DSG wraps up semester by reflecting on future goals

Representatives debated changes to the Student Organizations and Finance bylaw at their last meeting Wednesday.
Representatives debated changes to the Student Organizations and Finance bylaw at their last meeting Wednesday.

The Duke Student Government Senate celebrated its last meeting of the semester by reflecting on their accomplishments and looking forward to the next semester.

At their Wednesday night meeting, Executive Vice President Nikolai Doytchinov, a junior, reminded senators to stay focused on their goals for the rest of the year.

“I know there have been some things that I wanted to accomplish this semester that I have not yet done,” Doytchinov said. “I will take some time over break to see what needs to be my priority next semester.”

Representatives debated changes to the Student Organizations and Finance bylaw. The presentation highlights the creation of new, more concrete processes for auditing and dissolving student groups.

Junior Joyce Lau, chair of the Student Organization Finance Committee, said that on average about half of student groups that request recognition or charter status are approved.

“There are a lot of inactive groups,” Doytchinov said. “In fact just this summer we de-chartered several groups that had basically been doing nothing for three years.”

He estimated that nearly $30,000 was recovered from the funding from the annual budget after de-chartering these groups.

There are well over 500 student groups currently registered with the University, Lau said. She estimated that only about 100 of those are currently active.

“We are going to be de-chartering about 400 groups,” Lau said. “That is honestly the biggest change that is coming to come from this bylaw.”

Previously, there was no specified and clear method for de-chartering groups that had broken rules or become inactive.

The bylaw was tabled to be voted on at a later meeting.


In other business:

President Stefani Jones, a senior, said that she and sophomore Lavanya Sunder, vice president for services, have made forward progress in bringing a bike sharing program to campus.

“We will hopefully be starting the bike sharing program next semester,” Jones said. “We are really excited about that.”

The Young Trustee Nominating Committee has had its first meeting of the year, and applications for the position will be sent to the student body Thursday.

Junior Ray Li, vice president for academic affairs, reminded senators that tickets for Saturday’s ACC championship football game were still available.

The group Duke Swim and Splash, which helps sick children in Durham, was granted chartered status.

The Consulting Club was granted $2,791.59 from the programming fund to fund a management consulted boot camp.

Legislation introduced by senior Leilani Doktor, vice president for social culture, granted $500 to purchase pizza for a football watch party in the Penn Pavillion this Saturday.

Doktor encouraged all students to attend the party.

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