Agenda of the Senate Hofstra University Student Government Association (17th of September, 2026) Hofstra University Call to order Meeting Called to order at 6:47 pm EST Quorum Call a. Quorum set to 28 New Business b. Chair Vira moves to open the gallery i. Motion Seconded ii. Motion Passed c. Welcome Lexis and Simone! i. Lexis: I am the marketing manager for campus dining. ii. Simone: I am the campus dietitian iii. Lexis: I am always around campus. I just want to talk to you guys and hear what you guys have to say. iv. Chair Mansour: I am a commuter and something I struggle with is paying with cash on campus. I cannot pay with cash in some places. Can we make them known? v. Lexis: Every location can take cash. Of course we gave lots of kiosks so that is easier but if you go up to any cashier, you can pay cash. You can also put your phone number in when it is ready. Bits and bytes you can go to cashiers, and other places. Yes we can promote. vi. Chair Chauhan: So many popular items are not available at Dutch Treats before like chips, frozen items like cheese, dumplings, and so on. Is there something we can do about that?
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Lexis: We have QR codes around campus, so when you’re looking for specific items or flavors, just text me via the QR code. Once I get the text, I can immediately get in contact with the chefs and ensure that every student’s orders are accessible. Please let us know if things like, for example, Oat Milk, aren’t showing up because I can’t see all the things you may see. Chair Vira: I have two questions. First, sometimes in the student center the condiments won’t come out correctly. For example, if I squeeze ketchup, BBQ sauce comes out. Also, what is happening with ABP? Lexis: Please let us know about the condiments via text as human error is generally the reason. As for ABP, that is something that comes from higher up and note that dining locations are changing and we want to update concepts. Comptroller Peri: I had a question about the breakfast place. Many food places don’t match our class schedules, such as the breakfast place closing at 11am when classes go til 11:05. Lexis: The breakfast place is on boost and you can start prepping orders the night before. We have 10 kiosks at the student center, so that plus orders via boost can be a bit difficult for the people who work at the breakfast center to handle. Also, the Netherlands has breakfast all day. Breakfast at stu closes at 11am so that we can prepare for Copperhead Jacks. Senator Pierre: I had a question about the opening of Yellas, and the fact that it is another burger place. I am concerned that with the closing of ABP, we are replacing a healthy option with an unhealthier option. Lexis: As Yella’s is a franchise, we use the franchise menus. I’ll let Simone speak to healthier options on campus. Simone: Yella’s has grilled chicken sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, and veggie burgers as alternatives. It may not be the healthiest, but it is an option for students. There are many healthy options on campus; however, I understand it can be overwhelming. I meet with all students who reach out to me individually and I work to accommodate special requests. As for new places opening, we don’t have much power in that, but as Lexis said earlier, we constantly are open to change. Chair Bokhari: I enjoy Yella’s but I noticed its not on Boost, I was wondering why that was Lexis: Yella’s will be on Boost in the next few weeks. Because this was the first week we had no Yella’s trainers, we wanted to make sure our staff would be able to handle orders. It will come soon, but we wanted to ensure
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people weren’t waiting and that the food would come out efficiently. We will make an announcement when it’s on boost. Chair Dzaveluri: My main question is that we’ve talked about having healthier options, but I’m more so wondering what you do to promote the existing healthy options and if you’re wondering if you had any collaborations with wellness departments on campus. Simone: I am constantly working to promote healthy options. We held “Dietations Picks” and I table weekly as well as have been working to increase our presence. We collaborated with RA’s recently and Lexis makes sure to post our events. Lexis: You can go and order your food anyway you like. It is also educating you on how to build it in a healthy way. It is how the student orders. Simone can meet with you at the kiosk and go through the healthy options. Simone: When you leave Hofstra, dietations are expensive. So, make use of it while it's free. We can make meal plans for you. I eat here all the time so I am always customizing. It can be hard to narrow down choices so a customized plan is effective. Lexis: Utilize Simone. When you are ordering, think of how you are eating. Senator Hamilton: Did you have any impact on having Freshens or Halal Shack open on weekends? During the weekends, I find myself not eating healthy options. Lexis: Yes, we can bring that up to the people above. Chair Chauhan: I recently had the opportunity to speak to some freshman and they were saying they spend lots of money each day. Is there more support available and how can we push for that support? Not many of them look at the budget aspects. Lexis: we can post about it more, like our value-meals, to show students what they can get with their budget. First year students may be trying everything to figure out what they like. But it is important to educate them on spending. My team will come up with a nice video. We love to collaborate in cayse you want to be in our videos. Senator Smook: I was wondering if you could add an ice cream place on campus. Ever since they got rid of the ice cream machine, I think an ice cream palace would be fun. Lexis: We have Sweet Treat Wednesdays which has ice cream. I am also trying to get waffle cones so we can do ice cream waffle cones one wednesday. It is always fun to have a sweet treat every week. If we can do it, I want to bring it to you guys.
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Senator Verdone: Some places sell their dessert separately like Yella’s and hofUSA. Can there be more signage? Lexis: Yes we will try to make it more visible. Gallery Member Brody Eberhardt: I don’t have the best purview on this, but I heard people order boost because they take time to get there. People are very inclined to steal boost orders because no one will see it. Are there any parameters to catch these people? Lexis: With all orders, you will have those people that try to steal. If your order ever gets stolen, let someone know right away so they can make your food again./ Some locations hold your food back like Hofusa. But everywhere is hard, because you'd have to flag someone down to get your food. Either way could be convenient for someone. But, we suggest you let us know so if it is something that keeps happening. We do have supervisors all the time to make sure that doesn't happen. Senator Pierre: For students that have developed aversion. Some food can be stale. How do you market food knowing food aversion exists. Simone: I constantly see food aversions. I cover a few different campuses around the area and I always say something I love the most about Hofstra is that everything, for the most part, is build your own style. Because of this, if you have a food aversion and want to expand your palette, I think having an individual meeting with me is great because we can work around your goals and what’s bothering you. All these are case-by-case, so I help as needed. Senator Hoffman: For gluten-free options, it's been more difficult. Paper Lantern used to have gluten free soy sauce and it doesn't anymore, for example. Is there anything you are doing to make those options accessible to students? Simone: We never use the term gluten free. We say gluten-friendly because of the risk of cross contact. French fries don’t have a dedicated gluten free fryer so they are still a space issue. We do have gluten friendly bread, wraps, and tortillas. We have gluten-free soy sauce at Paper Lantern. I checked on Monday. We do have gluten-friendly ramen coming soon. We got a new pasta maker to make it separate. Make sure you always verbalize your needs to an associate so it alerts them to wash their hands, change their gloves, etc. We are constantly looking to bring in new items and ensure inclusivity in our meals. We are trying to offer many foods that are free from gluten. Lexis: We are trying to ensure that there is always a gluten-friendly option, including breads, etc. We also made a video on instagram where we ordered gluten-friendly options at almost all dining locations on campus. It
