Student Government Association met Thursday, Jan. 14 for a general body meeting. Important topics included SGA’s “Keep Calm and Do The FAFSA” campaign and MAP Advocacy Days.

Guest Speakers

• Gene Zdziarski: The Vice President for Student Affairs — called “Veep Gene” — spoke about student issues, including the importance of the MAP grant. He challenged SGA members to keep participating in the “On Thursdays We Wear Blue” campaign. Zdziarski also fielded questions from Patrick Pfohl (EVP for Student Affairs), Sarah Levesque (Senator for Sustainability) and Rebecca McDonald (Senator for the Driehaus College of Business).

New Business

• Resignation: SGA members reviewed the resignation letter of Maha Abdelwahab, who left the position of Senator for Intercultural Awareness.

President’s Report

• FAFSA: President Vanessa Cadavillo encouraged members to keep sharing the “Keep Calm and Do the FAFSA” campaign. All desktop computers controlled by Information Services have a FAFSA background to spread awareness to students.
• Facility updates: Cadavillo relayed information from a meeting with Facility Operations, including that the BRG monitors that display the time in classrooms now have a text message connection and speaker system for emergency announcements. The Law School library now has security cameras. The 13^th floor of the Daley Center is currently being renovated.
• Basketball game themes: Both Cadavillo and Vice President Rick Popp attended an Athletic Student Leader Roundtable Friday, Jan. 8. She announced that basketball games will start having themes.
• Branding: Cadavillo also discussed DePaul’s new brand identity: “urban educated, world ready.” This campaign will hope to engage students with the university.

Vice President’s Report

• MAP advocacy: Vice President Rick Popp discussed three planned MAP Advocacy Days: Jan. 20 and Feb. 1 in Lincoln Park, and Feb. 3 in the Loop. SGA will educate students about the importance of the MAP grant and encourage them to fill out postcards with a personalized statement of what MAP means to them. SGA members will have red “MAP Matters” t-shirts.

EVP Reports

• EVP for Academic Affairs Kristina Pouliot announced the group would be meeting with Michael Wright, Senior Director of Records and Technology, at Pizano’s to talk about the FAFSA, 1098-T and updates on the preferred name and gender policy.
• EVP for Operations Adriana Kemper will reach out to The Office of Health Promotion and Wellness to collect tips for students.
• EVP for Student Affairs Patrick Pfohl talked about SGA’s DePaul After Dark Bingo Night in February. SGA will also have a table at the upcoming involvement fair.

Senator Reports

• Senator for the College of Science and Health Megan Scoville helped write new mission statements for the college over winter break that now appear on the website.
• Senator for Sustainability Sarah Levesque met with representatives from DePaul’s Urban Farming Organization (UFO) about the idea of green roofs coming to campus.
• Senator for First Year Students Andrew Willett met with dining hall representatives to discuss the positive changes that happened over break, including the new ice cream bar and Demon Wings.