he SGA Senate considered several pieces of legislation focused on student safety, government engagement, and campus communication on Thursday.
The Senate passed Act A-20-25, aimed at helping students better prepare for Alabama’s severe weather season.
Authored by Savannah Sempier, a senator for the Barefield College of Arts and Sciences, the act funds the creation of informational magnets showing the difference between a tornado “watch” and “warning.” The magnets will be handed out during a spring tabling event at the Student Center.
“This legislation entails creating a graphic that will be printed on four-by-six magnets with information related to the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning,” Sempier said. “They’ll be passed out next semester during peak tornado season.”
According to the University, about 57.7% of UA students aren’t from Alabama. The act intends to inform students from a variety of states and countries that “may not experience the same types of natural disasters as Alabama.”
The Senate also approved C-03-25, a constitutional amendment to close a “graduation loophole” in the SGA election process. The new clause disqualifies any Senate candidates “graduating in the same academic term in which they are elected.”
The change follows an incident earlier this year, when former senator for the graduate school, Scott Ratchford, successfully ran for a Senate seat despite being set to graduate before the term began.
Katherine Steel, a senator for the Barefield College of Arts and Sciences, said the legislation “changes a little bit of the wording to make it more clear and concise.”
Madelyn Herwig, a senator for the Culverhouse College of Business, introduced bill B-08-25, which would require members of the SGA External Affairs Committee to attend at least one Tuscaloosa City Council meeting each semester.
“This bill seeks to amend the Senate rules and regulations to include a new stipulation for responsibilities of the Senate External Affairs Committee,” she said. “This is important for the External Affairs Committee to better advocate for the student body with local government and we can more accurately create legislation on campus.”
The bill was sent to the Rules Committee for review.
Annika Engelke, a senator for the Culverhouse College of Business, authored and presented act A-21-25, which would establish a CPR instructional card initiative in collaboration with the Greek Programming Board.
She said the act’s goal is to raise awareness of lifesaving techniques that can be performed before medical help arrives.
“Since 70% of cardiac arrests happen outside of hospitals, immediate bystander CPR can double or even triple survival rates,” Senator Annika Engelke said. “This event would give students wallet-sized CPR cards developed by the Greek Programming Board’s Health and Wellness Committee at no cost to the SGA.”
The act was referred to the Belonging and Wellness Committee for review.
The meeting closed with resolution R-14-25, a communication effort to boost student engagement through a “Meet Your Senators” video series.
“I think that tabling is great, but we can only reach so many people,” Engelke said. “Many students don’t know who their college senators are or what we do or how to contact them, so this initiative would aim to bridge that gap.”
Passed by the Senate unanimously, the resolution will require each college delegation to record short clips introducing themselves, sharing recent legislation and encouraging students to reach out.
The Senate also heard from Rachel Thompson, director of the Center for Instructional Technology, who briefed senators on recent federal updates that expand digital accessibility requirements for universities.
The changes, which took effect in April 2024, now require accessibility compliance across nearly all university-related digital content from Blackboard materials to web apps, mobile platforms and social media posts shared by student organizations. Thompson said the goal is to make all university-related digital content usable by people with disabilities — something she called “an important obligation, responsibility and, frankly, privilege.”
“This actually helps people,” she said. “Accessibility makes things better for everyone.”
Thompson said one in 11 UA students receive academic accommodations through the Office of Disability Services. She added that accessibility tools also help students who are temporarily limited, like those watching a muted video at the gym or audio reading after an eye appointment.
“We’re all only temporarily able,” she said.
Thompson encouraged senators to lead by example by using accessibility checkers built into Microsoft Office, adding descriptions to images and including captions on videos.
Thompson advised senators to “model accessible practices and be polite and loud about it.”
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