Call to order
Agenda
of the Senate
Hofstra University Student Government Association (16th, October, 2025)
Hofstra University
Meeting Called to order at 6:45 EST
A. Quorum Call
a. Quorum set to 37
B. New Business
a. Senator Finkelstein moves to open the gallery
i. Motion Seconded
ii. Motion Passed
b. Welcome Provost Riordan!
i. Provost Riordan: I have a couple of remarks but I want to keep them brief so I can hear from you all. Anything that I touch on that is on your mind, it is a great opportunity to have a conversation. I am starting my fourth year at Hofstra and my background is in chemistry. I spent 25 years before here at University of Delaware mainly as a chemistry professor and doing research with undergraduates. At Hofstra my role is all of the academic programs at Hofstra. I work with deans, faculty, and department chairs to make sure all students have opportunity to grow and expand. We are very focused on preparing you for your careers. Once you graduate from Hofstra, it is likely you will have multiple jobs and kinds of careers, which is exciting and scary. One of the things we think about a lot is that the typical student graduates around 22 years old. You will be out working and contributing to society for 40-60 years and when thinking about how to best prepare for that, it can be daunting, as we do not know what careers and jobs will look like. A study suggested by 2035 that around 70-75% of jobs that will exist then do not exist now. A majority of the jobs will look different and that presents both opportunities and challenges. We are
focused on providing you with excellent faculty who are experts in their field of study and deliver experiential learning and high-quality education. These factors are a strength of the university and highlighted in our strategic plan. The curriculum and knowledge needs to evolve with time and society. One of the things we have a group of faculty working on this year and for a few years is to reimagine our general education requirements and reimagine across the curriculum. The general education requirements now are primarily focused on a disciplinary based general education. We think about disciplines in groups like arts and humanities, natural sciences, and math. Our general education curriculum is designed around academic departments, majors, etc. Our faculty is looking at reimagining general education and one exciting dimension is focusing more on competency. While departments are crucial, we think for students to be best prepared and meet challenges of the future, it is going to be worth looking into a competency-based curriculum. Some skills that come to mind are critical thinking, civil discourse, problem-solving, multimedia communication, collaboration, team-building, etc. These are all valuable to job markets you are interested in. It resonates that we think about universities and colleges as being organized around departments, but this is not how problems are faced in society. These problems are solved best by multidisciplinary teams that come at problems from multiple angles. Iphone apps are aesthetic and engineering marvels for example. You need scientists to think about how they develop the iphone, a psychologist to know how humans interact with their iphone, etc. I know top of mind is generative AI. In November 2022 ChatGPT launched, it has fundamentally changed LLMs and how they train their data. It has the potential to transform every aspect of our society. How we work, interact, learn, assess learning. There are many positives, but for every one there is also a negative or precautionary tale. How we are thinking about this at Hofstra is that it is nothing more or less than technology. In the last 10 days all 2025 Nobel Prizes have been announced, in Chemistry it was awarded to 3 different individuals, 2 who worked with Google AI to solve long-standing problems in chemistry and biology. What we did not understand as a knowledge community is how a protein folded into 3D shape and how it determines the way in which a protein works.. From a practical standpoint, there are diseases like Alzheimer’s that are a consequence of proteins misfolding. We have been trying to understand how they folded for decades, and AI solved it in a few years for every protein that exists. It is important to understand how it is used in different fields. On the negative side, it is important to understand what it means. If
AI becomes sentient, what does that really mean and how does it reflect how we learn and write? Writing skills are very important as it is a reflection of how you think and process information. We really want faculty to know how to work with tools to make sure students coming to Hofstra are academically prepared for their future and use AI in ways that are ethically and legally respectful.
1. Chair Dzaveluri: How long has Hofstra been working on its AI partnership and how will the university handle controversial conversations going on? Many students are upset about not knowing it before it was finalized.
a. Provost Riordan: This is a new technology, has the potential for tremendous benefits and very real challenges. We as an administration are going to address collaboratively and openly, understanding we are all learning together. It is improving and changing all the time. In terms of the journey at Hofstra, shortly after November 2022 we saw people were using technologies as they became available. There are others such as Gemini, and one of the early things we did around Spring 2023 was put together a faculty group to understand how models could be used in classroom settings and understand rules of the road. At that point, we felt the situation was changing so rapidly that having a lot of policies that constrained things was not a good structure. In fall of 2023, we focused on developing guidelines for syllabi, detailing whether and when it can be used in classes and to disclose how AI was used. The middle of the road option was only using it for specific assignments. There is a huge opportunity for learning to happen in the classroom with faculty teaching students and students teaching faculty. As content experts in your discipline, it is important to understand when to use AI. Some faculty will say writing in a particular way is very important. We are excited because it is a very dynamic space in a dynamic time. The faculty need to become experts on whether to lean in or out of technology. Fall 2024’s was Hofstra’s first engagement contract with Chat GPT. 500 individuals (faculty and admin) on campus could have their own Chat GPT version that was safer and we then made it available to them and offered guidelines on when and how to use it in the classroom. GAI can be a very
useful partner in tutoring, and maybe advising in the future. We did the Pilot 500 licenses, about 350 used over the year. We had a symposium and session where faculty detailed how they used GAI and what next steps to take. Now we have a campus-wide license where every student, employee, faculty member, can use the tool.
2. Senator Rades: Some concerns from students include the environmental and social concerns with the new partnership and lack of communication with students. Since this has already been implemented, this contract cannot be cancelled, so how will Hofstra know how to minimize environmental effects and social degradation along with the threat to critical thinking?
a. Provost Riordan: One of the facts we took into consideration was the number of people in the community at Hofstra, we did this through email addresses. The numbers were roughly 5000 email addresses that had either free version of ChatGPT or paid for premium. We thought about how much we were using it on their Hofstra accounts already. The enterprise license went with the approach that any files you upload to learn, that your data is not being trained on the LLM. We do not understand very much about environmental impact and how much it is a consequence of the LLMs and how much it is a consequence of cryptocurrency. This is already going on with the OpenAI and GAI companies to begin with in terms of writing LLMs much more efficiently. We will have to figure it out together, and sustainability classes will let us dig into these questions. There are legitimate concerns over huge data centers and their environmental impact. Billions of dollars are already in AI companies and they are moving it forward.