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really showed us and our associates that people are consistently coming and watching to ensure that food is being handled safely and properly. Simone: Go to instagram: eatingatHofstra and watch the video! Lexis: Halal shack changed all their signature bowls and remarketed. You still can order customized bowls and make it gluten friendly. All that stuff allows you to pick what is gluten friendly and what not. Senator Painuli: My concern is about vegan options on campus. The current vegan options are mostly salads or smoothies and generally aren’t available over the weekend. Sometimes their dressings aren’t even vegan other than HofUSA vegan tenders and tofu at the ramen place. Can you add more vegan options that are hot foods? Simone: We love the feedback and we are always looking to improve. That is something we will bring up with our chef. Chair Noel: I wanted to speak about Eats Around the World and its impact on campus. Can it be available for pre-order on boost since it is year round? Lexis: Thank you so much for all your help in getting Eats Around the World up so early. Today was the first day, we had HOLA’s menu! They will be happening weekly on Thursday. I will have to see if we can add it to Boost, but we don’t have access to adding items daily. That’s why the only place not really on Boost is Delicious Without because its menu is constantly changing. I can see what I can do about adding Eats Around the World as it can sometimes take 3+ days to implement. This is the second year of Eats Around the World. Last year it was twice a semester and it went so well by bringing so many cultural foods to our campus. We decided to make it every Thursday. We are super excited to bring new food to the student center. I have been trying to do this for years. BLAC has been constant for the past 6+ years, where they've been giving us recipes and we've been trying other clubs and it slowly died out. With your help and support, I am looking to see it grow. Chair Mansour: Is it possible to add another kiosk in Dunkin? It gets overwhelming there. You can’t really boost it on the spot either. Lexis: I can ask and see if that’s doable. Chair Vira: For some reasons, Dunkin isn't able to take gift cards. I know last semester you did steak night., Would you bring that abc and would you consider seafood night. Lexis: I wish they could take gift cards but Dunkin does not have gift cards integrated with college campuses. I wish they could take that into consideration. For Starbucks, it's the same register as other starbucks,
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Dunkin doesn’t have that ability. Steak night is coming back. One is in October and one is in November. I will try to get another seafood night. Senator Smook: What resources do you have for students with eating disorders? Simone: Being a registered dietitian, I have eating disorders. Students can reach out to me. They can feel safe sharing it with me. Based on their permission, I can refer them to a therapist, or counselor etc. Senator Saint-Fleur: What food is available in the market, and how can I keep in the loop without physically going in? Simone: DineonCampus.com/Hofstra is our dining website and it tells you what's on the menu. You can use that as meal planning on campus. Gallery Member Gabrielle Sanders : Will there be promotion of the dietary services you provide. I see the “Meet Your Dietition” programs, but do you have any larger scale programs for students, especially Freshman? Simone: If you walk around campus, I see my face everywhere. If you miss that sign, I am always on instagram. I do weekly tablings in the student center, in bits or bytes or the fitness center. Following our Instagram is the best way. I am definitely around and available. I do cover different campuses so I am only here twice a week but I try to foster a relationship with different departments so they can refer me to students. I am on the website and I do publish things there. Gallery Member Layla Dickson: This is a promotion and budgeting question. Are there any flash sale possibilities? For example, my high school did that for our coffee shops on national coffee shop day that would have 35% sales. Simone: On special days we usually try to do something. We have our value-meals. Lexis: We have limited time offers every month. October ones are coming soon. We do different retail bundles as well. We have a buy-one-get-one free bag of chips. Now we have ten bags of chips for $5. That is one way to save money. We are trying to do more mobile ones too. We do a lot during the semester so keep an eye out, especially at the end of the semester. Gallery Member Quinton: I know Boost has had technical issues such as specific locations not on boost and them ordering food but never receiving it. Has there or can there be done on that? Lexis: Everyone who has been here, knows I have a love-hate relationship with boost because we can't control it. Talk to the manager or I will personally come there and fix it. The only thing not on boost yet is Yella’s. I wasn’t aware of the sandwiches from Dunkin, but they had a tech come
in and it’s fixed now. There are so many managers on campus, so I don’t see everything. Little things let us know. I just spoke to our manager too, so I want things to show out-of-stock. This will also help us audit the menus as well. lviii. Senator Danek: I’m wondering about the $7 meal deals. Is there a way they could be expanded all around campus? Even if we can’t do $7, can we do $8 or maybe even $9? Does Freshens have one? lix. Lexis: Every internal brand should have a $7.50 dollar meal. Ramen upstairs is getting one as well. They are adding some options as well. Most of the internal brands should have them so if you noticed an internal brand not having one let us know. Yella’s also has two sandwiches that are value-meals. We will be rotating that as well. Is there a location in particular? I will ask about Freshens to see if it is possible, because it is a franchise. With Yella’s they were on campus so I was able to ask. lx. Senator Chahcon: Chicken nuggets. I wish they were chicken nuggets in HofUSA. The popcorn chicken is so popular in the stu. I want more fresh fruit options like a new fresh fruit every week like kiwis. lxi. Lexis: We can look into that based on seasons and costs. lxii. Vice President Iacobovici: Everyone is going to talk to us and Maisa and I will send you an email tomorrow. We would like a chipotle sauce in HofUSA and the Student Center. I was also wondering about the feasibility of bringing paper straws back and having more in food spaces in tru burger and bits have the Starbucks sippy cups instead of lids. lxiii. Simone: We will see what can be done. We just need to see if we can procure them and see if it fits in the budget. lxiv. Lexis: Are there any events you guys really liked and would like to see again? lxv. Chair Chauhan: Compass karaoke and the food. I don’t like the mocktails but I know people miss it, so just making things stay longer like a week long. lxvi. Senator Arscott: Sweet treat Wednesdays and empanadas. lxvii. Secretary Thani: Walking tacos. lxviii. Lexis: We try to spice things up and some things we try to keep when you guys like them. I will bring back all your feedback. You guys make my job so much easier. Send me a text and let me know what you’d like. d. Welcome Steve Richman! i. Steve: I am the Associate Vice President for health, wellness and campus support services. You may not see me often but you definitely see my team. I genuinely understand the purpose of SGA. I was in SGA myself. I went to law school here so I am an advocate. I can tell you it matters what
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you do. It is always part of your life. I genuinely believe in this university. I am also a professor of law here, so I am aware of all the nitty gritty details that are important here. I work closely with Jess Eads. You are more than welcome to come visit me in my little corner. I heard a lot of your questions relating to Lexis, and there is a lot of overlap with our teams. I oversee the student health center. We have CAs, RNs, etc. that operate regular hours during the semester. They offer a lot of services and I want to make sure the work is out there. Student counselling services offered licensed mental health support for students. We want toys to take care of yourselves and others. Timelycare is an addition to counseling services to allow 24/7 mental support. Disabilities, accommodations, anything, Kaitlyn Sullivan works in that area. Brittany Rhoden, our title IX coordinator, we have renamed her office. Her office is student equity, compliance, and wellness education. Grace does more proactive learning in that space. Club recreation, including dance team, prep band, mascots,etc. We are working on more synergies linking these. Career services, Mark and his team have been moved to Weller hall. We are making an intentional effort. We had a career far recently and we had a large turnout. We moved some dates around to make sure we had the right employers etc. and they are very active in lashing you etc. We also have a career boutique to borrow clothing. Anita Ellis has moved to work with our teams. She works with community service. This week there is a beach cleanup. She works with the local community and we encourage campus to be involved with her. We also work with summer camps. We want to incorporate that. It is a great place to get a job. We have over 700 children participating. They need counselors etc. The folks that run these teams are super engaged. Senator Chacon: What are the numbers for students that use Timelycare and is that what you expect? Steve: Unfortunately I can’t disclose that number because everything there is confidential. It is highly used. It is used as a scheduled counseling option that is secondary to seeing someone in person. You have a set number of sessions per year, same to if you saw a counsellor. The second option that is available 24/7. It is not a chatbox or AI. It is a licensed specialist that is available. You may want to speak with someone with a similar background. Timelycare opens you to that. It is heavily used and we do use it monthly. Chair Chauhan:: Almost all offices at Hofstra have an instagram except the wellness office and at this time only social media is appealing to students. I think it would be beneficial if the wellness office had an
