes, that is a problem. RAs do rounds every night so they are supposed to be doing rounds every night. We have extra remotes in the office. Issues with the microfridge would have to go through the company itself but I can ask if the units are all brand new. I get over 100 emails a day so can you please email me. Not all window sizes are the same so facilities do not have blinds. We have it on the list. We do not have curtains because they have to be fire resistant. It would be hard to find fire resistant curtains combined with the different window sizes. I just do not know if that one is a feasible one. Senator Pierre: There is mold in bathrooms and narrow and dirty shower curtains, and I’m just wondering why students pay so much to live on campus but facilities keep falling apart. Also, I think stating that you only have X number of applicants would be a lot better. Novia: At what point do you think that information should be shared? I want them to understand it wasn’t personal. It’s not a secret. I just can’t make a slot. We had a meeting with our facilities team. They are investigating our vendors to get that done. As for mold in the residents hall, the temperature helped to breed more mold in the residence halls. This is the rainiest September we have had. We need sunshine so mold does not grow. I will follow up with Mark Sweeney tomorrow. I know we spoke with them last year to ensure custodial teams are able to change shower curtains. I will remind them if they aren’t doing it. Senator Painuli: A problem in Vanderbilt is that we have a lot of leaks. I’m unhappy with the approach taken to resolve leaks. Someone came to inspect it, and we just had to let it dry. Someone said they could paint it,
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but as you said- this will just lead to long term issues. Is there a better way to approach this? Also, VP RA’s are great. Novia: Three years ago in high rises, those buildings were very old and porous and decayed. As we continue to get these rain events, water is penetrating those facades. So, every summer, we are renovating the inside and outside of resident buildings. I don’t recall any of the rooms having leaks in Vander poel. I need to know what rooms. I see all of the work requests. It is frustrating. We can only react to it. They can clearly see where the leak was and their response is to paint it, that is an issue. Senator Mamatqadirova: It’s difficult to get food around campus whenever it’s cold and raining. Is there a way to have kitchen tools, delivery, or snacks available to residents? Novia: That is something we’d have to talk to compass about. After covid, they had a program for delivery in the residence halls. But during covid we had less than 600 students on campus so it was more manageable. Maybe it can be done during seasons like midterms or finals season. I can talk to compass in our next meeting. I think Shannon and her team would help international students. Shannon and her team are having an INTO dinner for students in Nassau Hall on October 7th. Senator Chacon: I have a concern about RSR training. Why was it so late? I don't know if the RSR’s knew they had to deal with lockouts. Novia: Sure. Our RSR gets trained two weeks into the start of the semester because 85% of our workers are commuter or international students. It is not ideal because you have new staff being trained on the job. I am not sure if most of you know but access security is now under ITS so we now have to have a ticket for different residence halls. We actually had a situation where a counseling staff lost access for 24 hours. I hope there will be improvements. The RSR training is a problem because of how late it occurs. Just last week they had the training on lockouts. Maybe we can do something virtually. Senator Verdone: I live in C-Square and I put in a work order last semester but it wasn’t responded to, so I put another one. They responded after 3 weeks. Is there a way to let them know when they are coming to respond to a work order so residents can be around? Novia: Whenever you submit a work order for any facilities maintenance issue in your space, you don't need to be there for them to access your room. The facilities team has access to every room and they are supposed to knock. If not, they key themselves in. We have been trying to get them to leave a keycard to say they did something and left. They have yet not done that. It is something we are trying to get them to do. All other items
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get done by the facilities team. If after 48 hours, you did not get a card or don’t see anything is being done, please email us with your work order number so we can follow with PLANT and respond to you directly. There should be a way that when you submit a work order, it should tell you when the carpenters are coming to the room. John A is investigating whether there is an upgraded version of the work order system so it can do that. Everything is under contract. We want to inform you of the status but until we get there, email us. Senator Saint-Fleur: In Constitution it takes at least 5 minutes for the water to heat. It’s quite frustrating. Novia: It depends on how many people are taking the shower at the same time. That is why but if you find the water is absolutely not getting hot enough, you can submit a work request. Senator Cameron: The mail lockers for paper mail in the residence halls are really difficult to utilize. Is there an easier way to get smaller mail like that? Novia: I have been trying to get a real post office on campus for small mail and packages. Since I have to come back down to reality, the mailboxes are ancient. We really haven’t looked at what it would cost to replace those but I don’t have an inclination as to what that would look like. I know it is an issue and we need to start investigating. Senator Soares: Is there a way to implement plastic utensils in lounges? Novia: We need to find who will be responsible for purchasing and stocking the dispensary. I have to look into it. It has to be fiscally feasible to maintain those units and replenish those utensils. Senator Stewart: Students complain that in tower bathrooms there is only a hook to put your dry items, but having a dry table area would be good. The shower curtains are also always dirty. Also, the shower heads are kind of bad. Novia: I just saw an email about showerheads and I assume you will all have a discussion to determine and discuss what the next best step is. The bathrooms in the towers are not that big. My partners in facilities would be happy to implement that and they can tell us what’s feasible and what’s not. Senator Blain: I only have $45 for 6 events as an RA and it is significantly lower than I had last year. How can we represent programs on campus if we only have limited funds? I think there could be more. I was wondering if there were pest control measures. Is there a way for pest control in buildings?
