The United Student Government (USG) met on Monday to discuss new bylaw resolutions to change how USG presidents are elected.

The rules committee planned on enacting parts of bylaw Resolution 02182019.1 – making presidential candidates go through an interview process to be valid candidates. Beforehand, the president would nominate fellow USG members to become candidates.

Dean of Student Life Michael Gieske commented on the resolution, criticizing the ramifications of putting the constitutional change into effect.

“You are now forcing every new president to do it that way,” Gieske said.

Senator Grace Tyler Frank-Rempel defended the decision, stating that the resolution was going to be enacted to prevent a future president from choosing friends and possible nepotism.

The resolution would have still left the ability for presidents to choose candidates, but was sent back to the rules committee for further review in their next meeting.

Treasurer Kortney Lampel detailed USG and club budgeting, stating that clubs have spent $5,747 of their budgeted funds and that USG has personally spent $1,043.

Senator Alexa Lake added that when club heads meet in March to submit their APF funding form for clubs to receive funding, they will receive a guide on how to submit them. The guide will feature a “do’s and don’ts” of what to budget for in a club.

Lake stated that the previous methods of teaching club heads how to budget was inconsistent and took too long to fill out for many clubs at once. Lake also stated that the new guide would make the finance committee’s jobs more consistent while bylaws about budgeting would become more transparent.

The proposed guide would translate the formal language found in the constitutional bylaws into language that was comprehensible for non-USG students. Lake also commented that this guide was not created in response to the recent Point Closet budget debacle.

The student concerns committee has recently designed a flyer to raise awareness for students with invisible disabilities. The sign, titled “Think Before You Judge!” advises students to be mindful of other students that are required to take the elevator to only move up one floor.

Senator Jacob Berlin expressed concern over how signs and posters were attributed. He commented that students would not understand that only certain committees and members worked on projects if a poster was attributed generally to USG. Berlin stated that the direct attribution of projects to certain committees would direct commendations and criticisms to the appropriate people.

USG has been making headway into making improvements in the dining hall. Senator Mathew Johnson pointed out the recent placement of disinfectant wipe dispensers in the dining hall, a valiant effort to combat the sticky tables that have led to numerous complaints from students. Senator Jade Steele has continued to work with CulinArt on having allergen notice labels for food served at the dining hall. She has also considered hiring a nutrition expert to help label foods.

Senator Dennis McDermott is working on a USG radio program on WPPJ. McDermott is attempting to structure the show as a weekly podcast that catches the public up on progress, projects and plans set in place by USG in another effort to become more transparent.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the rules committee was planning on enacting parts of bylaw resolution 02182019 to change how presidents are appointed. However, presidents are not appointed but elected by the student body, and the bylaw resolution discussed was 02182019.1.