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instagram that included all your offices. Second, I love the de-compression lounge but I know that people don’t use it often, even though there was a marketing push. I think it would be good to have it on the south side or one in the student center. As for the website, they have added services provided, but can you add free services provided. People aren’t clear on if they have the right insurance and I know they offer free services but not everyone does but just clearing that up would be good. Another thing is tabling. I know the first few weeks are crucial. I think tabling would be crucial and I haven’t seen anyone from wellness do it. I know OEI does a campus survey. Does wellness plan on doing something like that because we don’t really have any data. A final thing is about the international student office relating to CPT or OPT. There was panic and the only thing I got from the international office was that there was a webinar being offered. I think there needs to be more outreach from the international office. Many students are overthinking even being in the international office at this time. Steve: Social media is important. Let’s find a way to get that out. I want to make sure the contact hits home. We are doing our best to get things done so it is usable. I want things to be hitting. I do want to collaborate with you guys on what services you are missing. I want SGA collaboration in doing that. I want to use methods that are better and if social media is the way, then let’s do it. Maybe we can use the wellness media office. I am willing to come up with a communication plan. Most of the services offered on the website should be free. If that’s not clear, that is something I will take forward. I wasn’t aware we aren’t doing tabling. Do we need to have a rotational table that sits there week after week? We can definitely work on that. A wellness survey is in the works. In order for us to make decisions, we need data dedicated to wellness. I genuinely understand the concern with CPT and OPT. I will reach out to the international office. I know there was a court case. I know we are working with students that fall into those buckets. We are working on another decompression lounge on the south side. We are just trying to find a space. We also need a more pronounced sensory space. We are also going to try to have that in the student center. Senator Pierre: I have 2 questions. 1. What are your initiatives to support students of color that may not have the same perception or understanding of mental health? And second, the summer camp job. I noticed that the pay was $12 an hour and I think that may be a reason why many people don’t work for it because it’s not a lot of money. Additionally, I think
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having rotating advertising plans is really important as you’re in charge of a lot. Steve: As far as getting mental health support to students of color, we try to help everyone. As for specialized support, we do table identifying needs of different groups, I will talk to Mary. For summer camps, that's newer for me. I haven’t gotten to the hiring side. It is probably on the lower side of pay. That is 100%. Let’s look into it. I know they hire high school, college students etc. Is having a rotating wellness table helpful? I will start getting that rolled in. Chair Mansour: For instagram, the fitness center and campus dining has a marketing intern. Having one of those for the wellness department would be good for increasing jobs, and especially for marketing students. And since we are students, we would know what other students would like to see. Students that go to the wellness center report that there were not very nice people. Friends and I have had bad experiences. Steve: Yes, it helps with content. Sometimes we want short reels, some with mascots, etc. That is not okay. If that happens, I am free to be your advocate. If that is happening I need to know about it. Senator Dayton: If you are interested in training your own PSD, how can the school help with this? How can we promote this more for people? Is there a way for these dogs to have a place to run around? Steve: Of course we have policies and student access manages those discussions, but I will take that up with Kate Sullivan and her team. Hofstra has an agreement with puppy with a purpose, where hofstra will be a space for training a service animal. The puppy’s name is Dutch. Dutch will be here as a service animal training, and that launches this month. It is a golden labrador. Senator Painuli: I want to bring up the aftermath of timely care including medicines and many students don’t have access to those medications. Most pharmacies also take 2-3 days to come by. What can we do? Steve: Student help has a psychiatric nurse practitioner who has the ability to write and fill prescriptions. You can also have delivery of medications to the wellness center. They can also provide a number of over-the-counter drugs at no charge. We do provide that at the health center. A social media account may be beneficial here. Senator Hoffman: I was wondering about the process of making appointments for Student Counseling Services. Making the appointments for in-person counseling is still quite difficult. This could be a marketing issue, but also a big concern is that they have to make a phone call. This
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process makes people give up and just generally less likely to do if appointments are so inaccessible. Steve: That is something we talked about last year. We started monitoring the wait time. I worked with all my teams to ensure all services could be accessed quickly. I will look at that with the teams. It wouldn’t capture if someone got frustrated and walked away. If there is a better way to capture that, I will take it forward. Chair Vira: My first question is regarding the fitness center. They don’t like that there are no arm machines in the fitness center. Is there any way to add more arm machines to the fitness center? Secondly, what plans do you have to expand the SAS resources? Steve: Anita Ellis is shifting her gears to specifically move to SAS in an engagement role. A lot of the resources are there. Anita’s role is specifically to be a liaison. As for the arm machines, let’s go to the fitness center. Everything is being constantly updated so if something is missing, let’s add it. Senator Arscott: I wanted to talk about concerns about ABP becoming another lounge. A lot of commuter students have to walk further. Are there any plans for food places that are closer to students off-campus? Steve: Is compass saying what is going to be in that jurisdiction? Sometimes decisions are made and sometimes we just need transparency and input. Chair Dzaveluri: I want to talk about the counselling services. We have a collaboration for ADHD awareness month. I like the event idea and I like that counselling services are involved with SGA. but some people don’t even know what they do or how they do it. I think Instagram would serve greatly and I want to know how SGA can help. I want to help them get outreach towards the student body. I like merch that has resources like numbers and also reels. I think SGA has good outreach so if we do collaborative posts, that would also have good outreach. Steve: I think the more we have it out there the better. We probably have people that need counselling services. We advertise counselling services to every channel on campus. Wellness walks are making sure that everyone is there and everyone is nice. I want to understand what will resonate. In addition to the social media posts, what else can we do? I am really open to ideas because I want to make sure when you need it you have it. I would love to collaborate on swag with you guys as you have great events and access to students. If we can enhance that, I am open to it.
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Senator Valenzuela: Pet therapy, can there be more time and availability? And not enough dogs come. I spoke to Grace and she said the dog looked more stressed than the students. Just to maybe bring more dogs. xxiii. Steve: I know we have such programs with outside vendors. I will reach out to them if those are things we will benefit from. xxiv. Senator Chacon: Career Center has been pushed a lot, especially for first years. How did that go and were there ups & downs? I love that the career fair went so well. xxv. Steve: Not every initiative works. There is learning, Getting students engaged was a problem. It was successful, we engaged with students in ways we had not before. We did photoshoots for headshots. We got a lot more inventory in the career boutique. It drew more people in. I am really happy to report Mark and his team were successful. We want to make sure everyone is involved. xxvi. Chair Mansour: I have a professor with a strict attendance policy limiting absences to two no matter what. Is there something we can do about that? xxvii. Steve: That’s not my area, but let’s bring that forward. If we can’t give you the exact answer, we will take it to someone. xxviii. Vice President Iacobovici: Since there is discontent with the health center and people being rude, something we could suggest is sending students in with an agenda to ask questions to the professionals and have those students report back to you. xxix. President Ahmad: This is a complaint. Summer camp, now that the fitness center is not going to be storing items for the summer camp, could the open area and fitness center be opened to the students? The captain of the volleyball team was carrying it back and forth from their dorm because there was no storage space.. I have a recommendation for social media. Please don’t use AI. I would recommend a social media intern of sorts. The counselors at student counselling are not good. Dr. Keisha Cameron and Dr. Mary are great but the others are not that great. Maybe we can have an additional counsellor who can support those students. There were animal issues last year. Can there be additional help with that? Can there be a refrigerator medicine box for students to pick up in the student center? xxx. Steve: Let’s walk the campus. If there is something in the fitness center, let’s go through it and understand if it’s feasible. Where we can get things done, let’s get it done. Where people are not doing things right, let’s follow up on them. e. What is Club Recognition?
