The Southern Utah University Student Association voted on a bill to promote the Nearpeer app at their weekly meeting on Tuesday, and brought up new points of discussion such as changing the teaching method of required English courses.
Science Senator Kamryn Burnside-Evans proposed the bill to promote the Nearpeer app to the student body, which has been discussed by the senate in two previous meetings this semester.
The app helps students make connections with others on campus, both professionally and socially.
Co-sponsored by Business Senator Matthew Matheson, the bill stated its purpose is to “ensure all students feel connected to campus and students at SUU.” Burnside-Evans and Mattheson proposed working with the Student Involvement and Leadership Office to create videos and other marketing materials to post on SUUSA’s social media and on a portal announcement.
Without any discussion from the members, the senate voted to pass the bill promoting the Nearpeer app.
Humanities and Social Sciences Senator Amanda Walton opened a discussion about converting some English 1010 and 2010 courses to teach the American Psychological Association format instead of the Modern Language Association format. This was an idea developed by former HSS Senator Tanner Vario, who was unable to work toward it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
English 1010 and 2010 are required general education classes and only teach MLA format, but many students end up using only APA in their major-specific classes, according to Walton.
Walton wants to give students the ability to choose which format they learn by providing some classes teaching APA and some classes teaching MLA. This is similar to how some statistics classes use graphing calculators and some use Microsoft Excel, according to Chief of Staff Sam Stewart.
Veteran Representative Tony Ochsner said that “this will help SUU in the long run,” especially because SUU has an emphasis on liberal arts and is currently working toward establishing a doctorate program.
Walton said this change would also be applied to English 1010E, an English course for international students, after International Representative Ignacio Paz brought up the concern of whether international students could also choose which format to learn.
The senate voted on a motion to refer this discussion to the General Education committee, which passed unanimously.
Vice President of Finance Alyssa Sutton presented a funding request from the Men’s Baseball Club, which is asking for $2,000 to help pay their league registration fee.
Sutton explained that the club has 20 active members, and they will match the funding request by paying their own costs of travel for away games as well as the rental fees to host games in Cedar City.
The senate unanimously voted in favor of the request, granting a fund of $2,000 to be given to the baseball club.
SUUSA holds senate meetings every Tuesday from 1-1:50 p.m. in the Sharwan Smith Student Center Living Room.
Story by: Tori Jensen
reporter@suunews.net