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Novia: Pest control around every building around campus. We can see if they can do one mid-semester. The reality is as seasons change, water bugs and some cockroaches are more prevalent. In those instances, students are not taking out their garbage. It is up to our custodial staff to ensure in common hours such as in kitchens, garbage is being thrown out, but we can also do extermination mid semester. We did bring back the programming budget to what it was last year. Initially, when we thought about reducing that fee, the correlation was not immediately about a lower fee. We were able to find the funds to get us back to where we were last year. Yes, you will never have enough programming money. f. Club Check in National Society of Black Engineers: SENATE NSBE PRESENTAION (1).pptx i. President: NSBE is open to all STEM fields and is for any person of color. Our mission is for improving and increasing the number of engineering students in general. We are trying to make it more known to students in the area. We got to conferences mainly in Albany, intended for the development of the youth. They recruit STEM students. We are trying to increase our funding so we can send moremore students to the conferences and give them support to excel. ii. Co-Vice President: Last semester we collaborated with the engineering department for their engineering ceremony. We also collabed for the school of engineering mixer, and women’s history month celebration. There are not many women in our classes. Our first event last semester was our NSBE game night. We had around 27 people there. iii. PR Chair: Our second event was a block party, and it was a successful event. Everyone met each other and it was more interpersonal focused. iv. President: Coming back isn’t that easy but we are doing the best that we can. This semester, we hosted our first general body meeting and we had 35 people in attendance. NSBE is a national organization so we are Hofstra’s chapter. Last semester some of my e-board had the opportunity to attend the conference, and there were 16,000 people there. We were underprepared. NSBE helped me get my internship for the summer. When recruiters see you are involved, they want to hire you. v. PR Chair: During our GBMs, a lot of students asked me about the club and the opportunities. That opportunity seldom comes to students but such a club gives them that. Investment into the club is really an investment in an unrepresented aspect of Hofstra’s community. vi. President: We have a lot of people coming out tomorrow to give students one-on-one advice, just giving them an open door. We also need access to
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more funding to develop local workshops for high school students and the tools require money. Everything requires more money than we do have. Co-Vice President: Another event we are looking to host around November is a gala where we have professionals, Hofstra alumni, and so on. Senator Pierre: How do you plan to bring more STEM majors in general to your club? President: Many of our events have other students. I am a peer-teacher and I regularly share the club with students and many have expressed interest in joining the club. We are actively reaching out and have opened our e-board to sophomores, e-board, etc. whether it be social media and so on. What are our plans to keep it going? We had 10 people interested in being in our-eboard when we had our first meeting. Our current e-board has a lot of members. Senator Painuli: If you get access to more funds, what is one specific engineering competition you would like to attend? President: We want to do the Pitch Competition. That is a competition we hope to attend. PR Chair: We do a hackathon and it is designed for every single major in engineering so that is an opportunity we are hoping to extend. Secretary Thani: Do your members pay national dues? President: Our e-board does not pay dues so they are opportunities but for conferences you do have to pay dues. At the end of the day, it is to ensure you don’t have to pay out of pocket. It is a lot cheaper with far competitions and so on. Those dues go to the national chapter. 1. Comptroller Peri: I worked very closely with them as Appropriations Chair. They had to pay so much out of pocket because of the reduced money they got as a Pride Club. Their Block Party was also so impressive and I think this is a no brainer. 2. Senator Rhodes: I’m a member of NSBE and their e-board is so hardworking. People are interested in joining. 3. Senator Israel Jr.: The competitions are a tedious process but the conferences are truly an opportunity. 4. Senator Pierre: I really liked that they emphasize how there's more opportunity for growth. The President is so hard working as well as the whole e-board and I think this is a club that needs support and we can provide it. 5. Chair Chauhan: This is the most efficient e-boards I have seen. They got everything done in one day. They are really on top of their things and have the potential to do well on campus.
6. Chair Ehrlich: Many of their events are so open and visible and something that stood out to me was that they are stepping out in the career world to make connections. They have a great mindset. 7. Senator Tayyab: Now it is important that we support people of color in STEM. I have seen organizations that have fallen and it is not easy to bring them back. It already looks promising. It is so tremendously important especially if it is a national organization. 8. Senator Painuli: The engineering cohort is so large at Hofstra and finding a sense of belonging in a space that large is really difficult. I appreciated that Anthony. xv. Chair Chauhan: moves to complete the check in process for National Society of Black Engineers 1. Motion seconded 2. Motion passed g. Makin' Treble Budget Freeze Makin' Treble Overdue Costs Calculations i. Presented by Comptroller Peri ii. Comptroller Peri: We are going to be freezing a club’s budget. We have not done this in over six years. This is an extremely drastic situation that has to be dealt with sooner rather than later. SGA is committed to working with them for fundraisers to ensure they have enough income for next semester and this semester. They will also be allowed to come to weekly allocations. iii. Senator Israel Jr.: They are currently in debt and we will freeze the money they have and they are forfeiting that to us and the money is going to be used to cover the cost? I know we’ll help them fundraise, but is that the only way they can get money? iv. Comptroller Peri: Right now they are out $3,139.23. If we freeze their budget, that will be put into our funds that I can use. After that, the amount will be down to $761.59. They would not be able to submit a semesterly budget this and next semester. It is really unfortunate but fundraising is the best case scenario. It is better they are out of it rather than them having to pay us back. A majority of their budget is decoration. v. Senator Painuli: What is this organization and how did they get in this position? vi. Comptroller Peri: They are an acapella group. They have a recording contract, and in Fall 2025 they didn’t submit a contract to OSLE. In Spring 2026 they did submit a contract, but because it was a confusion of the system, we will handle that cost. vii. Senator Hamilton: So they are not able to come fall weekly allocation meetings, but are they able to come to spring allocation meetings?