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Chair Chauhan: I am here to talk about the SGA check-in process. SGA has three categories for clubs: pride, blue, and gold, each of which has a different budget percentage. We are responsible for putting clubs in a check-in process, where they have access to more funding. There are a few requirements. Club resources take care of this. When you vote today, you are giving your opinion and making sure they have all those things. ii. Comptroller Peri: What CR does is that they make sure all the requirements are met and senate gives their opinion. iii. Senator Verdone: I was told I could not promote my club. Is there any ways new clubs can promote without getting in trouble, iv. Chair Chauhan: You just need 15 or more people to start a club. You just need to go to events to tell people to join the group. v. Comptroller Peri: You can’t promote because you are not OSLE recognized. f. Club Recognition Presentation–Hofstra SMACS i. SMACS Presentation 1. SMACS: We are the executive board of the bio-chemistry club, SMACS. Our mission is to provide a social environment and volunteering opportunities for members. We host our meetings on Wednesday at common hour. We discuss and then do an experiment. We had a pretty good turnout for our last event. We have a really good fundraiser for ice cream that around 50 people attend. We also participate in a national conference. Collabs for this semester include liquid nitrogen ice cream with Culinary Club and a slime meeting with BMES. We need more funding so we can host events to promote, teach and spread chemistry knowledge. It would make our opportunities more accessible. Sometimes we make students pay to cover the cost. The NCW also requires money. We want to also have other collaborations but we need funding for those. 2. Senator Pierre: What’s the difference between SMACS and CSTEP? 3. SMACS: We have study break sessions with students. We are a club like other clubs and we do meetings with other clubs. 4. Senator Chacon: CSTEP is only for New York students and people of color. There is more of a restriction. 5. SMACS: We include all people. ii. Deliberation 1. Verdone: How much more money?
2. Chair Chauhan: We just moved them from one category to another so I get access to a large pool of funds. We are just giving them the opportunity to apply for a bigger budget. 3. Senator Arscott: I am in favor. I have attended the liquid nitrogen ice cream. It was definitely successful and active. The fact they had to pay out their pockets was not ideal. 4. Chair Chauhan: During their nitrogen ice cream, they can't scan passes because it’s outside and people pass by. Attendance is much larger than recorded. They are responsive and they are working towards more. If we allow them to have a bigger budget, it would be better for the e-board. 5. Senator Painuli: As a member of two stem e-boards, there need to be a lot of interactive aspects to the event. Scientific experiments and processes are really important for these programs and they need more money to be able to plan those great programs. 6. Senator Smook: I agree. It is a very cool and creative idea for a club. I am not into chemistry but I think people should do what they are passionate about. We should give them more money. 7. Chair Vira: I agree. They seem passionate and like they have great events planned. Them having to pay out of pocket means they could’ve benefited from our money. 8. Chair Dzaveluri: not a lot of clubs have interaction with faculty. I think we should have a club like this that invites faculty. It is very important and cool to interact with them. 9. Chair Vira moves to complete the check in process for SMACS a. Motion seconded b. Motion passed g. 5 minute break! h. Con Con Review i. Comptroller Peri moves to suspend the rules 1. Motion seconded 2. Motion passed ii. President Ahmad: I want to address the Constitutional Convention that was authorized through S.A. 2026.91.01 at our July 12th Senate meeting. When this action was presented, the purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to review and potentially revise the SGA Constitution, particularly in areas where our current governing documents may be outdated, inconsistent with current practices, or simply unclear. At the time, the Senate determined that moving forward with the Convention was appropriate. However, after further consideration of the process, its timing,
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and what is best for the organization moving forward, I believe we should formally reconsider that decision. This is not a statement that the Constitution should never be reviewed or amended. Rather, I believe that if we are going to undertake something as significant as a Constitutional Convention, we should do so when the Senate, Cabinet, and the organization as a whole are prepared to give that process the appropriate time, consideration, and participation that it requires. Because the Senate has already adopted S.A. 2026.91.01, I do not believe that we should simply stop moving forward with the Convention without formally addressing the action that authorized it. Under parliamentary procedure, the appropriate way to address a previously adopted action is for the Senate to formally reconsider, amend, or rescind that action. Therefore, I intend to recognize a motion to rescind S.A. 2026.91.01, which authorized the Constitutional Convention. The motion I am prepared to recognize is: “I move to rescind S.A. 2026.91.01, the Senatorial Action authorizing the Constitutional Convention.” If properly seconded, the Senate will have the opportunity to debate the motion and ultimately vote on whether to rescind the action. I want to make clear that this is not intended to prevent future constitutional reform. The Constitution is a living governing document of this organization, and there may be a time when a comprehensive review or even individual senatorial actions may be appropriate. If that time comes, the Senate can take up that question through the proper procedures. For tonight, however, the question before us is simply whether we want to continue with the Constitutional Convention authorized by S.A. 2026.91.01. I believe the Senate should make that determination formally, transparently, and through the procedures that govern this body. Chair Vira: If we were to do this, maybe things that we were working on before, we can present them as SAs? President Ahmad: We are no longer changing our entire constitution. You can still propose SAs to make that change. It is just taking that pressure for us to complete Senator Verdone: How do we go about changing the constitution? President Ahmad: Exactly how we explained. I think it would be beneficial for the senate to have these discussions in a way that is more beneficial for our organization to be more consistent and have discussions without the pressure of the con con. Pierre: In senatorial action 1, it called for two committees. Would we also be dissolving those two committees?
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Lily and AAri would still hold those positions. They just won’t be working on the con con. I am grateful for their time. It is just about taking away the pressure and allowing change to happen at a slower pace. Lily Based on communications last week, can you go over what it is like to go over the con con? Someone would move to rescind the senatorial action for the con con. There would be debate if needed, and then go through the process. Pierre: has rescinding a motion ever happened. Yes it happened in the 88th and 86th Senate. It happened for larger scale changes. Comptroller Peri moves to reinstate the rules 1. Motion seconded 2. Motion passed Senator Pierre moves for a 5-minute moderated caucus to discuss the con con 1. Motion seconded 2. Motion passed a. Senator Pierre In the beginning when we decided this, we agreed to this and last week we had a first draft. It seems as though the changes that people wanted didn't pass, that’s why we are removing it. We have roped senators into things they didn’t know about. We still need to continue with this even though we have policies we didn't want. b. Chair Vira: I am understood as someone who has worked on one of the committees. We put in so much work, and we can do a SA that addresses those issues like grammatical issues. c. Senator Verdone: I don't think we are prepared for a Con Con. We spent two hours disagreeing over two sentences. We should move slowly and implement small changes separately. d. Senator Hoffman: I think we already spent so much time and that’s why we should continue with it. To do senatorial actions at this point. Cancelling it is not a good idea. We should honor the work. e. Chair Dzaveluri: The best course of action is to close the Con Con and proceed in small steps like senatorial actions. Both committees worked a lot but all the big changes, were not fully agreed upon.