3. Senator Yari: As of now, ChatGPT cannot understand organic chemistry or calculus, so it is a weak tutoring source. There is a lack of an AI program to help us do research. With this ChatGPT coming in and being integrated into classes, how to help science students?
a. Provost Riordan: One of the perspectives about GAI and machine learning is that tools are getting better all the time, it improves daily. It is an open question how much it gets better each day. I find most utility is when I engage in it
with content of which I have knowledge and expertise. I can tell when its answers are right and hallucinating. I used to use it at first for exploring, but this is not the place to spend your time with GAI, as it does hallucinate and it builds over time. It gives me answers it thinks I want to hear which is very scary. We have to go into it eyes wideopen. There is some tutoring beginning to come out bundled into Canvas. I have held out much hope for Copilot as I spend much time in Word and Excel. However, it is not very good now. We have to understand when it is helping us. We are all in this together and I can learn much more talking to you just as you can learn from me. I have to answer classroom in the right way and be honest about good use and bad use cases. It may improrve much in areas next semester.
4. Senator Bokhari: With regulations on GAI and with the push for use of AI, are there going to be more regulations on how AI can be used in class according to the syllabi?
a. Provost Riordan: Academic integrity exists and it is important to be nimble and adapt to technology. The syllabus guidance seems to be holding up quite well and I would love input. If I was a student, I would be challenged by the fact that 5 professors may have 5 different AI policies. Along those lines, we are encouraging faculty to have ongoing conversations about when and when not to use it. The technology changes so much that policy may change over the course of the semester. Where we stand today is we do not endorse using technology to find GAI use. Turnitin and others that can detect academic integrity, we will not use these to determine that. If the professor thinks there is an academic integrity issue, they will talk to you about it. Many detection tools are not good enough and they have their biases.
5. Senator Araba: In a lot of non-STEM classes we talk about current events. However, I have seen complaints from classmates about professors sharing their views in class that influences their teaching. How can we ensure that professors stay neutral? Also, I have heard that Hofstra’s social media account is following a student who is promoting communist ideology.
a. Provost Riordan: I am not aware of the social media account’s followings. I would leave it at that but in terms of classroom conversations that is a very important question. One of the great things about our colleges and universities is that we are microcosms of societies. We work very hard and hopefully you remember panel discussion about civil discourse because it is critically important for new students about norms and expectations. You need to know how to talk to peers and faculty members. In the classroom, faculty are teaching you how to think but not what to think. They should challenge how you think, as that is good civil discourse. We talk about this with faculty because it is important to state there is a power differential in the classroom in terms of faculty assigning grades you earn. Faculty should foster environments where all students are heard. My politics do not matter in these conversations. The conversations should be multifaceted and you should have conversations with faculty members. If it is clear faculty members are sharing bias, it may not be obvious to them, so they should take it into consideration and modify their behavior. Some things you may find exceptionable, you may go to the department chair. You can report online anonymously or through name and details. It can be difficult to find your own voice and advocate for yourself.
6. Senator Finkelstein: I have an initiative I would like to discuss.
7. Senator Pierre: About the town hall on Monday, how are you preparing for it and do you know potential questions you will be asked?
a. Provost Riordan: I will not be there as I am out of town at a conference. I will have a liaison from the Provost’s Office. They meet regularly with President Poser and VP Eads, so I know via that collaboration between SGA and them they know the topics that will come up but you never know. It is like a classroom setting where there are always surprises.
8. Senator Yari: A lot of people reported professors who disliked their teaching style or behavior and nothing has been done? Is it just tenure or a lack of a replacement? Do you sit down or does someone sit down and talk to them?
a. Provost Riordan: Every report is taken seriously and you should know in the context of the other question is that
there should be specificity of the report. We will get anonymous reports that are unspecific. I would say all reports are taken seriously and looked into. “Investigation” is a higher level of this. A professor is made aware of the situation, but here the information is not disclosed back to the student who reports. They may think nothing is done, but this is not the case. A dean talks to the faculty member about the case and gives them an opportunity to respond. Tenure is not what the public thinks it is. It is not a lifetime job, the purpose of it is to ensure a faculty member has academic freedom to pursue in the classroom or through their research ideas even if they may be objectionable. This is a fundamental tenant of academic freedom, but it has its limits as well. I am a chemistry professor, and if I go into the lecture discussing the ceasefire, that would not be allowed under the policy of academic freedom.
9. Senator Urban: There have been some concerns from students about how their preferred names and pronouns are ignored by teachers in the portal. Have you looked into this and is there a solution?
a. Provost Riordan: When we are made aware of mistakes, we make sure to correct them quickly. Is this a current issue?
b. Senator Urban: Anyone I’ve talked to has said it isn’t working.
c. Provost Riordan: We will look into this.
10. Senator Black: I remember last year you talked of incorporating a summer or winter course with student tuition? Has there been any developments with this?
a. Provost Riordan: Short answer, no. We are looking at efficacious ways in how it would help with retention and degree completion.
11. Gallery Member Alex: I am a transfer student and a veteran, I came from Suffolk Community, and I am interested in a veterans’ program around campus?
a. Provost Riordan: Drop me an email (provost@hofstra.edu) and I will connect you with our folks supporting veteran students. We certainly have a community and it would benefit from additional engagement and leadership.
c. Welcome CIO Jesse Webster!