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Comptroller Peri: Yes. The only things they are barred from is Fall weekly allocations and Spring budget. Senator Cullen: Did the contractors get paid by SGA? Comptroller Peri: They didn't get paid yet but we will pay it off, and we will use their income. Senator Verdone: Is the club’s e-board aware of this and confident they can handle it? Comptroller Peri: They have been emailed about this and they do know they are in financial trouble. They have not responded to my email but they are aware and we will be working with them. Senator Tayyab: Does freezing the budget put them at any risk for future contracts. Comptroller Peri: They aren’t doing a music video this semester so they aren’t dealing with the contractors. All the debts will be done at the end of the semester if we do this. Senator Hassounia: If we decide not to freeze the budget, will they have to pay us back? Comptroller Peri: If they did a fundraising event that would supplement. Senator Pierre: I’m more confused at how the outstanding cost went unnoticed by SGA, OSLE, and the e-board. Comptroller Peri: In the Fall, I am not sure. I wasn’t the Comptroller. In the spring, there was a purchase request on May 1st and Maddie told them they needed more paperwork. I am not sure how it went unnoticed by OSLE and is something we are looking into. Senator Israel Jr.: How do we make sure this doesn’t happen again? Comptroller Peri: I have an entire list of all allocations and I have highlighted all contacts that may come up in the semester, and we will look through and make sure everything has been paid. Senator Israel Jr.: How long does this process take? Comptroller Peri: If today we chose to do it, it would be done. The contractor would be paid and the budget would be frozen until December. Senator Saint-Fleur: If we don’t freeze the budget, how can we help them get back to their best position. Comptroller Peri: Are you asking if they aren’t able to pay us back? Senator Israel Jr.: If this plan doesn’t fall out, how can we help them bring their way through this. Comptroller Peri: We will be helping them fundraise as much as possible. Day of giving is in February and we would hope it gets paid off at the end of the year. Chair Chauhan: How does us hindering their ability to submit a budget for the Spring 2027 semester, but still allow weekly allocations meetings to allow them to function efficiently? This would impact them negatively. Comptroller Peri: I understand that and you will always get more money through a semesterly budget over weekly allocations. The difference between would be around $750. Every year they do end of year projects
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and they can come to an early allocation meeting. It is just an ability of them being able to pay. Senator Pierre: On the off chance that we freeze their budget, but the e-board refuses to acknowledge that, what happens next? Comptroller Peri: That’s not their job. We have the ability to set regulations. We will do as much as possible. This wasn’t finalized until 4pm yesterday. It is a very short timeline. We would try to make sure they understand and are as happy as possible. Senator Verdone: Why are you emailing Tuesday and not tomorrow or Monday? Comptroller Peri: Basically, I wanted to give them a heads up and on Tuesday, I will send a lengthy email. Chair Chauhan: 2 questions. How much of their e-board is the same as last semester. How have you calculated their estimated costs.. Comptroller Peri: I am not sure about their e-board. I know their president and e-board are different. For the estimated costs I just used my intuition as a comptroller. I think it would be a little more. Senator Pierre: Is makin treble a pride or blue club? What is the guarantee that they will get enough to make up for their budget request? Comptroller Peri: We can never guarantee funding and I have a right to a financial opinion in the committee and I will advocate that we give them as much money as physically possible so they can succeed. Senator Verdone: Are you saying you calculated this based on your own intuition? Comptroller Peri: Yes but it was mental math. I’ve been doing this for a while so I have a fair idea. Senator Eberhardt: If they’re not doing a music video, where are their semesterly allocations going to? How much did they spend on decor? Comptroller Peri: It was around $600 for decoration. Chair Dzaveluri moves to freeze Makin’ Treble’s budget for the Fall 2026 budget. 1. Motion seconded 2. Motion objected a. Chair Dzaveluri: I don’t think SGA should have the ability to snatch money from people’s pockets. They would do fundraisers and we would have to snatch it from them. They wouldn’t be able to host events until they pay it off. b. Chair Chauhan: To clarify, I agree that we should freeze the budget and it’s dumb if we have a club that owes us money because we shouldn’t have that kind of power. We are here to serve the clubs, not only govern them. We are here to help and them owing us money is bad. c. Senator Hassounia: I do it is extremely unfair to steal money from other people’s hands and freezing their budget is the best situation.
d. Senator Verdone: We should be concerned about the club's longevity. Freezing their budget is bad, but imagine fundraising all this money and someone takes it away. e. Senator Pierre: My biggest reason for objecting is there is more discussion for the resolution and how things work. I still find it confusing how it went unnoticed and I am concerned about us taking a massive bill. I still believe that they still have the jurisdiction to be aware and deliberate about their situation first like we are. I can’t really go with freezing a budget and the e-board hasn’t discussed this. f. Chair Chauhan: Can this document be changed if we move to freeze their budget? g. Comptroller Peri: We can work to change it over the language. h. Senator Israel Jr.: Would it make more sense for them to respond? i. Comptroller Peri:I do understand the short timeline but this has been my number priority for multiple weeks and something that has to be done. I will meet with them as much as they want and give them as much context as needed. The club accused us of not working with them. We just need to resolve this tension. This is the best thing for the organization. They continuously have to pay us back over and over again and sets a precedent where SGA can be loan sharks. 3. Motion passed h. Senator Blain moves to strike chair reports i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed i. Senator Hamilton moves to strike snap cup i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed C. Approval of the Minutes a. Senator Pawar moves to pass the Senate minutes from 9/24 i. Motion Seconded ii. Motion Passed b. Senator Saint-Fleur moves to pass the Cabinet minutes from 9/30 i. Motion Seconded ii. Motion Passed