f. Senator Saint-Fluer moves to extend the moderated caucus by 2 minutes. i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed g. Chair Dzaveluri: The best course of action is to proceed with the small changes. Everyone at the table should not have to sit for hours when we can do it through smaller actions that would be done the same. h. Chair Chauhan: I want to echo the previous speaker's points. Before the con con was proposed, there was a presentation about how it works etc. so people understood what it was. There was an effort made for people to understand what it was. This is not about we could not get something passed so we don't want to do it. We spend so many hours on this. The fact that the committee of detail did not do anything this non-operation week is not true. The things that were done and those nitty gritty changes. i. Senator Danek moves for an 8 minute moderated caucus about revising the Constitution. i. Motion seconded ii. Motion Passed j. Chair Chauhan: I also just want to address whether those changes will be passed. It will be. I will work with anyone that is interested. I will assist you with SAs that you want to present. It is more about efficiency and saving time. k. Comptroller Peri: I was very involved in this Con Con. I wrote a lot of changes and was a part of the Committee of Detail. I don’t believe this Con Con would pass. We spent 4 hours on 2 to 3 points that a vast majority of Senate does not agree on. I think we have 2 options. One, do the Con Con on ONLY the things we agree on. Or 2, we do Senatorial Actions for every section. I did that over the summer and it worked out well. I think if we do Senatorial Actions to adjust each section and ensure that it is updated to reflect our day to day activities. From there, people can make future changes via a Senatorial Action. Even if you agree, disagree, or don’t even care- this Senatorial Action will not pass and rescinding it will allow us to move forwards. If we spend every Senate just shouting and debating this, we won’t have the opportunity to advocate
for our student body. We have new senators coming next week and I don’t think we want to bring them into this. l. Senator Urban: I agree with a lot of the previous speakers' points. A lot of the content could have been changed with a series of senatorial actions. A large portion of the constitution was still capped. I know that senatorial actions take time and effort but this is what the alternative is, where we take months to put something together for it to not work. I think we should break things into senatorial actions. m. Chair Vira: I understand how those who put effort into the convention feel. If we put time into the Con Con, it won't pass. So, it would be wasting everyone’s time. n. Senator Pierre: There are a lot of people saying that Senatorial Actions are the way to go. A lot of this seems as though we could have avoided it if we decided this from the jump. We still roped senators in. I am questioning the logical rationale. o. Senator Chacon: I agree. When we decided this over the summer, I thought we were changing what was to beto be updated and there was a lack of communication. For me to see that there are brand new things that haven't been discussed before, and I knew people must have been confused. There was such a lack of communication, I would agree with senatorial actions without continuing the convention p. Senator Verdone: We did a lot of important work but that doesn’t mean we have to continue. I didn't know how long or how hard this would be until I was q. Chair Chauhan: It was thought about. r. Chair Chauhan moves for a strawpoll to rescind S.A.2026.91.01 i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed s. Comptroller Peri moves to rescind S.A. 2026.91.01 i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed i. S.A.2026.91.05 i. Presented by Chair Chauhan ii. Chair Chauhan: The Senator-Elect policy is a new addition to the policy. This means that any competitive seat shall automatically assume the
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position of Senator-Elect. They will serve as an associate until a senate seat becomes vacant. This person would fill vacancies and would be the person with the highest number of votes. Once sworn in, they would be Senator-at-large. Senator Urban: Does the Senator-Elect position completely replace the associate position? Chair Chauhan: Anyone can be an associate if the president deems fit. We will still have associates. Senator-elect is a newly available position. Senator Hoffman: How is it decided on who is elected next? What about ties? Chair Chauhan: OSLE has that information. It is never released to students. Sev would tell us that information. It would be communicated through the elections commissioner and then president and vice president. I understand the second question and will speak with Sev and it is up to his discretion. I will update you all after I discuss with him. Senator Pierre: Will there be training for these Senators? Chair Chauhan: The President and vice president and Elections Commissioner, can always be available to help because we all want our Senators to succeed. We also have to trust them and the leadership we have here. They will already serve as associates and will understand what senate is about. I don't think that is a big enough concern. Senator Painuli: Would senator-elects be considered for the following or upcoming elections or would they have to rerun? Chair Chauhan: Everyone has to rerun in the spring. If they get the position in February, they still have to rerun. Senator Vira: Could there be a subclause that the advisor will inform the senator elect. Chair Chauhan: I dont think thats necessary because the advisor already handles that. I talk to Sev everyday and keep him updated so I think if we ask him he would know. Senator Pierre: Is there going to be a cut off at which point no senator-elect can become senator-at-large. Chair Chauhan: No not necessarily Senator Verdone: Would senator elect participate in senate retreat Chair Chauhan: No because they wouldn't be senator as yet Senator Urban: If someone drops out when we are not in session, such as summer, does the senator-elect still fill the seat? Chair Chauhan: Yes, they could become a senator. Senator Hoffman: The way it is worded, justices would also become senator-elect.
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Chair Chauhan: This is under the senate section and it also says Senator-Elect. Senator Pierre: Friendly in section 1D.(a), senator-elects shall serve as “Associates”. Senator Gillani moves to pass S.A.2026.91.05 1. Comptroller Peri: Abstain 2. Secretary Thani: YAY 3. Chair Vira: YAY 4. Chair Chauhan YAY 5. Chair Ruffo NAY 6. Chair Dzaveluri: YAY 7. Senator Danek: Abstain 8. Senator Dayton: YAY 9. Senator Gillani: YAY 10. Senator Hamilton - YAY 11. Senator hinojosa - YAY 12. Senator Hoffman - YAY 13. Senator Painuli - YAY 14. Senator Pierre - YAY 15. Senator Rhodes - YAY 16. Senator Chacon - Abstain 17. Senator Saint-Fluer - Abstain 18. Senator Smook - YAY 19. Senator Soares - Abstain 20. Senator Tenebruso - YAY 21. Senator Urban - NAY 22. Senator Valenzuela - YAY 23. Senator Verdone - YAY
Approval of the Minutes j. Chair Vira moves to pass the Senate minutes from 9/3 i. Motion Seconded ii. Motion Passed k. Chair Chauhan moves to pass the Cabinet minutes from 9/16 i. Motion Seconded ii. Motion Passed
E-board Reports l. President i. Hugo Meeting ii. Meeting with Suzanne Shane on 9/23 iii. Meeting with CIO Jesse Webster on 9/24 iv. Meeting with Provost on 9/24 v. Campus Access Committee on 9/25 vi. Send me your goals! m. Vice President i. Senate Retreat Reminders! ii. Senate Expectations!! iii. Tell your friends to become associates!! 1. Email me n. Comptroller i. Meeting with Mark Oppenheimer on Monday ii. Comptroller Subcommittee: o. Secretary SGA Fall ‘26 Calendar i. ii. Reminder to do your office hours! - 1 for senators, 2 for cabinet members iii. Snap Cup iv. Cub/Lion Pair - Fill it before the next senate! Committee Chair Reports p. Appropriations i. Minutes for September 15th ii. Treasurer Trainings! q. Club Resources i. Minutes for September 14th ii. SGA CheckIn Meetings iii. New Club Applications now open iv. Elections! 1. Voting opens September 21st Monday 2. Tabling a. Please sign up now b. Encourage people to vote, giveaways if they have voted v. Club Constitution Updates r. Communications i. 09.14.2026 comms minutes s. Programming i. Programming Minutes 9/15/26 ii. Orders for fall fest tabling have been placed iii. Casino Night / Quote received from company that would put on the event but it’s definitely out of our budget will see if can talk the price down iv. B-A-F Orders Underway v. Reminders
1. Fall Fest October 17th Intramural Fields / Mini Fishing Carnival Game with Sweet Treats 2. Build a Friend - November 9th MPR 5:30-7:30pm t. Academic Affairs AA minutes 09/17/2026 i. 1. Discussing student outreach ideas a. Newsletters, surveys, and social media 2. Upcoming meeting with Provost Riordan a. September 25 from 11:00–11:30 AM 3. Upcoming meeting with CIO Jesse Webster a. Date is tbd 4. Exploring collaborations with CUA and the Honors College 5. Discussing Veterans Day ideas 6. If you have any questions, want me to raise an issue in an upcoming meeting, or would like to work together on an initiative, just let me know! u. Equity & Inclusion i. Minutes ii. National Inclusion Week: Almost Done!! 1. Rep Your Flag Day - Friday, Sept 18th 12-3pm in Pride Park a. Sign up Sheet iii. 9/9 Meeting w/ Hugo 1. La Bienvienda @ Hofstra (Monday, Sept 28th 1pm -3pm in MPR)Need Support! a. Sign up Sheet iv. 9/14 Meeting w/ Lexis 1. EAW started THIS WEEK THURSDAY 5pm- 8pm in Stu Center HOLA Menu a. EAW is EVERY THURSDAY 5pm-8pm in Stu Center!!!! v. 9/15 Meeting w/ Aisha 1. Student Unity Network - Member interest form 2. Student Belonging Focus Groups Oct 18th & 28th 1pm -2pm a. Sign up vi. 9/17 Meeting w/ Cornell v. Facilities & Operations i. Minutes ii. National Inclusion Week: no longer hanging posters, placards are being placed around campus to advertise the gender neutral restrooms iii. Currently discussing better ways to advertise Hofstra signage and directories iv. (09/15/2026) meeting with John Palasits 1. Discussed keep hofstra beautiful (residence halls, recommended a digital version
2. Wants to promote res life more on campus, possibly come to sga for q and a on res life v. (09/16/2026) meeting with Sev vi. Wants to advertise lounges in academic buildings more often vii. Look at the root of the parking issue (see what students are actually dealing with). Upcoming meetings: Meeting next week with Simone (Campus Nutritionist) for collab on dietary restrictions table during EAW Campus Access Committee with Maisa 09/25/2026 w. Wellness & Campus Safety i. Wellness Minutes 09/17 1. Hope Fest went really well!! 2. Tabling with the One Love ambassador a. Sept 28th during common hour 3. Meeting with Jovanni 4. Working on Plan Van sign-up system a. September 2026: 23, 30 b. October 2026: 7, 14, 21, 28 c. November 2026: 4, 11, 18, 25 d. December 2026: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Approval of Committee Minutes x. Senator Pierre moves to pass the committee minutes from 9/14 i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed Club/Organization
Amount Requested
Amount Allocated
%
NAACP
$400.00
$400.00
100%
CIAO
$69.00
$69.39
100.56%
PSA
$400.00
$415.06
103.77%
Project EmpowHer
$499.20
$499.20
100%
Approval of Allocations a. Senator Danek moves to pass the allocations from 9/15 i. Motion seconded
ii.
