Reporting Period for February 2025
Executive Summary
The Reimagined Leadership Grant was finalized to support involved students struggling with financial holds, with fundraising efforts set to begin in March. Progress was made in student engagement, including enhancements to the Student Tailgate Policy, discussions on utilizing Flex Bucks off-campus, and the launch of SGA’s campus-wide texting system to improve communication. Additionally, I worked with administrators on outdoor study space improvements, police rate standardization for events, and academic policy adjustments, such as advocating for freshmen to opt into heavy course loads rather than be assigned 16+ credits by default. While challenges remain, including delays from Sodexo, parking garage confusion, and lack of transparency in student refunds, steps are being taken to push for solutions. Financially, I will present the SGA Spring budget, projected at $476,000, for Senate approval in March. Despite setbacks, our initiatives are moving forward, with a focus on fundraising, student advocacy, and institutional accountability.
I. Meetings
1. Interorganizational Council: February 3, 2025
• Key Points Discussed:
▪ The Men of Xavier was voted to become a Registered Student Organization (RSO).
2. Vice President of Student Affairs, Curtis Wright: February 7, 2025 (4 HOURS)
• Key Points Discussed:
▪ He tasked me with creating a team of residents to develop practical solutions for building
community and encouraging student accountability more effectively than a mass fine. ▪We discussed the SGA President attending University Cabinet Meetings once per month
to streamline communication from SGA to the different university offices.
▪ The dorm lockout policy was made a tad more lenient, but not what I proposed.
▪We set an execution timeline for the Reimagined Leadership Grant (details in section II). ▪We placed sheets in the KD bathrooms to hold Sodexo accountable for cleaning, but they
were taken down without his knowledge. I expect them to be back up in March.
3. Student Government Executive Board: February 11, 2025
• Key Points Discussed:
▪ We reviewed our proposal to improve the effectiveness and experience of RSOs through
organization categorizations and potential consolidations.
▪ We decided to have April’s student body meeting on the yard due to the positive reception of
February’s meeting.
4. Vice President of Student Affairs, Curtis Wright: February 17, 2025
• Key Points Discussed:
▪ We talked about potential issues with the Senate’s bill requiring a process for public elections and
I decided to veto the bill for reconsideration.
▪ I followed up on my request to have a meeting with Bruce Hamilton be arranged at our next
meeting to discuss the logistics of improving the outdoor study spaces AGAIN.
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▪ We noticed that the Spring budget allocation to us from Fiscal did not align with what our SGA Department of Finance accounted for, so he will have clarification for me at our next meeting.
▪ He had us send our proposed Tailgate Policy to the Athletics department. 5. Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Phillip Adams: February 20, 2025
• Key Points Discussed:
▪ They’ve agreed to share their quantitative metrics and endowment numbers during our last
meeting, and we have been waiting for them for over a month now.
▪ They provided feedback on my proposed Reimagined Leadership Grant and how we can
fundraise effectively before our term concludes.
6. Student Government Executive Board: February 25, 2025
• Key Points Discussed:
▪ VP Wright was invited to this meeting and the board expressed the issues that we’ve experienced
with our advisors and concluded that a retreat between our board, the incoming board, and the
major advisors will have a retreat during the transition period.
▪ We voted to finalize the details of the Reimagined Leadership Grant.
7. Vice President of Student Affairs, Curtis Wright: February 25, 2025
• Key Points Discussed:
▪ Bruce Hamilton attended to discuss the logistics and costs of improving the outdoor study spaces.
▪ We determined that our plan to have more motion sensors and place smart censors in public
buildings is far too costly and would require extreme fundraising efforts.
▪ The costs of stolen items from DP’s convenient store totaled $13,834.38 plus approximately
$15,000 for work to remove the store.
▪ I followed up to gather the logistics to set up a post-call survey system from the Vice President of
ITC AGAIN. He said that they’d discuss it this week.
▪ We discussed the idea of Xavierites being able to utilize their flex bucks at off campus sites.
II. Initiatives and Projects
1. Ongoing Initiatives:
Better Informing the Student Body
▪ Our texting system was released this month. Now we need to ensure that it is used to inform students about upcoming campus events and important reminders in a timely manner.
▪ I plan to write an executive order to solidify SGA’s partnership with the Public Relations Student Society of America now that we have a working relationship.
▪ We are moving SODEXO’s suggestion box to a virtual platform with a large QR code where students can see them, because no one is aware of the current physical box that they use for meal suggestions.
Implementing Cost-Saving Practices for the University
▪ We have ended our advocacy for more motion sensor lights and smart sensors in public buildings
due to costs being impossible to cover.
