Senator Appointments

To fill in senator positions for Student Government Association (SGA), seats will be appointed through the appointment process. The currently available senator positions are one seat for the Class of 2021, one seat for School of Business, two seats for the School of Music, two seats for commuter students, and one seat for a student-athlete. If you are interested, please complete this application and include all the constituencies you qualify for in the current academic year. If there is a position in the senate that you qualify for, SGA President, George Alderman (‘21), will reach out to schedule an interview with you. The application is available on Engage.

Information Regarding SGA’s Plan to Advocate For the Preservation Of Effective Access to Student Education (EASE) Grant 

• The William L. Boyd, IV Effective Access to Student Education Program (EASE), formerly known as Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG), provides assistance to Florida undergraduate students attending a private college or university in Florida.
• EASE is currently applicable to around 43,000 students across 29 schools and currently provides approximately $2,800 annually per student. 

EASE Requirements 

• Must be an FL resident and a U.S citizen or eligible non-citizen.
• Not owe a repayment or be in default under any state or federal grant, loan or scholarship program unless satisfactory arrangements to repay have been made. 
• Not previously received a baccalaureate degree and be an undergraduate who is in the process of attending their first baccalaureate degree
• Currently attending a private undergraduate institution. 
• In order to receive EASE, a student must have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 and earned the equivalent of 12 credit hours for each term an award was received during the academic year. 
  • There is the potential for legislation to be introduced that would impose greater requirements for EASE. Currently, it is not known what these changes are, but it is likely that it would disqualify 50 percent of EASE award recipients, which is equivalent to a 50 percent cut to the EASE program.
• Eligibility of EASE is determined at the end of the second semester of each academic year. Credit hours earned during the previous summer may be counted toward the total number of credit hours required. 

For more information about the requirements to receive EASE can be found here. 

EASE/FRAG Appropriations Over the Years:

• Fiscal Year 2018-2019
  • Program appropriation: $125,449,500
  • Number of undergraduates eligible: 38,015 
  • Estimated award per student: $3,500 
• Fiscal Year 2019-2020
  • Program appropriation: $113,912,736
  • Number of undergraduates eligible: 39,090
  • Estimated award per student: $2,841
  • Approximate reduction: $659 per year 

Proposed cut 

The cut was proposed by the Chairman of The House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Representative Randy Fine. 

In a Jan. 15 meeting of the subcommittee, Chairman Fine remarked that the criteria for receiving this grant are that “you are alive, you have been admitted, you are a Florida resident, and you are willing to go part-time.” Chairman Fine added, “personally I think that there is a problem with giving people money with that little of a standard.” 

• Fiscal Year 2020-2021 
  • Currently, there is a proposed cut of $66,500,000 (56-58 percent) to the fiscal year 2020-2021 appropriation 
  • Proposed appropriation: $52,358,917
  • Number of students eligible: 39,769 
  • Estimated award per student: $1,222 per year 
  • Approximate reduction: $1,617 per year 

Impact 

• According to the Fall 2019 Census Snapshot, approximately 1,500 Stetson undergraduates are FL residents and these cuts would cost each one of these undergraduate students an additional $1,617 per year.

Plan of Action

• An announcement to the proposed budget to EASE will be made to the student body on next Monday, Feb. 3. SGA’s letter-writing campaign will also be announced at the same time For this letter-writing campaign, SGA will be tabling outside of the CUB to encourage students to write messages on postcards to send a message to the state government to convince them to reject the proposed cuts. The letter-writing campaign will occur from Feb. 3 to Feb. 14. 
• SGA only has until Feb. 20 to send a message to State Government that we rely on these funds to contribute to receive a quality education.
• SGA is reaching out to other private institutions across Florida to encourage action across their campuses as well. 
• If you have any questions, please reach out to SGA President, George Alderman or Chair of Academic Affairs, Joshua Finkelstein. 

Diversity & Inclusion

Stetson is partnering with Pryor Education Insights to conduct a Campus Climate Survey. This survey will be launched on Feb. 3. This survey seeks to ask students, faculty, and staff about becoming a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community. Here is an article containing information about this survey from Stetson Today. 

Hatterthon

Hatterthon will be held this year on Feb. 22. It is a 10-hour event, with check-in beginning at 10:30 a.m., with the main event starts at 11:30 p.m. and the closing ceremony starting at 9 p.m. Hatterthon’s mission is to raise funds and awareness for our local children’s hospital, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Every year, 135,000 children are treated at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer. This year there is a $7 registration fee which will cover an event t-shirt and a meal at the event. If you have any questions, reach out to [email protected]. 

Register for Hatterthon here! 

49th  Floyd M. Riddick Model United States Senate 

This year Stetson’s 49th Floyd M. Riddick Model United States Senate will be taking place from Thursday, March 26 to Saturday, March 28. In order to provide both the experience and education for the students participating, the annual Model Senate replicates the actual process of procedures and activities of the United States Senate. Each student is assigned a senator in one of five legislative committees: the Committee on Armed Services, Environment and Public Works, Foreign Relations, Judiciary and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Each committee is responsible for researching and introducing a variety of bills. 

Click on this link to read more about Model Senate. 

The registration deadline is Feb. 17. Click this link to register for Model Senate. 

If you are interested and want more information, contact the Student Coordinator of Model Senate, George Alderman. 

Upcoming Events

Joint Shabbat with To Write Love on Her Arms – hosted by Hillel 

• Time: Friday, Jan. 31, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Location: Allen Hall 

Academic Excellence Reception for First-year students

• Time: Tuesday, Feb. 4, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Location: Rinker Welcome Center, Lynn Presentation Room 

Beer and Yoga

• Time: Thursday, Feb. 20, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Location: TBD 

Follow SGA for updates