i. CIO Webster: We are responsible for strategic technology decisions. Most people I know want to talk to me about the partnership with Chat GPT. I thank you all for inviting me and I want to talk about ChatGPTEDU and consolidate answers to questions I have received. On October 1, we made it available campus-wide to provide a safer environment and make a tool available that is in workplaces. It is important for employees to understand AI and know how to use it. AI is not always the perfect solution and we have a duty to prepare you all for the world. This has been in the works for 2 years, starting with our presidential symposium in 2023. During the 2024-2025 year, we ran a pilot with 300 faculty, staff, and students in the community of practice to learn from experiences. We also ran smallerscale pilots of Copilot. 5000 people signed up for ChatGPT with Hofstra accounts even before the pilot started. We wanted to provide a safer place to use AI and ensure privacy and eseucity. First, it is more private and secure. Data in the Hofstra sandbox is not shared outside of university to create “hard walls.” It will also not train any data a user inputs. Thirdparty sharing and external additions are prohibited in order for your data to not be used in ways you would not anticipate. We are paying for paid accounts, giving us premium features and faculty can request advanced features for some classes. Hofstra students can register for OpenAI academy, detailing prompt engineering safety. We are adding to a course in canvas named AI Literacy. The office of EdTech, ITS, and E&I are contributing to this. Many apps such as Adobe and Zoom have long been using AI features and are incorporating it. Faculty are responsible for deciding whether to permit ChatGPTEDU. You are all eligible for accounts, but you create the account yourself, Hofstra does not make you an account, you can reject the account. So, if you choose to click the icon in the portal you will see a link to guidelines. It is not a substitute for a professional counselor. It is very sycophantic, and will tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear. We have TimelyCare, SCS, so do not use AI. Do not copy and paste personal information into AI and be aware of potential bias. The way you talk to AI influences its bias and how much it stereotypes. Make sure to ask broad questions to get broad answers. Do not use ChatGPT as a substitute for human judgment. Humans should always be in charge of AI. It is on you to use judgment or expertise to solicit other judgment or expertise. Guidelines reiterate every student has to follow the honor code. You cannot use it just because it was given to you, you need permission from your professor. A question I have gotten a lot is how private the account is, which depends on how you are using it. In limited circumstances, we can see what you do with your
account. No one is looking at your chats, and we do not have a special set of rules for that. I want to talk about prideprint, as we are putting color printers around campus. We have over 50 printers on campus now and expanded color printing to residence halls and the library. We give you credits back if you have an issue, be sure to ask the ITS desk quickly. We have received complaints about credits for color print, and therefore we are cutting the cost from 1 credit to 0.5 credits. I want to add that doublesided printing costs the same, so to save trees and print credits print double-sided. Identity management project focuses on how you log into tools at Hofstra, we are simplifying into one way to log into everything. Multi-factor authentication will replace Duo. We are upgrading WiFi on south campus. We will also do some more around the Student Center to make sure everything works faster. If you ever have a technology issue, go to the ITS desk at the hammer lab at the base of the unispan (125 Axinn).
1. Senator Araba: I wanted to ask from pride print, how can you make it easier to use? For Wifi, with the computer it is pretty good but with the phone it can be shaky.
a. CIO Webster: You will be able to use HofPass to perform print jobs soon instead of having to log in. We will make your wifi your email address and password so there is less to remember.
2. Chair Ahmad: I appreciate you mentioning the health side of ChatGPT, but how will you determine when there is an issue? There have been suicides over ChatGPT communication.
a. CIO Webster: The guidelines are the first thing that come up every time you open the portal. The first time on the guidelines is not to use it as counseling. If you hear someone using it as a counselor, express concern. Also, reach out to Student Counseling Services. There’s no way to raise a flag saying someone typed something that is counseling related. We encourage folks not to use Chat GPT as a counselor. AI such as Chat GPt is also starting to say this because of risk. If you’re aware of someone in crisis, tell Student Counseling Services.
3. Senator Aguilar: How are you paying for AI (tuition)?
a. CIO Webster: Everything here comes from tuition, specifically student tech fee.
4. Senator Pierre: You talked about how students need to defer to teachers on using AI. Many professors are going back to the blue
book exams. How do we get professors to trust students to not use AI when asked?
a. CIO Webster: The university this year has launched the center of excellence for learning, teaching, and assessment to assess the changing environment. We live in a world where AI exists and faculty must teach courses to be able to react to the existence of AI. This center is loading up on programming for faculty to train them on how to adjust with this reality.
5. Senator Finkelstein: Can we get the program NX (a CAD program) on our personal computers?
a. CIO Webster: I do not have the answer here, but I can get it for you. It is probably buried in a licensing agreement.
6. Chair Dzaveluri: On the environmental aspect, AI uses clean water to cool databases in disadvantaged areas that do not have enough clean water to start with. How is Hofstra managing this in terms of preventing it and addressing the sustainability element?
a. CIO Webster: A lot of data center questions about tech in general have similar technological needs. In bringing this program to Hofstra, 5000 people were using this tool already and using it in a way that is less safe, so we wanted students to use it in a safer environment. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. all use data centers and it is difficult for users to assess a company’s environmental impact. Most tools we have had for a long time and with 5000 users already using the tool a new version is not exacerbating that, but it was discussed. Not net-new users.
7. Senator Yari: I am glad to hear Duo is being phased out. What will the new version look like and how is it going to improve?
a. CIO Webster: The new tool is a little smarter in figuring out if you are you. If you are in the area frequently and doing what you usually do, it should not prompt you. We are bringing in a simpler, smarter solution. I apologize for the Duo experience.
8. Senator Black: The policy is that we are not looking into what you do in Chat GPT, but what is the limitation in terms of academic dishonesty or legal issues?
a. CIO Webster: In the ways there can be an academic integrity investigation with regard to the honor code, there can be an investigation there, though we do not want this to
happen. We do not have a retention policy for Chat GPT, but it will probably be around 5 years. We only pop open accounts based on integrity or legally-based restrictions and ITS must be authorized to do so.
9. Senator Smook: I want to echo things I’ve heard. AI gives students an unfair advantage over those who don’t use it. AI is not something good, and I am opposed to its use in academic settings. You stated that you don’t want students to use it to cheat, but students will, and this opens the door to academic dishonesty. What will you do to ensure that students don’t use AI to plagiarize?
a. CIO Webster: We have academic integrity policies that apply to Chat GPT. It is not a “getting out of cheating free pass.” 5000 students on campus had access to Chat GPT and the honor code applies to all of us. Everyone is subject to the same rules. The university offering Chat GPT is not likely to increase the amount of cheating occurring. It is meant to move AI into a safer environment
10. Senator Pierre: Over the summer there was an AI video on athletics, what was the reason for the idea? For many students who have liberal arts majors where AI can hurt their job prospects, how are you ensuring their jobs in the future will be secure?
a. CIO Webster: Faculty exposed to AI will help students contextualize the use in their major and career in their given field. We want to give students access to the tools they need to process this massive societal change. The goal is to make sure our faculty experts can connect with the technology so you have what you need to be successful in a world where these tools exist. The specific video you’re speaking of has no bearing on this decision. At this time, we were already running a pilot. I can’t speak to why that particular video was created, but it was created by a group of media professionals using that application. The marketing department could speak more about the process. Chat GPT edu is unrelated. The video was produced by professionals that used AI features. All of the apps have AI features built into it. People are able to use them for pieces and parts of a production.
