SGA Hears New Campus Opportunity, Clarifies Roles Within Senate

USD’s Lori Costello spoke on the Coyote Career Closet initiative at Tuesday night’s SGA meeting, emphasizing the confidence and empowerment this action will bring. Senators also introduced three new Senate bills, all of which will be seen again next week. 

Costello, an assistant professor at USD, pitched the Coyote Career Closet program to Senators, sharing her past experience of working in the unemployment office in Des Moines, Iowa and preparing individuals for job interviews. 

The program looks to offer clean, professional attire for students to wear to job interviews, internships and other professional occasions.

“I was able to see how transformative it was being able to give somebody nice clothes to wear. What we wear is a projection of who we are and you project more confidence when you feel good about yourself,” Costello said. 

No funding decisions were made this evening, but other ideas were discussed including hosting clothing drives, offering various clothing sizes and ensuring the program is a safe and clean environment for students. 

Senate Bill (SB) 84 “At-Large Process Act of 2022” received its second reading. The Internal Review (IR) Committee addressed concerns from last week’s meeting about an unfair amount of representation on future SGA interview committees. The IR committee decided on allowing the entire committee to be a part of selecting the interviewing committee rather than only the IR chair. 

SB 85 “Codifying Legislature Action Procedure” was introduced by President Caleb Weiland. The bill codifies specific regulations which should be followed by SGA: two readings  for resolutions and three readings for governing documents and special appropriation bills.

“We want to codify this so we’re not playing a guessing game of the number of readings,” Weiland said. 

Senator Dillon Grubb also introduced SB 86 “An Act to Clarify Emergency Procedure.” The bill proposes all voting members of SGA vote on whether they believe the matter should be declared as an emergency legislation. After back and forth discussion, the bill was tabled until next week and is to be reviewed by the IR committee. 

The final bill of the evening, SB 87 “President Pro-Tempore Leadership Clarification” was presented by Weiland. The bill clarifies the role of the president pro-tempore. Responsibilities include presiding at SGA meetings in the absence of the vice president and acting as a voting member. The president pro-tempore is also responsible for answering questions related to the adherence of parliamentary procedures. 

SGA will meet next week at 6:30 p.m. in the Freedom Forum. The meeting will also be available on Facebook live.