D. E-board Reports a. President i. Meeting with Jesse Webster Cancelled ii. Meeting with Jess 1. Renovation Update
iii. AI Advisory Committee iv. Title IX Policy b. Vice President i. New Associates!!! (Almost 30 already!!) 1. Please make them all feel welcome!! ii. Start thinking about Senator Project ideas and your groups….. iii. Thank you for an amazing Senate Retreat!!! iv. Internal Chair/Ambassador Form 1. Fill this out now! v. If you have any questions or concerns, please text me!! vi. Have a great fall break!!!!! c. Comptroller i. Met with all club advisors ! ! ! ! ! ! ! d. Secretary SGA Fall ‘26 Calendar - Non-operational next week i. ii. Reminder to do your office hours! - 1 for senators, 2 for cabinet members iii. 91st Roster Information E. Committee Chair Reports a. Appropriations i. Minutes b. Club Resources i. Minutes ii. Working on the Constitutional Benchmark..stay tuned iii. Club Closet c. Communications i. minutes ii. No formal report d. Programming Programming Minutes 9/29/26 i. a) Order for Build A Friend plushies were placed on monday! b) Important Reminders / October 17th Fall Fest Tabling / November 9th Build A Friend e. Academic Affairs AA minutes 10/01/2026 i. 1. Fall 2026 Academic Affairs Newsletter/SocialMedia a. Student Outreach & Surveys b. EthicsPoint Reporting Resource 2. SGA x CUA Study Hall Planning 3. Upcoming Meetings with Jesse f. Equity & Inclusion 10/1 Committee Minutes i. ii. National Coming Out Day! - Wed, Oct 7th 11am-3pm Tabling iii. Circle Symposium - Oct 15th 1pm - Sign Up Flyer
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Student Belonging Focus Groups Oct 19th & 28th - Sign Up - Flyer Eats Around the World Dates Planning World Gala 1. Currently changing date from Oct 21 to Wednesday, Nov 4th 5pm -8pm 2. Tabling, Dance Performances & Fashion Show 3. Emails to Identity Clubs being sent out Thursday moring g. Facilities & Operations i. Minutes 10/01/2026 ii.Campus access committee meeting 09/25/2026 -making bathrooms and elevators more accessible in res halls, McEwen Hall -addressing the issue of tables in parking spaces of adams and weed halls iii. Upcoming meeting through Bird Sanctuary (Date TBD) iv. Keep informing me on Facilities and Concerns/Issues especially with Work Order Form Issues h. Wellness & Campus Safety i. Wellness Minutes 10/01 1. Upcoming events a. Mind in Motion i. October 14th, 12-3 PM b. Dating for Dummies i. October 22nd, 2 PM-5 PM 2. Meeting with Counseling services tomorrow 11AM 3. Meeting with Title IX 9:30 am 4. Meeting with Sev 12:15 F. Approval of Committee Minutes a. Chair Noel moves to pass the committee minutes from 10/1 i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed G. Approval of Allocations Club/Organization
Amount Requested
Amount Allocated
%
Commuter Student Association
$500.00
$543.73
108.75%
Student Members of the American Chemical Society
$545.30
$565.28
103.66%
Jazz Education Network
$100.00
$100.00
100.00%
The Lavender Grove
$363.90
$382.90
105.22%
a. Chair Ehrlich moves to pass the allocations from 9/29 i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed H. For the Good of the Order a. Anything SGA related! b. Open discussion i. Chair Dzaveluri: I scheduled an urgent meeting with Brit and Steve and Brody will be joining me. We are working on a timeline of the questions we want to ask. We want as much information as we can get. If you want us to bring anything up, please let us know. ii. Senator Eberhardt: It’s got to be said. What we are doing right now is now in light of legislation change but also what is happening in Cornell. People are talking about Hofstra, and students in the leadership positions who have Title IX. We are not allowed to speak their opinion, but we can talk about it. We can’t be quiet about people near us who have done things like this. It is time that we acknowledge it. iii. Senator Smook: We can not let this keep happening, it’s disgusting. I’m ashamed that Hofstra allows so many Title IX offenders. We should take action against them, even if it’s just a rumor. Put yourselves in their shoes, we shouldn’t allow this to happen to ourselves or anyone we love. We need to care for them as if they are our own family, because we are the Hofstra family. iv. Chair Chauhan: I hope everyone is seeing the SGA Instagram and it should be an eye-opener. We should reevaluate. I stand for women. I hope everyone in this room does that. It is basic moral empathy. Today, the way administration spoke to us was so distressing and I am proud of everyone. You are also so courageous. v. Senator Israel Jr.: One of the disheartening things is that in bigger institutions, things get swept under the rug to make universities look better. You might wonder how to solve the problem, it’s not the inevitableit’s important we genuinely consider what we can do, because if we don’t, the problem will keep getting worse. Something that Jess said was that “innocent til proven guilty" while yes that’s valid, it shouldn’t be the case that people are allowed to be in power when numerous people are coming out for help. This isn’t an administration thing, the student body should support each other. vi. Senator Hamilton: I would also encourage everyone to take care of their own mental health. I would like to see if you could look at the laws for Title IX relating to transgender. If our rights are being taken away, can this be expressed in a simpler way that we understand.