11. VP Young: Are you in charge of administration for Creative Cloud for communications majors? We don’t have access during
intercessions. New films and journalist majors working freelance without having to be in the classroom, you have to pay $80. Is there a reason it is not available in the summer specifically?
a. CIO Webster: It is expensive, and we prioritize class usage. We ask faculty to register courses in which they need Creative Cloud. However, the way we manage adobe will improve and we may allow it to continue for a period of time after a course finishes. It has come up before but not in the context you shared. I will see if we can work on this
12. Senator Araba: I was wondering what your plan is considering the new Chat GPT ‘Erotica’ version and what you will do to protect students from the dangers of that?
a. CIO Webster: That tool does not exist at the moment and is not part of the package Hofstra uses today. Unless it was relevant to a specific course, we would not make it broadly available on campus.
13. Chair Jacob: Are you in charge of physical IDs? I use my dining dollars there and I only have access there and not my digital ID.
a. CIO Webster: I am not, but I know the people who are. We do not want to give people both ID forms because it is a safety issue.
14. Senator Rades: My question is about programs like WebAssign. Who decides what programs are covered vs. what ones we have to pay for? As an engineering major, the cost adds up
a. CIO Webster: This is a very interesting answer with a long history, as textbooks used to be the model for this situation. Software was in the back of the textbook. That is typically why those tools are individually paid by students. When something is covered for my area when it is a tool most students use, it is covered by ITS. You should discuss the burden of the costs with the school of engineering. I can participate in these discussions and a conversation can be facilitated.
15. Chair Jacob: For Hofstra SAFE, last year the app was very unorganized and it did not work half of the time. It is much more organized this year, but there are still issues. Is there anything you are working on to improve the app itself?
a. CIO Webster: P-Safe is in charge of this app. Reach out to them about what should be prioritized. Public safety has
incorporated some reported concerns. There are some shuttle projects that should improve the app.
16. Senator Yari: Recently, people have been using Chat GPT to make prompts to decide buy stocks for them.. Would you give access to clubs having this access for AI for this purpose? How would this work?
a. CIO Webster: What we are doing with these things is that we would speak with the advisor to meet the specific need on whether a specific model could be added and whether that would comply with university policies. If you are actually training with the tool, it violates terms of our license. Do not let Chat GPT be your counselor, and that includes financial counseling. People may have skin in the game and give you bad advice.
17. Senator Chacon: In relation to the passwords, I think one of the biggest complaints is constantly logging in in places like the Hammer Lab? There are many steps, how are you fixing this?
a. CIO Webster: There are a multitude of systems you’re logging into, and we are tying the systems together. I feel your pain and we are going to do something about it.
d. Appointing of the Internal Chair Positions
i. Presented by Secretary Danek and Vice President Young
ii. Archivist: Senator Thani
iii. Ethics and Conduct Chair: Senator Apostol
iv. Inclusion Ambassador: Senator Green
v. Social Chairs: Senator Ruffo, Senator Hoffman
e. 5-minute recess
f. SGA presentation.pptx
i. Nursing Student Association Club Check-In
1. Piper: President
2. Andrew: Vice President
a. Open to all undergraduate students with an interest in nursing. We try to get freshman students to integrate into the community.
b. We have two of each position. One upperclassmen and one lowerclassmen. This is to ensure leadership continuation.
c. Every class has two class representative positions. They are the voices for the classes.
d. We hold one general meeting and luncheon per month. We have lunch in the science and innovation center during
ii. Questions
common hour and bring in a nurse to discuss their journey and how they got their job. We usually bring in nurses from different fields. Our students took a 2 hour awareness course after a nurse that took care of sexual assault victims came in.
e. We do activities such as card making and bake sales. We have partnerships with nursing homes and organizations. We have an upcoming volunteer at a cancer walk. We get people involved in health-related events
f. Funding would be helpful. We will use the SIC to host events for students. The budget will allow us to host these events at the same scale we have been having them. Events are currently on a first come first serve basis.
iii. Deliberation
1. Senator Yari: The way they have their e-board organized sounds phenomenal as it ensures continuity. They have 200 members so it is reasonable to ask for much more funding.
2. Senator Finkelstein: The fact that they fill up the SIC is impressive. That’s where they had the first year engineering dinner and their numbers are equal to that. That’s impressive.
3. Senator Chacon: Support our nurses.
4. Senator Vira: Healthcare is a very important field.
5. Senator Yari: People want to become nurses and this is attractive to new students.
6. Senator Chacon: Much more nursing students coming in each year to Hofstra and having this would be great for the freshman coming in.
7. Senator Green: We need more nurses, and supporting them would allow more people to join. The e-board is structured well and they have 200 members so they are going to grow more rapidly.
iv. Chair Ahmad moves to complete the check-in process for the Nursing Student Association.
1. Motion seconded.
2. Motion passed.
v. Congratulations Nursing Student Association!
g. Treasurer Training
i. Presented by Chair Yepez
1. Chair Yepez: We vote to pass the minutes we do every senate so I can notify clubs and the funds are in their accounts by Monday. In
case anyone has any questions about the submissions policy and the policy series, this training is important.
2. Treasurer training must be done every semester for clubs. I schedule meetings and send out various emails to clubs about this. The committee meets and discusses.
3. As a chair I chair meetings, orchestrate schedules with clubs, and skim budgets and assign to committee members and they all deliberate.
