Three new on-campus senators were sworn in at Monday’s Student Senate meeting. The meeting also included the passage of a resolution in support of centralizing Student Health Services and Counseling Services and the introduction of two special allocation bills which will be voted on next week.

The Vacancy Committee, which consisted of three senators and Student Body Vice President Nick Webber, chose Bailey Roche, Riley Rakowiecki and Austin Northagen to fill the on-campus senator positions.

Bill 61-B-4 – Funding the Second Chair of Equity in Student Matters (ESM) Commission

The first bill to be voted on was a special allocation bill proposing to fund the second chair of the Equity in Student Matters (ESM) Commission for the 2017-18 school year.

The bill would allocate $2,172.69 as compensation for the second chair, half of what was originally requested from the Finance Commission.

“The reasoning was that, first of all, this is a brand new commission,” said Finance Director Dier Pulatov. “And we’re not sure about the workload of the commission.”

Pulatov said ESM doesn’t promote hierarchy, therefore the Finance Commission decided to compensate the second chair the same amount as the first chair.

A motion to table the bill for one month passed 14-7-2.

Bill 61-B-5 – Amending the Student Office of Sustainability (SOS) Bylaws

After a motion to amend last week’s minutes by nullifying the vote on the bill proposing amendments to the Student Office of Sustainability (SOS) Bylaws was passed, the bill was added to Monday’s agenda and presented before Senate again to be voted on.

The bill passed unanimously in a voice vote.

Bill 61-B-6 – Funding the Events Coordinator Position in the Communications Commission

The Finance Commission introduced a special allocation bill, this one a request to fund a stipend for the Events Coordinator position in the Communications Commission for the 2017-18 school year.

Pulatov said the commission decided to allocate the requested amount, which was $2,172.69.

The bill will be voted on next week.

Bill 61-B-7 – Special allocation to Pre-Law Club

The next special allocation bill introduced by the Finance Commission was a request made by the Pre-Law Club’s Mock Trial Team.

The bill proposes allocating $500 to the Pre-Law Club to cover travel expenses and registration fees. The original requested amount was $950 to cover both a registration fee and travel costs, but after reviewing the presentation, Pulatov said, it was found that the Pre-Law Club had already paid the $450 registration fee. Thus, the Finance Commission decided to allocate only $500.

The bill will be voted on next week.

61-R-3 – Resolution supporting centralization of student health services (SHS) and Counseling Services

The director of academic affairs, David Miller, introduced a resolution in support of centralizing Student Health Services (SHS) and Counseling Services.

“While writing this resolution, Chief of Staff Yates and I met with Laura Chellman, the director of SHS, and we learned more about the benefits that a centralized health location would have for students and our whole campus,” Miller said. “If student health was integrated we’d minimize the stigma surrounding mental health, improve cost efficiency and approach health more holistically.”

The resolution supports incorporating the idea of integrating SHS and Counseling Services in the Campus Master Plan “when possible.”

Kristina Haideman, the SOS director, voiced her support for the bill.

“After reviewing this resolution I think it blends nicely with our past support of mental health,” Haideman said. “Having these services in the same space — hopefully on lower campus — will give more access to off-campus students as well as on-campus students.”

Chief of Staff Branden Yates, an author of the resolution, also urged support for it, noting five other UW System schools already have centralized health services.

“Basically, we understand that this is not going to happen next year, this year or maybe even the year after next year,” Yates said. “But we’re saying that, as a student body, we want this in the Campus Master Plan for Counseling Services and Student Health Services to be in the same location.”

The resolution passed in a placard vote.