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Senator Rhodes: I agree with everyone. There were some cases earlier where I was confused why she said that? It doesn’t make sense why so many people have power, especially given the fact that Hofstra paints itself as an institution that really cares about students. The fact that there was no statement but Hofstra is insane. Senator Blain: I think it was insane for Jess and Novia to say that and it was disturbing. I understand they are privacy rights but you can’t lie to us when I know they are people like that. Senator Mamatqadirova: Why are we taking action after the violence happens? Why can’t we do something to make students feel safer? People go to parties to have fun, not go have horrible experiences. Instead of taking care of it after, we need to prevent it first. Even as Jess spoke, why are we waiting til something happens and not hoping for it to be prevented. Senator Saint-Fleur: We also need to look into organizations. I saw many sororities around Hofstra speak up but not frats. In the group chat of 57 people, no one spoke up. We need to do something about this culture. Chair Chauhan: I’d like to see that student leaders have a consent and respect course as they step into leadership roles. I discussed with many people how to host a campus demonstration, so I will let nene speak over it. I encourage everyone to look at social media and fizz and listen to what students are saying. The False accusations rate is below 5% so it doesn’t make sense for our administration to say that the accused are not responsible. There is a professor on campus who still works here who did that and it is not ok. Chair Dzaveluri: I want to address a couple of points. I think all of you should utilize social media to show changes. As much as we want to try and to make changes we won;t be able to because administration is ready to cover up Title IX and rape etc. As student leaders we are not allowed to go under their wing. We should meet with the administration and push them to make statements. It should not be happening after the violence after we witnessed. It should have been happening. Get rid of rapists, sexual offenders, etc. Senator Pierre: I want to suggest that in the meeting there are more events dedicated to Title IX and how to step by step make an EthicsPoint Report. People who are abusers, domestic violence, and more are within Title IX. If people know what Title IX actually does, they would probably submit more reports. This enforces the consent courses because everyone thinks it easy, until they’re in the position and don’t know what they actually need to do. To Jess’s point, I think based on her responses about following the law- I don’t think we should be surprised, I think instead we should be finding loopholes in the law. It’s hard, but it’s worth it. Valenzuela: It should not happen. It is sad. It is real. It probably ruined that girl’s life and I hope she gets her justice. As for Hofstra, I am really disappointed in administration. We can do so much more.
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Senator Smook: It shouldn’t have taken something like this to kick start this movement. It should’ve been started a long time ago. As a man, I am disgusted and all of you should be too. We should take more measures to prevent this. Enforce the consent and respect course. As another speaker said, as members of LGBTQ, they are all at risk. xvi. Senator Hassounia: Hofstra needs to be more proactive than reactive. There is some level of corruption here. There is something wrong here. xvii. Chair Dzaveluri: When admin comes, we generally put out the big issues then do “fun questions”. I think it’s important that we keep pushing on the same subject instead of making funner questions. I know it will take away some important things, but I think it's a better use of time. c. Questions/concerns: i. GroupMe to Nene! d. President Ahmad: Eyes are on you at all times! I. Announcements a. Anything non-SGA related! i. J. Snap Cup a. Decorum suspended K. Adjournment a. Chair Vira moves to open the gallery i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed b.
Chair Chauhan moves to adjourn this meeting i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed 1. Meeting adjourned at 10:40pm EST
Senator Oath: iii.
“I, (name), hereby pledge to uphold the Constitution, Bylaws, and Policy Series of the Student Government Association, fulfill all obligations as outlined, and act in the best interests of the Student Government Association and all of its members.”
Cabinet Agenda PPAW Conference Room September 30, 2026 6:00pm Quorum: Present: President M. Ahmad, Comptroller P. Peri, Secretary K. Thani, Chair J. Vira, Chair F. Bokhari, Chair A. Mansour, Chair A. Chauhan, Chair J. Ehrlich, Chair R. Noel, Chair N. Dzaveluri, Chair S. Ruffo Absent: Vice President J. Iacobovici Agenda: I. Meeting called to order: 5:58 II. Icebreaker: Fall Break Plans III. Collaborative Business: A. Cab photoshoot: Monday at 12pm at Memorial Hall 1. Any conflicts? 2. B. Canvas Letter Draft 1. President Ahmad: The hope is to hit faculty in a more emotional way. This might have more of an impact or it would open the conversation instead of the administration being the middle line. We just need to improve this letter and I want your input on what major changes are needed. 2. Chair Vira: We should emphasize that the school has resources to teach faculty. 3. Chair Chauhan: I think the letter should be as respectful as possible. 4. President Ahmad: We want to do a series of letters. The goal is to get this letter out by the end of October, give Canvas pins to students, and maybe faculty will be prompted to use Canvas or at least open the discussions. 5. Chair Vira: What about t-shirts?
6. President Ahmad: The canvas logo is trademarked so we can’t just put it on things. We are working with Canvas directly to see what they can provide. 7. Chair Ehrlich: Let’s possibly look towards a canvas event where faculty and students can work with canvas. It would give familiarity and they would be working toward using it. I think that it would be nice to have engagement between students and faculty. 8. Chair Chauhan: This letter sets a tone of us complaining rather than requesting and I don't think that's the right way to go about it. It would increase productivity and efficiency in classrooms should be emphasized. A paragraph would be better than just touching on it. If that is the bulk of the letter, it would be more appealing to professors. I don't like how the paragraph starts right now. I think we need more professional language. 9. Chair Dzaveluri: I think some type of evidence would be good, like SAW week survey responses. This could show this has been an issue for students for a while. The evidence would make it more pressing. 10. Chair Ruffo: maybe phrase the letter as more matter-of-fact. Wording like we understand and so on. 11. Chair Dzaveluri: maybe emphasize that we acknowledge that canvas usage is not in the contract, but it is still a pressing issue. Where will this be shown? 12. President Ahmad: Getinvolved, social media and every faculty’s mailboxes, and also copies in the sga office. Directly to faculty. 13. Chair Vira: Emails too? 14. President Ahmad: Email is a good idea. I am meeting with Paul Fritz so he can understand what our purpose and intent is. A majority of us have the same professors. A google form from the speaker of faculty could be good so we can utilize the feedback in our series of canvas letters. 15. Chair Vira: Would you say the goal is to have a standard spot for grades? 16. President Ahmad: Yes 17. Chair Ehrlich: Students curious to know certain resources of canvas. Instead of saying students are furious, emphasize the student’s curiosity.