4. Comptroller Skeldon: I handle accounts, sign off on allocations, and help connect eboards to their advisors.
5. Chair Yepez: There are two different budgets: semesterly budgets and allocation meetings. Allocations we meet every Tuesday for funds that come up unexpectedly. I open the forms every wednesday and these are open until they fill up. Semesterly budgets are for everything a club needs for the semester. All budgets must adhere to the policy series. Budget weekend is towards the middle of the semester. They are due next Friday.
6. Comptroller Skeldon: We are working to streamline the GIHU digital budget submission process for next semester. We are in a transition process this semester where we are still using the regular form in committee. Funding comes from the student activity fee. Club categories include pride, gold, blue and club sports. Pride clubs are newly recognized and have not completed the check-in process. Blue clubs have completed the check-in process and include most organizations on campus.
7. Chair Yepez: The policy series are external rules set by SGA detailing what we can and cannot fund, this can be overturned in committee by majority vote. We no longer fund merchandise. Transportation is up to a 300-mile radius, hotels are $200 per room for up to three nights and djs are $750 per semester.
8. We do not do off-campus catering unless it is for dietary restriction that cannot be accommodated by campus dining. Four weeks past a scheduled event, any unused funds are rolled back into SGA’s budget. Income is any money gained through fundraising. Income raised transfers from semester to semester. Tell clubs to fill out a cancelled event form if they cancelled their event to make sure funds get rolled back faster.
9. Comptroller Skeldon: We do not do reallocations. When we allocate money to clubs, it is for specific event and item, to make s
10. to university policies. It is fine if they decide to use the funds for a similar event.
11. Chair Yepez: We cannot fund any budgets without quotes. To sign up for forms and meetings that’s on our GIHU. Emails will be sent to confirm slots the week of the meeting. They need a coversheet and it needs to be the SGA coversheet. We tell clubs to list items in order of importance. We are shifting forms to GIHU next semester. Our cover sheet and breakdown sheet have to be provided by us, every single item needs a breakdown sheet, and for the end of semester party it is a pizza party and sandwich platter. Quotes must be legible, and discounted prices and taxes should not be included. The new budget platform will be used for semesterly budgets. If they are on e-board they should be able to see the finance tab on GIHU. There is a breakdown on the site. Some alternative methods for funding are through fundraising. These funds will remain in their account. Collaboration with clubs is recommended.
12. Comptroller Skeldon: They can get merch with this income. It’s their money.
13. Chair Yepez: Important dates include budget reviews on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, semesterly budgets due on Friday, and budget appeals due on December 5th.
14. Senator Smook: Are budget meetings mandatory for all SGA members?
a. Chair Yepez: No
15. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGzNr7oMY8/eBC5rKE0OOGL iafsNQlUAg/edit
h. Constitutional Benchmark
i. Presented by Chair Ahmad
1. Chair Ahmad: This is 20 questions of a lot of important constitutional policies, next week I will explain the right answers for the majority of them.
2. Quiz!
a. Chair Iacobovici moves to strike chair reports from the agenda
i. Motion seconded
ii. Motion passed
b. Chair Iacobovici moves to strike snap cup from the agenda
i. Motion seconded
ii. Motion objected
iii. Debate
1. For:
a. Chair Iacobovici: This senate has gone on for a while and now that we are debating it the point has lost its backing. We still have five senatorial actions left. We are going to be here for a while. It is not fair to hold everyone back for two or three people that want a snap cup.
b. Comptroller Skeldon: We struck committee reports. If we are going to strike business. It’s fair to strike snap cup.
c. Senator Finkelstein: I fought tooth and nail every senate last year for a snap cup. I have chem homework and need to get out ASAP.
d. Senator Vira: I am a commuter. It is late and we need time to get stuff done before Fall Fest.
e. Senator Chacon: We need to get out by 11.
2. Against:
a. Senator Smook: I am a big fan of snap cup and I know we are going late, but at the same time do you not love the funny jokes during snap cup? It is an important part of every senate and what it has been about. I look forward to it at the end of the senate.
b. Senator Yari: I think it is a cool, interesting thing to see that new senators are doing motions. We can go back later to see if we want to take it off the agenda or not.
c. Senator Green: I am sorry to be the annoying gadfly, but I do not shy from debate. It highlights funny jokes, other things. If people dissent from this opinion, just do not write snaps
d. Senator Finkelstein: I just want to say I love snap cups.
e. Senator Yari: I feel like we could revisit this if it gets too long.
3. For:
a. Secretary Danek: It’s a canon event every year that we have. We don't want to be here till 10, 11, midnight. People have things to do. It gets arduous. Write more snaps and make it longer another week if you like it.
b. Senator Peri: I want to do a little quick exercise. Raise your hand if you want to strike snap cup.
c. Senator Pierre: It’s great that you feel snap cup is great. For the time sake, let’s wrap it up so we can get rest.
d. Senator Urban: There is a time and place for everything. It is dark out and people need to get home. If you have something funny to say, put it in the social chat.
e. Senator Malayeri: Snap cup is a waste of time. Talking or starting a conversation with someone is more effective than writing them a compliment.
4. Against:
a. Senator Green: It does not hit the same if you put it in the social chat. We should not sit and crawl, but rather stand up. No one is forcing you to write anything, but other people want to write. There are new senators that want to have this.
b. Senator Yari: This is a waste of time, we could vote.
c. Senator Smook: To add onto a previous speaker’s point, social chat does not have the same impact. It is a special kind of moment. If you do not want snap cup, this is a major part of senate.
iv. Motion passes
c. Tabled Senatorial action S.A.2025.90.007
i. Presented by Secretary Danek
a. Secretary Danek: I spoke to the Judicial Panel and they agreed to table at events or attend senate when available and sit in the office just as we do every week. We had time to talk it over.
b. Senator Pierre: Change the capital J in justice.
c. Senator Finkelstein moved to pass SA.202.90.007.
i. Motion seconded
ii. Motion passes
d. SA.2025.90.009
i. Presented by President Quail and Comptroller Skeldon
a. Comptroller Skeldon: Funding comes from student activity fees so all events affect students. There needs to be student involvement in order for SGA to fund giveaways.
b. President Quail: We get requests to give things away and the charity does not have student involvement. Now, fundraisers or charitable initiatives must demonstrate student involvement.
c. Senator Urban: Would this conflict with the PS saying we cannot fund merchandise?
i. President Quail: No, this is a separate matter. This is just for charitable initiatives.
d. Senator Smook moves to pass SA.2025.90.009
i. Motion seconded
ii. Motion passed
e. SA.2025.90.010
i. Presented by President Quail and Comptroller Skeldon
1. Comptroller Skeldon: It does not specify in the policy series - 8 and 15%. Weekly allocations are differentiated from weekly budgets. We are making it 20%. We already had to turn over the policy series because we are already at 10%. Gold clubs don’t usually come much because their budget covers so much. This is to free up money not being used.
