The Student Senate passed a resolution recommending the Senate’s on-campus housing waitlist priority during this week’s meeting.
Instruments Committee Chair Christopher Bove and Moderator Caleb Hilyard introduced a resolution to announce the Student Senate’s recommendation for a new housing waitlist priority due to the changes made recently by the Department of Housing and Residential Life.
Hilyard created a survey for the student body at URI to take opinions on how on-campus housing priority should be structured.
“The two most common responses [to the survey] were by credit-based and by upperclassman/by year,” Hilyard said. He used this feedback to structure the bill.
The bill proposes a “credit-based system with priority given to upperclassmen to determine eligibility for an on-campus housing assignment.” Additional consideration would be given to students who are international, live across the country or demonstrate a significant need for on-campus housing.
The resolution was passed unanimously.
The Cultural Affairs Committee also announced a menstrual product drive they are hosting this month. According to Cultural Affairs Committee Chairwoman Bolu Taiwo, the drop-off locations for menstrual products will be in the Memorial Union, Robert L. Carothers Library and other spots on campus.
Campus Affairs Chair Michael Bentley introduced a bill this week to launch the Campus Affairs Committee-sponsored pilot program to provide menstrual products to all female and gender-neutral bathrooms in the Memorial Union this semester. Bentley explained that the program is currently a pilot version since he wants the University to take over the program.
“I only chose the bill to pay for [products] this semester … since this project is a pilot program, I am hoping the University adopts this as their program so that we aren’t paying for it in the future,” he said.
The bill was passed unanimously.
Motorized scooter company SPIN representative Nick Paparo presented at this week’s meeting on what campus safety with motorized scooters might look like at the University.
SPIN has partnered with universities across the country, according to Paparo. He also discussed the proactive business plan his company uses, which aims to make strong partnerships to meet community needs.
“Before launching a program, we codesign safety programming and [establish] what the goals are going to be before entering a community,” Paparo said. “[We want to make sure] that we are all working towards the same thing.”
SPIN will be providing free helmets for all riders to increase on-campus safety. Students will also have to take safety training before they are able to ride for the first time.
To ensure the safety of the students and scooters, Paparo talked about SPIN’s GeoFencing programming.
According to Paparo, this programming is used to establish “no ride” and “slow ride” zones throughout campus. These speed-regulated areas would help control high-traffic and unsafe riding terrain.
The company hopes to use SPIN Hubs on campus to help keep an orderly manner with the scooters. According to Paparo, these hubs will look similar to bike-sharing stations.
Paparo concluded his meeting by discussing costs and how the company’s product for college students. He said that students would pay a $1 unlock fee for the scooters and mentioned a responsible parking discount to incentivize parking at hubs and other safe areas.
“If you end a ride at a SPIN Hub [or other designated areas], for example, you can get half off your next ride,” Paparo said.
No information regarding a senate bill for the SPIN project has been provided yet.
The next Student Senate meeting will be held on March 11.