Student Senate hosted a meet-and-greet on Monday in the Michel Student Center Ballroom. Students met with the cabinet and discussed their interest in knowing more about the organization’s plans for Bradley.
Student body president Erin Bousek said the event was a chance to build presence on campus and let students know that they’re a resource and a potential organization to join.
“Beyond that, we want to get a more social and empowering culture within senate and within the university and this is the step towards that,“ Bousek, a senior electrical engineering major, said.
Bousek said that the energy from the event is enough to make her look forward to projects for this year.
An initiative Bousek is looking forward to working on this semester is to have a syllabus bank available to students before needing to enroll in a course. She claimed this project can have students understand the course load required.
Along with the syllabus bank, Student Senate is bringing speakers to General Assembly meetings along with some planned forums. Speaker of assembly and former student body president, Emma Hoyhtya, is looking forward to the chance for peers to speak with administration on campus.
“Last semester we had to do a presidential forum where the president came to speak and we had a Q-&-A session,” Hoyhtya, a senior management and leadership major, said. “This year it will be open to way more people.”
Some planned forums include one with president Stephen Standifird, chiefs of Peoria and Bradley police departments, chief financial officer Sheryl Cox and more.
“We’re inviting a lot of administration [to General Assembly], and potentially even Mayor Ali, I don’t know if that’s gonna happen, that’s a stretch, but we’re really hopeful,” Bousek said.
Previously, general meetings and events hosted by the cabinet had been online. Hoyhtya said that by having an in-person event, she can finally put names to faces that were previously icons on a screen.
“Our cabinet works really well together, we’ve been able to keep in-touch with each other personally and professionally,” Hoyhtya said.
Bousek said that while she may have nerves about what she’ll be able to accomplish in student senate, she knows she has a staff with experience to help along the way.
“I got a great team by my side,” Bousek said. “I’m super excited to build off of the work that Emma and her team did last year and keep the momentum going.”
General Assembly meetings are open to all students in the Garrett Center Ballroom at 5 p.m. every Monday.
