New Academic Year, New Student Senate

With a new Student Senate and a new academic year, what are their plans?

By M Yeager

Each year, Student Senate elects and appoints numerous new members to its organization, all with visions of what they will do during their terms. With a new meeting schedule and a full Senate, it is important to learn their new goals and initiatives. This year, many of the initiatives surround different types of advocacy. 

Senate Leadership Team 

So far this semester, the Senate leadership team has focused on laying the groundwork for future Senates. “This semester is just the foundation with internal Senate,” said Senate President Louise Ba ‘24 (Political Science/Economics/Public Policy), “and next semester is external Senate, with real initiatives and engagement.” 

Senate Official Melody Her ‘24 (Political Science/Economics, Criminal Justice minor) added to Ba’s comment: “We want to restructure how people view us and how they participate with us.”

Part of this restructuring includes the fact that there is a large Senate this year. One of the main focuses that the leadership team has had revolves around having as much participation in the Senate as possible. Without a full Senate, they would not be able to accomplish their goals. 

Senate meetings have transitioned to a bi-weekly schedule, with committee meetings on opposite weeks. The reasoning for this change was to make being on Senate less of a burdensome task that required a minimum of 10 hours each week alone. Senate has also included spirit months this year, which generate excitement. In September, Senate had cookies from Crumbl Cookies and in October, they had Halloween candy. Since the change, the leadership team has seen a more excited and engaged Senate. “It’s about avoiding burnout,” said Ba. “We want to make Senate fun.”

The scheduled check-ins with President ReBecca Koenig Roloff and Provost Denise Baird now include the entire Senate leadership team and one of the academic affairs committee chairs. Previously, only the Senate president attended these check-ins on behalf of Senate and reported back to the wider Senate on updates. With the leadership team and the academic affairs chair being present, the duties do not fall on only one person. 

Senate Mentorship Program

Senate Mentorship Program explained! Credit: Student Senate, The Wheel

One of the major additions to Student Senate is the Senate Mentorship program, which allows first-year representatives to be involved in spite of the fact that they have a mandatory lab for The Reflective Woman at the same time as Senate meetings. The program is set up with mentors and mentees, with mentees being able to vote on Senate decisions through proxy voting. Mentors must be Senate members and have at least one semester of experience in Senate, while mentees are members with less than one semester of experience in Senate. 

The leadership team has also thought about how this program can be used in the future outside of first-year representatives being able to advocate for their constituencies. Two such examples are a student-athlete liaison and a student-parent senator. The latter has been a thing in the past, but has not been included in recent Senates. The leadership team recognizes the busy schedules that these populations have and want to make sure that they are being advocated for. “They can still be a part of Senate, advocating for the population they represent, but they are not required to be in the room,” said Ba. 

Public Relations Committee

The Public Relations committee is chaired by Bella Lee ‘27 (Studio Art) and Skylar Mattson ‘26 (Exercise and Sport Science). One of the largest initiatives that they are working on is making summaries for Senate meetings so that students can stay up to date and aware of what is happening. Lee, as a first year, is not able to attend Senate meetings until the end of November due to the TRW lab, and feels that it is important to include summaries for the student body. 

Building a welcoming environment where students can voice their concerns is not the only goal for the committee. They also want to share information on current events outside of the St. Kate’s community, such as opportunities for students that they may not be aware of. “Aside from student activity, another goal would be to use our platform to educate people on world issues,” Lee said.

External Affairs Committee

The External Affairs Committee is chaired by Raida Ismail ‘25 (Data Science) and Najma Hussein ‘26 (International Business and Economics). The committee is in charge of planning Day at the Capitol and guest of the day, organizations or people who attend Senate meetings to explain their work to Senate members. In years past, the committee also worked on discount cards, especially during the fall semester. This year, they are focusing more on guests of the day and advocacy. “A new initiative that we’re doing is bringing in community leaders and advocates to Senate meetings,” said Ismail. “They’ll present about the work they do, how to get involved and why their work matters.” 

A few weeks ago, Senate toured Bridging, Inc., one of the organizations that was involved with Citizen Katie in early October. An upcoming guest of the day visit to Student Senate is the organization Minnesota Teen Activists. 

Other Committees

Committees are open to all students who want to be involved. They meet bi-weekly. Reach out to the chairs via email, or senate@stkate.edu if you are interested in joining.

Diversity Committee, chaired by Jack Garcia: Wednesdays 11:45 a.m. - 12:45 a.m. (virtual)

PR Committee, chaired by Skylar Mattson and Bella Lee: Tuesdays 5:00pm - 6:00 p.m.

External Affairs Committee, chaired by Raida Ismail and Najma Hussein: Thursdays 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Organizational Affairs (Student Organizations) Committee, chaired by Mia Timlin and Elianna Johnson: Thursdays 5:30 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.

Environmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Luul Adam: Thursdays 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. (virtual)