Members of the Florida A&M student body and the student senate met Monday to discuss issues including the recent visit from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
With last week’s visit from the SACS still on the minds of students and faculty, Vice President of Student Affairs William Hudson Jr. informed the senate and the gallery on how the visit went last week. He also told students about the steps that are being taken to assist with the uplifting of the probation.
Hudson said he thought the review went well with SACS. However, “We are not out of the water yet,” he said.
Although, the university is still on probation until SACS board of trustees has its meeting sometime in December, Hudson stressed that the university still has its accreditation.
Hudson wants students to take into consideration that SACS reviews everything that is in connection with the university, including social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, Hudson said.
“Everything counts,” Hudson said. “Nothing is off limits. What we do has a greater impact.”
Hudson said student leaders had the opportunity to meet with SACS as well and from what he was informed of, they represented the university well.
Hudson said he wants students and faculty to continue to work hard and to speak positively about the university as a whole and not focus on the negative, and he was grateful for how responsive the student body has been by participating in activities to ensure that the university is in compliance with the rules and regulations set by SACS.
Notably, financial aid was also an issue that came up during question and answers from senate members and students. Hudson informed students that finical aid was posted on time and that if students did not have any holds or other issues with their accounts, they would have received their refunds on time.
Hudson told students that if they had exceeded 170 credit hours they could not receive financial aid. He said there is room for improvement on both the students and financial aid, but he wants students to read more to be better informed.
Furthermore, Patrick McKeithen, a candidate for chief justice, went before the senate to be confirmed for the position after being denied last week.
One of the major issues that prevented McKeithen from gaining confirmation last week was the question on the transparency between the student body and Student Government Association. However, after regrouping and meeting with senators prior to this week’s meeting, McKeithen was able to gain confirmation by an 11 to 4 vote from the senate.
McKeithen said he plans to fill the branch up with workers in order to have a fully functioning judicial branch and educate the student body on their rights and services that are available to them.
Dakary Davis, a second-year professional pharmacy student from Miami, said he is excited about the senate meeting and has high hopes for the future.
“I look forward to the confirmation of the chief justice as well as other candidates,” Davis said.