2. President Quail: Blue and gold clubs are not finishing their money and pride clubs are very quickly, so this made sense.
3. Chair Ahmad moves to pass SA.90.2025.010
a. Motion seconded
b. Motion passed
f. SA.2025.090.011
i. Presented by Chair Ahmad
1. Chair Ahmad: This specifies that club office storage for clubs not allocated storage can be located in 260L and 260H. 260L was already there and I just added 260H.
2. Senator Black moves to pass SA.2025.90.011
a. Motion seconded
b. Motion passed
g. SA.2025.90.0012
i. Presented by Senator Peri
ii. Senator Peri: We only fund transportation up to 300 miles. We don't even fund the entirety of NY state. I want to change this to 350-miles. We cannot fund transport outside of the United States, and with the political climate we are in, it is safer to deny students leaving the United States.
iii. Senator Ehrlich: How far south are we talking about?
1. Senator Peri: This is to ensure the remainder of the northeast is included in this. I would say about Virginia.
iv. Senator Finkelstein moves to pass SA.2025.90.012
1. Motion seconded
2. Motion passed
C. Approval of the Minutes
a. Chair Iacobovici moves to pass the Senate minutes from 10/2.
i. Motion Seconded
ii. Motion Passed
b. Chair Ahmad moves to pass the Cabinet minutes from 10/15.
i. Motion Seconded
ii. Motion Passed
D. E-board Reports
a. President
i. Meetings:
1. Met w/ reps from furniture company, moving along on student center lounge renovations
2. President Poser and VP Eads
3. Upcoming
a. U-Senate Outreach
b. Board of Trustees next week
ii. Fall Fest this weekend!!!!!
1. Shabbat invite - Friday @6:30
2. Pride Court - Friday @7
3. Our booth + pumpkin painting Saturday @2-5
4. Concert Saturday @6!
5. Have fun be safe text me if you need anything
a. 518-878-3523
iii. Town Hall Monday
1. 1pm MPR. Be there!
2. Submit your questions here
b. Vice President
i. Fall fest Saturday woohoo!
ii. Congrats to new Internal Chairs.
iii. Senator project form should have been submitted today! If I don’t have it, you have until tomorrow at 10:00 AM absolute LATEST.
1. Expect approvals tomorrow night or Saturday!
a. Please keep up with your email and GroupMe!
iv. Clarifying Attendance Policy
1. Absent means absent. No excused absences.
v. Reminder that the Townhall on Monday (for non cab) and Queer at Hofstra (for everybody) on Wednesday can be used to reverse an absence.
1. You can do this only twice a semester.
c. Comptroller
i. Digital budget submissions
1. Send any questions/issues you hear about to me and Bianca!
ii. Comptroller sub committee
iii. Meetings + Updates
1. Mid Semester Financial Report on 10/23
2. Campus Rec meeting Friday 10/17
3. Music Fest Funding Discussions
a. Next meeting 10/24
4. Continued review and updates to policy for efficiency and fairness
d. Secretary
i. Room Reservation Form
ii. Catering Request Form
iii. Make sure to email sga_ethics@pride.hofstra.edu now when you are going to be absent from committee, senate, etc.
iv. Office reminders (office hours, respecting the space, cafe)
E. Committee Chair Reports
a. Appropriations
i. 10/14 Minutes
1. We saw 6 clubs! Overturned Pride Spending Policy Series
ii. Please keep me posted if you hear about any technical issues with the semesterly budget submissions! They are due October 24th!
b. Club Resources
i. Minutes
ii. Good job on Constitutional Benchmark everyone!
iii. 15 new clubs approved!
1. New Club Training with Bianca.
c. Communications
i. Minutes
ii. Updated Cabinet Whiteboard
iii. Delegated Daily Story Content
iv. Filmed Equity Asks w/ Celeste and Sophia
v. October Newsletter by 10/25 (Chairs + Joint Pres/VP statement)
vi. Takeover - Dayanna and Justin (Overnight @ Hofstra!)
d. Programming
1. Minutes
2. Please come by the fall fest booth on saturday!!
3. Met with wellness coordinator, IFC and Pan Hel: Finals Frenzy!! Collab with a lot of different offices and clubs with SGA wellness and academic affairs
4. Monsters and Munchies!!!: culinary club collab on Oct 27th in the Netherlands North Core at common hour!
5. Meeting with Hanna from athletics, equity, QTPOC and BSU for sex fest and RHA on friday
e. Academic Affairs
i. AA minutes 10/16
ii. Meeting with LEAF
1. Further AI effects on students' mental health
iii. Meeting with Dean Ploran for HCLAS
1. Discuss outreach to students
2. Possible Canvas changes, bulletin boards
iv. Meeting EdTech and the Provost's office
f. Equity & Inclusion
i. Minutes
ii. NCOD
1. Thank you to those who tabled, it went great!
iii. Equity Asks: Chisme w/ Celeste
1. Filmed with Sophia, will be going up by the end of this week!
iv. Queer @ Hofstra
1. October 22nd 1-2PM MPR West!
g. Facilities & Operations
i. Minutes
ii. Meeting with Tim Doyle
iii. Any Facilities Concerns, please text me on GroupMe!
h. Wellness & Campus Safety
i. Minutes
ii. Meeting with Steven Richman next Friday with Evelyn and DaeJa
iii. Planning a BYOWB tabling event
iv. I workshopped the SAW survey questions with the committee today!
