After having a break for Torrey Conference, senators returned to the Student Government Association conference room to vote on the Career Center partnership proposal and to host a time for open proposals.
MIDNIGHT MADNESS
With Midnight Madness approaching, Enrollment, Marketing and Communications reached out to SGA to ask for new strategies in order to bring attendance up for the event. Senators discussed hosting a barbecue, advertising during Singspiration and having competitions between dorms. EMC suggested having a prize of donuts for the winning dorm. The senate will further discuss the details at their next meeting.
NATIONAL FIRST-GEN DAY
FirstGen programming coordinator Stephannie Linares asked for funding for Biola’s celebration of National First-Gen Day on Nov. 8. The event first took place last year, and had an educational impact within the community. Linares explained that before the event, only 15% of the Biola population self-identified as a first-generation student, but after the event, the number jumped to 23%. Linares asked for $3,500 to fund food and t-shirts.
SCORR CONFERENCE
SCORR conference directors Micah Stephens and Yukari Becker asked for $6,448.46 to help fund the weekend. The conference will take place on Feb. 21–22 and expects around 900 attendees. The directors explained that funding will go toward food, the poetry lounge and artists coming to the event. They also mentioned the president’s office will be covering the cost of the conference’s worship night in full for the first time.
ATHLETICS PROPOSALS
Block senator Ryan St. Pierre and Off-Campus Community senator Toni Rosales proposed Eagle Rewards and an In-n-Out truck for the basketball games against Azusa Pacific University. Rosales explained the rewards would allow students to enter raffles and receive prizes after attending a certain amount of games. The proposed funding for Eagle Rewards is $3,500. The truck for the APU game would be used as an incentive for students to attend the game and encouragement for athletes, according to St. Pierre. The cost for the truck would be $5,500.
WOVEN CONFERENCE RE-PROPOSAL
Community coordinator Jen Aspland and business major Maddie Prater re-proposed the sixth annual Woven conference, explaining some changes to the cost and organization of the event. The new cost of $3,000, roughly half of the original cost, was achieved through reconsidering speakers and fundraising the rest of the money. Aspland and Prater explained that by keeping the speakers local, they were able to cut costs significantly and they believe fundraising will be a better option since SGA’s proposals budget is much smaller this year.
AVION VIRTUAL REALITY
Cinema and media arts majors Megan Scott and Seth Bergen proposed for SGA to fund the premiere of their virtual reality experience “Avion.” The VR would be a video game-like interactive experience that allows the users to determine what happens in the story. The event would take place on Dec. 13 and would be six hours long in order to give attendees a chance to experience “Avion” in its entirety. The cost would be $3,557.29.
CAREER CENTER PARTNERSHIP VOTING
Senators discussed the photo booth for professional portfolio headshots available at the Fall Career Expo. OCC senator Jonan Rohi-Plueger and Hope Hall senator Gretchen Ferguson both raised concerns around funding this booth, as they argued the budget should be geared toward student empowerment. The proposal was denied.
