What is SA?

The Student Association is the student government of SUNY Fredonia. All 130 campus groups are either acknowledged, chartered or constituted within SA and have to comply with SA regulations in order to receive funding for events and activities.

Each week there is a General Assembly meeting at 5:30 p.m. in G24 McEwen. The Assembly convenes to pass a weekly consent agenda, release funding to groups and debate funding requests, and address concerns of the public. The current president of SA is senior political science major Dahn Bull, the vice president is Jason Mellen, a junior Enlish adolescence major.

SA's budget this year is $1,225,035. The budget comes from the student activities fee, which was $95 this year. 'Acknowledged' groups receive a budget of $1000 per semester, 'chartered' groups receive $1,500, and 'constituted' groups receive individual budgets based on a special hearing. The largest budget for a single constituted group this year was in excess of $100,000.

The General Assembly is made up of the voting representatives from each class. Each class elects representatives in the fall. Bull said they try to have one representative for every 100 students in a class.

Within the executive, legislative and judicial branches, SA has three standing committees- the Rules committee, the Budget and Appropriations (B&A) committee, and the elections committee.

The Rules committee conducts hearings with campus groups to determine whether they will be acknowledged, chartered or constituted, and enforces such rules as the requirement that each group put on four events per semester. It is currently chaired by Kaylene Dunning, Speaker of the Assembly.

The Budget and Appropriations committee is a 10-person panel that spends a full week in February reviewing the budgets for every constituted group and balancing the entire SA budget. They also deliberate funding requests for events during the semester put on by chartered and acknowledged groups. It is currently chaired by Comptroller Patrick Horn.

SA meetings are moderated by the Speaker and follow Robert's Rules of order, a parliamentary procedure that details the processes used by the body to make decisions. The General Assembly meetings are open to all students and are meant as an open forum to for students and groups to network events, activities and campus initiatives.

Reporting done by Peter Viglietta, news editor