Motion passed
For the Good of the Order y. Anything SGA related! Announcements z. Anything non-SGA related! aa. RA programs! bb. Celebrity karaoke night! Snap Cup cc. Decorum suspended Adjournment dd. Senator Urban moves to close the gallery i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed ee. Senator Urban moves to adjourn this meeting i. Motion seconded ii. Motion passed 1. Meeting adjourned at 10:21 pm EST
Cabinet Agenda PPAW Conference Room September 16, 2026 6:00pm Quorum: Present: President M. Ahmad, Vice President J. Iacobovici, Comptroller P. Peri, Secretary K. Thani, Chair J. Vira, Chair F. Bokhari, Chair A. Mansour, Chair A. Chauhan, Chair J. Ehrlich, Chair R. Noel, Chair N. Dzaveluri, Chair S. Ruffo Absent: Agenda: I. Meeting called to order: 5:59 II. Icebreaker: Camera Roll Rewind III. Collaborative Business: A. Expectations Reminder 1. President Ahmad: I am disappointed in this week, I saw people doing things that shouldn’t have been done. What is said in cabinet, stays in cabinet. I expect everyone to fully understand that. We are here to respect one another. The purpose of SGA is to represent the student body properly. This should be a safe space. I don’t want to hear you guys speaking smack about each other. I am excited to work with you all and I need you to be the role models, and you are all so capable. I don’t want to yell at you guys but I want us to be able to have a conversation. Ask me if you have questions. If you have a complaint, bring it to me. We will have conversations. Please check your inbox and keep updated with your emails. I want to have 1:1’s with you guys regularly informally. I expect you guys to be the best of the best representation. I am hopeful we won’t have this conversation again. B. MENASA Name Change 1. Chair Chauhan: MENASA reached out to me about changing their name. They want to be called the Arab Student Organization. The process is simple. You change your constitution and share it with CR.
It was flagged by OSLE despite me talking to Hugo recently and their concern that MENASA changing its name to ASO, is that MENASA is different from ASO. The conclusion that we came to is that if cabinet is okay with it, Sev is okay with it. I can help you understand why it would be considered different. 2. Chair Dzaveluri: New purpose to the organization but if the club and its members are okay with the name change, I don’t see why we should interfere with the name change. 3. Chair Vira: If it is unanimous with the club it should be fine. 4. President Ahmad: Do they have a general body consensus? 5. Chair Chauhan: The only person not aware of this is Ferheen. Everyone knows and they are okay with it. They haven’t had a meeting yet to bring it up to everyone yet. 6. President Ahmad: I think you should be at the meeting when it happens. I see why OSLE has concerns because MENASA isn't arab. A lot of North African and some Middle Eastern countries are not Arab. 7. Chair Mansour: I do see how the name could be excluding. 8. Chair Bokhari: Arab is middle eastern. It would be weird if I am not arab and I am on e-board. 9. Chair Noel: Have they had the opportunity to meet this semester? 10. Chair Chauhan: Not all clubs have set meetings. Active members are iffy. There will never be consensus because we don’t know everybody in the club, but there was consensus between old and new e-boards. I will be there for that meeting so we can see what the consensus is. 11. Chair Mansour: Just to confirm, if the name changes, does it become a completely new club? 12. Chair Chauhan: We can’t tell them not to change the time, but we can tell them it changes their purpose. Their primary reason for changing the name is not because they want to change how they represent their culture, but they want a name that’s more marketable and reputational. A lot of people are not from those regions and don’t feel represented. ASO would give them a stronger foothold on campus. 13. Chair Mansour: I do agree but the name excludes a whole community as a whole.
14. Chair Chauhan: Yes, that is why it won’t go through unless there is unanimity. 15. Chair Dzaveluri: I thought they wanted identity through the name change but what you're saying is that they have marketing problems. I don’t think it makes sense, and I don't like that Ferheen was excluded. I take back my first comment. 16. Chair Chauhan: There are still people who are arab and show up consistently and want that shift to feel more included. There is an ASO on every other campus except here. He did not put it the way I did. It is more to be able to appeal to that population. 17. Comptroller Peri: I understand the difference between Middle Eastern, North African, etc. but MENASA is a mouthful, and is there another way to generalize? Is there a way to put it into words? 18. Chair Bokhari: I think originally they wanted to do something like Salaams, but I don’t know what is happening with that. 19. Chair Noel: It would have been different members except those changing another name. 20. Chair Vira: Arab students and the club feel like they need a new mission and aim, they should start a new club. 21. Vice President Iacobovici: I agree with John and I assume this was something that was talked about. This was seen as something that was agreed upon but Ferheen wasn’t included in that meeting. I understand that the old e-board agrees, but the new e-board doesn’t so this seems like an internal issue. 22. Chair Chauhan: I did not know until yesterday that Ferheen did not know. Another point I want to bring up is how the President disagrees with the middle eastern name because it is so euro-centric and he doesn't think it should be used. This shouldn’t be used to represent so many people because it has a history of colonization. They would be open to a new name that isn’t ASO. They just don’t like MENASA. 23. Chair Vira: What about a west-asia club? 24. President Ahmad: We don't have a problem with them changing their name, but ASO is not the same as MENASA. Aari should meet with Ibrahim, and speak with him about alternatives like Salaams. Be at the meeting where everyone decides whether they are okay with
ASO. They would have to change the mission, aim, and so on, and then create a google form that stays between you and them. C. Plan Van 1. Chair Dzaveluri: I have a meeting with Peggy and she says that it is not utilized and she wants a system where students can make anonymous appointments to access it. It is in front of pride park and students don’t feel comfortable. Any suggestions for platforms or sign up sheets? 2. Comptroller Peri: The school pushes timely care. We should implement it with timely care and use the same system. 3. Chair Dzaveluri: That would require a new contract with timely care. 4. Chair Chauhan: The best way to sign up would be google forms, and the best marketing would be tabling. In the past, that generated the most traffic. If you bring someone you get $20. That should be marketed more. We could also have giveaways and so on. 5. Chair Dzaveluri: We have planned tabling on December 2nd with planned parenthood and I think I can add that one love ambassador so I can ask Peggy for flyers or anything. I think that could work. 6. Vice President Iacobovici: I think the anonymous google form but I think that would require Peggy doing the heavy lighting and having a student run it, would mean increasing that stigma. If planned parenthood has their own platform, that would be good but i think it would have to be more her than you. 7. Chair Dzaveluri: How anonymous would the google form be? She told me to run it with Brittamy so I will in the next meeting. 8. Chair Mansour: I think marketing makes it seem as not as a big deal. Something that is funny, interactive and reaches everyone’s feed. 9. Chair Chauhan: Having a sign up day that would be a student led silent protest where there is a big marketing push. When you put a time constraint on something people do it. 10. Comptroller Peri: One of the biggest things is that it is in pride park and that is an open location. What if we move it to a secluded location and we table and say the plan van is somewhere. 11. Chair Dzaveluri: The problem is the contract. We have two locations, one is Pride Park and one is Stuyvesant. Pride park is a better
