Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) elected seven new senators and approved its internal operating budget at its meetings on Tuesday, Feb. 18 and Feb. 25. ASG also heard a proposal from the university to eliminate paper diplomas in favor of an online system.
ASG approved $80,000 for internal operations, the same amount as last year. These funds are delegated between different bodies within ASG that intend to use the available resources to host different events, meet their constituents and promote different social movements.
ASG annually receives $1.2 million dollars of student fee dollars to allocate to student organizations, club sports, MAP and ASG’s internal budget.
On Feb. 18, ASG filled the open College of Engineering and Computing and district three seats in uncontested elections. Nobertmary Nduaguba and Nicholas Sheen were elected to these positions, respectively.
Ian Chenkus, Jayden Crutchfield, Alden Trotter, Raychel Avila, Emma Jewell and Ethan Tinsley ran for the five open senator-at-large seats. A senator-at-large represents the whole student body rather than being tied to a particular district.
Chenkus, an RA in President’s Hall, ran on a platform of revising the mandatory reporting policy for RAs in reference to sexual assault.
Crutchfield, a member of ROTC, ran on a platform of advocating for veteran students.
Trotter, a first-year environmental science and sustainability double major, stressed his internship at the Ohio State House and initiatives to reduce dining hall food waste.
Avila, a first year member of Emerson’s community leadership team, stressed her “angel shot” program, which would train people in proper bartending procedures in assistance with Women Helping Women. ASG already passed a bill advocating for this last semester.
Jewell, a junior and former commuter student, ran on a platform of improving the college experience for commuter students, first generation students and low income students at Miami.
Tinsley ran on platforms of sustainability and inclusiveness.
Chenkus, Crotchfield, Trotter, Jewell, and Tinsley were elected by senate to fill the open seats.
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Additionally, ASG discussed a proposal to move to an electronic diploma. Edith Lui, secretary for academic affairs, said the registrar sees this as more secure and potentially cheaper than a paper certificate. This online system would have a TruSeal, which allows the online certificate to be validated by the school in real time.
Paper diplomas would still be available for a small fee, predicted to be less than five dollars. This plan comes from the university, not from ASG, but the university was looking to get student input. Although the proposal isn’t finalized yet, it is likely to be implemented next year, Lui said.
Correction: This article previous said the electronic diploma would be implemented in the coming years and that Lui claimed the change would be more secure and cheaper than a paper certificate. The change would happen next year, and the article has been updated to say Lui's information came from the registrar.
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