Past Initiatives

Spring 2022 Initiatives

SR-2022-02: Associate in Arts Program Senator Contingency Plan

Alex Dewey & Tori Glover

Allows leaving AAP Senators to contribute to their successors’ interviewing and appointment process.

Status: Passed

SR-2022-07: Weekend Meal Exchange Initiative

Bridget Bergan & Tori Glover

SGA and the Student Athlete Advisor Committee support the implementation of 2 mental health days per semester when needed with no questions asked as long as they don’t conflict with the registrar exam schedule and faculty is notified 24 hours in advance.

Status: Passed

SR-2022-05: Mental Health Care Priority Initiative

Rayna Katz & Tori Glover

Encourages the Center of Counseling and Student Development to increase its 8 session counseling limit per year to match the needs of the community.

Status: Passed

SR-2022-06: Russell Dining Hall Initiative

Megan Kelly, Jonathon Hezel, Tori Glover

Encourages University dining Services to extend the Russell Dining Hall hours to the weekends.

Status: Passed

SR-2022-09 - Ramadan Academic Accommodations

Areeba Khan, Julia Hatoum, & Tori Glover

Calls on the University faculty to accommodate the academic needs of Muslim members during Ramadan by allowing them to reschedule exams around fasting hours with the approval of their professor(s), dean(s), and an approved testing center.

Status: Passed

SR-2021-10: Ramadan Dining Accommodations

Julia Hatoum, Areeba Khan, & Tori Glover

Calls on the University of Delaware Dining Services to give Muslim students who fast during Ramadan the option to waive their meal plans for the month.

Status: Passed

SR-2021-11: Halal Dining

Julia Hatoum, Areeba Khan, & Tori Glover

Calls on the University of Delaware Dining Services to create a Halal food station in parallel with the Kosher station, which would accommodate the dietary needs of Muslim students.

Status: Passed

SR-2022-03: Honors College Diversity and Inclusion Initiative

Megan Tarr, Kelly Paramore, & Tori Glover

Encourages the Honors College to create an inclusion portion in their “Vision and Values”, encourages the Honors College Community Advocacy Board to collaborate with Student Diversity and Inclusion & organize an event that highlights the historical importance of Louis L. Redding and his activism because Redding Residence Hall is the only building on campus named after a black person.

Status: Passed

SR-2022-04

Executive Cabinet

Amends the Constitution to allow members who have served in SGA for two years to run for Student Body President.

Status: Passed

2021-2022 Accomplishments 

SGA x Greek Council Coalition

In order to address gender-based violence on campus, SGA formed a coalition with all four UD Greek councils to find solutions that work to keep Blue Hens safe. This culminated in a town hall with panelists from IFC, SGA, and various UD administrators.

Associate of Arts Program Committee

In 2020, SGA added one AAP Senator to the SGA body to make our organization more inclusive of all UD students regardless of what campus they attend. This resolution by AAP Senator Alex Dewey, expands on this idea by creating one senator position for each of the three branch campuses in an AAP committee.

Shared Governance with Administration: Cabinet-to-Cabinet meeting

To build our relationships with the administration, SGA’s Executive Cabinet met with President Assanis’s cabinet to address various student concerns ranging from mental health, campus facilities, finances, and gender-based violence.

Online Course Enrollment

Through this resolution, Senator Talley Ridgeway advocated that Faculty Senate and the Office of the Provost amend online course enrollment rules to allow students to take up to three online courses when enrolled full time without the permission of an assistant dean or advisor. 

SGA Promotion

In order to connect with more students, SGA has launched a promotional campaign with the EGG. We have begun the process of filming a promotional video to educate the UD community about the work that SGA does on campus. We have also transformed the SGA office into a more welcoming space for students both inside and outside of SGA to enjoy.

Career Closet

In October 2021, SGA reopened the Blue Hens in Blazers Career Closet. To learn more about the closet, visit the Career Closet tab under “Initiatives”

Appointing a Director of Outreach

Kirsten Willoughby and Kyle Jenkins have served as the Directors of Outreach for the 2021-2022 academic year. Through this position, they have connected SGA with other campus groups to represent the Unified Caucus. 

Undergraduate Seminar Class in the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

Brought forth by Academic Affairs Senator Paige Aldred of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, SR-2021-08 aims to create a seminar class that assists students in navigating next steps in their career or higher education pathways.

Protection and Support of Pro-Palestine Students and Activism

Senator Areeba Khan brought forth a resolution to the SGA body that formally supports the protection of the right to organize Palestinian solidarity student groups on campus. SR 2021-06 does not support a particular side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but instead emphasizes maintaining the first amendment rights of all students. 

UDARI Endorsement

After the University of Delaware Anti-Racism Initiative passed a Living Land Acknowledgement with support from the Lenni Lenape and Nanticoke tribes, SGA formally encouraged the Board of Trustees to pass the Living Land Acknowledgement and Institutional Action Steps with this resolution.

College of Health Science Career Database Creation

Through this resolution, Academic Affairs Senator Kirsten Willoughby from the College of Health Sciences encouraged the implementation of a career resource database to be posted on the College of Health Sciences website..

Undergraduate and Graduate event in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment

This resolution supports the development of event programming efforts to better connect the student community within the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. SR-2021-09 was brought to the SGA body by Senator Paige Aldred. 

A few notable initiatives from previous academic years:

Zoom Policy

SGA Senators and Cabinet members advocated for the implementation of Zoom policy that facilitated online learning while also protecting student privacy as they attended classes from home.

Recoop Days

Following the announcement that Spring Break would be removed from the Spring 2021 University calendar, SGA advocated for recoop days to help compensate for the lack of an academic break,

Associate in Arts Senator Appointments

In order to better represent the student body, SGA created senator positions for students in the Associate in Arts Program across all three branch campuses.

University Town Halls

In order to fulfill our role as a liaison between the student body and UD Administration, former VP of UA, Kasiyah Tatem, organized town halls through which the student body could directly ask questions to university officials. Topics have included UD response to COVID-19 and a discussion on preventing gender-based violence on campus.

Modified Pass/Fail

In the Fall 2020 semester, SGA Cabinet members presented a report of student testimonials to UD Faculty Senate to encourage the continuation of modified pass/fail while students were still learning primarily online.

Faculty Vaccine Mandate

After announcing that all students should be vaccinated prior to the Fall 2021 semester, SGA passed a resolution to be presented at Faculty Senate, encouraging all faculty members to be vaccinated as well.

Water Bottle Refill Station Installations Across Campus

This initiative was implemented for student convenience as well as sustainability efforts.

Printing Stations Installed around Campus

Printers in both Trabant and Perkins Student Centers were made possible through the work of SGA.

Late Night Dining

A need for extended dining hall hours resulted in the implementation of late night dining in Russell. This has been one of SGA’s most well-known initiatives.