C. SGA Resolution 1. AI a) President Ahmad: Jacob and I are working on a statement for AI and Title IX. We need to speak to Sev on them. I’m sharing this so you all can keep an eye and ear out for anything you know is happening. b) Chair Vira: What is the goal for the AI one? c) President Ahmad: To acknowledge Hofstra’s responsibility in students utilizing AI responsibly and also the impact of AI. My goal with the AI advisory committee is to break down AI in academic, marketing, environmental respects. Hofstra has the responsibility to teach responsible use of AI and also the detrimental impacts. d) Chair Chauhan: I am struggling to see why we need to do this. I don't think any student is reading the statement. e) President Ahmad: It would eventually go to the University Senate. We just have to go through the research my committee will eventually find. f) Chair Dzaveluri: Students love to have shallow understanding and perceptions of SGA. If we put out a one-page resolution of where we stand, that would give them hope and interest in us and show that we share their interest and desires. It would be a good start to resolve tension between the student body and SGA. g) Chair Chauhan: I am concerned that is the purpose. There are people who love AI and use it on a daily basis. We are supposed to be representing everyone. I love the idea of the resolution though. h) Chair Vira: I understand where Aari comes from like how engineering students need AI to help their studies. Some majors don't need AI and the way the world is evolving, AI is important to the workforce. Releasing a statement should be conscious of all areas. i) Chair Ehrlich: The only thing that I would like to see is a section stating that hofstra faculty when using AI use it the correct way.
j) President Ahmad: That is the central goal. To answer all of your concerns, the shortened version is discussing that we understand that Hofstra should teach us and prepare us because AI is all around the world. Although we need to learn to utilize AI, we need to be conscious of its impact. That is something not discussed by faculty. Yes, they are telling us we need to learn about AI for our workforce, they are never talking about the environmental impacts, job impacts etc. most AI jobs are hurting women. The statement is asking Hofstra to be conscious of these things. We understand Hofstra's academic freedom but it is asking administration to encompass all these things when it is being covered. People aren't talking about these things and that's scary. k) Chair Mansour: they are preparing us for the world, and they give us AI, we are becoming slower and dumber. It is important to keep AI but not make it so accessible for a slower education. l) Chair Ehrlich: It does not discuss the environmental impact. There are initiatives to help the environment but this contradicts it because they don’t talk about AI. m) Chair Chauhan: It’s missing a course of action we won't work towards. n) President Ahmad: I agree and that’s my aim and I want to brainstorm with you all what that course of action could be. o) Chair Dzaveluri: The further action would be creating policy that we want to implement. The resolution would make them aware of our stance, and the next step would be taking action. p) Chair Noel: Would that mean them changing the algorithm for AI? q) President Ahmad: The course of action would be how does faculty receive our statement and how will we work with the provost and the task force for AI. Jacob and I are willing to go against expectations in the hopes that we accurately represent the student body.
r) Secretary Thani: One of the easiest courses of action would be to talk about the impacts in the syllabus even with a sentence acknowledging what AI does to the environment. s) Chair Dzaveluri: Implementing policy. I think that we need to make the student body aware that we are doing this and are ready to push it. It will take generations of SGA. The goal is that through advocating, we see what is right for the student body. Restricting AI would never happen but making people aware may decrease their use of AI. t) Chair Vira: I have a question on AI use and false accusations. What would the university do about that? u) President Ahmad: I don't know what the university is open to. Students are getting zeros without using AI. There is no accurate detector for AI. The student is innocent until proven guilty, and that needs to be mandated. v) Chair Mansour: I want to talk about trust issues AI has created between faculty and students, and how AI is being detected by AI tools like turnitin. w) Chair Ehrlich: I have to agree. Turnitin sometimes detects something wrong. That has happened with many students. x) Chair Vira: It gets annoying when students are falsely accused. Maybe blue book exams can be pushed instead of take y) Secretary Thani: I think the resolution is a good idea but i think we need to push for including actual solutions/recommendations so it doesn’t just look like a blank statement. z) Chair Noel: I think we are boo-hooing but are we actually doing something about it? aa) Maisa: This is just the start of discussions, this has to pass through Senate before it becomes official. bb) Chair Ehrlich: Bluebook idea is a possible one. cc) Chair Chauhan: Can we do this after the survey and so we have more data. STEM students use data all the time. It would make sense to push it after we get feedback. dd) Chair Noel: One of my solutions is to use lock-down browser.
ee) Chair Chauhan: Whenever ChatGPT is launched, make it a link to terms and conditions with a statement talking about environmental impacts. ff) Chair Mansour: Since a lot of people don’t read stuff, what if we do a reel about the impacts of AI and how we can gg) Chair Chauhan: And a statement condemning the use of AI in marketing at Hofstra. hh) Chair Vira: It looks cheap when a company uses AI. ii) Chair Dzaveluri: Also can we include faculty members pushing AI on students, because there are assignments that push AI use on students when it’s against their values. 2. Title IX a) President Ahmad: There is a policy in Stony Brook University’s Title IX policy that I think is really effective in protecting all students. I was wondering if private institutions have the ability to do that. It is mostly important to ensure students feel safe and it is important we are offering that safe haven especially with international students. We should be ready to step up. b) Chair Chauhan: I commend you for doing this. It’s beautiful. c) Chair Dzaveluri: Brody and I are meeting with Brittany and Steve Richman and we are working on questions with Title IX. Let me know if you have any questions. d) Chair Chauhan: Why do so many Title IX respondents have leadership positions on campus, especially in freshman housing? e) Chair Ehrlich: Why so many title IX cases are recognized but then forgotten about? f) Chair Dzaveluri: That is a good question. Whenever a person reports a Title IX case and they leave Hofstra, the case would be dropped. g) Chair Vira: Is there nothing with law enforcement outside that can be done? h) President Ahmad: People come from different places so I am not sure. Nene will ask.
