Members of SGA Senate met to discuss the abolishment of leadership scholarships, the hiring of new officers for the university police force and the potential smoke-free campus policy on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Leadership scholarships will be abolished next school year in an effort to increase the retention rate at UNA. The Scholarship Committee made the decision, said SGA Senate Budget Oversight Chairman Tyrie Fletcher.

 “The Scholarship Committee voted to do away with leadership scholarships next year and the scholarship money will go towards incoming freshmen who make between a 21 and a 24 on the ACT,” Fletcher said. 

He attended the Scholarship Committee meeting in place of SGA President, Laura Giles, Fletcher said.

The Scholarship Committee voted to do away with the leadership scholarships as a way to increase the retention rate. The more people that are offered a scholarship are more likely to stay at UNA, Fletcher said.

“They (Scholarship Committee) will do away with the leadership scholarship in the fall of 2015,” Fletcher said. “They then will start to award freshmen who made between a 23 and a 24 on their ACT to see how the change goes.”

Once the numbers are released after the Scholarship Committee awards freshmen who made a 23 and 24 on their ACT, they will then open it up to those who made a between a 21 and 24, Fletcher said.

“After the Scholarship Committee voted to do away with leadership scholarships, they then went to the Budget Committee and asked for an increase of money,” Fletcher said. “The Committee approved the Scholarship Committee’s request.”

Senate also discussed the hiring of four potential UNA policemen.

SGA Senate members were able to meet four UNA Police Department candidates who applied for a position with the department. The candidates talked about themselves and their law force experience to the Senators. 

Senators then asked the candidates questions regarding their experience as a police officer in a university setting and how they would get along and interact with students. The Senators also ranked the four candidate based on who they liked best and least. 

The progress of smoking and tobacco free petitions that members were instructed to talk about to students on campus was also discussed.

“UNA and four other major campuses in Alabama are the only ones who are not smoke free,” said Sarah Emerson, SGA Senate Pro-tempore. “UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and UAH (University of Alabama Huntsville) have just gone smoke free on their campuses.”

SGA Senate members are encourage to get inform students about the benefits of a smoke and tobacco free campus. Senators will be getting feedback from the student body before they decided to vote on a bill that would allow a smoke and tobacco free campus.

SGA Senate voted to continue using the online voting system that is used for students to vote for SGA officer elections and homecoming elections.

RSO Orgsync training will be at the GUC Performance Center at 5 p.m. on Oct. 21. Purpose of the training is for new RSOs or those who missed the original training.

SGA will be hosting a fall carnival at the amphitheater from 6 to 10 p.m. on Nov. 7.

 

Correction: The scholarship committee has not taken any action to do away with Leader Scholarships at this time.