location and there is nothing we can do about it. Even getting a contract for that takes weeks. 12. Chair Chauhan: Plan Van is directed more to freshmen, and if it is near to freshmen buildings, usage may go up. In the past, it wasn’t possible. 13. Chair Dzaveluri: I can definitely talk to them about other possible locations, but this contract took all summer and I am not sure if it will be done before next semester. 14. Chair Mansour: Will collabing with other organizations help get their members? 15. Chair Dzaveluri: Collaboration is definitely possible, I also want to give them a table for finals frenzy. Plan van is not a club so it may be hard to collaborate with other student organizations. 16. Chair Chauhan: Sororities would be good for the volunteer positions that they have. Talking to community service chairs of different organizations and encouraging people in their chapter meetings to have that flyer. D. How can Hofstra address sustainability initiatives, to become a more sustainable/eco friendly campus 1. Chair Ehrlich: At the beginning of the semester, I got a passionate email from a student. I want to emphasize the message of an eco-friendly campus. One suggestion was the possibility of having a compost outside of the dining hall. The food is often thrown away. Their proposal is to have it outside the school for flowers and food scarps. It would be free fertilization and we would just provide the bins and stir the compost. I think the compost bin could be a new initiative towards this sustainable campus. They asked me what other clubs besides LEAF are advocating. Why is there a bird sanctuary if there were no birds? Hydroponic farm where students could buy produce. What do you think of these ideas and what ideas do you think we should do? 2. Vice President Iacobovici: We also have a student led garden already and one thing you can do is push for that to be expanded. With the compost thing, processed foods, which is most foods at Hofstra, creates strong odors and that would attract bad things. My idea would be by the fitness center, the green space, but I couldn’t see it
anywhere where there are people. About the bird sanctuary, it is disgusting. It is not upkeep. There is trash in the water. There were no birds and it was a sunny day. From the naked eye, it looked like it was abandoned and not upkept in years. The first thing would be to make the bird sanctuary an actual bird sanctuary. It would start with making the place clean. 3. Chair Chauhan: The odor would be bad. One thing I see as an easy way is to introduce paper straws instead of plastic straws. 4. Chair Vira: With the compost idea, besides the odor, when the bin is full where does it go? 5. Chair Ehrlich: I assumed the compost would be thrown out when it was full. 6. Chair Vira: It is going to smell really bad and this has created a big mice problem in NYC. Adding more electric cars and charges is an idea. 7. Chair Ehrlich: I understand all your points and I agree. It would be better to have them in an open area because there will be a smell, and every other thing is processed. 8. Chair Dzaveluri: First, paper straws. They were introduced to Hofstra during my first or second year, and it only lasted for a semester. It’s in our reach, because I remember SGA advocated for it. Also, the plastic containers, we switched to compostable containers. Also, for the bird sanctuary. We are not utilizing Greek Life for volunteer hours as much as we should be. Perhaps we could have their volunteering at the bird sanctuary for pride points. 9. Vice President Iacobovici: SGA could start this with an event collaborating with FSL, and LEAF, SOAR etc. You could really start a big clean-up activity and offer up some prizes for team members. Also, we have an environmental studies department and even with that idea, and coming up with new ideas, they definitely have more on how to be more environmentally conscious and so on. You can also have recycling “how to’s” and put them in bins. 10. Chair Ehrlich: I appreciate that and I will look into that. For the bird sanctuary, I have had meetings in the past, and he said the bird sanctuary is being used. I would like to think it would be used. Even
collabing with Dr. J Brett, who is in the sustainability department. He has done a lot. 11. Chair Dzaveluri: You should also reach out to Sasha, who works for accessibility, food chain, and animals. She is also in charge of the student-led program. 12. Chair Mansour: Would there not be a good reason for them to not have the paper straws anymore? I personally find paper straws mushy. What about lids that let you drink from them instead of straws? 13. Comptroller Peri: That is the reason we got rid of them. 14. Chair Vira: They just melt. Starbucks came up with hybrid straws. Why don’t we switch to paper cups instead of plastic straws? 15. Chair Chauhan: I like that and a good way to start is having an availability of both paper and plastic straws, so there is availability. Countries have banned plastic straws and it works. A way to get there is to get there slowly. 16. President Ahmad: I like the ideas, and incorporating Greek life and ourselves. E. Meeting with PSafe 1. Chair Dzaveluri: I was wondering if you guys have anything to bring up on my appointment. 2. Vice President Iacobovici: Everyone always comes up to me. Weed and Adams Hall, there used to be parking. There are tables and lights there cutting off spots. Why would you change the parking policy and put tables there? I heard complaints about it, and no one said wow. People see the Breslin faculty lot is empty 99% of the time and it is completely crowded by the stu. What if faculty isn’t allowed to park on the residential side. The faculty parking lot there is always empty. The faculty lots are never that full. Maybe that's an idea that doesn't change much but appeases people. 3. Chair Chauhan: Anytime I have seen a PSafe officer respond to an emergency, they walk slowly and it is usually annoying. I have never seen them have a look of urgency. I don’t like it and I don’t feel safe. 4. Comptroller Peri: I have a lot of friends that live near the PSafe and the CV Starr area. And there is no parking available to them even though there are four lots nearby, and they are never full, and people
who live there can’t park there. I honestly think that all South Campus parking lots should be first come first serve. 5. Chair Bokhari: Last year, parking was not regulated. But eventually people would get a ticket with no email or warning. I think that is unfair because there is no signal. 6. President Ahmad: They didn’t ticket anyone in the first week. I assume there was communication. Let’s look through the communication first. 7. Chair Dzaveluri: I definitely saw some emails before school. 8. Chair Mansour: I saw Jess Eads was sending emails before. 9. President Ahmad: They want to shift to opening lots but they want a testing period. Hopefully they are prepping for this. Take pictures of lots when they are empty. I have also heard a lot of grad students complaining. 10. Chair Ehrlich: I would suggest that public safety consider doing a survey. I was told to find the root of the issue, so I think a survey will help clarify and say what exactly are the problems. It would specify who and what issues, to get better results. My other thing was the shuttle. Public safety would usually say they are on the way but people end up waiting long. Last time, I was told that the bus was being refilled but I wish I was informed of this. There should be more communication between those who are at the desk and those on the phone. 11. Chair Vira: Could you ask about the university club parking lot. That is an easy lot for commuters. 12. Chair Chauhan: There is a big gap between the shopping shuttle between the 5 and 8 pm. 3 hours is too long. Moving the 10 pm picking up time and having 9 pm be the end, would be better than that 3 hour. I understand we may not be able to move the routes, but can we change timings. Can you also remind me about the tracker? 13. Vice President Iacobovici: You could tell them to be nicer when they are called. It is just rude. Someone came to my dorm when I was not on duty but they assumed I was the RA I would know. 14. Chair Chauhan: When someone calls public safety, they need to be able to transfer people.
