The second resolution of the year centered around the approval of a fee increase for the Recreation Center passed with a unanimous vote by the Student Senate in its meeting Wednesday.

In clarification from Sarah Daugherty, director of Campus Recreation, she said that with the approval of the fee increase that Campus Recreation will remove themselves from the allocation of apportionment board for the Fiscal Year 2022 for others that would need it.

The $205,000 that normally goes to the Recreation Center from the apportionment board can go to other parts of the university such as the potential Big Blue Food Pantry or RSOs.

The Board of Trustees is expecting to look at all fees in the upcoming meetings as they want to consider costs all together.

As stated on the resolution, “The Eastern Illinois University Student Government hereby recommends the increase of the Campus Recreation Fee from $6.00 per Credit Hour to $9.00 per Credit Hour, with a cap at 12 credit hours per student, for the 2022 Fiscal Year.”

EIU Student Action Team has launched a webpage on EIU’s Student Government website to detail three committees that people can join such as voter outreach, legislative research, and legislative action.

Student Action Team works to represent interests of EIU students and to present those interests with state and local lawmakers in Illinois to improve the quality of education and financial support for EIU students. They are looking for members to apply from a diverse range of majors.

A survey will be coming out this week from the Academic Affairs committee looking at student’s majors, classes students think should be added or removed from major requirements, and what majors they would be interested in if they weren’t doing.

Alumni Relations said they are working on gift bags for graduating seniors.

An Off-Campus Housing Portal is being planned by the External Relations committee. They will be finalizing student survey questions and will be collecting information on housing options, contact information, locations, and amenities.

External Relations also brought awareness to the Fiscal Year 21-22 Budget being proposed and released to the public. Physical copies are available at the Charleston library and virtual copies found on the city’s website. The budget would begin May 1, 2021 and end April 30, 2022.

The next meeting will be held March 31, and the last meeting is announced to be April 21 in the Grand Ballroom.

The Student Distinguished Professor Award nominations are still open, as well as Student Distinguished Professor Fulfillment Award nominations meant specifically for retiring faculty.

These are award nominations from students about faculty they believe have made a significant contribution on campus in and out of the classroom.

The application deadline is April 2 and can be found at https://www.eiu.edu/stdtgov/machform/view.php?id=33523.

Theo Edwards can be reached at 581-2812 or heedwards@eiu.edu.