▪ The SGA Secretary of Sustainability has met with the Office of Inclusion and Social Justice and
Sodexo to implement our food waste reduction program.
▪ The SGA Secretary of Innovation will have virtual campus tours recorded this month for
incoming freshmen.
Aiding Where we Can in the Mental Health Crisis
▪ The SGA Chief of Staff met with the Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences aboutthe Wholistic Students’ Wellbeing Policy. There are concerns about the execution of individual mental health days, specifically for professors. The Dean’s office will plan programing alongside
SGA’s Health and Human Services Department before deciding how they want to move forward
with the proposed policy next year.
▪ The Presidential Interns have reached out to many businesses to secure Xavierite discounts from
stores in New Orleans, but it had been unsuccessful. I am having us pivot by determining how we
could use flex bucks at off campus spots.
▪ We have ordered positive affirmations to be placed around campus. This should be more effective
than our first rendition last Semester.
▪ VP Wright and I were finally able meet with Bruce Hamilton to discuss the logistics of improving
the current, email ‘properly prepare’ to my presidential email only, outdoor study spaces. The SGA Secretary of Innovation will update our proposal with more accurate costs provided by Mr. Hamilton’s office. I plan for us to make purchases in March.
▪ We have planned the logistics for our Reimagined Leadership Grant, which aims to help cover the balances of involved students who aren’t cleared by registration. The fundraising efforts will begin in March, but the distribution of the grant will not occur until the Fall.
Improving the Academic Experience
▪ Further comparative research is being conducted regarding academic scholarship reinstatement.
▪ The SGA Secretary of Academic Policy met with the Chemistry Department about health
concerns being omitted from the drop policy, but they concluded that there may be a separate issue regarding prorating, which would be an issue to investigate outside of the chemistry department. Therefore, we are ending this advocacy for my term.
▪ Our report regarding students' current experience with their academic advisors will be completed by the SGA Secretary of Academic Advancement and shared with the respective administrators next month.
▪ Our data to determine why non-STEM majors feel undervalued by the institution was deemed insignificant, and we will not have enough time to redo our process to gather the data. Therefore, we are ending this advocacy for my term.
▪ The Core Governance Council plans to convene in the last week of March to discuss and possibly vote on our proposed changes to XCOR 1000.
▪ Our SGA Academic Secretaries have begun working on a proposal to advocate for incoming freshmen to not have 16+ credit hours on their schedules unless they opt in.
Improving the Performance of Student Leaders
▪ I have completed a holistic document that I will present to the Interorganizational Council (IOC)in March, which aims to improve the experience and effectiveness of all RSOs.
Increasing SGA’s Funding Opportunities
▪ The Senate and the Election Commission have executed Constitutional Amendment Voting. TheSGA Vice President will share the results after the release of this report.
Increasing Student Engagement
▪ Our proposal to amend the Student Tailgate Policy has been moved forward by the VP of Student
Affairs. We will now work with Athletics to plan for implementation in the Fall Semester.
▪ A universal policy for setting police rates at student events will be introduced by the VP of
Student Affairs during the IOC Meeting in March.
▪ The SGA Presidential Cabinet has begun working to secure Lyft discounts so that students can
travel for community service in the city.
Making Spring SGA Elections More Intentional
▪ The Executive Board Constitution and Bylaws Tests were executed and hopefully will ensure that
the incoming officers are fully aware of their duties.
▪ In-person petitioning has been executed, and I hope this allowed students to connect with the
potential candidates.
▪ Candidates will begin meeting with RSOs to obtain the organizations’ public support for their campaigns.
III. Accomplishments
1. Major Achievements:
Our campus-wide texting system is now active.
The President’s office has informed me that students will be receiving an email ahead of time before their
registration for the next semester and/or registration graduation showing their balances. These automated emails will be sent out as a reminder to students to check their accounts for accuracy purposes.
IV. Challenges and Issues
1. Current Challenges:
SODEXO still has not implemented the changes that they agreed to last summer due to them not feeling like they are “serious.” The SGA Secretary of Health and Human Services has faced significant challenges working with them to be completely honest.
Many students are very confused about why the parking garage still cannot be accessed and when it will be online. I will request that VP Wright provides clarification during March.
Students have also been very confused about when they’ll receive their refunds. I provided some clarification during the Fall, but the process still isn’t that transparent due to students not knowing when their refund will be processed.
V. Financial Report through February 31
I will present the proposed SGA Spring budget to be voted on by the Senate on March 11. I project that our full budget should be around $476,000, but this needs to be verified between the SGA Treasurer and Fiscal Services.
Per aspera ad astra, Chase Patterson