i) Chair Mansour: How can we accommodate the victim while the case is being reviewed? It takes a while and students may feel like they don't get what they deserve. j) Chair Chauhan: I always see Title IX saying they want a bigger presence but all they do is tabling and training. They say they are looking for ways but it doesn't ever move forward. There are ways but no one is looking for them. k) President Ahmad: I think that's an important conversation to have. l) Chair Noel: Is there a punishment process for Title IX cases? m) Comptroller Peri: The case goes to community standards and they adjudicate it. D. End of Year Cab Gift 1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1apQW6tsUQCSlmDVoUp9oiN nHECTc9TpDFmGaBsTr8Ms/edit?usp=sharing a) Rings? If cheap b) No cuffed sweatpants c) Pull-over or zip-up hoodies d) Find options that appeal to women figures too e) Sport jerseys f) Unisex? g) Name and title not 91st senate h) Zip-up hoodie i) Something in the back j) Jersey for senate gift k) Crewneck sweater - 6 l) Zip-up hoodie - 10 m) Non zip-up hoodie - 3 n) Polo - 1 o) Jacket -1 p) Sweatpants - 1 q) Windbreaker - 2 E. Makin’ Treble 1. Comptroller Peri: They never put on GIHU. I realized that the cost was $6400. They asked us to pay in full. We don’t pay for old things. We had many meetings and strongly-worded email chains. After
many weeks of thinking and conversations with their advisor, she directed me to freeze their budget. We haven’t done this in 6 years, and it requires the ⅔ vote for the senate. SGA is going to be honoring the $2000 allocation for spring and they will be contributing their income. Even then, the outstanding costs are over $3100. When that money is frozen, all that money will be going to those costs. They won't be able to submit any other requests for the semester. They will not have any more financial commitment to SGA and they can move on from this situation. The other outcome is that they owe SGA $3000. 2. Chair Vira: I am a little confused. The $4000 and $6000. 3. Comptroller Peri: They thought they could use fall 2026 for old finances. 4. Chair Chauhan: They are not allowed to submit a budget? 5. Comptroller Peri: They can come to weekly allocation meetings 6. Chair Ehrlich: even after that deadline, will future members be able to request funding for SGA 7. Comptroller Peri: Yes on december 20th all bets are off, they can request weekly etc 8. Chair Chauhan: I think that is us overstepping our power. That is a club. They won’t be able to participate in anything. That is us hindering their ability to compete and so on. 9. Comptroller Peri: They could get $,2000-3000 from weekly allocation meetings and tell the committee. Yes this is a punishment, they messed up and this is the decision I have made. Some repercussions need to be made. We are going to help with their fundraising. 10. President Ahmad: It’s a very tough position and we want to support them as much as we can through fundraising. 11. Chair Chauhan: It's a club. It is not our place to punish clubs. It is not our place to punish them. I don't think we should let them submit a budget for next semester. Okay freezing, that's okay. But mistakes happen. It's a club. 12. Comptroller Peri: One of the first things in our constitution says that we do have the ability to place restrictions on clubs. This is the same restriction that we place on organizations that do not complete treasurer training
13. Chair Dzaverluri: Is the club aware that their funds will be frozen 14. Comptroller Peri: Not now, I will send them an email. Right now, they do know that some funds will be forfeited. 15. Chair Bokhari: Some clubs take advantage to the point that it is unavailable. It is just so in future years to come, this won’t happen again. There has to be something done so this club or other clubs don't do this. 16. President Ahmad: We can discuss what the weekly allocations are. A majority of their budget is decor. Everyone needs to keep an open mind. We can move to change language. Ultimately, our priority is to sustain the longevity of a club and help them succeed. 17. Senator Ebenhardt: It forces them to give us notice. Punishment would let them be more communicative. 18. Chair Vira: Did they overspend? 19. Comptroller Peri: The contractor was doing work for them without payment and this semester. They came to use with the expectation that we would pay. SGA is going to have to pay the money in full. They have already agreed to give us our income. I know it’s very confusing. I will explain in the senate. 20. Chair Dzaveluri: I really want you to talk to the club before it goes to the senate. I wouldn't pass it if clubs were aware. 21. Comptroller Peri: I will send them an email tomorrow. F. Club Closet 1. Chair Chauhan: The club closet has a lot of items, so please don’t order stuff if we already have it. If you are taking stuff from the office, please let me know. 2. Comptroller Peri: Do you have a list? 3. Chair Chauhan: Yes, it’s shared. G. National Education Week (Nov 16-20) 1. Chair Noel: Someone contacted me about National Education Week (Nov 16-20) and I don't know if you guys have anything planned that week? 2. Chair Dzaveluri: What's the goal of the week? 3. Chair Noel: International enrollment asked me. 4. Chair Vira: What is national education week? 5. Chair Noel: I am not sure, they weren't very clear.