15. Secretary Thani: Can you tell them to post the numbers for the different shuttles? 16. Chair Chauhan: If you ask the night shuttle operator, they are supposed to tell you how far they are, but they don’t. F. Senator Liaison Programme 1. Chair Chauhan: We talked about this in committee and I am looking for a way to reestablish this in a way that gets them more involved and in a way that things are done. Any time any club reached out to me and it was a club of a certain category, I would cc the liaison to join my meetings. 2. Comptroller Peri: I don’t think there needs to be expansion when there is no reason to, it would make things harder. I had the same problem with my sub-committee. I would just focus on making them efficient with the work they have right now. 3. Vice President Iacobovici: I think requiring liaisons to attend events and meetings could make them known and involved and allow SGA to get out there. 4. Chair Vira: They could reach out to religious clubs and reach out to their advisors if they have issues. 5. Chair Chauhan: Some of them would be interested and some not. I want everyone to participate in some capacity. I don’t want to say this is a mandatory event for you. While we are reviewing constitutions, I was thinking of assigning senators to different ones. Do we think that is too much for them? 6. President Ahmad: I did that and only John did that right. I don’t think people care enough, and so it would not be reliable. It wouldn’t be very fair. H. Cabinet Photos 1. Chair Mansour: I have been in contact with Matteo. We might have to do it on Friday. What times would work best for everyone? Fridays. 2. President Ahmad: Can you text Matteo and tell him we are available on Friday from 12:00-2:00 pm. Can you tell me which Fridays work until October, if not common hour. 3. Chair Noel: Is Friday the only day that works? 4. President Ahmad: Lots of meetings happen during the common hour. I tried to get that information from you guys.
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5. Chair Vira: Fridays are quiet in school. 6. Chair Bokhari: So he can’t do weekends? 7. President Ahmad: No he is employed by Hofstra. G. Paper Cab? 1. President Ahmad: This means we won’t meet next week. If you all promise to fill this in with in-depth minutes, we will do a paper cab. Updates A. President 1. Meeting with Lexis tomorrow! 2. Meeting with Suzanne Shane on 9/23 3. Meeting with CIO Jesse Webster on 9/24 4. Meeting with Provost on 9/24 5. Campus Access Committee on 9/25 B. Vice President 1. Senate Agenda a) Guests for tmrw: Lexis and Simone/ Steve 2. Senate Retreat Reminders a) Presentations due 9/20 b) Schedule 10:45-3pm, 5:45-9pm 3. Senate Guest list: (do we want anyone else for the sem?) 4. Associates… a) Coming soon b) Share the form with people!!! c) Form 5. If you miss more than half a senate, #absence 6. Idea: Free food group me, Having a group me, similar to the pulse check group me, with just as many students as possible that could shout out where free food is at events! C. Comptroller 1. Better records! 2. Meeting with Mark (Fitness Center) Monday 3. Met with Hofstra Concerts Tuesday 4. Get your Purchase Requests in! a) At least 1 week before b) 2 weeks for Catering if possible D. Secretary
1. Room Reservation / GIHU Form - require graphic to upload 2. Catering Request Form 3. Fall '26 Calendar 4. Closet 5. Decor!! 6. Reminder to update your committee attendance on the roster sheet. 7. Please make sure all your email signatures include the new long logo. 8. Sharing the cub/lion form in senate tomorrow! E. Academic Affairs 1.
AA minutes 09/17/2026
a) Going to discuss some student outreach ideas with committee through newsletters, surveys, and social media b) Meeting with Provost Riordan (1) September 25 from 11:00 am (2) Registration reforms, a potential town hall, faculty office hours, issue with class size for some entry level language classes and midsemester CTRs (3) Anything you want me to bring up let me know! c) Meeting with CIO Jesse Webster (1) September 25 at 10 am (2) PridePrint, Adobe Express, supply stations, SGA email issues, and the idea for a new Degree Works planning tool (3) Anything you want me to bring up let me know! d) Potential collaborations with CUA and the Honors College e) Veterans Day stuff to be talked about in committee F. Appropriations 1. Minutes for September 15th 2. Treasurer Trainings! G. Club Resources 1. Minutes for September 14th 2. Elections a) Please remember to vote b) Opens September 21st 9am ends Wednesday September 23rd at noon c) Tabling sheet
3. Club Constitution Updates 4. Club Office Access a) If you know anyone who cannot get in please let me know immediately b) Please give them my number H. Communications 1. Minutes 2.
Takeover fall 2026 Outline
3. Two weeks flyer notice I. Equity and Inclusion 1. National Inclusion Week: Almost Done!! a) Rep Your Flag Day - Friday, Sept 18th 12-3pm in Pride Park (1) Sign up Sheet 2. 9/9 Meeting w/ Hugo a) La Bienvienda @ Hofstra (Monday, Sept 28th 1pm -3pm in MPR)- Need Support! (1) Sign up Sheet 3. 9/14 Meeting w/ Lexis a) EAW starts THIS WEEK THURSDAY 5pm- 8pm in Stu Center (1) HOLA Menu (a) Flautas de pollo (b) Cheese & Potato Empandas (c) Elote (d) Papa criolla (e) Tres leches Cake 4. 9/15 Meeting w/ Aisha a) Student Unity Network - Member interest form b) Student Belonging Focus Groups Oct 18th & 28th 1pm -2pm c) Sign up 5. 9/17 Meeting w/ Cornell J. Facilities and Operations 1. Minutes 09/16/2026 a. Had a great first committee meeting (lot’s of ideas/engagement) b. Discussion of extending “Keep Hofstra Beautiful initiative into the residence halls”
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recommended to make it particular to each residence hall (Keep Alliance beautiful, keep C-Square beautiful etc.) c. Discussed possible ways to advertise the Facility Reporting Form better (social media, hyperlink, Hofstra story) i. I would like to centralize this where there is a clear distinction between the work order form, facility reporting form, and work request form d. Discussion of making the parking signs and directories stand out more i. students have felt that the current signage looks bland and boring ii. I have reached out to John Ambrosini and Dave Trustey of Facilities to see if a possible graphic of kate/willie, Hofstra logo, pride logo, can be added 1. possibly a mini figurine of kate and willy on top iii. Meeting with John Palasits (Res Life) 1. is in favor of the Keep Hofstra beautiful in the dorms, 2. RA’s can hang up the posters (not creating any additional work to their current RA responsibilities) Notes from meeting here iv. Meeting with Sev yesterday 09/15 Notes from meeting here 1. discussion of advertising the work order link more often and centralizing it 2. mentioned to me that facilities and operations should be involved in walkthroughs/some discussion on renovating the lounge space in Breslin hall as well as the outdoor walking areas 3. possible participation in walking tours on campus v. Collaboration w Simone to advertise dietary restrictions (tabling), currently in communication with her, meeting next week to set up details
K. Programming 1.
Programming Minutes 9/15/26
2. Orders for fall fest tabling have been placed 3. Casino Night / Quote received from company that would put on the event but it’s definitely out of our budget will see if can talk the price down 4. B-A-F Orders Underway 5. Reminders a) Fall Fest October 17th Intramural Fields / Mini Fishing Carnival Game with Sweet Treats b) Build a Friend - November 9th MPR 5:30-7:30pm L. Wellness and Campus Safety 1.
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VIII.
Wellness Minutes 09/17
a) Hope Fest went really well!! b) Tabling with the One Love ambassador (1) Sept 28th during common hour c) Meeting with Jovanni (1) Anything you want me to bring up? d) Peggy and timesheet for Plan Van (1) September 2026: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 (2) October 2026: 7, 14, 21, 28 (3) November 2026: 4, 11, 18, 25 (4) December 2026: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 For the Good of the Order A. When elections open, flyers may still be there. Please trash them when you see them. B. Please cleanly write minutes C. Please show Adiba that you’ve signed out of the SGA Insta D. Business Casual for Senate Announcements A. Jacob and Nene RA Event! B. Maisa RA Event! Chair Vira moves to adjourn the meeting. A. Motion seconded B. Motion passed! Meeting adjourned: 7:35 pm
Respectfully submitted, President Maisa Ahmad