Miami University's Associated Student Government (ASG) voted two new off-campus senators into office at their March 1 meeting. According to David Hall, ASG's press secretary, the spots had opened up because two senators left office after break. Austin Hawley and Nick Huber took the two open spots in a closed vote.
Hawley, a political science major, said he plans to leave a definite mark on Miami while he is a senator.
"I would really feel comfortable in the role," Hawley told ASG. "I love how you guys are really trying to impact Miami for the better and want to leave it a better place than when you got here."
Hawley said he plans to represent constituents from his fraternity as well as non-Greek students.
Nick Huber, a finance major and member of the Chi Psi fraternity, said he wanted to use technology to better connect students both on and off campus.
"I'd like to take a practical approach, such as reaching out to students through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, sites students use every day," Huber said. "I'd like to take a more proactive approach to empower off-campus students."
According to Huber, a stronger presence within social media would enable ASG senators to connect with their constituents more. Huber also said he supports an initiative by Student Body President Heath Ingram that would suggest Miami create a program for incoming first-years providing guidance on how to be successful Miami students.
"I think helping students understand what they're becoming a part of as they come in and shaping their perspective will change things," Huber said.
According to Hall, Hawley and Huber might have to rerun for office during the general elections in April but will hold office until the end of the school year.
In addition to voting in the new senators, ASG also passed a bill encouraging the university to reexamine the class registration process. The bill addresses improving the efficiency of the BannerWeb online registration process, the frequency of classes offered and the option of implementing peer-priority registration.
According to Narmar Doyle, ASG secretary for academic affairs and author of the bill, peer-priority registration would limit honors students and student-athletes to only registering ahead of other students in their class rank.
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With the passage of the bill, the Office of the Registrar will make any final decisions regarding how scheduling could change.
Senator Michael Sinko said limiting priority registration for honors students will have adverse effects. He said that graduating seniors do not lose their class seats to first-year honors students as they are more than likely on different tracks and limiting the honors program will unfairly hamper students participating who are double or triple majoring and still trying to graduate in four years.
Senator Matt Weber said all students, not just honors students, deserve a chance to graduate within four years.
"It's great that the honors students want to graduate in four years, but I think it's more important that everyone gets to graduate on time," Weber said.
According to Senator Kyle DiDomenico, a forum including representatives from the honors program and the athletic department would be beneficial to formulating a peer-priority registration process.
Sections of the bill bringing attention to Bannerweb's technical issues and calling for more sections of classes to be offered also received unanimous support.
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