Newly elected Student Association senators were required to attend a mandatory orientation meeting Sunday.

During Sunday’s SA orientation, new senators learned the ins and outs of the representative government of the student body. Speaker of the Senate Patrick Talley briefly discussed the SA constitution as well as standard SA protocol and procedure before running through a mock meeting with the senate.

“I feel the meeting was a success,” said new senator Alandis Phillips. “I’m ready to put my own stamp on Northern and act as a voice for students.”

With only 31 senators, there are still nine seats open. Interested students can obtain a senator-at-large packet from the SA office and turn it in after the first official meeting next Sunday. After vetting hopeful senators to ensure their eligibility, the SA Senate will vote on whether or not to swear them in as a senator.

“The meeting went well and I learned a lot,” said senator Alex Castellanos. “I want to get more involved with the student body.”

Founded in 1968, the Student Association’s stated goal is to act as a voice for questions and concerns of the student body. One of its primary functions is managing the numerous student organizations on campus. All on-campus student organizations are SA recognized, meaning they can use NIU facilities and services. They are also responsible for distributing money to various SA-recognized organizations. The only organizations that cannot receive SA funding are religious, political, pre-professional, or ones with restrictive members (Greek organizations or ones that charge dues).

This year, the SA controls roughly $80,000 in supplemental funding. Supplemental funding is available to SA-funded organizations when “the amount budgeted for a unique or unexpected expense is not sufficient or an emergency arises,” according to the SA’s finance policy.

Although all in attendance have been voted in by their peers, they have yet to become full-fledged senators. The nominees will be sworn in at next Sunday’s meeting.

“I’ve been working on this for a while,” Talley said. “It’s nice to have the orientation over with and I’m looking forward to the first official meeting next week.”

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