F. Approval of Committee Minutes
a. Chair Orellana moves to pass the committee minutes from 10/16.
i. Motion seconded
ii. Motion passed
G. Approval of Allocations
a. Senator Rades moves to pass the allocations from 10/14.
i. Motion seconded
ii. Motion passed
H. For the Good of the Order
a. Anything SGA related!
i. Vice President Young: If you are leaving the room, tell Sophia. We need accurate numbers.
I. Announcements
a. Anything non-SGA related!
i. Senator Pierre: Center for Race, Culture, and Social justice- I will be giving a presentation Monday at 1PM on the art of protest!
ii. Senator Finkelstein: Come to Shabbat Dinner and say hi at fall fest!
J. Snap Cup
a. Decorum suspended
K. Adjournment
a. Chair Denson moves to close the gallery.
i. Motion seconded.
ii. Motion passes.
b. Senator Green moves to adjourn this meeting
i. Motion seconded
ii. Motion passed
1. Meeting adjourned at 10:08PM EST
Appropriations Committee Minutes
Fall 2025 Meeting
PPAW Conference Room 260D 10/14/25 - 6:30pm
Meeting Commenced:
Attendance:
Comptroller Skeldon
Senator Alexander Green
Senator Prahlad Peri
Chair Nene Dzaveluri
Senator Jake Urban
Senator Patrick Bruso
Senator Daniel Malayeri
Senator Joshua Black
Senator Ferheen Bokhari
Senator Rebecca Noel
Associate Jake Tenebruso
Late:
Absent:
Associate Sunny LoGalbo
Agenda:
● Icebreaker - Favorite Horror movie?
● Budget submissions are live! They close on October 24th. Please let Maddie and me know of any troubles people have with the new format!
● Budget Weekend!!! YAY! We will have food and dessert!
○ Mandatory! Please let me know of any conflicts ASAP!!
○ October 31st from 12-4
○ November 1st from 12-4
○ November 4th- until completion
○ BUDGET WEEKEND?
● Budget Reviews!
○ Attendance for one is mandatory! It’s super easy!
○ Sign Up!
○ A sheet will also be in the office to confirm that you attended a slot!
○ Monday, October 20th at 5 pm
○ Wednesday, October 22nd at 1 pm
○ Thursday, October 23rd at 1 pm
○ Friday, October 24th at 1 pm
● Aiming for committee dinner #bonding sometime in November!
● Comptroller Financial Report!
● Allocations Assignments! Please remember to take the time to do the calculations and ensure that every budget adheres to the policy series!
○ 6:35 pm - MEISA - Alex, Nene, Ferheen,
○ 6:40 pm - Middle Eastern North African Student Association - Nene, Prahlad, Jake U
○ 6:45 pm - Hofstra Ballroom and Latin Dance - Pat, Prahlad, Daniel, Rebecca
○ 6:50 pm - Glamour Gals & Pals - Pat, Josh
○ 6:55 pm - CSI - Jake U, Josh, Jake T, Ferheen
○ 7:00 pm-Hofstra Culinary - Daniel, Pat, Rebecca, Alex, Jake T
Allocations:
MEISA
● Chair Dzaveluri moves to allocate $952.50 for line item 1: seconded by Senator Green
● The motion passes
MENASA
● Senator Peri: The math for the budget is good, but many of the quotes are discounted, and due to the size of the receipts, we can not see the true prices for items
● Senator Green: Should we fund the markers and glue sticks?
● Senator Peri: Personally, I don’t think we should fund it
● Chair Dzaveluri: If we fund anything, we should fund the belly dancing night and the karaoke which is tomorrow. We should fund those tonight and let the other events come again for another try.
● Senator Peri moves to overturn the policy series to allocate more funds to the pride club: seconded by Chair Dzaveluri
● The motion passes
● Chair Dzavelrui moves to allocate $118.93 for line item 1: seconded by Senator Green
● The motion passes
● Chair Dzaveluri moves to allocate $73.42 to line item 2: seconded by Senator Green
● The motion
● Senator Peri moves to reinstate the policy series: seconded by Chair Dzaveluri
● The motion passes
● No motions for line items 3 or 4
Hofstra Ballroom and Latin Dance
● Senator Peri: The budget looks good. Slight miscalculations but worth discussion
● Senator Noel: Do we only fund the trip one way?
● Comptroller Skeldon: Yes, and we can use a food voucher for line item 2
● Senator Peri moves to allocate $1,457.50 for line item 1: seconded by Senator Green
● The motion passes
● Line item 1 was not fully funded due to policy restrictions (Only $30.00 per person can be spent on conference registration fees)
● There are no motions for line item 2 (due to the food voucher)
Glamour
Gals & Pals
● Associate Tenebruso: How much have we funded GG&P in the past?
● Comptroller Skeldon: We have previously appropriated funds for nails and cards
● Senator Peri: There really is not anything in the policy series regarding registration for the club as a whole, but if we use the policy for $30.00 per person for registration fees (there are 25 members total), the funding should be good
● Senator Bruso moves to allocate $150.00 for line item 1: seconded by Senator Peri
● The motion passes
CSI
● Associate Tenebruso: To clarify, the numbers on the breakdown sheet are wrong because they claim to fund hotels for three nights, even though the breakdown sheet has prices for four nights
● Senator Green: The treasurer mentioned $580. Where are those numbers coming from?
● Senator Peri: that is the estimated total of the bus fare for 4 people roundtrip.
● Senator Peri moves to allocate $512.04 for line item 2: seconded by Senator Green
● The motion passes
● Line item one was not funded due to the club already having the allocated funds from previous meetings
Hofstra Culinary
● Senator Green: The math was off for line items 1 and 2 (2 was off by a few cents).
● Senator Noel: Couldn’t it be cheaper to have catering through compass
● Comptroller Skeldon: Sometimes clubs will request food from a specific culture, but usually we will not fund food. This is a gray area up for deliberation
● Senator Green: It is good to cut corners, but the price is high
● Senator peri: We should fund line item 1 because SGA sponsors them
● Chair Dzaveluri: We should fund everything because not only is the member count very high for the club, but the entire purpose of the club is for food.
