The General Student Senate of the University of Maine Student Government, Inc. (UMSG) held its 12th meeting of the semester on Dec. 2, led by President Keegan Tripp and chaired by Vice President Cynthia Shelmerdine. As with the last meeting, there were few items on the agenda due to the holiday season. Additionally, due to a snow storm affecting most of Maine, the meeting was held digitally via Zoom.
Executive Reports
President Tripp reported that previously discussed changes to the Fogler Library hours of operation had been made official; starting next semester, Fogler will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays.
In addition, its employees will no longer be considered essential workers, meaning the library will not be open on days of inclement weather, nor will it be open on holidays except for Patriots Day and Labor Day.
Vice President of Financial Affairs Joshua Bohm reported that $136,539.24 remained in the budget to be allocated throughout the year.
New Business
At this meeting, all matters of new business were funding requests. Club Swim and Club Baseball were granted $1,156.55 each in order to defray costs of using university athletic facilities. The Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) was allocated funding through two separate resolutions, one of $2,500 to support a research expedition to Mexico and another of $3,500 to help its members attend a student conference in Birmingham, Alabama over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.
Finally, senators voted to pass a resolution that granted holiday bonuses worth half of one bi-weekly paycheck for each full-time employee, equaling in total $3,599.82.
Executive Evaluations
Senators also participated in Executive Evaluations, a semesterly process in which they review and evaluate the performances of each executive over the course of the last semester. While this process is confidential and closed to the public, the content of the evaluations will be divulged to the relevant executive and are a tool to determine if recommendations will be made about their performance going forward if needed.