6. President Ahmad: We can look into International enrollment as a resource and work with them. H. Wellness check-in with SGA 1. Senator Ebenhardt: We are not trying to get a direct response. It is important to let the students get to us. A form would allow the student body to respond. It would allow us to take in real data so we can respond. We can make a post taht admin can’t then ignore. 2. Chair Dzaveluri: Can we launch a survey? Steve richman is trying to SAW week but for wellness. It will be flyers and merch. This would be more realistic and actual responses. 3. Chair Vira: What do you mean open responses? 4. Senator Ebenhardt: If they have hot topics they would want to discuss, it gives them the platform to share their grievances. People are more likely to see that, give their responses, and give a real two-cents. 5. President Ahmad: I think it is a great idea to connect with the student body. We shouldn't create something new when we already have systems in place. We already have an email where people report their grievances. We are not equipped to handle title IX or those things, but there is a lack of transparency about issues. It is about establishing ethics point, reporting systems. We can look at existing forms and garner feedback as to why they aren't getting responses. Every office is trying to use different forms, and there is no central system. I do agree it is a good way. 6. Senator Ebenhardt: As long as we are able to get data, it allows us to give people an end game. 7. President Ahmad: The emails are anything student related that they bring to us. 8. Senator Ebenhardt: We could just create awareness that your email is open and there is an end-game. 9. President Ahmad: I fully agree. We should promote ourselves as a resource. 10. Chair Ehrlich: I do feel that one way to approach the issues is to look at past resolutions. 11. Chair Mansour: If we can have a report status system where the victim can see how their case is progressing so they don’t feel like
they are being ignored. A way we can accommodate the students such as excused breaks can be a good way. 12. Chair Dzaveluri: You get updates of the process but there are no updates. The system is so broken that they don’t have any updates or news for you. It is truly a painful process for the victim. It is not that they are not reachable. 13. President Ahmad: Administration states that the problem is lack of communication with the student because there is anonymity, and the student is too busy to meet with the office. Some of us that heard of interactions between the Dean of students and students on campus shows that there is a systemic issue. 14. Chair Dzaveluri: Anytime I talk to Brittney, the issue is always the office is so unapproachable. I think the meeting would be significant. 15. Chair Mansour: I think they are missing a lot of factors relating to the victim. They are not seeing the issue on their end and how poorly they are dealing with the situation. 16. Chair Vira: Something we can look into is creating part of the website where there is every link so students know where to go to. 17. President Ahmad: They make so many one-stop shops. I want to make use of our pop up button in the portal so students know what is happening. I want to utilize it. I spoke with Steve over the summer and they implemented the red folder program, which is a red folder of how to deal with those issues as faculty. There was no advocacy for a victim, and it was disappointing to see and we need to make sure students feel empowered. These things need to be implemented. 18. Chair Dzaveluri: We have an official website for Hofstra reporting. We have general incident forms and other forms. We have it but it is not utilized or promoted. 19. Senator Chacon: I only know of the site because of RA training. 20. Senator Ebenhardt: While I understand why faculty may not like the idea at first, if a student brings up, they could have some academic forgiveness and if faculty is willing to leave for a bit that should be a possibility. 21. Chair Mansour: They would have a response where students abuse the system.
22. Senator Ebenhardt: I still have Hofstra moving under a system of innocent until proven guilty, and this hurts the victim. It just matters that students have the resource, because students may need it even if some may abuse it. IV.
Updates A. President 1. Jesse meeting got cancelled… 2. Meeting with Jess tomorrow! a) Renovation…! 3. AI Advisory Committee -> Implemented & In the works a) Really interested in having non-SGA members! (1) Honors board person (2) Black Honors Committee (3) WRHU B. Vice President 1. New associates!!!!! (adding 3 more)... almost 30 alr!! a) Please make them feel welcome! 2. Senator Projects….. Launching after fall break 3. Make questions for Jess eads and Novia 4. Internal chair elections: First cab after fall break! a) 13 applications so far!! 5. Thank you for an amazing senate retreat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! C. Comptroller 1. Please CC me on your emails to Sev about purchase requests a) I am no longer regularly checking these #subcommittee D. Secretary 1. Room Reservation / GIHU Form - require graphic to upload 2. Catering Request Form 3. Fall '26 Calendar 4. Updated roster to include new senators and associates! 5. Reminder to update your committee attendance on the roster sheet. E. Academic Affairs 1. Jesse Webster Meeting 2. Provost Meeting 3. If you have any questions about either please let me know F. Appropriations
1. Minutes 2. Fully funded 4 clubs! G. Club Resources 1. Minutes 2. Club Closet H. Communications 1. Minutes 2. Cabinet Photoshoot Dress Code: Blue or white top (button-up, blouse, blazer,etc.) with white or black bottoms (dress pants or skirts). Pinterest board??? 3. TV’s are updated! 4. Filmed a healthy foods on campus reel collaborating with eating at hofstra for wellness! 5. Reminder: Check the sign-up sheet for your takeover day. I’ll also text you the day before as a reminder. I. Equity and Inclusion 1.
10/1 Committee Minutes
2. National Coming Out Day! - Wed, Oct 7th 11am-3pm Tabling 3. Circle Symposium - Oct 15th 1pm - Sign Up Flyer 4. Student Belonging Focus Groups Oct 19th & 28th - Sign Up - Flyer 5. Eats Around the World Dates 6. Planning World Gala a) Currently changing date from Oct 21 to Wednesday, Nov 4th 5pm -8pm b) Tabling, Dance Performances & Fashion Show c) Emails to Identity Clubs being sent out Thursday morning. J. Facilities and Operations 1. Minutes 10/01/2026 2. Campus access committee meeting 09/25/2026 a) This year, a greater emphasis is being placed on renovating res hall bathrooms in nassau, nethies, and c-square b) Accessibility additions being made to McEwen Hall, elevator is not big enough for a wheelchair c) Recommended to committee an addition of ADA button to PPAW
d) Addressed tables in parking spaces, was put there to prevent accidents, want to create a potential greenspace, 3. Addressed the shower curtains in gittleson bathrooms, looking at alternative solutions 4. Upcoming meeting for bird sanctuary walk w Rabbi Dave and Wellness (tbd) 5. Keep informing me about Facilities Concerns/issues K. Programming 1.
V. VI. VII.
Programming Minutes 9/29/26
a) Order for Build A Friend plushies were placed on monday! b) Important Reminders / October 17th Fall Fest Tabling / November 9th Build A Friend L. Wellness and Campus Safety 1. Wellness Minutes 10/01 a) Steve Richman (1) Bird Sanctuary (2) Wellness Walk (3) Wellness tabling b) Upcoming events with Counseling Services and Domestic Abuse awareness Instructor (1) October 14th/22nd c) Board for ticket appeals d) Reel with Simone, Lexis e) Meeting with Counseling Services on Friday For the Good of the Order A. Announcements A. Meeting adjourned: 7:39
Respectfully submitted, President Maisa Ahmad