The UTEP Student Government Association held its first March Senate meeting March 3.  

During the meeting, five appropriation bills were passed by the SGA cabinet. Appropriation Bill 74 included the sum of $1,474 to help defray expenses of sending 17 undergraduate music students to attend The National Association of Teachers of Singing Voice Competition at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque March 11-12.   

Appropriation Bill 71 requested the sum of $460 to help defray expenses of sending two members of the Muslim Student League to attend The Showdown Annual Competition in Texas at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, March 25-27.  

Appropriation Bill 69 consisted of the sum of $335 to help defray expenses of sending nine members of the American Marketing Association (AMA) to attend the International Collegiate Conference at Sheraton Grand Chicago Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, March 17-19. However, the sum of the bill was later amended to $1,792.80 by Senator Kyle Jacquez.   

Appropriation Bill 64 involved the sum of $335 to help defray expenses of sending one student to attend the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting in Canada April 13-17.   

Appropriation Bill 59 asked for the sum of $300 to help cover the expenses of hosting the annual 5K Run/ Health Fair organized by the University of Texas at El Paso and UTEP School of Pharmacy.   

Under executive cabinet reports, Vice President for Internal Affairs Samantha Morales reminded the senators to turn in drafts of their special projects of what they would be expected to work on in the upcoming months before the current administration ends. Morales also mentioned to the SGA cabinet to sign up and encourage students to participate in the Food Pantry Challenge. Lastly, her report concluded by speaking about the process to nominate a senator and judicial member of the year for leadership awards of the Student Engagement & Leadership Center.  

Vice President for External Affairs Armand Avila informed the SGA cabinet about a meeting with Assistant Dean of Students Charlin Jones, Ph.D., regarding the Homecoming Pageant to discuss whether SGA would continue to be responsible for hosting the event in future years.  

Executive Assistant Michael Gutierrez reminded the cabinet about a Green DOT training scheduled 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 5 in the Campbell Building. Also, Gutierrez explained an upcoming portrait session for SGA members to retake or take a new photo that they can utilize for LinkedIn, social media accounts, the SGA website, etc. He also mentioned an invitation to students and SGA members from the Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Catie McCorry-Andalis, Ph.D., to attend an event from the UT System 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 9 at the Larry K. Durham Center regarding an establishment of $300 million endowment to expand tuition assistance programs at University of Texas institutions.  

Every month, SGA senate majority leader chooses a senator from the legislative branch who goes the extra mile in their performance within a certain time. This February, the chosen senator was Gabriela Muñoz.  

“Her work as the co-chair of our EXCEL committee has maintained the operating agenda of the committee since the beginning of the administrative year, and her contributions to our Student Application Review Committee assist the government with interviewing and recommending SGA members to our senate. She also worked on a special project recently called Miner’s Chef, which helped to battle food insecurity on campus in collaboration with UTEP Dining Services,” according to a statement released by the UTEP Student Government Association via social media.  

Eduardo A. Flores is a contributor and may be reached at [email protected]; @eduardo_aa_flores on Instagram; @floreseduardoa on Twitter.