● *Culinary Club is called back in for questioning*
● Senator Green: Do you check the dietary restrictions for every event?
● Culinary Club: Yes, we send a poll in our groupme to account for restrictions
● Senator Green: I saw hot dogs on the sheet and wanted to make sure dietary restrictions were accounted for.
● Senator Black: I don’t think we need to cut anything, and all the food is for the mission of the club.
● Senator Green moves to allocate $360.49 for line item 1: seconded by Senator Peri
● The motion passes
● Senator Green moves to allocate 280.94 for line item 2: seconded by Senator Black
● The motion passes
● Senator Green moves to allocate $367.51 for line item 3: seconded by Chair Dzaveluri
● The motion passes
Meeting Adjourned: 7:18 pm
Respectfully Submitted, Chair Bianca Yepez
Meeting Agenda
Fall 2025
6:30 pm, Oct 13, 2025
SGA Conference Room
Meeting Commenced 6:30 pm
Attendance
Chair Maisa Ahmad
Chair Ronit Malhotra
Senator Dayanna Rubio-Chacon
Senator Abigail Rades
Senator Tara Yari
Senator Yoni Smook
Senator Lily Hoffman
Senator John Vira
Associate Ava DiSanto
Associate Lily Hierbert
Late Arrival
Absent
Visitors!
I. Icebreaker
Senator Adiba Mansour
Associate Isabella Dempsey
A. If you could live in any historical era, which would you choose?
II. Chair Updates
A. The Constitutional Benchmark is finished!
B. Club Recognition updates
III. Senatorial Action
A. Senatorial Action SA.2025.90.009 Policy Updates
1. President Quail and Comptroller Skeldon presents SA.2025.90.009
2. Deliberation: a) Looks good!
3. Senator Rades moves to pass SA.2025.90.009.
4. Senator Chacon seconds the motion.
5. Motion passed!
B. Senatorial Action SA.2025.90.010 Policy Updates
1. President Quail and Comptroller Skeldon present SA.2025.90.010
2. Deliberation:
a) Really good!
b) Glad we’re doing this!
3. Senator Smook moves to pass SA.2025.90.010.
4. Senator Vira seconds the motion.
5. Motion passed!
● Transfer Chair to Senator Chacon
C. Senatorial Action SA.2025.90.011 Policy Updates
1. Chair Ahmad presents SA.2025.90.011
2. Deliberation:
a) Looks great!
b) No problems.
3. Senator Rades moves to pass SA.2025.90.011.
4. Senator Vira seconds the motion.
5. Motion passed!
● Transfer Chair to Chair Ahmad
D. Senatorial Action SA.2025.90.012 Policy Updates
1. Senator Black presents SA.2025.90.012
2. Deliberation:
a) Friendly: Change the font of ‘g’
3. Senator Vira moves to pass SA.2025.90.012.
4. Senator Chacon seconds the motion.
5. Motion passed!
IV. SAW
A. Question?
1. Asking how the variety of clubs are?
2. Do you feel that your club is adequately supported by SGA?
a) Dropdown into why…
3. Timings regarding when clubs are available to meet
4. Do commuters feel they can attend clubs?
5. Are students aware of the reporting processes if they come into conflict with a student in a club?
6. Do you feel comfortable knowing that other people know you attend this club?
7. Something more specific.
8. Clubs that are dying, how secure they feel in their club? How can SGA help them not die?
B. Fall 2024 SAW Questions/Results
V. Club Office Walkthroughs
A. E-Board QR codes will be posted by tomorrow!
VI. Senator Liason
A. Send me a draft intro email ASAP!
1. Ronit, Adiba, Abby
B. Your next task!
1. Constitutions - do by Sunday, so emails can be sent out next committee!!
VII. Reminders
A. Be sure to take a look at the CR policies. It is definitely long but not a hard read! It will be GREAT if we all have an understanding of the policies.
B. You can reach me at (832) 417 7912 if you have any questions or need anything at all!
Meeting Adjourned 6:57 pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Maisa Ahmad Club Resources Chair
Communications Committee Meeting
Student Center Rm 145 October 13, 2025
Meeting Called to Order: 6:00 pm
Quorum
Present:
Chair Kyle Denson
Chair Rachel Jacob
Senator Jordan Watt
Senator Wasih Gillani
Senator Joseph Vazquez
Senator Aarushi Chauhan
Associate Nathan Arscott
Associate Spencer Hamilton
Associate Kellsie Verdone
Associate Alyssa Osso
Associate Evan Eng
Associate Gabriella Monteiro
Guest:
Chair Celeste Orellana
Absent:
Senator Logan Finkelstein
Agenda:
1. Icebreaker
a. What is your favorite gift card to receive?
2. Updates
a. Daily Story Content Delegation:
i. Memo Monday
ii. Tune Tuesday
iii. Wisdom Wednesday
b. Promoting Hofstra Town Hall
c. Promoting Hofstra Hunts
i. Filmed and Posted “Hofstra Hunts” Reel w/ Jacob and DaeJa
d. Filmed “Equity Asks” w/ Celeste and Sophia today
e. Updated the SGA website
f. Updated SGA Whiteboard
g. Updated SGA Hofstra Portal Box - “Hofstra Hunts”
h. TV Outside SGA Office
i. Event Graphics
ii. New Cabinet Board
iii. Instagram
iv. QR Codes
v. Daily Graphics
vi. Facilities Form
vii. Ethics Point
3. Business
a. Weekly Content Calendar
b. “Hofstra Hunts” Promo Brainstorm
i. Specific audios?
ii. “Warming up”
c. Twitter Liaison Form
i. If you want to run the SGA Twitter account
ii. I’ll decide this week!
d. Newsletters - How can we make them more appealing?
i. TV
ii. Instagram story graphic
iii. Latest Hofstra Hunts
iv. Ending with what is coming next for events
e. Promoting student feedback survey
f. Baby photos of senate
Reminders:
● If you have to miss committee, please email VP, Secretary, and me. If you are missing Senate, make sure to email the VP and Secretary.
Meeting Adjourned: 6:15 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kyle Denson Communications Chair
