Student senators received a sweet introduction from a university vice president during their first meeting of the school year.

Vice President for Student Affairs Lori Reesor handed each senator one of her signature Reese’s peanut butter cups.

“I always use Reese’s peanut butter cups as a way for people to remember how to say my name,” Reesor said during her speech. “If you ever stop in my office, just grab one from the bowl on my desk.”

But Reesor’s attendance at Sunday’s meeting was about more than giving away candy.

She also highlighted some of her goals for the new school year.

Some of these goals include setting up an online course catalog with a search bar so students don’t have to scroll through the whole catalog manually, an online degree audit system for students changing their major or minor. Reesor also said she wants to have a one-stop place set up in the Memorial Union by Fall 2014 so students can “avoid the dreaded Twamley Shuffle you all keep talking about.”

Trip Expenses

The final hour of the meeting consisted of a discussion over their upcoming trip to the American Student Government Association’s annual National Summit conference in Washington, D.C.

The conference takes place from Oct. 3 to 6 and costs approximately $1,500 per student, although only the five members of the executive board will be attending on behalf of UND.

“We’ll all be learning things that will affect the entire student body,” Creamer said while speaking to the crowd.

Before approving the funding for the conference, there was a lenghtly discussion on how to minimize costs and time, so those attending won’t miss too much class.

“We’re students first, so is this worth the extra money so they can get back to class sooner?” Sen. Alan Oberg said toward the end of discussion.

Other Business

Every senator is also required to attend a few meetings for every student organization on campus, to “see how we can help them bridge the gap between them and student government and hopefully provide mentors,” according to Vice President Lexi Hanson. The organizations the senators are being sent to are all relevant to their majors and interests.

Treasurer Abi Nadeau then spoke about their financial situation, mentioning that there is currently $75,512 available to spend freely, plus another $100,000 available but only if the Senate passes a vote on its use.

Following Nadeau, Public Relations Chair Joe Kalka encouraged everyone to follow UND’s Student Government on Facebook and Twitter, as well as attend the North Dakota Student Association’s monthly conference Sept. 21 and 22 at Valley City State University in Valley City, N.D.

The monthly NDSA conferences are at a different college every month and are free for all UND students, whether or not they’re in Student Government.

Jaye Millspaugh is the multimedia editor for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected]