SGA Update 10/03/18

The SGA meeting on October 2nd was short but covered a few large topics. The large topics addressed were a new student org., the upcoming accreditation, and SGA’s endorsement of the new STEM building.

As of October 2nd, student senate has recognized GIS (Geographic Information System) as a new student org. GIS is a science-based geography that focuses on gathering, managing and analyzing data. One GIS that everyone's heard of is google maps which can recognize patterns, relationships, and situations to help the user decide. The GIS org. first plans to update some of the outdated mapping at the university and in downtown River Falls.

Coming up in about two weeks will be the reaffirmation of accreditation which will be carried out by the Higher Learning Commission. Every ten or so years universities around the northwest of the U.S. are put through an accreditation process ordered by their individual state governments. The accreditation is used as a way for the state to make sure that the university is still functioning properly. Students can help during these accreditations by showing up at events and asking questions to the evaluator(s).

The final big piece of news for the night was the SGA’s endorsement of the new STEM building. The STEM building or Science and Technology Innovation Center had already been endorsed by the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. The regents included a request of about $111 million in enumerated funding for the project that will be considered by the state legislature and the governor.

The new STEM building would be placed where Hagestad Hall currently stands and would replace the aged Centennial Science Hall. It would hold majors such as biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology/neuroscience and would also accommodate for growing fields like agricultural engineering and neuroscience. The new space is planned to feature 12 Instructional lab suites, active learning studios, and 32 research spaces and will total over twenty-two thousand square feet.