Student Association logo. Image obtained from the UWL Student Association Facebook Page.

On Wednesday, Sept. 13, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Student Association (SA) met to swear in new and returning senators, appoint senators to committees, and hear updates on what senators’ respective committees have been doing so far this year.

Kyle Burke, Director of University Centers, provided SA with an update on Eagle Fest from this past Friday, Sept. 8. The third annual Eagle Fest was attended by around 6,000 people and Burke expressed his appreciation for those involved to ensure the festivities ran smoothly.

In her advisor report, Dean of Students Kara Ostlund brought attention to the fact that September is Sexual Health Awareness Month. Ostlund informed SA of an event the Student Health Center is hosting to provide free STI testing both on Sept. 14 and Oct. 12, open to UWL students and Western Technical College (WTC) students. In lieu of Oktoberfest, Ostlund reminded SA of OkSOBERfest, a series of events at UWL promoting alcohol-free fun.

Following advisor reports, student organization senator seats and the athletic senator seat were sworn in.

SA then moved on to the discussion point of the meeting, committee assignments. Following the brief overview of the available committees, senators selected what committee or committees they would like to be a part of. The absence of a committee dedicated to the oversight of the School of Education (SOE) was noted.

During senator announcements, Asian Student Organization (ASO) Senator Guyer announced that ASO is hosting an ice cream social as their general meeting from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the Student Union Lawn; all are invited to attend.

SOE Senator Giese, in her announcement, said, “We [Dean’s Student Advisory Council (DSAC)] are creating a task force for the iPads, so it’s no longer going to be a requirement in a year or two.” The iPad requirement has been identified as an issue among SOE students, a requirement specific to UWL’s SOE program.

Giese continued, “We did have a student teacher take advantage of our dorms, and we are going to make it more vocal to other student teachers for more people take advantage of it. So there are now openings in the dorms for us.”